As a child, Levente Szántai dreamed of winning the Hungarian championship, becoming a member of the national team and a successful goalkeeper career. Although, all this was given to him, at the age of 30, after a conversation, he decided to become a sports psychologist. He told Pesti Hírlap about the sudden change, his plans and his new job.

Levente Szántai started his career at Újpest, and as a child, he knew exactly what and why he was doing.

„I was only 8 years old, when in an interview with IV. district TV I stated that I wanted to be the goalkeeper of the A-team of Újpest. My childhood dream came true, when I was 18.” – Szántai told to our paper, defending his team’s goal in 9 league games during 3 years. During his career, he played for MTK, Tatabánya, Diósgyőr, Mezőkövesd and Szeged. He was also a member of the Hungarian U21 national team and in 2008 Erwin Koeman invited him to the national team to prepare for the matches against Greece and Croatia, but he didn’t manage to play.  

„I won the championship with MTK and after then I was able to celebrate a historic success with Mezőkövesd, the promotion to the first division. However, with the help of a well-trained sports psychologist, I could probably make more out of myself. I was not a goalkeeper of outstanding abilities, what I achieved was due to my diligence and persistence. Like every athletes, I also had ups and downs. Most of the times, I overcame these alone and with the support of my wife, with whom we have been together for 19 years. Overall, I am pleased, when looking back on my athletic career.”

The story is almost fabolous, but in fact, Szántai decided to become a sports psychologist in a training camp.

„During a training camp, I was talking with István Bognár – currently a football player at Paks – and he asked me why I wasn’t studying to be a psyhologist as I understood people so well. At that time I was 30. The recognition was followed by lots of learning and at the age of 32 I took an advanced final exam in biology, then I was admitted to the University of Szeged and this summer, at the age of 37, I graduated with an MA degree in psychology. I am glad that, after finishing my professional football career, I was able to immediately start working at Szeged – Csanád Grosics Akadémia, where I am currently working in the youth academy as a psychologist. I would like to go forward step by step and to be adequately prepared within a further 5-year plan for the professional tasks ahead of me. Then I want to help the mental preparation of the players in the first division and in the youth Hungarian national teams.”

The former goalkeeper said that, during his work he encounters classic problems.

„The basic problems are the same as the ones I experienced as an active football player. The player wants to get more chances to play, may not have a good relationship with his coach or could not perform in matches the way he did in trainings. By unlocking these blocks, the performance of the player will already improve. Once the problem is solved, there is an opportunity for targeted mental development so that the athlete can get the most out of himself in competitive situations.”

Levente Szántai during his university years, developed a 30 occasions, all-season long training program, whose aim is to develop the sense of responsibility of youth players.

„I am currently doing this with two age groups in Szeged, holding group sessions on a weekly basis. Even as an active football player, I experienced that young players, who joined the A-team, have a low level of sense of responsibility for themselves, for their team and for their club, that’s where the idea came from.”

The expert said that psychology is important in the field of sport, because physical, technical and tactical preparedness is helped by mental endurance. The athlete, who is mentally prepared, is able to withstand better the physical exertion, he is able to correct his movements with mental techniques and will be more effective in memorizing tactical instructions and applying them in competitive situations. Besides, he eats more consciously and pays more attention to his rest.

„That is why a head coach, a fitness coach, a dietician, a doctor, a psychologist – and I could even add professionals – work in team at a more serious level, supporting athletes. Currently my most important goal is to gain enough professional experience in the youth academy. The key to the rise of the Hungarian football has to be searched here and by developing their mental fitness, young players will be able to stand up as an adult footballer on international level. That is why I would like to work primarily at the academic level and then with the youth Hungarian national teams. My long-term goal is to make the employment of sports psychologists in Hungarian football widely accepted. In my opinion, we are not sufficiently taking advantage of the benefits of mental preparation yet, there is a room for improvement in this area as well.”

Source: https://pestihirlap.hu/2020/11/22/kapusbol-lett-sportpszichologus/

What does the psychological program of the academy contain, what goals does it compose?
In our academy, the most important aspect is the continuous development of our players. Accordingly my aim is to measure annually the cognitive functions of our footballers and based on the results, we set development goals together with the coaches. Besides I consider the improvement of the sense of responsibility of today’s generation important, therefore I hold group sessions in this topic for the key age groups. Finally, as part of our talent development program, during small group sessions children learn techniques that are designed to help them to perform in a balanced way both in sports and in other fields of life.
As a psychologist, how can you help the children, what kind of problems do they turn to you?
I don’t want to be a professional, who „drinks wine and preaches water”. I consider the incorporation of my more than 30 years of football experience into my psychological work important. I also suffered, when I wasn’t in the starting eleven, although I felt like I was preparing in every training session with maximum effort. I was also thinking of giving up football and set off for a different direction. I was also anxious before the matches, which I had to learn to turn to my advantage. Today’s young generation is dealing with the same problems, therefore creditibility is the most important thing to me.
Would you mention a case, where as a result of your work one of the young players was able to achieve a better on-pitch performance?
A psychologist is not a miracle maker, only with the help of me, none of the footballers will have a better on-pitch performance. It’s a shared commitment, where the basic goal is for the player to become more aware of his own functioning. Performance can fluctuate, just as anyone could have a good or a bad day. The point is that, the athlete learns how to turn a failure to his own advantage, to learn from it. I wouldn’t mention a specific case in terms of performance improvement, as I tell to every footballer that the more work you put in to achieve your goals, the more you will be able take out from it.
Is there an example of you seeing a child having problems and then going to him and helping him?
I grew up on the football pitch and I have always been sensitive to the vibrations of my fellow players. In most cases, only from a single movement or a manifestation of a football player, you can feel that there is something wrong. However, timing is important and the psychological quality requires discretion, so have to take care of when and how I address the player. Some open almost immediately, some turn to me weeks later. It has already happened that, I have signaled my intention to help, but he didn’t want it and was able to solve it on his own. Basically, the players turn to me, and my door is literally open to them.
How can the coaches benefit from your work, do you deal with them separately?
The coach can be considered as a second reference point after the parent, similar to the teachers. A supportive coach with developmental point of view can get the best out of a child with weaker abilities. That’s why I consider the effective communication with the coaches important. The same is true for my relationship with the parents. I strive to build mutual respect with the coaches working at the academy, so they can and they do turn to me bravely with questions about their team or their own operations. Every one of us has to see clearly that not everyone can be a professional football player. Therefore we have to raise children for life both at home and at school as well as on the football field. In my opinion this can be achieved by acquiring the continuous developmental approach.

Source: http://szeged-csanad.hu/wp content/uploads/2020/10/Toronyirany_2020-04_p01-24_LR.pdf