USF Athletics

USF Raising Mental Health Awareness in October

October 02, 2017

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, OCT. 2, 2017 – About 25 percent of adults living in the United States deal with a mental health issue at some point in their lives.

USF Athletics, the American Athletic Conference and the rest of the league's schools are bringing the important subject to the forefront during their mental health awareness initiative throughout October.

"Breaking the stigma of mental health is so important," said USF track and field student-athlete Ashley Wilson. "Mental health is so important and so many people have such a struggle getting help or not realizing it's a strength, not a weakness, to get help."

The American's mental health awareness initiative is coordinated through each conference member's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and USF has several things planned for October.

Everyone in USF Athletics has been given #Pow6rfulMinds wristbands to wear throughout the month and fans will see more attention raised during competition. USF's teams will sport green shoelaces in honor of the initiative at home athletic events: cross country (USF Invitational, Oct. 13), football (vs. Cincinnati, Oct. 14), volleyball (vs. UConn, Oct. 15), men's soccer (vs. FIU, Oct. 17) and women's soccer (vs. Temple, Oct. 19).

"It's all about decreasing the stigma surrounding mental health, especially in athletics," said Jodie Libadisos, USF's associate director of athletics for student-athlete enhancement. "The color associated with mental health is green."

Wilson, USF's SAAC co-president along with football center Cameron Ruff, and the rest of the Bulls' committee have more plans in store as well. USF student-athletes recently joined forces with BullsVision to produce a mental health awareness video that will play at games throughout the month. Sports without videoboards will have public service announcements read at events as well.

On top of all that, members of USF Athletics will bring the subject to social media, where they'll be posting photos of wristbands and shoelaces with the #Pow6rfulminds hashtag to spread awareness of mental health. Follow along on Twitter @SAAC_USF and Instagram HERE.

USF Athletics Takes Mental Health Seriously
The mental health awareness initiative runs throughout October for USF, but the Bulls bring attention to the subject on a yearlong basis.

USF Athletics has provided a behavioral health service to student-athletes since October 2014. USF is officially the only school in the conference that has a fully embedded position in athletics and the program is coordinated by Dr. Lee Dorpfeld, Psy. D, a trained licensed counselor and certified consultant for sports psychology.

"Because of the culture we have developed and the support of the administration, coaches and staff, we've done a really good job of de-stigmatizing mental health issues and increasing help-seeking behaviors in an age group and population that is traditionally more difficult to engage," Dorpfeld said. "Being in the department and easily accessible helps increase the student-athletes' utilization of the service. They see it as another support service to make them better rather than something to be ashamed of or embarrassing to seek out." 

USF student-athletes have found Dorpfeld as a great source of support and Dorpfeld credits Director of Athletics Mark Harlan for making it possible. Other conference programs like Cincinnati, SMU, UCF and UConn also offer help through counseling centers or outside providers. Temple has created a position, much like Dorpfeld's, that it looks to fill.

"It was Mark who decided he wanted to create this for our student-athletes," Dorpfeld said. "Mark chose that he wanted to provide this service uniquely in-house and embedded as part of our culture and our department."

USF SAAC co-president Ashley Wilson, a junior track and field athlete, is pursuing a career in clinical/sports psychology and said she's proud of the Bulls for having Dorpfeld's service in place.

"He's making a very strong impact with mental health and the sports psychology side of it," Wilson said. "You might have anxiety due to performance. He really helps you figure out what's going on and why. He helps so many people and it's amazing."
 
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men's and women's teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls' athletic program celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2015, having begun with a men's soccer contest in 1965. Nearly 500 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 12 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including four in 2016-17, and own 109 conference championships overall. Ten USF programs reached national post-season competition in the 2016-17 season and nine were ranked in the Top 25 nationally. The Bulls posted a program-record 86 percent Graduation Success Rate (2016) in the last reporting, logged an annual department grade-point average over a 3.0 for the second straight year and saw 106 student-athletes earn their degree during the 2016-17 academic period.