Cats Connect held an event in the Vandament Arena called ‘Tyler Talk,” where Mark and Kym Hilinski talked to student-athletes about mental health and shared the story of their son Tyler. Athletes from all different sports gathered in the Vandament to listen to the talk and understand that it is OK to reach out for help.
The Hilinskis created the Hilinski’s Hope Foundation in 2018 to honor their son Tyler and help eliminate the stigma around mental health, especially in college athletes. Tyler was a quarterback at Washington State University and was known as “The Comeback Kid” after he was able to pull his team out from a deficit in triple overtime. In his third year with the team, Tyler died by suicide. The Hilinskis travel around the country and share his story with other athletes. They hope that bringing awareness to mental health will help other athletes reach out if they are struggling.
Cats Connect reached out to the Hilinskis and Hilinski’s Hope to share the message with the athletes on campus. They were also given resources for the free counseling sessions that are on campus for them. Taylor Priestley, a lacrosse player and co-founder of Cats Connect, said that they felt bringing the Hilinskis here to Marquette during this time was fitting because students normally feel burned out with the end of the semester. She said that Cats Connect highlights the well-being wheel and tries to hit every part of it.
In the past, they have highlighted mental health awareness because it is the biggest challenge for student-athletes. Cats Connect is a student organization that helps athletes on campus connect with one another and allows them to take a mental break from their sport. They host several events a year and even run a monthly blog titled “Beyond An Athlete.” Each month, a different athlete is featured and the segments talk about their life outside of their respective sport.
Back in October, Cats Connect and the NMU SAAC held Student-Athlete Mental Health Week. They had the Wildpups, yoga on the fields outside of Jamrich, and even had conversations with the counselors to make them aware of the services available to them. Several teams also have games during their seasons dedicated to the awareness of mental health. More recently, the lacrosse team had their game in the Superior Dome, where they brought more light to mental health in athletes.
On the Cats Connect Instagram page, there are lots of resources for everyone, not just athletes. There are resources for the Counseling Center, Health Advocate and several hotline numbers for various reasons. “We emphasize that sports is what we do, not who we are,” Priestley said. “That message really resonates with all the student-athletes on campus, and Cats Connect strives to help athletes connect with the well-being wheel and relax from the stresses and mental burden that comes with being a student-athlete on campus.”
