Michael Jordan once said that the game is 80% mental, 20% physical, and in an ever-changing landscape, young athletes are dealing with more mental challenges than ever before. On Saturday in Dumfries, several leaders in the community came together both in person and online to speak on how today’s up-and-coming athletes can address those challenges and begin the process towards healing in the mind so they can be prepared on the field.

Meeting at Five14 Wine Paint & Bar Studio, the Community Health Outreach Program, Heart 4 The Community Initiative, and Word of Faith Christian Fellowship Church hosted the Youth Athlete Mental Health Workshop. Hosted by Pastor Gary Holland & moderated by Carl Armstrong of “Carl’s Conversations,” many young players came in attendance to hear from the panel, which included Freedom High School football coach and founder of Playmakers Elite Darryl Overton, Apostle Karen Bettis-Davis, suicide advocate Rosie Rogers, and Heather Hutchinson, founder of the SoundMind Collective, a group of professionals who work with public and private organizations to bring education and change to civil and human rights issues. Among the virtual panelists were Dr. Kenneth Jones, Thera Storm of the Grief Recovery Method, Dr. Zanitha and Bob Reddish of IMPOWEREDD, and former NFL player Ben Tate.

They began by discussing the effects of the pandemic, and how it has impacted students’ mental health. “What has happened recently has brought attention to mental health on all levels,” said Overton. “A lot of the things that are going on with young athletes have been going on for a long time, and now people are acknowledging it.”

“Whenever we see children excelling in one area doesn’t mean they’re excelling in all areas,” said Bettis-Davis, a chaplain for the Playmakers Elite. “Children carry the weight of their parents, and some feel the responsibility of getting their family out of poverty, and they carry it early in life.”

Tate, talked about his experiences growing up and dealing with the balance of athletics and academic management. “It starts at a young age,” said Tate. “You deal with a lot, and now there are travel leagues with every sport. In my time, you had the pressure of trying to keep your grades up. Early on I knew that if I didn’t get a scholarship, I wasn’t going to college, so I knew I had to do my best in both to succeed.”

Another topic that was discussed was how parents can help their child overcome the barriers. “As a parent, one of the things that is clear to me that as adults we expect more from our children and teenagers than we do from ourselves,” said Hutchinson. “Some of us are realizing how we feel as adults ourselves, but with our kids, when they have behaviors that are offensive to us, instead of digging deep and finding out what’s the source of this pain, we either over-discipline or we lecture. They may be dealing with the same things that we are incapable of handling well.”

She also went on to discuss a TikTok trend in which children will announce the year of their birth and 2022 by saying they’re ready to check out.

Rogers reinforced the idea that too often the tangible is given preference over what is unseen, and that can lead to several problems down the road. “We put a lot of emphasis on the physical but not the mental,” said Rogers, “but the mental is your star player! All of that has to be healthy in order for the team to function.”

They also took questions from the athletes in attendance, and solutions were offered for parents to become engaged by learning about the sport, to creating an environment of encouragement on all levels.

After the event, Holland spoke about the importance of having these types of workshops. “Too often we assume student-athletes are fine because we stop looking past the field, court, and track. With the turmoil we’ve had to endure the last few years, we must take the time to listen to and help our youth.”

“If we don’t,’ he concluded, “who will?”

The next workshop is scheduled for August.