Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 4 | March 2020

12 Inside Hokie Sports Virginia Tech Athletics’ emphasis on addressing mental health issues continued recently when Victoria Garrick, a former volleyball player at the University of Southern California and noted mental health advocate, made the cross country journey to Blacksburg to discuss mental health topics with Virginia Tech student-athletes and staff members in mid-February. Garrick, a one-time walk-on to the No. 1-ranked volleyball team in the nation who went on to a record-setting collegiate career, began publicly advocating for student-athlete mental health during her sophomore season at USC after dealing with anxiety and depression. She delivered a TEDx Talk on the topic in 2017 that has garnered 257,000 views on YouTube, and the now-noted national public speaker and podcast host has seen her work on the topics of mental health and body image featured in The Players’ Tribune, USA Today College, Popsugar magazine, and through her social media accounts of a combined 200,000 followers. And interestingly, the power of social media actually led to her visiting Virginia Tech. Last spring, a group of Tech student-athletes worked with the department’s Office of Student-Athlete Development and formed THRIVE—a program designed to address mental health topics with other student-athletes in small group settings. A team of ambassadors, now called the “THRIVE Tribe,” was created, and they, with the help Natalie Forbes (senior director of student-athlete personal development) and Lauren Naldo (counseling and athletic mental performance staff counselor), held two workshops this past fall. This past December, they came to Forbes with the idea of bringing Garrick to campus. “They had seen Victoria on social media and heard of her coming to different schools to speak,” Forbes said. “They wanted to bring her in, so I contacted her in December to talk with her about her coming, and we decided that she would come in early February.” On Feb. 17, Garrick spoke to three different groups within the Virginia Tech Athletics Department. The first event was with Tech’s coaches and support staff, including those who worked in the areas of academic advising, sports medicine, nutrition, student-athlete development, and strength and conditioning. More than 50 attended the session. Garrick shared her story of how she coped with mental health struggles even though she enjoyed a successful playing career. She also told the coaches and support staff what to look for among their respective student-athletes who may be struggling and how to start a conversation with them about those struggles. She encouraged them to provide an environment that fosters growth. Garrick used activities, videos from NBA star LeBron James and former star Kobe Bryant (who passed away not long ago in a helicopter crash), and her own personal stories to engage the group. Afterward, Gary Bennett—associate athletics director for sport psychology—conducted a Q&A session with her that connected her experiences with some of the same things he and his staff have seen among Virginia Tech student-athletes. “Victoria’s visit to the Virginia Tech Athletics Department far exceeded our expectations,” Bennett said. “The session she had with our coaches and other staff members opened the eyes of everyone in the room about the reality of mental health issues and college athletics.” The second session—entitled “Mind Matters—was open to any student-athlete, andmore than 100 attended. Again, Garrick shared her story, and she used videos, memes, stats, and her personal experiences to help the student-athletes relate. She covered the topics of anxiety, depression, performance struggles, stress, the impact of social media, and other areas of mental health, and she gave them some takeaways to help them improve their mental health—things such as meditation, taking a break, talking to someone whom they trust, and utilizing a growth mindset in which one turns tough situations into positives. She then opened the discussion for questions. The Office of Student- Athlete Development set up a “Poll Everywhere,” a website interface that allowed the student-athletes to text in questions anonymously and thus avoid feeling uncomfortable. In closing, she told them to devote some time to mental well-being, and she encouraged them to reach out for support. She stayed afterward for impromptu discussions with student-athletes seeking advice and with those who simply wanted to thank her. The final session—entitled “Rise and THRIVE”—was open only to female student-athletes and centered more on body image, body positivity, and self-esteem. The THRIVE group teamed with “Rise”—a women’s leadership group through the Leadership Institute within the Tech athletics department—to create the topics and program structure for this session. Approximately 50 female student-athletes attended. Garrick shared her experiences on body image and her struggles as an athlete, and then Forbes and Shelby Miller (senior director of student-athlete leadership development) coordinated activities that included breaking into small groups and discussing three topics: empowering self-talk, comparisons to others (and not doing that), and gratitude. The goals were to create discussion, generate some self-reflection, and maybe most importantly, to create a community among one another. After the event, Garrick stayed for more than an hour to speak with student-athletes who wanted to share their own struggles or experiences, or ask questions. “I am so glad I got a chance to listen to Victoria and hearing about her college journey and experiences,” Tech women’s tennis player Nika Kozar said. “She is such a positive person, and I loved listening to her. I could relate to Victoria on a lot of different levels, and just hearing how she dealt with her problems helped me a lot. I realized how important Tech Athletics continues commitment to mental wellness At the invitation of the Office of Student-Athlete Development, former USC volleyball standout and national public speaker Victoria Garrick spoke to student-athletes, coaches, and support staff about her battles with depression and how to break the stigma of talking about mental health by Jimmy Robertson