NCAA D-II Super Region Convention Focuses on Student-Athlete Mental Health

It started with open conversations and ended with action plans. 

Nearly 150 student-athletes and administrators gathered in Indianapolis in April for the Division II SAAC Super Region Convention — a three-day event designed to elevate the student-athlete voice and address one of the biggest priorities in college sports: mental health.

Started in 2017, the convention continues to model how Division II empowers student-athletes to lead change through action planning, collaboration and leadership development.

Attendees engaged in breakout sessions, project planning and interactive presentations to examine mental health from all angles — including identity beyond sport, transitions out of athletics, the value of connection and more. Participants came from the Central and Midwest regions.

"The best way I can describe the atmosphere of the convention is energizing," said Madeleine McKenna, a former Division II volleyball player and national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative who currently serves on the NCAA Board of Governors and as an assistant athletics director for student support services at Wayne State (Michigan). "It's so cool to get to see student-athletes from across the region express their ideas, brainstorm and connect over their shared experiences. The excitement to bring meaningful change back to campus is palpable."

For Ruby Joseph, a women's wrestler at Northern Michigan, the convention reaffirmed her mission.

"Mental health is the soapbox I will get on every day, all day long," she said.

At Northern Michigan, Joseph co-founded a student-athlete mental health organization, Cats Connect, which brought in guest speakers like Mark and Kym Hilinski of Hilinski's Hope Foundation. At the convention, she was energized by sharing the group's evolution with peers from other campuses.

"We all talked about how our schools all look super different, but we all face the same struggles. So being able to find a way that we can create plans that worked for all of our campuses and talk about what that would look like and how we can implement that, even though our resources, our types of campus, the types of students we have are all very different, it was just a really cool way to remind yourself that we all are doing the same thing, even if it's hundreds of miles away. 

"That was my biggest takeaway, … just being able to relate to these other athletes. We face the same things, but we all kind of do them differently and face them differently within our schools."

For McKenna, one standout moment of the event was a session led by Ivy Watts, a former Division II track and field student-athlete at New Haven who now travels the country sharing her story to destigmatize mental health and promote wellness. Watts, an All-American at New Haven who battled depression and anxiety in silence, is a speaker and author of the blog "Beautifully Simply You."

One of Watts' most impactful moments occurred during an activity called "four corners," where she would read different statements about mental health, such as "I have people in my life that I can talk to when I'm struggling." After each statement, participants would walk to a corner that represented a range from "all of the time" to "none of the time."  

"I thought it was really impactful to see a visual representation of how many people shared similar sentiments about their mental health struggles — to get to literally see that you are not alone in your feelings is so important in destigmatizing conversations about mental health," McKenna said.

McKenna appreciated that Watts integrated body-based techniques in her presentation.

"Giving (participants) the chance to practice something new can lead to a sort of subconscious realization that there are so many self-care strategies and techniques out there that might work well for them, especially if the typical encouragements to meditate or practice deep breathing haven't quite resonated yet."

Each school delegation developed a mental health action plan for student-athletes.

"The student-athletes in our conference came up with a great idea to create a virtual mental well-being/self-care tool kit," McKenna shared. "A few of the schools in our conference have full-time athletics counselors, so some of the conversations were around collaborating with those individuals to put this resource together ... especially those who might not have athletics staff dedicated to mental health support."

Joseph said the digital tool kit also would include resources for coaches and administrators, who are often on the front lines of student-athletes in distress but aren't always equipped with the knowledge of how to respond and support those athletes.  

"Coaches often think they have to fix problems when they really shouldn't, because they probably are not the most qualified to do that," Joseph said. "It's not about fixing issues. It's about being a shoulder to lean on, being an ear to hear and then being able to refer them to professionals to deal with those issues." 

McKenna also emphasized the importance of the role that support staff can play.

"Supporting the people who support our student-athletes is the mindset I am trying to lean into. I think our student-athletes are doing a lot of amazing work in sharing their experiences, being vulnerable and opening up the conversation around mental health," she said. "We need coaches and administrators to feel supported to do the same so they can better connect to our student-athletes."

For administrators like Allison Meadows, associate athletics director for compliance and senior woman administrator at Concordia-St. Paul, the convention was a reminder of the lasting impact of showing up.

"What I heard from our student-athletes is that our time and attention is what means the most to them," she said. "Creating space and time to get to know our student-athletes and the challenges they face can be the greatest resource we can give them."

Joseph added: "One big thing that we talked about was just having more open doors, having more casual conversations and making sure that those people don't seem out of reach to their athletes." 

Meadows also pointed to her school's partnerships with Morgan's Message and the U.S. Center for Mental Health and Sport as examples of how external collaborations can enhance campus efforts.

"Our plan is to continue to leverage those partnerships and expand the reach of the amazing resources that both those groups have brought to our campus," she said.

Similarly, events like the Super Region Convention continue to provide student-athletes a valuable space to connect, learn and share ideas to create healthier campus environments across Division II. 

"I think events like this help student-athletes know/see that they are not alone," Meadows said. "The sharing of ideas and resources helps us all as we look to do our best to care for our student-athletes with shrinking budgets and resources." 

As McKenna put it, "Division II continues to be a place that puts the student-athletes' well-being and experience at the center of all we do, and the DII SAAC Super Region Convention is the perfect demonstration of that commitment we have to our student-athletes."

The next Super Region Convention, for the South Central and West regions, will be in November.