Our Athletes Need Us
By Anna Pallozzi | IG: @amp1621
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, “Approximately 30% of women and 25% of men who are student-athletes report having anxiety, and only 10% of all college athletes with known mental health conditions seek care from a mental health professional” (2021). The average high school soccer team has 20 players, meaning an average of six players will struggle with their mental health at some point. The average high school softball team is around 15 players, again meaning an average of four and a half players will have difficulties relating to their mental health. With statistics like that, it is hard as a coach to know that at any given point that many of your players can be struggling, some of them silently, with something that they can get help with but probably do not know how to ask for it.
In my time transitioning from player to coach, we have seen an increase in the number of athletes experiencing various mental health crises. As a coach, it is my job to mentor, coach, and to help turn my athletes into better members of society. In a world that can be so cruel, the hardest part is not teaching them how to take care of their bodies or how to better read a pitch coming in or the best run to make in a soccer game but it is finding the tools to help them learn to take better care of themselves mentally.
As a coach of two varsity women's sports, daily I hear and see differences between taking care of themselves mentally and emotionally and not. And when a player is one of the approximately 30% it impacts the entire team. Other players hear it, other players see it, other players feel like it is their burden to feel. As an adult, these players turn to you for help. They want to know how to help. They don’t want their friend or teammate to be in trouble. Coaches NEED to be able to pick up on the warning signs, and they need to know how to best handle a player struggling because it impacts more than just one. However, we also need support. Being a young female coach myself, I have found that a lot of my players do feel comfortable confiding in me when they are having relationship issues, family problems, or just with some friend gossip because they want advice. I love that I am able to be this adult for them, but it also comes with the weight of knowing that they are hurting and have some very heavy emotions sometimes. Not only should coaches know how to best help these kids, we need support for ourselves. It can be a heavy thing to watch a team and individual player struggle with something as heavy as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, and the list goes on.
That is why in the state of Maryland, I have been a huge advocate for the passing of House Bill0204, formerly known as HB0375. House Bill0204 would require the Department of Education to develop guidelines for public schools to train coaches to recognize indicators of mental illness and behavioral distress in students who participate in athletics. Currently the Bill is awaiting the signing of Governor Wes Moore.
I hope through the growth of foundations like Morgan’s Message that more and more of our student athletes learn that they are not alone. I hope more coaches become involved in conversations, so that we can intercept more student athletes struggling before it is too late. And I hope more states, local governments, and school systems start requiring those of us who work with these athletes to know how to help better! Because 6 in 20 and 4.5 in 15 are odds I hope to erase in the future. Our athletes need us.
