Four Saints Featured in Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit
Four Santa Fe student-athletes shared their experiences and fielded questions during the Alachua County Public Schools Mental Health Summit
Gainesville, FL
Four Santa Fe College student-athletes attended and spoke at the Alachua County Public Schools Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit on Thursday, May 22nd at the UF Champions Club at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the campus of the University of Florida.
Two Baseball student-athletes and two Men's Basketball student-athletes were also included in on the panel. Joshua Watkins (MBB), Predrag Panisic (MBB), Conner Brown (Base), and Kyler Nowling (Base) all represented Santa Fe College and were able to share their personal experiences with mental health with all attendees.
"It meant a lot to hear other people open up," says SF student-athlete Joshua Watkins. "We all go through stuff, so events like this remind us that we are not alone."
Patric Young, former Florida Gators basketball player and current SEC Network commentator, was the keynote speaker. Young addressed his personal experiences with mental health during his time as a student-athlete, and helped field questions asked by middle and high schoolers as well as their parents.
Santa Fe student-athlete panel discussions primarily surrounded the role that mental health plays with them in their sport. Additionally, they touched on strategies to help deal with the pressures that come with being a student-athlete at each level.
Jeff Tholen, (SF Baseball Alum 1999) attended this summit with his 9th grade twin athletes at Buchholz. "Mental health is so important for all student-athletes to be aware of and nurture. The Santa Fe Saints did such a fantastic job sharing experiences and providing advice to young middle & high school athletes and parents in attendance." At the conclusion of breakout sessions for smaller group discussions, each SF student-athlete ended the night by sharing advice that they would have given themselves as middle and high school athletes. "They were authentic, and spoke from the heart to help their community," Tholen added. "This was so awesome to see, and brought great pride to see as a Santa Fe Alumni."