When most of us picture a varsity athlete, we tend to envision a strong, healthy, organized and determined person. However, this picture may not always reflect reality. Student athletes are subject to unique stresses that can affect their personal lives, grades, and with that, their mental health.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 20 per cent of Canadians will personally experience mental health difficulties in their lifetime. Although student athletes can appear strong, they are no exception to this. Fortunately, the University of Guelph provides a number of resources to help guide students through their university career. Services provided include the Wellness Education Centre, Student Health Services, counselling, the Student Athlete Mentorship program, the Student Support Network, Good 2 Talk and more.
According to Pat McGrath, a defensive back on the football team, a lot of these resources are going unused by student athletes. Often, there can be an expectation for varsity athletes to be strong all the time, which can cause them to not to seek out help.
Field hockey captain Libby Pritchard agrees. “I think it’s the pressure we put on ourselves as competitive athletes; you want to push yourself to be better all the time, in school and in sport. If you show a weakness on the field then you could get pulled or benched, so you don’t want to ever show weakness. For example, if your body is hurting you push through it because you don’t want to ever not play,” said Pritchard. “You’re expected to do so much anyways-school, workout, your schoolwork, practice-that you kind of have to be able to push through a lot of stuff, so we are sort of expected to be stronger, [to] not show those weak points or we don’t play.”
In most cases, student athletes at Guelph have good support from their coaches and teammates. It can be difficult for athletes to feel able or comfortable to approach their peers and coaches when they have something going on in their life. “Everyone is working towards the same goal, you know you have to have a strong head on your shoulders and if you’re vulnerable you’re not really there mentally,” Katie Klatt from the track and field team shared. When asked if she felt if she could go to her coaches and teammates, she answered, “Teammates, yes. Coaches, I’m sure I could, but a lot of the time it’s more of a professional relationship than anything else.” Student athletes need to be surrounded by people who are able to understand what they are going through. It is possible that coaches at Guelph could be more pro-active in checking in with their athletes to make sure they are getting the support that they need. Some athletes find it difficult to go to their teammates as well, since everyone is dealing with the same types of stress. “I think people have an issue stressing out about school around the team, because everyone is dealing with that,” said Averi Nooren from the women’s ice hockey team.
Mark Emode, who competes in the heptathlon for the track and field team, has a different perspective. “Being an athlete, sometimes you are more connected with your team because you spend so much time with them. Five to six days training with them, with durations between two to three hours, and weekends are competitions, so that’s a lot of time you’re spending with them. I do expect that you could be able to go to your teammates for help if you needed it as well.” The consensus among these student athletes at Guelph is that the most stressful part about being a student athlete is finding time: the time to do homework, sleep, go to practice and to maintain a social life. Balancing out all the different factors in their lives can create stresses and worries where other students may not have issues.
For some sports, playing is almost like having a full time job on top of the demands of school. Pat McGrath and the football team spend a large portion of their time going to practice, workouts and video sessions. “Between everything, if it’s a home game, it works out to about 35 hours a week, and significantly more if it’s an away game,” McGrath explains.
Lauren Dewar from the field hockey team agreed that it’s all about finding time. “We’re up late studying, and then we have 6 a.m. practices. So it’s finding four hours there, four hours here and a few hours during the day to sleep.”
The Wellness Education Centre believes student athletes need to prioritize their mental health. “At the Wellness Centre we believe that mental health is something that needs to be worked on and cultivated just like your physical health does, and so what we’re concerned about is that athletes may be sacrificing their mental health because of so much pressure to build up their physical health. That’s just something we want to bring attention to; that part of being a healthy person is taking care of yourself mentally, spiritually and physically,” said Jordi, a Wellness Centre representative.
Student athletes face unique pressure and challenges in balancing their athletic and academic careers, but the University of Guelph works to create a supportive environment in which all students have access to resources that can help them manage stress.