'You don't feel alone': Junior hockey players welcome mental health support program (2023)

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Ethan Zielke and the Humboldt Broncos don’t feel alone.

Zielke — who is captain of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Broncos — knows there’s mental health support available for not only his teammates but for teams and junior hockey players across Canada.

That, he said, is of great importance.

“There’s a lot of stress with things that come with the game,” admitted Zielke, when asked about the impact of a Canadian Mental Health Association program, Talk Today. “You’re at the rink all the time. With the pressure, and all the things that come with it, to have those avenues of support and people to go to is always nice because you don’t feel alone.

“It’s been a huge help for our guys. It makes life a lot easier.”

The support is there if you need it.

“I know of a couple of guys who have gone to the resources that we have, used them well. It’s benefitted them and they’ve appreciated having it,” added Zielke.

“It helped with guys staying here and staying with hockey. I think that it’s huge for those guys.”

Zielke’s sentiments are shared by a majority of junior A hockey players surveyed through a McGill University study, which reveals an overall positive impact of the nationwide Talk Today program on Canadian Junior Hockey League athletes.

The report was released Thursday afternoon.

Overall, 91 per cent of the surveyed CJHL players whose teams participated in the program during the 2021-22 season, agreed or strongly agreed they were satisfied with the program, 94 per cent learned “a medium amount” to “a lot” about mental health and 86 per cent said they were likely or very likely to change the way they responded to individuals with mental health issues.

Further, 69 per cent of the participants demonstrated a decrease in their own self-stigma about mental health and suicide.

‘HUGELY IMPORTANT’

“I can’t understate how important this (program) is to our athletes —It’s hugely important,” said Burlington, Ont.-based CJHL president Andy Harkness in an interview.

“It’s a stressful time in their life, just being teenagers or young adults, and there are pressures that they face as hockey players and aspiring professional hockey players … Just to see (the report), it’s something the way it has been embraced … that they’re open to it. It’s hugely progressive.

“Our CMHA partners are doing tremendous work to ensure our rinks and dressing rooms are safe and supportive spaces where teammates and team personnel can speak openly about mental health.”

The McGill study concludes that the “preliminary analysis of the 2021–22 data collected demonstrated very promising results” regarding participant satisfaction and effectiveness of the program.

“The present findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the program in reducing participants’ levels of stigma, improving their confidence to seek help and improving their knowledge and confidence to support individuals with mental health issues or thoughts of suicide,” the report read.

Harkness said the phrase, “it’s OK to not be OK,” rings true.

“Just that story in Brandon, where some of the CHL (Brandon Wheat Kings) kids were walking by and saw something that didn’t look right, the fact that they took the time, instead of just moving on,” Harkness pointed out.

“It’s something that these kids’ awareness is more finely tuned or in tune, which is hugely important and programs like this can just helps kids know that’s OK not to be OK, whether it’s themselves or friends or whether it’s their peers, team staff, trainers.

“The fact that they can identify things, or have more tools to identify things, to be able to find the help that they need and, more importantly, know where to turn to get help.”

Talk Today aims to promote suicide prevention, the mental health of young athletes and to spread awareness about the benefits of positive mental health throughout communities around the country.

The program was introduced in select CJHL leagues in 2019 and has expanded to eight of its member leagues across the country this season. CJHL’s Talk Today, as well as McGill’s research, is funded by the Fifth Line Foundation and National Hockey League Foundation.

Together, the two foundations committed more than $1.2 million to make a leading mental health awareness and suicide prevention program available to all junior A hockey players in Canada.

Each team is paired with a local CMHA mental health coach. They are directly tied to each team to provide resources and supports for the players and the people that surround them.

Each team appoints a mental health champion to help the team connect with their local CMHA mental health coach. Mental health champions can be coaches, trainers, staff or anyone else associated with the team.

Players receive health awareness and suicide prevention training developed specifically for the junior hockey environment. It teaches individuals to recognize persons with thoughts of suicide and how to take action to help.

FIFTH LINE FOUNDATION

The Fifth Line Foundation, chaired by former SJHL president Bill Chow, was created to manage donated funds following the tragic Broncos bus crash in 2018.

The need for mental health support hit home following the bus tragedy.

“From the tragedy, the Fifth Line Foundation is there to support people for their needs in mental health and mental well-being and when it comes to counselling and things like that,” said Chow.

“When I think of the Humboldt Bronco tragedy, obviously there are many individuals that have been affected as a result of that tragedy, but those people and other people that we’re not even aware of — obviously the families have things that they’re dealing all the time on a day-to-day basis but there’s also a residual factor of people we don’t even know how badly they’ve been affected.

