During the week from October 5 to 12, Keene State College athletes wore green ribbons on their uniforms during games to support mental health awareness in sports.
These green ribbons have been a tradition for Keene State athletes for a little over three years. The ribbons have roots as a tradition across many sports leagues outside of Keene State, some being the NHL, starting with the Dallas Stars in the 2014-15 season, and the MLB, who wear ribbons in the month of May to support the cause.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 49,000 people were victims of suicide in the U.S. alone in 2022. That means somebody had died from suicide every 11 minutes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 700,000 people’s lives were claimed by suicide in 2019, meaning one in every hundred people was a victim.
KSC Swim and DiveCoach Chris Woolridge, said with the ribbons, “It’s not a huge thing to wear the ribbon and recognize it, but it signifies something that is certainly an issue we need to be aware of, and it can have a really big impact on people’s lives.”
The KSC Cross Country Coach Dan Roark said the ribbons show support for even those in the Keene community.
“It’s something that it’s out there, we know impacts all members of the Keene State community,” Roark stated, “For anyone who needs help or needs resources, it’s something you can visibly see that we are willing to talk about and help people in need, no matter who you are in the Keene State community, whether it’s coaches, athletes, or students as a whole.” The Cross Country team wore the green shirts for a race to show their support.
The Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) President, Ashley Enis, said the organizations the Committee is partnered such as Hilinski’s Hope and Morgan’s Message, spread the importance of mental health for athletes.
“Basically through them, we have mental health resources for our athletes that we send out,” Enis explained. “And it’s just to show our support for mental health awareness and spread that awareness and have those resources for our student-athletes.”
KSC Athletic Director Marty Testo agreed with these organizations’ importance and said, “We understand the story that we learned through Hilinski’s Hope and Morgan’s Message and we just want to be cognizant of knowing that there’s many other people outside of student-athletes that struggle with mental health, and we know that we’re a very visible community as student-athletes.” During the week from October 5 to 12, Keene State College athletes wore green ribbons on their uniforms during games to support mental health awareness in sports.
These green ribbons have been a tradition for Keene State athletes for a little over three years. The ribbons have roots as a tradition across many sports leagues outside of Keene State, some being the NHL, starting with the Dallas Stars in the 2014-15 season, and the MLB, who wear ribbons in the month of May to support the cause.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 49,000 people were victims of suicide in the U.S. alone in 2022. That means somebody had died from suicide every 11 minutes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 700,000 people’s lives were claimed by suicide in 2019, meaning one in every hundred people was a victim.
Testo also explained the athletic department’s goal when it comes to the mental health of their athletes.
“We want to teach our student-athletes not only how to deal with mental health, but how we can support people that are struggling with mental health.”
Keene State College Athletics have shown their support by wearing these ribbons for Student-Athlete Mental Health Week, signifying the importance of mental health in both sports and the community. The program continues to support the cause while providing resources for athletes who need it.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
hdoda@kscequinox.com
