Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance
Beginning in 2023 the Alliance kept the conversation around mental health in sports consistent year-round with #SportsMentalHealthMonday social media posts, featuring members of the Alliance and other sports stakeholders. Through these posts you will hear insight and expertise from many involved in youth and collegiate sports in Virginia.
#SportsMentalHealthMonday posts can be found below and also currently on the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube pages. Join us as we help to create a positive and healthy atmosphere throughout youth sports in Virginia.
July 2025 - #SportsMentalHealthMonday
June 2025 - #SportsMentalHealthMonday
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 6.16.2025, Alliance Workshop (August 2025)
SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
The Alliance is thrilled to announce its next professional development workshop for Alliance members & guests, The Power of Positive Sports Parenting.
Through the Alliance’s partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance, our Alliance is able to offer this impactful program for free to our members & guests of our members.
Want to become an Alliance member and attend this workshop? Follow the link below to sign-up now. Membership in the Alliance is FREE and grants you access to multiple events and programs throughout the year.
May 2025 - #SportsMentalHealthMonday
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 5.26.2025, Duncan MacLeod, Victory, Defeat, & Injury Panel
SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
From our virtual panel, Victory, Injury, & Defeat, panelist Duncan MacLeod, discusses how stakeholders’ message on mental health and wellness can be lost if they don’t put their words into action.
Full panel can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/VaSportsHoF/videos/1753551311858734
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 5.5.2025, Pete Zell, Victory, Defeat, & Injury Panel
SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this week we go back to our Victory, Defeat, Injury panel earlier this year. During that panel head coach of Ocean Lakes high school baseball in Virginia Beach, Pete Zell discussed how he and his coaching staff create a positive culture around mental health on their team. They achieve this through creating connections with each athlete individually.
Full panel is available at the link provided: https://www.facebook.com/VaSportsHoF/videos/1753551311858734
April 2025 - #SportsMentalHealthMonday
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 4.28.2025, PCA - P.O.S.E.
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
Sports participation is often connected to personal and professional development, but what skills can youth and student-athletes carry with them through life? Our friends at the Positive Coaching Alliance have created POSE:
• Persistence
• Optimism
• Self-Regulation
• Empathy
In the link below they discuss techniques coaches can use to intentionally teach these qualities through athletics:
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 4.21.2025, JOIN the Alliance!
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
The Alliance was formed in May 2022, and since that time it has hosted events (in-person and virtual), engaged stakeholders from all levels of sports, and become a strong advocate for promoting positive mental health and wellness in sports.
We want to continue that progress, and hope that YOU will join us. Membership in the Alliance is FREE. All we ask is that you contribute to the conversation through our quarterly meetings and help us increase the conversation and decrease the stigma around mental health in sports.
Our next General Alliance Membership Meeting is next month. Sign-up to get regular updates on the Alliance. Did we mention it’s FREE!
Visit www.yswa.org and click JOIN on the menu bar.
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 4.14.2025, PCA - "Power of Yet"
#SportsMentalHealthMondday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
This week we focus on the “Power of Yet”. From our friends at the Positive Coaching Alliance, adding this simple word can encourage youth athletes to focus on effort and growth. It’s a great tool for coaches and parents as they work to develop athletes both on and off the field:
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 4.7.2025, Erin Sutton, Victory, Defeat, & Injury Panel
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
“The wins don’t mean anything without the losses” – Erin Sutton, student-athlete, Kempsville High School.
From our recent virtual panel, Victory, Injury, & Defeat, Sutton shared her story on dealing with injuries that took her away from the sports she loved. Sutton says one of the positives that came from her recovery process was increasing her own self awareness.
Full panel can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/VaSportsHoF/videos/1753551311858734
March 2025 - #SportsMentalHealthMonday
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 3.31.2025, Darryl Tapp, Victory, Defeat, & Injury Panel
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
From our recent virtual panel, Victory, Injury, & Defeat, panelist Darryl Tapp, a former NFL defensive lineman and current member of the Washington Commanders coaching staff, discussed the importance of creating connections with players in an effort support positive mental health.