“The knowledge gained through the program has the potential to impact countless lives, which has made this a worthwhile cause to support in honour of those impacted by the Humboldt Broncos tragedy in 2018.”

Although the program was around prior to the Humboldt tragedy, Chow says it was kind of the catalyst to try to do something for all junior A hockey players, providing them with some reference points. The Talk Today program is there to help remind players there’s always room to talk about mental health.

Chow adds that the NHL Foundation was strongly in favour in doing this McGill study because, of course, they wanted to have some sort of measuring stick as to the outcome of the Talk Today program.

Phyllis O’Connor, executive director of CMHA Saskatchewan, said the results of the McGill University study shows the program “is making a very positive impact” on elite athletes across Canada.

“The Humboldt Broncos’ tragedy showed how Canadians can come together to support each other through difficult times,” she said. “It’s sort of fitting that CMHAs are now bringing junior A teams together to have important conversations around mental health, which can save lives, thanks in part to the support of the Fifth Line Foundation.”

About 70 teams have been trained on mental health awareness and suicide prevention in the CJHL across the eight participating leagues in the 2022-23 season to date.

PLAYERS FACING ‘COMPETITIVE STRESS’

Dr. Gordon Bloom, one of the researchers for this project, is a professor of sport psychology who has been studying various psychosocial factors affecting hockey players for more than 30 years.

“The context of elite junior hockey in North America is filled with high amounts of competitive stress, where athletes often fear the negative career consequences of disclosing mental health concerns,” Bloom said in a release Thursday.

“The current results showing the hockey players’ receptivity to this program and increased knowledge of mental health difficulties all support the worth of future programs among groups with similar or higher levels of stigma, with the ultimate goal of creating an environment that is supportive and conducive of positive mental health among athletes.”

Prior to this season, since the program’s launch with the Ontario Hockey League in 2014, more than 5,700 participants have received mental health awareness and suicide prevention training.

The program, originally launched in 2014 as a partnership between CMHA Ontario and the Ontario Hockey League, has since expanded throughout major junior and junior A hockey across Canada, as well as into post-secondary, minor and community-based sports organizations.

“Reducing stigma around mental health and suicide can have far-reaching effects that go beyond the hockey environment and into the greater community,” said NHL Foundation senior manager John Sanful.

FIRST SEASON FOR SJHL

The SJHL’s Broncos participated in the program for the first time this season, due to the impact of COVID-19 on the past two seasons.

“Any time they can come talk to my players about mental health, it’s important,” said Broncos head coach Scott Barney. “The more people there are that they feel comfortable to talk with, I think it’s an important thing that it’s OK to come out and talk about it.

“The thing with mental health is it affects people differently, on a different level and you can even take sports out of it. Even just life in general. I think it’s just the pressures people put on these young athletes nowadays, or the pressure they put on themselves, if you come anywhere.

“Our approach here, as well as the staff, is to always have an open-door policy. It’s not only about hockey; it’s about being good people and hope they’re in healthy minds, as well. If they need some help, we’re here to help them or give them some avenues. Through the program, they came and talked about it as well.”

Junior hockey coaching staffs across the country have been expanded to include mental health coaches.

The Broncos have a mental performance coach, Bob Braybrook, who comes out to visit the team in person at least once monthly.

“They (players) have his (contact) number — that’s big for him,” said Barney. “He’s somebody they can call. If they do need some mental health (support), or a doctor to chat with, they have that ability. We have players who use it and players who talk to Bob probably weekly and I think it’s good to have somebody who’s not the coaching staff.

“The players feel more comfortable. If we can assist in that and have somebody, I think it’s important.”

All teams in the SJHL have either completed their Talk Today training, or are scheduled to be trained, by the end of the season.

“I think as the years go on, and moving forward, there’s going to be an even bigger impact,” said Chow.

As for Zielke, he describes himself as a “big-city kid” from Calgary who really enjoys living in a smaller town.

“It’s been pretty awesome for me,” said Zielke, who has earned an NCAA Division One scholarship to play at Lindenwood University. “I love the people, just how it’s been for me being welcomed by my billets and finding new friends and teammates. I’m really enjoying the atmosphere, what it’s like to play here.

“This community is very strong and they love hockey here and they’re all supportive of us. We know who we’re playing for and the privilege it’s playing for this team, but I don’t think it (the 2018 bus tragedy) is something that makes us feel awkward. We pay our respects when we put on that jersey everyday. We know who we’re playing for.”

dzary@postmedia.com

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