Spartan athletes and coaches get educated on mental health and sports

By Walter O’Neill, Jr.

Student athletes who participated in the two-hour course, were Malcom Beale, Katie Calabrese, Josh Calixte, Ave Chebookjian, Michael Chowning, Olivia DeGirolamo, Alex Foley, Julia Hyland, Samantha Jacbson, James Knight, Mickey McGovern, Sophia Montalvo, River Pinto, Anna Poniros, Jacki Smith, Brooke Todd, Lannen Turchy, Lexi Umlah, and Julia Wagner.
Coaches that were certified, are Brianne Brannigan, Gabrielle Dawe, John Desimini, Karen Dunn, Meghan Edson, Nicole Farina, Leslie Kelly, Hank Limardo, Crystal Walker, Kate Zimmerman, and Michael Lazur.

Township of Ocean – May 11, over 20 athletes and 10 coaches at the high school participated in a mental health workshop. “I was at a workshop on Friday at MetLife Stadium given by U.S. Mental Health and Sport. It was very eye opening, and I asked if they were able to come to Ocean and give a presentation to our athletes and coaches,” said H. Rusty Todd, athletic director. And it just happened to work out that they could do a workshop on Saturday.

Todd stated that it was organized very quickly, but thrilled with the turnout. “On a Saturday when we didn’t have rain and it was a beautiful day, we were able to get more than 20 athletes and 10 coaches to come out,” he said. He added that Michael Chowning, a junior who happens to be the school’s student athletic ambassador to the Shore Conference, had wanted to start a program dealing with mental health issues.

“I was at a Shore Conference meeting where students were supposed to stand up and tell about positive things happening in their schools. Two students, one from St. Rose High School and Red Bank Regional said they introduced something called

Clemson University associated professor Skye Arthur Banning, PhD., and co-founder of U.S. Center Mental Health and Sport, teaches a certification class on mental health awarness to student athletes and coaches at Ocean Township High School.

a Hope Squad,” Chowning said. After listening to the presentation, Chowning, who played baseball and is on the track team, thought it was something he could bring back to his school. “I emailed Mr. Todd and our principals and told them about the program and said that we could use more mental health support, and they all liked the idea.”

The USC-MHS (U.S. Center Mental Health and Sport) is focused on making sporting environments a place where all can experience support for their mental health. Requirements to be an Athlete Mental Health Ambassador, are for athletes to be between the ages of 15-24 and are passionate about expanding mental health awareness and increasing the support available within their community.

Founders of USC-MHS are Margaret Domka, Executive Director and a PhD candidate at Clemson University Skye Arthur-Banning, PhD., Associate Professor at Clemson University and is the Director of Research and Development for USC-MHS were the presenters on Saturday afternoon.  The instructors stressed that when the students and coaches respond to what they believe is someone struggling with emotional or mental issues that they do not diagnose, they do not dismiss the person’s feelings. That they seek to understand and validate their experience.

“One of the key takeaways for me was the language to use. How to get someone to open up with asking the and phrasing the questions that will not alienate them, such as ‘tell me more about…’ or ‘I can see why this is exhausting.’ I never really thought about how important communicating correctly can be,” said Chowning.

The instructors gave examples of how to get the person struggling to look at different perspectives using phrases as; “Would it be helpful to hear what helped me in a similar situation?” One of the most important goals of the course is once they see, recognize and interact with someone suffering that they immediately seek out and report to a professional trained in the matter. They also stressed that they should never make promises that they can’t keep.

The student athletes and coaches were certified by USC-MHS in a course titled ACT! (Awareness, Challenges, Take Action and Resources & Notes). “It is just an amazing opportunity for our students and coaches to learn the signs and symptoms of a mental health challenge. Learning how to deescalate a crisis and providing resources is the first step for recovery,” said Todd.

Todd and the high school administration hope to have their team of certified students activated in September. “We are not going to call it the ‘Hope Squad’ as we want to give this special group of dedicated and certified students a name consistent with our Spartan philosophy. The administration and students are working on it together,” said Todd.

The training is not over for these Spartan athletes. This was just the first of many opportunities and courses offered by USC-MHS.