Sports Psychology Club

The Sports Psychology Club is designed to promote mental health to the student-athletes on campus. We would work hand in hand with the coaches and student-athletes to give them access to mental health resources that are designed specifically for student-athletes. Everyone undergoes stress at school, but there is a stigma surrounding student-athletes and how they manage their stress. With the stress of school on top of their sport, we could find ways to reduce the stressors in their lives, while giving them information and guidance about how they can value the importance of their mental health. We would provide student outreach programs specifically for the student-athletes that raise awareness about the importance of mental health. One example of this could be by bringing in a licensed clinical sports psychologist who is trained to work with professional athletes, and hold a seminar for the student-athletes so they could learn from a professional. Another idea would be to hold activities to alleviate stressors in the student-athletes' lives. This could be done in a way as simple as providing free breakfast to the athletes after their morning practice so that they do not have to rush to the dining hall, and then sprint to class if they are under time pressure. Another way we could do this is by trying to form a partnership with Bird, and try to get free scooter rides for the athletes because they typically use the scooters to get to and from practices. The main goal of this club is to provide positive mental health resources and spread awareness for this particular group of students, because sports psychology is very niche and overlooked. Hopefully, this club will serve as a way to positively incorporate mental health into the lives of student-athletes, and raise awareness for any mental health-related issues these students may be experiencing. We will also make this club extremely accessible for the student-athletes themselves, because we understand it is hard for these students to get involved in clubs on campus due to their busy schedules. We would do so by holding meetings on Zoom that may be easier to fit into their busy schedules if they would like to join, and if they can’t make the Zoom meetings, we will pre-record them and send them out with a set of notes. This way, if students do not have time to watch or attend meetings, they can stay in the loop and still be involved in the club to whatever capacity they can contribute. We will also definitely reach out to the coaches privately, and ask them if there are any specific things they think would be beneficial to help their student-athletes during the academic year. Finally, we would also love to administer a survey to all the student-athletes, where they could give us their anonymous opinions about things they are stressed about, so we could try to find ways to alleviate those stressors.

sportspsychclubucla@gmail.com

Signatories: Emma Bar-Zion, Emma Swafford, and Sarah Nassar

Advisor: Orlando Luna