As the semester comes to an end, I wanted to use my final post to reflect on the future of athlete mental health. During my time working on advocating for athlete mental health, and talking to current athletes and coaches, I have learned a lot about what goes on “behind the sport.”
Behind The Sport was inspired by my passion to spread awareness on athlete mental health, primarily from my own experiences as a student athlete. Growing up around sports, and wanting a career in sports, I have always wanted more representation for who the athletes are as people, and not just players.
The Start of BTS
My first interview was with Alex Crawford, a wrestler at Wartburg College. Being the first interview on Behind The Sport, I did not know what to expect. I wanted each athlete and coach that I spoke with to be as open and honest as possible, and I feel as though they were able to do just that. It’s not always easy to open up about mental health, especially not for athletes who are always in the public eye.
Below is the link to Alex Crawford’s interview/article:
Coaches Interview
While talking to athletes was my primary focus, I wanted to gain insight from some coaches as well. The first coach I was able to talk to was Ben Jacobson, the UNI Men’s Basketball coach. I knew I had wanted to get a couple different coaches perspectives, because I wanted to hear what it was like from their eyes. They work with the athletes every day, so I was interested to hear more about their take on athlete mental health, both as a coach and as a former athlete.
Below is the link to Coach Jacobson’s interview/article:
Lastly, my favorite interview that I did for this project was an interview with a long time mentor of mine, Hannah Bohn. Hannah is my former dance coach, and has always been someone I’ve looked up to as both a dancer and a person. We were able to reflect upon experiences we had gone through together, as well as expand upon the conversation specifically around dancer’s mental health. Being a dancer myself, this is a topic that has always been close to my heart. I am thankful I was able to get this time to talk about athlete mental health on a more personal level.
Below is the link to Hannah Bohn’s interview/article:
My Favorite Interview
What’s Next for BTS?
As the semester wraps up, I plan to continue to advocate for athlete mental health, and expand upon my platform with Behind The Sport. I hope to keep interviewing athletes and coaches, and create a space for athletes to find comfort in knowing that what they feel is okay. I know first hand how demanding being an athlete can be, and I want to continue to work on eliminating the stigma around athlete mental health.
