The Confidence Crisis: Why So Many Students Think They’re “Not Good at Sport”

Every PE teacher has heard it:
“𝗜’𝗺 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆.”
“𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵.”
“𝗜 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁.”

It’s said with a shrug, but behind it lies something deeper — a belief that 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. And once that belief sets in, it’s incredibly hard to shift.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺
Students rarely lose confidence because of one bad experience. It happens slowly — a missed pass here, a poor result there — until they start defining themselves by what they 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗼.

The real problem isn’t 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, it’s 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. Too often, PE lessons focus on what students can 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, not what they’re 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. Without 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, students can’t see progress. And when progress isn’t visible, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲
As both an 𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 and a 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵, I’ve worked with people at every level — from beginners to international performers. The same principle applies: when people can 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, they stay engaged.

I’ve seen naturally talented athletes lose motivation because they stopped improving, and I’ve seen so-called “non-sporty” students light up when they finally saw themselves 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. The difference wasn’t 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 — it was 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲.

When PE provides a 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, confidence grows naturally.

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆
We can’t change every student’s past experience, but we can shape the environment they learn in.

Confidence is built when:
• Lessons focus on 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀, not perfection.
• Students know what 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 at each stage.
• Feedback highlights 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲, not just what they need to fix.

When PE becomes about 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆𝘀, not 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, students begin to 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 “𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆” 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 — and more of them start to believe that it 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.