Mental health consideration for athletes should be mandatory

Despite there being zero intention for it to be, the list of requirements for coaching certification on the Ohio High School Athletic Association website and any state with similar standards is ironic.

The list of six items is fairly uniform:

• National Federation of State High School Associations Fundamentals of Coaching class

• CPR. first aid, concussion and Sudden Cardiac Arrest training

• BCI and FBI background checks

But for all the attention paid — and rightfully so — to injury diagnosis to those vital portions of the body, on paper it still doesn’t fully protect the head and the heart.

talents to Furman, and she took second in the Division II state cross country meet behind Chagrin Falls’ Annie Zimmer.

No. 8

• South freshman Riley Frizell commits to the University of Missouri before playing a single inning of high school softball. (11)

Riley Frizell ventured into waters no area softball player — no area athlete for that matter — had ever reached when she committed to college before beginning her freshman year of high school.

A standout softball player, the 29th-ranked freshman in the nation when she made her commitment, Frizell said she would attend the University of Missouri in the summer.

Frizell had plenty of options regarding schools who were recruiting her, including Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee and Maryland. She said she made part of her decision based on “where you want to spend the next four years of your life, regardless of softball.”

She lived up to the hype this past spring, leading The News-Herald area in home runs (10), RBI (46), to go with a school-record 36 runs scored. She tied for the area lead in pitching wins (16) with a 1.76 ERA and 120 strikeouts.

No. 9

• Lake Catholic and Kirtland advance to the state finals in girls soccer (8)

The Cougars’ and Hornets’ girls soccer teams each made their first appearances on the big stage at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus. In Division II, Lake Catholic faced Indian Hill, which got a strike 86 seconds into the match and a key goal before halftime for a 2-0 win. In Division III, Kirtland suffered a decisive setback to perennial power Summit Country Day.

No. 10

• (tie) Chase Kline commits to Michigan State, and Hawken swimming dominates the state (6)

The recruitment of Chase Kline reached a national scale before the 6-foot-3, 230-pound linebacker ultimately signed with Michigan State on the first day of the early signing period on Dec. 20.

“My dream is to go to the NFL,” Kline said the day he verballed to Michigan State. “I think they give me a great opportunity to do so, so that’s definitely my dream, and I think we could go to the national championship. Win a couple of those and then get to my future dreams.”

Once again, Hawken dominated in the state swimming meet. The girls, with 11 top-four finishes and 305 points, extended “The Streak” with their 19th straight team championship, the third longest active girls swimming state title streak in the United States and are now tied with four other programs for the fourth-most titles in the country with their 27th. The boys also reigned over the Buckeye State, winning their first state team crown since 1989 with 230 points and six top fours.

Honorable mention

Others receiving votes: Leah King raises money for headstone of former Harvey football great (4 points), Gabby Blackford wins state gymnastics title (4), Euclid running back Ronald Lee threatens school rushing record of Robert Smith (3), Beachwood wins first ever state title in a girls sport in track (3), NDCL golfer Charlie Toman win his second state medalist honor (3)

Because mental health awareness should be a much more mandatory piece of that framework.

For reasons passing understanding, talking openly about depression, anxiety and other disorders became a stigma.

In the context of sports, it’s even more vital to ensure that comfort to say it because, with the pressure of expectation and peak performance, saying, sharing or accepting there is an issue is seemingly in some circles considered to be a weakness.

High school sports, in part, is navigating adversity. The fundamentals of figuring a way through tough times as a teenager in competition can be carried well into adult life.

But mental fortitude and mental imbalance aggressively pull from their polar extremes — and fending off imbalance is a constant struggle.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America estimates one in every four teenagers ages 13-18 is affected by anxiety. Nearly 6 percent of those are classified with “severe” anxiety.

According to Mental Health America, severe depression among youth rose from 5.9 percent in 2012 to 8.2 percent in 2015. More than 1.7 million youth with “major depressive episodes” were not treated. Nearly 12 percent of youth ages 12-17 have had at least one MDE in the past year.

Mental Health America classified major depression as being “marked by significant and pervasive thoughts of sadness that are associated with suicidal thoughts and impair a young person’s ability to concentrate or engage in normal activities.”

Of the 51 governing bodies for high school sports — 50 states and District of Columbia — only Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon and Wisconsin have space devoted on their websites to resources for mental health, up to and including suicide prevention.

I’m reminded a few years ago of covering an area high school football game. It was late in the third quarter, with the home team driving into the red zone. The team faced a crucial thirddown play, and the quarterback didn’t break the huddle and get the formation set as quickly as he would have preferred as the play clock wound down.

Faced with taking a delay of game or taking a timeout at an inopportune time, the QB chose the latter. As he took the timeout and walked to the sideline, a man stood up with his arms raised, yelled, “What are you doing?” and vociferously booed the QB.

This now becomes hypothetical, of course. But what if that young man had severe depression? What if that man’s behavior acted as an impetus for the QB to question his self-worth, and

no one knew?

When teenagers are affected by contemplation of self-worth — in this example through sports — and either don’t want to say it or don’t know how, they need people in their lives who care about them to notice and assist.

With that in mind, here is a suggestion for a mandatory requirement in Ohio and across the country that goes beyond merely acknowledging more needs to be done:

Before every high school sports season (fall, winter and spring), those coaches and their administrators should sit down with a school psychologist or mental health professional from their community.

Let the expert explain to coaches what the warning signs are and how to interact with and diagnose those with mental health disorders. Those lessons can then be imparted in those buildings and teams.

In 2016, the NFHS had a presentation on “Mental Health Issues in the High School Athlete.” At the end of the presentation, it was stated, “Identification of mental health issues in high school and college athletes is a top priority for the NCAA and NFHS.”

Then put it on paper and do something.

It’s not to say people don’t already. But we should care as much about the extrovert who comes from a broken home off the pitch as the central defender in soccer who can mark an opposing striker out of a match.

We should care as much about the quiet, timid soul who volunteers without fanfare at a local homeless shelter as the point guard who can create off a pick-and-roll in basketball.

We should care as much about the unhappy introvert as much as we do the swimmer who is a sub-21 in boys 50-yard freestyle or sub-55 girls 400 runner in track and field going Division I for college.

It would be hypocritical to not promote mental health awareness and the idea it’s OK to say it out loud without acknowledging my own lifelong battle with depression, especially as a teenager. Your mind goes to dark places, and to an extent, pondering selfworth never goes away.

That’s why this is so near and dear to my heart.

I know there are young people struggling like I did — and tragically, there are a few who can no longer be helped. But for those out there affected by mental health disorders, know you are important.

Please know selfworth isn’t — and never will be — determined by athletic prowess or success.

It’s not determined by bad people who belittle or think mental health is a stigma or dismissible.

It’s determined by you — and many of us are here to help in any way we can.

Lillstrung can be reached at CLillstrung@NewsHerald.com; on Twitter: @CLillstrungNH