Riding the true north express: How supporting a sports team can enhance your well-being

As a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, I have long been a supporter of their sports teams. This includes football’s Blue Bombers and, at one time, AAA baseball’s Whips who were the farm team of the Montreal Expos.

During the winter and spring, my support is focused on the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets. The Jets were recently eliminated in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after a storybook season in which they claimed the President’s Trophy for finishing the regular season with the league’s best record.

Although I was disappointed that the Jets’ playoff performance fell short of what was predicted based on their banner regular season, the many mental health benefits I enjoyed made it well worth it to be an avid supporter. In the following sections, I will use my support of the Jets to discuss how supporting a sports team can enhance your well-being.

Fostering social connections

Supporting the Jets helped me to foster social connections with other Jets fans and, for that matter, other hockey fans. I have had many enjoyable conversations with people over the last couple of months which either began with a discussion of hockey or were focused on it. Being unified in support of their NHL teams has fostered cohesion among residents of Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Edmonton throughout the playoffs.

In addition to fostering new social connections, my support of the Jets has helped my existing relationships to become closer. This includes my relationships with my younger sister and brother who live in Winnipeg and are even bigger Jets supporters than me. I regularly exchanged text messages with them as the Jets went on their title quest. I also enjoyed watching the memorable Game 7 of Round 1 with my brother and his wife when I was visiting Winnipeg. In addition, I enjoyed watching a second-round Jets game with my piano instructor and her husband who invited me to their home for an afternoon of pizza and hockey.

Helping with stress management

Following a plan to manage stress is a fundamental element of achieving and maintaining good mental health. A key aspect of this plan entails regularly engaging in activities to give yourself a break from thinking about your problems so that you can recharge your emotional batteries. Supporting the Jets on their playoff run has been one such activity for me.

Not only has watching hockey helped me to relax and recharge after many a stressful workday, it has provided additional stress management benefits by serving as a mastery activity for me. Mastery activities are those which involve using one’s talent, knowledge and skills, often while pursuing goals. Examples include sports, music and many hobbies and interests. Mastery activities help with managing stress by facilitating flow states in which you are so immersed in the activity that you temporarily take your mind off your problems. They also give a boost to one’s self-esteem which, in turn, boosts your mood.

Creating awareness of the importance of psychology

Watching the Jets and other teams has made me aware of the importance of psychology to performing in sports and in virtually every area of our lives. It has led me to ask questions such as: Why does the best goalie in the league during the regular season struggle so much in the playoffs? And why does he struggle more on the road than at home? How can the Toronto Maple Leafs perform so badly at home in Game 5 versus Florida that they are booed, rebound with a gutsy effort on the road to win Game 6, and then follow it up with an even worse performance at home in the deciding Game 7? Why do some players step up their performances at playoff time whereas others see their quality of play drop? These are just a few of the questions which led me to realize that psychology is fundamental to performance in sports and in other performance activities.

Demonstrating that there can be decency and respect during competition

There have been times during the playoffs when it appeared that the players and coaches were so competitive that decency and respect for one’s opponents was lacking. For example, this thought occurred to me when the underdog St. Louis Blues ‘took out’ two of the Jets’ stars in their first round series with repeated vicious hits. This left the Jets without star centre Mark Scheifele and their top defenseman Josh Morrissey at critical points during the series.

Fortunately, my faith was restored after Mr. Scheifele faced even greater adversity during the Jets’ second-round series against the Dallas Stars. In the early morning hours of Game 6 of the series, he learned that his father Brad had died. Despite the devastating news, the Jets’ centre courageously played in Game 6 and even scored the first Jets’ only goal. Unfortunately, he also took a penalty in overtime. The Stars scored on the ensuing power play to win the series four games to two.

As courageous as Mr. Scheifele’s performance was in the wake of personal tragedy, the behaviours of other people toward him were also impressive. This includes his teammates and management who supported him before, during and after the game. I was especially touched by the thoughtfulness of team captain Adam Lowry who immediately went to the penalty box after the winning goal was scored to console Mr. Scheifele.

I was also struck by the Dallas Stars players spending time consoling Mr. Scheifele in the handshake line which came at the end of the series. Finally, I commend the Stars’ fans for creating and contributing to a fund in honour of Mr. Brad Scheifele. They added a nice touch by asking for donations of $55 to match the Jet’s centre’s jersey number. I found it inspiring that decency and respect toward one’s opponents can co-exist with striving to defeat them on the ice.

Now that my team has been eliminated…

With the Jets out of the playoffs, I am cheering for the one remaining Canadian-based team with a chance to win the Stanley Cup.  Last year, the Edmonton Oilers came within a game of becoming the first team from Canada since 1993 to take the title. I hope that Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and their Oilers teammates can finish the job this year.

May you enjoy the psychological benefits of supporting your favourite sports teams,

-Dr. Pat