Diary of a Striker with Bethany Balcer: The Importance of Rest

June 11, 2021
By Bethany Balcer

Diary of a Striker is a Girls Soccer Network exclusive series from Bethany Balcer of OL Reign. Balcer will be giving readers an inside look at her journey as a professional player all season long. New posts drop every two weeks!

As an athlete, it is very easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. Although we might not work your typical 9-5 job, we deal with the chaos of weekend travel, prepping for games, and intense physical labor. Lots of people talk about burnout, especially when you’ve played soccer for so long. It makes sense that at some point, it becomes too much and wears on you physically and mentally to a point where it’s time to call it quits. However, I think there is a solution to this problem that is rather simple. Rest. It sounds easy, but I think people struggle with it because our culture glorifies busyness and prioritizes being efficient 24/7.

The problem with this is that eventually, you will be completely drained of all motivation, physically, mentally, and emotionally. One of the greatest things I can ever do as an athlete is use my off days as true off days if and when I need to. Instead of filling up all my free time, maybe I should take time to just sit and be. It means saying no to things to take care of my well-being.

So, currently, I’m on rest! I get time to be away from soccer, which by the way, is a very healthy thing! You won’t play soccer for the rest of your life, so it shouldn’t consume you to the point of being all that you are. I am a soccer player, and I am proud to have that label. But I’m also a sister, a friend, a daughter, a babysitter, a hiker, a writer, etc. I need to take care of myself to be the best version of myself, and sometimes that means taking a step back.

Obviously, I’m passionate about mental health, and sometimes the best thing for me to do is go to my bed at 4pm and take a nap. Or open a book, so I don’t have to think about soccer all the time. Or take a walk and have a chat about life with others. The possibilities are endless when it comes to stepping back and creating space for yourself. But, you have to be willing to do it if you know it’s what’s best for you. I don’t ever want to get sick of soccer or feel burnout, and to do that, I must take a period of rest, whether that’s a couple of hours, or if I’m lucky a couple of days, and really use my time to recharge and refocus.