Unit3d Hilinski's Hope

Often when we face adversity we can focus on limitations and loss. Avery Camp is a wheelchair basketball national champion and wheelchair tennis four time national champion. She has reached a rank of as high as #37 in the world in wheelchair tennis. Avery has used the mindset of “what can I do” to adapt to circumstances and find her way into sport after an injury took her away from competitive gymnastics. On this episode of Unit3d, Avery shares her story and talks about aspects of her mindset that have helped her succeed in difficult times.

When we play sports as a kid, we play because it’s fun. As we get older, things can become more complex. When we are good at a sport, we get more invested in the outcome, more people become involved and invested in our performance, and we can lose the enjoyment of playing. If we can connect with our values, we can reconnect with our “why,” our reason for continuing in our sport. Chris Pomfret is a senior performance psychologist with Condor Performance in Brisbane, Australia. On this episode of Unit3d, Chris shares from across the world strategies for engaging in self-exploration to find out what we value and how that keeps us motivated to continue in the sport that was once played just for fun.

As a former athlete Jeremy Gray understands the mental health challenges that can happen, whether it's due to the stress and expectations of performance or the depression that can happen as a result of the inevitable transition that happens away from sport. He is now an Alabama State Representative working in politics to support athletes through legislation and advocacy. He has brought yoga to the schools in Alabama and created needed change for athletes. Jeremy shares his journey and the work he is doing now in the Alabama State Legislature.

Bill Kvalheim played football in college, but his biggest challenge would hit him once he graduated. Bill had experienced some anxiety and depression before, but without his purpose (which had been playing football), he felt lost and aimless. His depression worsened, his anxiety ramped up, and he finally asked for help to get better. Now he has a new purpose – a mission – to decrease stigma and let young athletes know that it’s ok to ask for help and that they are not alone. Bill has now started the nonprofit, Tackle Depression, which is designed to provide education, mentorship, and resources (including scholarships) for young people struggling with their own mental illness. He shares about his journey on this episode of Unit3d.

Athletes are often hard on themselves, particularly when it comes to past performances. Overly critical post-performance analyses are often inaccurate and unhelpful. Constantly berating ourselves for mistakes or missed opportunities can rob us of joy and create a relationship with our performance that is rife with fear. On this episode of Unit3d, Dr. Rachel Webb talks about the disadvantage of being hypercritical and not having a more accurate review of our past performances both athletically and emotionally.

The awareness around student-athlete mental health has come so far in the last couple of decades, although we still have a long way to go. Walt Norley was a quarterback at Ohio State and University of Georgia. Although he had success in his athletic career, he was struggling with an undiagnosed mental illness. Later in life he was diagnosed and treatment helped him thrive. He started and developed several tech companies and decided to use his personal experience to raise awareness and help other athletes improve their mental health. Through his data analytics company, OnBalance he is helping athletic departments deliver better mental health services to athletes. Through the podcast Athletes Onbalance he is raising awareness, having dialogue, and supporting the mental health of student-athletes everywhere.