Hi, I’m Sanja and I am one of the 40 licensed sports psychologists in Croatia. I have been doing this job for over 7 years and I can say that I am truly living my dream. I do what I have wanted to do since the very first day I heard this profession existed.
How my journey as a sports psychologist in Mental Training began:
As a psychology student at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, I wasn’t sure what I would do after graduation. My first choice was to be a psychotherapist, but then I found out that sports psychologists exist in Croatia.
Since sports have, in a way, always been part of my life, this field seemed very interesting to me, so I started researching it a bit. Even as a student, I joined the sports psychology section and began meeting people involved in sports psychology in Croatia. I realized that this was what interested me the most and decided to do my student internship at Mentalni Trening. Shortly after that, I also completed their education for coaches.
Working at Mental Training:
After my studies, I started working with Luka at Mental Training and enrolled in the education program for a special license in the field of sports psychology. Through this education, I also earned the right to call myself a sports psychologist in Croatia. My biggest support in everything was Luka, who prepared me from day one to work with athletes and gave me the opportunity to realize my greatest wish.
So far, I have worked with over 200 different athletes from more than 30 different sports. I know, it’s hard for many to even count that many sports. Honestly, sometimes even I was afraid to “throw myself” into a sport about which I knew absolutely nothing. The beauty of working with athletes is that they are very understanding and know that we cannot know everything about every sport either, so they try their best to bring us closer to their sport and explain the demands placed upon them.
Working with athletes often means that there are no set working hours. You work when it suits the athletes, and sometimes that means working weekends. Sometimes it also means working during your vacation. But I must admit, none of that is hard for me because that feeling when an athlete tells you they have broken through one of their barriers—well, NOTHING in the world can replace THAT.
What I wish I had known while I was studying
During my studies, I didn’t know how sports psychology was regulated in Croatia, nor how I could become a sports psychologist. Fortunately, there was a Sports Psychology course taught by Prof. Barić, and that gave me my first tools and insight into working with athletes.
What I didn’t know then, but know now, is that there are numerous sports psychology study programs in Europe. Colleagues I met years later told me about their studies and how much it helped them in their careers. Also, at the European level, there are various communities related to sports psychology, such as ENYSSP (which is somewhat more suitable for students) and the umbrella organization FEPSAC.
ENYSSP is a community that has helped me immensely in my career. The first time I heard about them was when Luka and I organized their annual conference in Zagreb. Yes, we had never even been to their conference before, and we decided to organize it. This shows how open this community is to everyone and how much support you can expect if you become a member. Over the years, we have met colleagues from all over the world, attended various workshops and lectures at their conferences, from which we drew hundreds of ideas for our work with athletes.
Why we run educations for psychologists:
Currently in Croatia, unfortunately, there is no way for someone to obtain the title of sports psychologist, and sports psychology courses are rare at every university.
The education for coaches I completed during my studies helped me greatly to better understand the exercises and tools I needed to pass on to athletes. That is precisely why Luka and I came up with the idea to adapt that education for psychology students and psychologists who would like to work with athletes but don’t know where to start. Or for anyone who simply wants to know a bit more about what it’s like to work with athletes.
The future of mental training for athletes:
In recent years, we have been witnessing that sports psychologists are needed in Croatia and that athletes are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of mental preparation.
The current situation is devastating if we talk about sports clubs and federations, where only a few sports psychologists work. Meanwhile, in Germany for example, every football club in the top 3 tiers of competition must have a sports psychologist in the club.
We believe that this will also change soon and that the community of sports psychologists in Croatia will grow significantly!