Scared to play a new sport as an adult? Here’s how to get started

Athlete resources

Oct 29

Are you scared to play a new sport as an adult? We’ve gotchu!

Playing a new sport (or getting back into one you haven’t played in a while) as an adult can be scary and hard. Thankfully, we’re on a mission to give women more resources and support to take their shot and play sports as adults, so we’re sharing ways to make the process of playing sports as an adult easier (and less scary)!

The first step to play sports as an adult has nothing to do with getting on the field, ice, or court (yet) — it’s all about doing the work in your head and mentally preparing so you’re ready to get in the game.

HOW TO MENTALLY PREPARE TO PLAY A NEW SPORT AS AN ADULT

It’s hard to do something new, especially as an adult. And while there are many obstacles stopping adult women from playing sports, our minds are often our biggest obstacle when it comes to playing a new sport, so we need to hype ourselves up!

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

If you’ve been thinking about playing sports, you’ve probably also been met with thoughts like “It’s too late to start now”, “I have no idea what I’m doing and I’ll look silly”, or “It’s all too overwhelming”. And I get it! I’ve had those same thoughts, too. But if I let them stop me, I wouldn’t be living my dreams playing sports (and now telling you that you can, too!).

Doing new things is so freakin’ scary and intimidating, but it’s time to tell the mean (or self-doubting) girl in your head to get lost! Your thoughts aren’t the truth, here’s the truth: you can learn to play sports at any age. You can get back into playing a sport you used to love at any time. The importance of sport isn’t based on what level you play, your athletic ability, or when you started playing. You decide what makes sport important to you.

BE OKAY WITH DOING IT SCARED

It’s normal to be scared of doing something you’ve never done before (or haven’t done in a long time). But I’m sorry to tell you, that fear isn’t going to go away until you do it and realize that it’ll be okay. Instead of waiting for the fear to go away before you start, you need to just start and be okay with doing it scared. Eventually (or maybe right from the start), it’ll stop being so scary and you’ll settle in.

If you wait until you aren’t scared anymore to play sports, you’ll never do it. Do it scared.

BUILD CONFIDENCE WHILE PLAYING SPORTS

You also might be waiting for confidence before you start playing, and I’m sorry to tell you (again) that you can’t build confidence in something without doing it. So, have confidence in YOURSELF first and know that you will be okay and you can do challenging things. Then, slowly over time, you’ll start to build confidence in yourself as an athlete and at your sport.

Build confidence as you go instead of waiting to have the confidence to start.

BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO SUCK AT SOMETHING NEW

We’re ALL bad (or at least, not very good from the start) at things we haven’t done before. But the cool thing is that we can learn, try, fail, and grow. That’s the beauty of being a beginner and challenging ourselves to do new things. As you go, you’ll start to notice all the small (or big) things you couldn’t do when you first started that you can now do.

You’ll never know what you’re capable of if you aren’t brave enough to be bad at something new.

STOP TELLING BELIEVING YOUR EXCUSES

“It’s too late.”

“I’m not good enough.”

“I’m too old.”

“I don’t have the time.”

These excuses are all BS and it’s just your thoughts trying to keep you safe. It’s easy to believe your excuses and tell yourself “maybe one day”, but playing it safe and easy won’t get you what you truly want.

It’s not too late. There’s no expiry date on following your dreams and playing sports.

You don’t have to be good to start. You can learn.

You’re not too old. Meet Lisa, who started playing hockey at 48.

You can find the time that works with your schedule and life. Playing once a month is enough.