Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU Department of Athletics announced Monday a partnership with HONE Athletics and Crossover Counseling to assist student-athletes in maximizing their performance.
"RMU Athletics is excited to partner with these two great companies to better serve the mental health needs of our student-athletes," RMU Assistant Athletic Director for sports medicine
Mike Vittorino said. "The use of the HONE Athletics app will allow coaches and support staff to adjust daily expectations to better serve our student-athletes, while Crossover Counseling provides another opportunity for student-athletes to receive counseling services around their busy schedules. We're hopeful both of these initiatives alleviate the demands so everyone can better serve the RMU community."
HONE Athletics creates the opportunity for more accountability and collaboration between organizations, coaches and student-athletes, ultimately shifting the culture of sport to better support the mental health of the athlete. In providing psychoeducational workshops, HONE Athletics helps athletes identify and honor their mental health.
"Having RMU take these steps to bring athlete well-being forward as a priority sends a strong signal to sport as a whole that we're entering a new era for athletics," said HONE co-founder
Jessica Renney. "It's no longer 'win at any cost' but instead 'win with healthy, whole athletes.' We know that performance improves when athletes are provided with the right support, not just individually, but at a team level. HONE Athletics is thrilled to help bring that environmental perspective to the RMU athletes."
Crossover Counseling LLC offers a collaborative, understanding and immersive counseling experience to help shape the mental health journey of athletes to help emphasize both the athletic and non-athletic experiences. Crossover Counseling explores reasons that an athlete is looking for mental health support and how they impact each individual differently.
"We're very excited for the opportunity to partner with RMU as they look to provide additional resources prioritizing the mental health and well-being of their student-athletes," said
Meagan Yates, PhD, LPC, NCC. "At Crossover Counseling Life After Sports, we are all former collegiate athletes and now professional counselors who see the incredible value and growth that can come with creating an environment that supports the mental well-being of student-athletes both on and off the field."
RMU student-athletes have begun taking advantage of the partnership, including members of the track & field and men's lacrosse teams.
"Mental health is an area that needs to be maintained as much as physical health," said senior
Lauren Chappell. "Student-athletes use resources daily to work on maintaining their bodies that allow them to compete to their fullest potential. Due to the demands of being a student athlete, I believe having access to resources for mental health is just as important as resources for our physical health. Talking to former athletes who understand not only the physical toll of athletics, but the large mental component, is one reason I believe having crossover counseling available will be very beneficial to the student-athletes and their mental health. In return, knowing an athlete cannot perform their best without being mentally healthy will also help optimize physical health to let students compete at a higher level at Robert Morris University."
The announcement of RMU's partnership with HONE Athletics and Crossover Counseling comes on the heels of the
Horizon League, in conjunction with its Board of Directors, announcing recently a historic $550,000 investment of league resources to address mental health concerns at each Horizon League institution.
"HONE has been a great resource for our team this year,' said graduate student
Taggart Clark of the men's lacrosse team. "Mental health isn't always something that is easily discussed among young men. HONE gives us the opportunity to stay aware of how we are feeling with the comfort of knowing it can remain anonymous."
In June, the Horizon League Board of Directors approved a strategic spend in the area of mental health for league resources to be distributed to campuses to help address mental health issues and concerns. Through discussions with various membership groups, including the Horizon League Council, Student-Athlete Development Cabinet and Student-Athlete Safety and Health Subcabinet (SASH), a grant program was developed to allow each campus to identify and address the specific mental health concerns of its student-athletes.
"The Horizon League SAAC and our campus leaders have clearly expressed the need and priority of addressing the mental health needs of our student-athletes," said Horizon League Commissioner
Julie Roe Lach. "This is the league's third major initiative aimed at addressing the mental health concerns of our student-athletes. In 2016, we held the Student-Athlete Development Forum and in 2020 we had to pivot to a virtual video series. Now we are committing league financial resources with the full support of our presidents and chancellors to further amplify campus efforts to address the mental health and holistic development of our student-athletes with this grant program."
ABOUT HONE ATHLETICS (HONEAthletics.com)
HONE is an initiative of Mindful Athletics, an organization dedicated to supporting athletes' mental health. Over the past five years, Mindful Athletics has worked with individual athletes, teams, associations, universities and national level sporting organizations to provide psychoeducational workshops and help athletes identify and honor their mental health. HONE was created when the psychotherapists behind Mindful Athletics realized they could expand their in-person mental health services into digital space and help even more athletes and teams accomplish better mental health and sports performance. Their unique, anonymous survey methods provide a simple way for athletes and coaches to co-create a better sporting environment.
ABOUT CROSSOVER COUNSELING LLC (CrossoverCounseling.net)
Crossover Counseling understands from experience the lack of knowledge offered about mental health and the hesitancy toward seeking help while playing and after a career has ended. Our goal is to work with your and normalize all the different emotions experienced while navigating life as an athlete and after your competitive career ends. Crossover Counseling is available for support, whether an athlete is managing stressors while playing or are feeling empty after a career is over.
ABOUT RMU ATHLETICS (RMUColonials.com)
From its fertile beginning as a men's basketball junior college powerhouse to one of the most diverse athletic programs in the Pittsburgh tri-state area, RMU offers 17 intercollegiate athletic programs, including the only NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey and men's lacrosse teams in the region. Over the last 46 years, the Colonials have claimed 53 conference regular season and 54 league tournament titles. RMU joined the Horizon League in 2020 for 10 of its 17 athletic programs, while football joined the Big South as an associate member. The RMU women's lacrosse program accepted an invitation to join the Mid-American Conference (MAC) as an affiliate member in 2020, and men's lacrosse joined the ASUN in 2021. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) serves as the home for RMU rowing, women's hockey is a member of College Hockey America (CHA) and the men's hockey program competes in Atlantic Hockey.
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