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Reimagined for Student Athletes Mental Health, A platform for collegiate student-athletes with mental health issues to anonymously connect with other athletes from other schools nationwide.
I created SOAR
because I never felt like I had a proper and healthy outlet to talk about the daily pressure and responsibility program. Life as a student- athlete can be extremely challenging and stressful with everything that is expected for you to manage on a daily basis. that I felt as a player for a major collegiate As a former student-athlete myself, I know firsthand how difficult it is to manage the
pressures and expectations of performing at a high level on the field, in the weight room, and in the classroom. I also know how difficult it can be to feel comfortable talking with others about the challenges you face as an athlete due to fears of appearing weak or vulnerable to your peers, teammates, and coaches. How would this affect my standing on the team? Will my coaches and teammates
look at me the same or treat me different as a result? Will I still have the respect of my teammates? All of these thoughts deterred me from seeking help and made me feel like I had to figure out a way to overcome my mental health challenges on my own. That’s not healthy of course, but more often than not, it is the unfortunate reality for most of us. SOAR is a valuable tool that allows you to
overcome those thoughts by giving you the ability to anonymously express yourself and share your story with others. By listening to other student- athletes from around the country who all face the same pressures that you do, and as a community of One Team, SOAR helps you find advice that can not only help you but allow you to help others.
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Bobby Melley
Write, Talk, and Post... Anonymously
The SOAR Social Platform is here to help student-athletes get more
comfortable talking about their mental struggles by allowing them to connect anonymously with other athletes across the country who may be dealing with similar feelings and experiences.
reports also show that only 10% of collegiate athletes ask for help. In a recently released NCAA survey with responses from over 9,800 student-athletes, 69% of women’s sports participants and 63% of men’s sports participants said that they can identify a mental health
athletes and getting them on a track to obtain a better daily mindset with their mental health. According to the NCAA’s chief medical officer, mental health is the single most important health and safety issue facing student-athletes. Sadly, data from NCAA
SOAR allows student athletes to talk freely yet discreetly about their challenges with peers who can relate to their experiences. The SOAR anonymous social platform is the solution for overcoming the personal obstacles facing collegiate
The best medicine for those struggling with their mental health is an opportunity to speak openly and honestly to someone who wants to listen, while the biggest obstacle is getting people to feel comfortable with
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the vulnerability of sharing their story.
Hear what our students have to say:
“It was so nice to connect with other athletes and talk about what we’re all going through. SOAR really helps me feel more comfortable talking about my challenges and allows me to be more open and honest with my thoughts. It’s cool to be able to finally have an outlet that seems so real, and not worrying about who might know how I am dealing with things.”
voice their personal issues and seek out assistance to help with their problems. Available resources are plentiful at most institutions, but the utilization of these resources remains very low. Student-athletes don’t want to be seen from the outside as looking vulnerable or weak because they are having issues related to stress, anxiety, and depression. This results in many individuals being hesitant to seek out help or talk about their issues, thus choosing instead to deal with their challenges alone internally.
facility on their campus. Yet, less than half of the survey participants said that they would feel comfortable visiting or seeking support from a mental health provider on campus. The outside perception of student-athletes is that they get special treatment and are lucky to have access to everything they could ever need: a full scholarship to school, new apparel, team provided meals, easy access to tutors and other resources, and the ability to say that they are a collegiate athlete. Because of this, there is an invisible barrier among student-athletes to
Pushing mental health issues to the side and attempting to deal with them internally only leads to further mental strain, which can lead to severe symptoms and consequences as a result.
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SOAR gives student-athletes the ability to:
SOAR gives the student-athletes the perfect forum to overcome that stigma and to feel comfortable without outside pressure to sit down to write and talk about their feelings to share with other student-athletes who can easily relate to how you feel.
• Write, talk, and anonymously post their personal story about their thoughts and mental health issues to share with other student-athletes. • Scroll through a main timeline to read stories and posts shared by other anonymous student- athletes. This promotes a feeling of self-worthiness knowing that you are not alone in your struggles and that there are many others dealing with similar things. • Comment on posts from other student-athletes to relate with them and show your support for their issues and challenges. • Direct message other student-athlete users who are facing similar issues and circumstances in order to show support for them, talk with them about their feelings, or lend advice and share tips that helped you overcome similar issues in the past. Feeling comfortable talking about your issues is the first step in getting better. By having access to an anonymous
By providing a platform where the student-athlete’s identity can remain anonymous, they can feel comfort in knowing that they can share their story with others that are in very similar situations without revealing their identity. This anonymous function will promote more dialogue among student-athletes who are desperate to talk about their mental health challenges and will also give them the freedom to be more open and honest with their thoughts.
platform to share your story — without having to worry about what people may think of you — is the key to overcoming the current stigma in athletes and ultimately overcoming personal mental health struggles.
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Are you ready to SOAR!
Get in touch info@soarhealthapp.com
@SoarHealthApp @SoarHealthApp @SoarHealthApp
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