Jonathan Giles, Former Collegiate Baseball Player

03/30/23 • 40 min

No doubt every athlete experiencing repeat injuries fears the possibility of the premature end of their athletic career. Enduring years of injury, re-injury, therapies, surgeries, and rehab can take a toll on an athlete, both physically and mentally. It’s always a potential reality that one day, it becomes clear that the comeback they’re looking for is just not going to happen. That day came for Jonathan Giles his sophomore year of junior college and would cost him the scholarship he had been offered to play at Georgetown.

In this interview, Jonathan shares openly about the struggles he experienced following medical retirement. Self-blame, resentment, changed relationships, unfulfilled dreams, the impact of bottling up his feelings, identity loss . . . were are all part of his journey.

Refusing at first to open up to others about how he was feeling, Jonathan discusses his experience of trying to manage his struggles on his own. Eventually, Jonathan would see a therapist who challenged him to work through his unhealthy thinking and find the motivation and drive to explore new passions. Don’t miss the top three things that Jonathan learned through therapy that would finally set him on the path to acceptance and a new passion for life! Hear how changing his mindset helped him unlock experiences he never thought he would have had.

Need help finding a sports psychologist or therapist?
Check out these online resources which helped Jonathan find a sports psychologist to work with:
Psychology Today
OnlineWebCounseling.com

Need help finding a sports psychologist or therapist?
Check out these online resources which helped Jonathan find a sports psychologist to work with:
Psychology Today
OnlineWebCounseling.com

Previous Episode

Jackie Allibone, Former Mid-Fielder, Temple University Lacrosse

Working through a significant injury with a long recovery process is difficult for any athlete. Hundreds of hours in rehab, sitting on the sidelines for months on end, feeling a measure of disconnection from teammates, coping with depression and both internal and external pressures to return to play ready to contribute to the win — all can take a significant emotional toll. When Jackie Allibone made her comeback from a torn ACL, only to face a second and more significant devastating knee injury, the psychological impact complicated as her athletic career was forced to an abrupt end.

In this candid interview, Jackie opens up about the internal turmoil that she worked so hard to suppress during those years. Hiding her internal struggles from her coaches, teammates and even family because she didn’t believe there was a safe place to talk openly about all she was processing resulted in unhealthy thinking patterns which would shape her feelings about her self-worth and impact her mental health for years to come.

This interview is a must-listen for anyone who has ever struggled with beating themselves up over internal conflicts, challenges with mental health, or loss of identity. There is hope and freedom when you finally release what is going on inside. The truth is, no matter how you’re feeling, you are not alone. The human experience can be complicated and we were never meant to bear our burdens on our own. Jackie’s story reveals how through acknowledging personal pain and addressing it by embracing help from others, we can begin a process of personal healing and growth.

Next Episode

Zoe Schweitzer, Former Gymnast, Ohio State

The decision to medically retire can be a grueling one especially for an athlete coping with chronic illness for years. In this interview, former collegiate gymnast Zoe Schweitzer talks about the challenges of coping with constant setbacks in her gymnastics career including injuries, chronic illness, and COVID-shutdowns. Zoe shares how she came to know it was time to medically retire and what led her to be confident in that decision. She opens up the emotional toll the anticipation of her social media announcement had on her and shares her experience navigating the related grief process of losing her identity as an athlete.

Through the process of letting go of others’ expectations and building up her identity, she stopped shrinking back and learned how to confidently live in full authenticity of who she is and who she was made to be. Zoe talks about the power of community and how she was able to utilize her existing community for support while also building new community in her transition following medical retirement. Grounding herself in her faith and in finding her greater purpose allowed her to think positively about the future, envisioning a meaningful life even without gymnastics. She also learned that gymnastics wasn’t the end-all-be-all and could appreciate how her athletic career had actually served her well in preparing her for life beyond sport.

You won’t want to miss the top three things Zoe learned in medical retirement that transformed her thinking and gave her a solid foundation to build a new path forward.