Professional teams are not made for ASD

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I recently got selected to be part of the US team in a particular sport, to participate in a set of international competitions between August of this year and October of 2020. I don't want to say which, to protect my privacy. I've been playing this sport for some 19 years. Back in 2014 I got into the selection pool for the US team but then didn't make the cut. This is my first time actually making it. I feel like I have to grab this chance and run with it, since it may be the only one I get. I'm getting older, and my knees aren't what they used to be, but I like to think my experience makes up for it.

Anyway, it's only been three weeks of real US team training so far. As far as I can tell, the most striking differences from my normal routine seem to be 1. that I am constantly being yelled at, when I do things right, when I am messing up, when I am getting water. Doesn't matter. Everything is yelling. 2. I am left with very little free time to myself during which I can rest physically or decompress mentally in the way I am used to between spending time with people.

Both of these things seem a bit unsustainable for me, if I'm being honest. I'm worried I can't make it a whole year like this.

I feel like I am holding my breath right now. It's fine for a minute, but I don't think I can hold it forever. I also can't focus on actually improving my technique because I'm only looking forward to find each next chance to breathe. I feel like I would be out of line to bring this up with the coaches. They will think I'm just being lazy or something. I just keep thinking that even though I am physically capable (I seem to do that part just fine), the mental part is crippling. I am so tired at my day job that I am not making great progress, because I am spending all of my evenings and weekends training for August.

I am getting no joy out of spending my days like this.

Anyway, I shouldn't complain. I realize there are so many people who would love to be in my place right now. I just have to wonder if maybe one of them shouldn't be.

Congratulations on the major accomplishment, Fern! You must be really excited despite the exhaustion which accompanies this new routine. I hope you're able to talk to your coaches and settle on a compromise that will keep you at peak performance both mentally and physically. Please let us know how this story unfolds. I'm really proud of you!

((Hugs and best wishes))

Best wishes from me, too!

Good luck! What sport do you play?

Good luck. I agree that you should speak with the coaches and try to come to an agreement of some sort. Being yelled at too much isn't good for most people, ND and NT alike.

Congratulations and fingers crossed!

I feel for you, I find yelling very stressful and hard to put up with... Take good care of yourself.

IDK what sport you play & what the rules are but maybe you could wear earplugs to reduce the volume of the yelling & like others have suggested perhaps talking to your coaches would help too. I worked in noisy environments(no yelling but loud machines) & I gradually learned to tune the noise out & I think I would learn to tune out yelling too if it was constant.
I worked retail for over two years while the store was open & I worked alot of overtime when I was allowed to. Working was sorta an attempt at escaping depression & bad life circumstances. I quit cuz management set me up to get in trouble(long story). Working there was difficult in the begging but I started doing extra after I was there a while & got kinda used to the environment & routine. Perhaps things will get easier for you Fern if you were to stick it out a bit longer.
If the only requirements for professional teams was that we get yelled at constantly, be around others, & we have to be physically active for a long period of time, I could probably handle that & I think more than a tiny amount of us probably could but I imagine there's aLOT more to team sports than this. If you can handle the other aspects OK, your doing pretty good cuz I highly doubt I could & I don't think many of us on the spectrum could handle that other stuff to well either. Lots of us including me are not good at sports in general so it sounds like your doing really well for someone on the spectrum & you should be proud of yourself for making it this for. I wish you the best of luck at this.

Counseling

Drugs

"Beggars can't be choosers"

Monopolistic competition

Nor should they be. Adapt.

Professional teams are not subject to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Reasonable accommodation

American Disability Act


You are outnumbered and overpowered


Short of winning a civil lawsuit, there is nothing you can do about it


Lawsuits take two years

Lawyers cost $600 hour

The outcome is not guaranteed




If you have a lot of time money and energy, to sue, that's one thing



Otherwise, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen

Some of you guys are so nice (thank you) LOL! And some of you are so mean that it just made me laugh out loud reading these this morning. I will not be quitting. That is simply not an option. I've never even so much as missed a practice. That is just how I roll.

Anyway, as you might have guessed, I'm feeling a lot better about all of this today. I've been getting used to the new normal routine of things, and it's been slowly dawning on me that my teammates are just as nervous and tired and bruised up as I am. Perhaps because the USA has never done great in this sport on an international stage we all feel the pressure. We'll see if we can change that this year. I'll do my best anyway. The tickets for the first big cup are purchased. It'll be my first time in this foreign country we'll be visiting, luckily I speak at least a little bit of the language.

Well, I went to the games with the US team. We had a lot of really good success on our team. I didn't get a medal, but I made it a few rounds of single eliminations before getting knocked out of the running before the finals. I am overall satisfied with my showing. I even made some friends from other countries. We traded jackets!

Sounds like you did really well. I'm glad to hear it & you really should be proud of yourself for making it that for

Thanks! And thank you for showing me that emoji, I've never seen it before!