The Hidden Opponent x Sports Psychology Club

The Hidden Opponent x Sports Psychology Club (THO x SPC) 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 to campus, and hold a seminar for the student-athletes so they could learn from a professional. 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 Google Meet as well as in-person, as that may be easier to fit into their busy schedules if they would like to join. We will also provide detailed notes and announcements via Google Classroom, Slack, and email. 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. 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. We are also an official chapter of "The Hidden Opponent", a nationwide nonprofit organization that promotes mental health awareness for student-athletes across high school and college campuses. With this organization, we are able to provide resources and break the stigma on mental health in sports. We work with the NCAA and Club Sports Teams to host mental health awareness games, where we shine light on the importance of mental health with the help of a specific sports team. Working with "The Hidden Opponent" is an amazing way to promote mental health awareness in sports to student-athletes, as well as any student who either partakes in a sport on or off campus, or has a passion for mental health in the sports industry.

https://linktr.ee/thoxsportspsychclubucla
thoxsportspsychclub@gmail.com

Signatories: Emma Bar-Zion, Jason Ridley, and Jyztine Reyes

Advisor: Orlando Luna