MADISON – Like many college athletes, Emma Jaskaniec has a stormy relationship with social media.
Jaskaniec, a senior soccer player for the University of Wisconsin, feels disconnected when she’s not online.
“My generation,” he said, “I feel like if you’re not in it, you’re out of the loop. it’s crazy
“I wake up and check it out. I go to class and after class I review it.
“I don’t even know if I’m addicted to social media, but I’m addicted to my phone.”
Staying online is a lifesaver for the Menomonee Falls High School graduate. But that lifesaver can create dangers for athletes.
“It’s a little bit different for women’s soccer,” Jaskaniec acknowledged. “We’re not a headline sport.”
But?
“I’ve talked to other female athletes and I think a lot of people expect us to be perfect in everything we do,” Jaskaniec said. “Look perfect or have the perfect body or have the best performance you can possibly have.
“So seeing that on social media all the time really gets to you.”
Jaskaniec, who uses meditation to help manage anxiety issues, was part of a four-person panel that discussed the stigma of talking about and addressing mental health issues. Joining her Tuesday night at UW’s Union South for “Tackle The Stigma” were former UW football players Montee Ball and Chris Borland and Dr. Kris Eiring, former director of sports and clinical psychology at the UW who is now in private practice.
Athletes reluctant to show vulnerability
The session was sponsored by uncut Madison, a nonprofit media platform designed to enable UW athletes to share their life stories. The session lasted just over an hour and the topics covered were varied.
Ball, a 2011 junior Heisman Trophy finalist who left the University of Washington with 77 rushing touchdowns and 83 total touchdowns, spoke about his battle with alcoholism.
Borland, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a fifth-year senior in 2013, discussed what his life has been like since he walked away from the NFL after his rookie season with the San Francisco 49ers, worried about a possible head injury.
Eiring, a decorated sprinter at New Holstein High School who ran at UW from 1982 to 1986, discussed the strides society has made in recognizing mental health issues and discussing them more openly.
Three college athletes have died by suicide since March 2. They are Katie Meyer, 22, goalkeeper and captain of the Stanford soccer team; Lauren Bernett, a 20-year-old softball player at James Madison; and 21 years Sarah Shulze, who competed in cross country and track and field at UW.
Borland told the audience that athletes tend to mask their fights in an effort to appear invincible.
“I think athletes are notoriously bad patients,” he said. “There are many reasons not to share any of your struggles or to appear weak. You have every incentive in the world not to appear vulnerable.
Ball lasted just two seasons in the NFL after being selected in the second round of the 2013 draft by Denver, largely due to his drinking problems. In 2016, he was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of assault as part of a plea deal for his role in two incidents of domestic abuse.
sought counseling for alcoholism, wrote a book about their struggles and is an outreach specialist for Wisconsin Voices for Recovery.
Ball, who played sparingly as a freshman in 2009 and considered asking to switch positions early in the 2010 season, shared Tuesday how he struggled to deal with criticism online.
“It just wasn’t easy to digest some of those stories or comments,” Ball said. “If I missed a block, it was adult men and women who would beat me up. It’s an unreal experience.”
How did you manage?
He drank.
“When I was intoxicated, it allowed me to silence those voices,” he said.
Check social media during and after matches
Borland and Ball admitted they can’t fathom how college athletes deal with the pervasiveness of social media today.
Some UW athletes insist that they stay away from their social media accounts during their respective seasons and not miss a beat. Some athletes have been known to check their accounts immediately after games, and sometimes at halftime of a contest, to get a sense of fan criticism.
“It talks about distractions and it talks about your mind being completely where you don’t need to be,” Eiring said. “That is.”
Eiring suggested that coaches shouldn’t be afraid to require their players to stay off their accounts during the season.
“Absolutely,” she said. “If that’s creating a really toxic environment and lowering your confidence, cut it out for a short time.
“If we know something is affecting performance and it’s tangible and we can change it, why not consider it? Because you can always go back. So why not do it, at least temporarily?
Easier said than done. Coaches who make such a claim could be criticized for exerting too much control over their athletes.
And Jaskaniec acknowledged that athletes might resist.
Asked how she and her teammates might react if head coach Paula Wilkins required players to stay off social media during the season, Jaskaniec predicted a fight would ensue.
“I think they would probably throw a tantrum and then we would argue with her,” Jaskaniec said. “And then if she put her foot down, we’d do it and realize that’s a good thing.”
Wilkins, like other coaches at UW, requires players to throw their phones in a bucket before team meals.
No text messages. Just talking.
“That has helped me connect a lot more with my teammates,” Jaskaniec said. “Because I’ve been to restaurants and I’ve seen entire families, all four members, scrolling through phones.”
Eiring admitted that requiring athletes to close their social media accounts in the new era of Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) could prove problematic.
“If you look at it from a money standpoint (vs.) from a welfare standpoint,” he said, “you have to make a choice.”
editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 or text “Hopeline” to the National Crisis Text Line at 741- 741. The Milwaukee County 24-hour crisis line can be reached at 414-257-7222.
