Student athletes represent a unique segment of society, having to manage a set of expectations and challenges that are distinct and psychologically demanding. They are expected to achieve the highest level of sporting excellence while also performing well academically. A basic qualitative study was used to gain an understanding of the nature and type of psychological challenges faced, and ways the student athletes successfully managed or was currently managing those challenges. The results entailed two overlapping groups of challenges; internal and external, where internal consisted of emotional strain, expectations from one’s self, balance between sports and studies, and present feelings of regret, while external consisted of issues with their coach, perception of others, and transition to tertiary education. Additionally, there were three ways of managing those challenges namely through problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and experiential learning. Those three domains are further explored and discussed, with consideration to the local context and the role of individual differences.