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If you watched the Paris Olympics in 2024, it was hard to miss the coverage on sports and mental health. Specifically, the amazing comeback story of Simone Biles, who became the most decorated Olympic gymnast of all time after withdrawing from the Tokyo Games due to mental health issues in 2020.
The narrative around sports and mental health requires nuance, and the specific situations smatter greatly. For example, in the world of elite athletes, a study conducted by the International Olympic Committee in 2019 found that up to 35 percent have mental health concerns. The intense pressure to perform and achieve perfection can often be a contributing factor to depression or anxiety. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, a widely cited 2019 study by the NIH noted that sports often has a net positive outcome on mental health in adults.
And for kids, sports are generally accepted as something with positive outcomes on metal health, grades, physical health, and social emotional growth. However, as kids’ sports become more specialized and intense, sometimes mental health issues emerge even in these arenas.
In this episode, we’ll speak with three entrepreneurial leaders each at the intersection of sports and mental health, who are creating access to mental health resources and provoking conversations surrounding it.
First, an entrepreneurial leader in philanthropy who is helping organizations secure grants to do lifesaving work. A Babson alum and CEO of a nonprofit that has reached over 1 million kids with group mental health services through sports and a Babson alum and former basketball player whose nonprofit supports mental health services for college and elite athletes.
- Beth Brown, Managing Director of Mental Health and Well-Being at the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
- David S. Cohen ‘95, CEO of Doc Wayne
- Teddy Sourlis ‘22, CEO and Founder of Men’s x Mental, Inc.
Sources:
Intro and Outro Segments:
1. Reardon CL, Hainline B, Aron CM, Baron D, Baum AL, Bindra A,
Budgett R, Campriani N, Castaldelli-Maia JM, Currie A,
Derevensky JL, Glick ID, Gorczynski P, Gouttebarge V, Grandner
MA, Han DH, McDuff D, Mountjoy M, Polat A, Purcell R, Putukian
M, Rice S, Sills A, Stull T, Swartz L, Zhu LJ, Engebretsen L.
Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee
consensus statement (2019). Br J Sports Med. 2019
Jun;53(11):667-699. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-100715. PMID:
31097450.
2. Eather N, Wade L, Pankowiak A, Eime R. The impact of
sports participation on mental health and social outcomes
in adults: a systematic review and the 'Mental Health through
Sport' conceptual model. Syst Rev. 2023 Jun 21;12(1):102. doi:
10.1186/s13643-023-02264-8. PMID: 37344901; PMCID:
PMC10286465.
3. (2024, August 13). Athlete Mental Health: What You Need
to Know. Mcleanhospital.org. Retrieved February 12, 2025,
from https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/athlete-mh
4. Brenner JS, LaBotz M, Sugimoto D, Stracciolini A.
The Psychosocial Implications of Sport Specialization in
Pediatric Athletes. J Athl Train. 2019 Oct;54(10):1021-1029.
doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-394-18. Epub 2019 Sep 18. PMID:
31532693; PMCID: PMC6805069.
5. https://988lifeline.org/
Beth’s Segment:
1. https://blankfoundation.org/
2. https://www.adcouncil.org/
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhfUBNsnpMw
4. https://loveyourmindtoday.org/
David’s Segment:
https://docwayne.org/
Teddy’s Segment:
https://mensxmental.org/
Credits:
Paul DeWolf, Executive Producer
Madeline Poirier, Writer, Producer, and Host
Billy Wirasnik, Audio Recording, Design, and Mix
Epidemic Sound, Music and SFX
