The Minutewomen wear green hair bows and bracelets in the game against Davidson
Streamers and signs decorated the fence surrounding Rudd Field for the Massachusetts women’s soccer team game against Davidson, where UMass collaborated with Hidden Opponent, a nonprofit organization focused on advocating for the mental health of student-athletes .
Hidden Opponent was founded in 2019 by victoria garrick, former University of Southern California Division I women’s volleyball player. Having battled anxiety and depression herself, Garrick set out to create a space that was safe for all student-athletes.
With green bows in their hair and green armbands, the Minutewomen lined up at midfield, along with the officials and the Wildcats to take a moment of silence before the game to honor all those who have been lost to ill health. mental. . Next, it was Bella Mendoza at net, which was fitting since the junior goalkeeper is an ambassador for the Hidden Opponent campus.
“It’s just an organization that strives to break down the stigma around student-athlete mental health and raise awareness that it’s a real thing,” Mendoza said. “I think it’s important that we had a game to address the problem.”
Mendoza went through her own mental health struggles last year, struggling through what she explained was “one of the lowest points in my life.”
“My best friend, she saved my life. And I think that’s what sparked something within me to want to make a change and take the next step to get involved in any way possible,” Mendoza said.
The best friend in question: Lauren Bonavita. She, along with the rest of the Minutewomen, helped make the signs that lined the fence for Sunday’s game.
“It meant a lot to me,” Mendoza said. “It’s very touching to know that everyone cares so much and everyone takes it seriously, and there are so many people, not only in our team, but in the athletic department who care so much about this and think it’s something to must be spoken. on.”
As a campus ambassador, Mendoza is joined by Abby Packard, a softball player, and Andrew Chabon, a former track and field athlete. This was the first Hidden Opponent event this year at UMass, but they hope to have more in football, hockey, and basketball games.
“We’ve had mental health training,” Packard said. “We’re just building on our campus, but right now it’s in all 50 states and it’s in a bunch of colleges.”
With more than 800 campus ambassadors this year across the United States in college and high school, Hidden Opponent continues to grow.
“Realistically, it’s not just about student athletes, everyone’s mental health is important,” Chabon said. “But we understand that athletes are often found to be these kinds of superior role models, they have different standards that they can’t have the same level of vulnerability that ‘normal’ people have.”
The main message Hidden Opponent is trying to get across is that each person, and specifically student-athletes, are not alone.
“We talk about it a lot and we encourage those conversations to be had,” head coach Jason Dowiak said. “It’s a big problem and it’s quite scary because we’re seeing too many situations where people don’t feel like living is the best option for them. So it’s just that we’re trying to help bring awareness and keep that conversation going in the direction where more student-athletes have the confidence and comfort to talk about how they feel.”
Sophie Weller can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @SophieeWellerr.
