7 Tips for Working Through Adversity
How demotion to junior varsity can lead to growth.
Posted July 3, 2025 | Reviewed by Kaja Perina
Learning how to work through adversity is an important part of developing a resilient personality during childhood and adolescence .
For instance, one of my patients, a 16-year-old baseball player, was demoted to his high school junior varsity (JV) team even though he and many of the adults in his life felt he was one of the top players in his high school.
At first, the player became quite sad and angry at the coach for the decision that was made. He was especially upset as he had dreams of becoming a college baseball player and even making it to the pros.
He began wondering whether it was worth putting so much effort into playing baseball if he received little recognition for this hard work.
In our discussions of this situation, I pointed out several lessons that the player could learn because of his demotion.
I suggested that dealing successfully with adversity will allow the player to learn to think about and work through difficult situations in new ways, which could improve his life much more than if he had remained on the varsity squad.
It is important to recognize that life doesn’t always go as planned and that dealing with challenges is part of everyone’s lives. We are better off learning at a young age that we can do well despite obstacles in our way, as this helps us build resilience .
As the player ended up playing at the JV level for 3 games, he was able to pitch a lot more innings than he would been allowed to at the varsity level. In one game he struck out 13 out of 15 batters in 5 innings, and thus was able to refine and display his talent.
We discussed that when things do not work out the way we expect or would like, with the right attitude we can excel no matter what path we end up taking.
A Source of Inspiration
The most famous athlete to be demoted to his high school JV team was Michael Jordan, who is one of the best basketball players of all time. At the time of his demotion, Jordan was devastated and thought of quitting sports all together. However, he soon viewed this event as an inspiration to have an outstanding work ethic and to continually work on improving his skills.
Others’ lack of recognition of the player’s talent was a lesson in humility. This lesson gave the player a chance to consider how much he believed in himself. He learned that his own self-evaluation was more important for success than seeking external validation.
The player recognized that as long as he was making progress towards his goal of becoming an outstanding player, it did not matter if others recognized this. On the other hand, it is essential that he believe in himself. Otherwise, he will lose the motivation to move forward.
Maintaining Perspective
Achieving success in sports is only one aspect of a player’s life. For many athletes, participation in competitive sports beyond high school does not become an essential part of their lives. Thus, inability to achieve great success at the high school level is of little import in the long-run.
It is important to recognize that participation in sports can contribute much more to an athlete’s life than the chance to be victorious or become a superstar. For instance, sports provide an important emotional outlet, a chance to make good friends, an opportunity to learn leadership skills as well as how to be a good team player, and is a fun way to exercise.
Even in the face of challenges, we can always remain grateful for our lives and ability to tackle and overcome most obstacles that we might encounter.
Maintaining an attitude of gratitude represents yet another way to achieve a positive and helpful perspective.
When we fail to achieve a goal it can be very helpful to consider what lessons might be learned because of our short-coming, and to appreciate that these lessons might not have been learned had we easily reached our target.
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Ran D. Anbar, M.D., FAAP, is board-certified in both pediatric pulmonology and general pediatrics. He is the author of Changing Children's Lives with Hypnosis and the new book The Life Guide for Teens.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.