I recently came across this article written by a childhood friend and thought about the implications of its premise. Amazingly, this guy was NOT an athlete in high school. He was a very late maturer, who learned to compete in other contexts first.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-winning-athletes/200911/refusing-be-broken
Good read. I think the early maturing athlete is very susceptible to this. You do see this often in wrestling.
If you haven't seen the movie "Unbroken" ... it's a must.
Unbroken is a 2014 American historical biographic war-sports drama film, produced and directed by Angelina Jolie, and based on the 2010 non-fiction book by Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. The film revolves around the life of USA Olympian and athlete Louis "Louie" Zamperini, portrayed by Jack O'Connell. Zamperini survived in a raft for 47 days after his bomber was downed in World War II, then was sent to a series of prisoner of war camps.
Thanks for posting!