By Nigel Maxwell

Mental health in sports

Surviving the game: A look at mental health supports for hockey players

Feb 20, 2019 | 4:57 PM

The pressures that come with leading a team, or living hundreds of miles away from home, can take an emotional toll on a young man with dreams of playing in the NHL, according to a local representative with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).

Talk Today provides mental health supports to players across the WHL and the rest of the Canadian Hockey League. Doug Kinar, Executive Director of the CMHA Prince Albert Branch, said the need for positive mental health is important for all people involved in sports.

“The nature of the game and the competition is such that if you are winning, things are great but if you are losing things feel worse,” he said.

Doug Kinar hopes to spread more awareness about the Talk Today program. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

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Kinar said being away from their families for extended periods of time, and travelling on long road trips are just a couple examples of issues that can weigh heavily on the hockey players, many of whom are only in their late teens or early 20’s. As part of the program, every team in the WHL has received mental health training specific to suicide prevention. Teams are also linked to a CMHA Mental Health Coach, who provides support and mental health resources to individuals in need.

Kinar said the issue of mental health needs more awareness, given there are anywhere from 3,500 to 4,000 Canadians who die from suicide each year.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “People with thoughts of suicide, the people who have attempted suicide is huge, so we are looking at one in five Canadians in any given year at risk of having mental health concerns.”

Representatives from the CMHA will be at the Art Hauser Centre Friday during the Prince Albert Raiders game, and there will be a kiosk set up in the front lobby with more information about the program. The team’s General Manager Curtis Hunt, supports the program, and said there’s a stigma among young men that they have to be tough all the time, and bury their feelings, or risk looking weak in front of their peers or coaches.

“The truth is it’s healthy to show your emotions. It’s OK to cry if you need to, it’s OK to scream and we just want to make sure everybody can find an avenue and a vehicle where they can be comfortable to talk about what’s on their mind,” he said.

Hunt said the CMHA is one of several supports in place for the players. There is also a hockey ministry and a sports psychologist. Hunt added the players, who in some cases come from other cities, can face quite a culture shock when they come to Prince Albert from a European city overseas or even a western city like Vancouver, and forced in some cases to learn a language or adjust to a new school.

“And part of our job is to try and help open their eyes as to what are the distractions and then give them the best support we can.,” Hunt said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell