Stockbridge Athletics celebrates Mental Health Month through partnership with Project Stockbridge
Information provided by SRSLY Stockbridge
If you attend a Stockbridge sporting event this spring, you may notice the teams sporting new warm-up shirts. These shirts are one part of a larger mental health campaign, Project Stockbridge, that launched in 2022 and is highlighted every May, in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month.
Project Stockbridge, which was developed in partnership between SRSLY Stockbridge, the Chelsea Hospital Mental Health Awareness and Training program, and Stockbridge youth, has three main goals:
- Increase knowledge and awareness of mental health resources in Stockbridge Community Schools and the community.
- Increase education on mental health language and how to talk about mental health with others.
- Increase respect and understanding of mental health in the community.
To address a couple of these goals this year, Project Stockbridge partnered with the Stockbridge Community Schools Athletic Department to provide free warm-up shirts for the spring athletic teams; the shirt included the Stockbridge and Project Stockbridge logos, “988” (the crisis line phone number), and a positive mental health phrase.
“Mental Health Awareness Month is very important to me,” said Ernie Rivers, the Stockbridge Community Schools Athletic Director. “It is something we need to do better at having conversations about and being more proactive with all of our students and staff.”
To encourage this conversation, each team was tasked with deciding the phrase for their shirts. This allowed them to discuss the topic of mental health with their team and take ownership over the message they would be sharing with others.
“Mental health for athletes is often brushed under the rug or chalked up to ‘try harder’ or ‘stop getting in your head,’” said a Stockbridge junior athlete. “With school, practice, and the demands of competitions, student-athletes are frequently stretched thin. Their mental health gets disregarded, and they aren’t offered the necessary means of support.”
To encourage mental health conversations and let students know there is support out there, the teams selected from four mental health phrases: “Progress Over Perfection,” “The Storms Never Last,” “It’s Okay to Have Bad Days,” and “Setbacks Do Not Equal Failure.”
To further support these messages, and the Stockbridge students and community members, mental health information and resources are being distributed at some home sporting events and other activities in Stockbridge throughout May.
“By allowing our student-athletes to freely express their emotions and get the help they need, we not only create better students and athletes, but better people” said a Stockbridge junior athlete.
These shirts are just one part of the larger Project Stockbridge campaign that has shared statistics and positive mental health messaging with students through apparel and banners. The project also plays a role in helping staff at Stockbridge Junior/Senior High School become trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid.
“I have lost some close friends because of their mental health struggles, and I want to do all I can to help those who continue to struggle,” Rivers said. “I am grateful for the partnership with our local mental health providers and Project Stockbridge for helping to start the conversation.”
For more information about Project Stockbridge, SRSLY Stockbridge, or the Cheslea Hospital Mental Health Awareness and Training Grant, please visit srslystockbridge.org or chelseahospital.org/mhat.
“Progress Over Perfection” is just one of the inspirational sayings available, through Project Stockbridge, to teams selecting warm-up shirts for promoting mental health awareness. Photo credit: Project Stockbridge
Stockbridge student athletes promote mental health awareness through inspirational messages on warm-up shirts provided by the Project Stockbridge community partnership. Photo credit: Project Stockbridge