Full panel can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/VaSportsHoF/videos/1753551311858734
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 3.24.2025, Duncan MacLeod, Victory, Defeat, & Injury Panel
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
From our recent virtual panel, Victory, Injury, & Defeat, panelist Duncan MacLeod from Elite Athlete Development Group, discussed the importance of creating a definition for success for athletes at all levels.
Full panel can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/VaSportsHoF/videos/1753551311858734
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 3.17.2025, Elite Athlete Development Group
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
This week we highlight one of our Alliance members, Duncan MacLeod and Elite Athlete Development Group (EADG). EADG is dedicated to student-athlete development through specifically tailored training options. They focus on 5 main areas of development, Mental Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Service, and Resilience. One of their programs, The Power to Choose, is featured on the Programs & Trainings section of the Alliance website
More information on EADG, and other Alliance member programs can be found at the link below:
Thank you to EADG for their support of the Alliance!
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 3.10.2025, EmpowerMIND, Mental Performance
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
This week we highlight one of our Alliance members, EmpowerMIND Mental Performance. They offer individual consulting, team programs, and workshops for athletes, executives, performers, and professionals. Their mental performance coaching combines sports psychology, cognitive science, and performance optimization techniques to help individuals and teams achieve their peak potential.
More information on EmpowerMIND Mental Performance, and other Alliance member programs can be found at the link below:
Thank you to EmpowerMIND Mental Performance for their support of the Alliance!
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 3.3.2025, Victory, Defeat, Injury - Panelists
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance
There is still time to register for this Wednesday’s virtual panel, “Victory, Defeat, Injury”, a discussion on the complexities of winning, losing, and dealing with injuries in youth sports. Register at the link below:
Today, we would like for you to “Meet the Panelists” for this Wednesday’s discussion:
Callie Dickinson: DI All-American Swimmer at the University of Georgia, SEC Women of the Year, top 10 women of the year for the NCAA and competed in 3 Olympic Trials. Duncan MacLeod: Owner of Elite Athletic Development Group, speaker, and coach with a focus on enhancing mental strength and resilience. Rennel Marshall: Mental Health Therapist at CHKD and Clinical Social Worker and Mental Health Coordinator at ODU. Erin Sutton: Student-athlete at Kempsville High School. Pete Zell: Teacher and Baseball Coach at Ocean Lakes High School.February 2025 - #SportsMentalHealthMonday
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 2.17.2025, Caring Conversations - Sarah Michelle Peterson Foundation
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance.
This week we highlight one of our Alliance members, The Sarah Michelle Peterson Foundation and the Caring Conversations program, which provides leadership in youth athletics the tools and resources to discuss mental health & wellness with their athletes.
More information on Caring Conversations can be found at the link below:
Thank you to the Sarah Michelle Peterson Foundation for their support of the Alliance!
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 2.3.2025, Victory, Defeat, Injury - Alliance Panel Discussion
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance
Our next Alliance event is official, and will be a virtual panel on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. “Victory, Defeat and Injury: Supporting Youth Mental Health & Wellness”, will feature a panel discussion on the pressures young athletes face, regardless of their performance outcomes or the challenges of returning to sport after an injury.
This panel is FREE and open to the public. Once registered, you will be sent the link to view the panel discussion on March 5.
More information and to register can be found 
January 2025 - #SportsMentalHealthMonday
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 1.20.2025, PingPongGIVES, Community Outreach
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance
Last week we highlighted the Programs & Training page on the Alliance’s website, today we want to focus on one of our Alliance members and their program available to the community.
Ping Pong for Charity offers “School Table Tennis/Ping-Pong Sports and Education Program”, which provides public, private and special needs schools with the Table Tennis Sports and Education Program – at NO cost, all designed to improve mental wellness, physical fitness and positive social engagement.
More information can be found at the link below. You can also join the Alliance from the menu bar at the same link!
#SportsMentalHealthMonday - 1.13.2025, Alliance Member Programs & Trainings
#SportsMentalHealthMonday with the Youth Sports Mental Health & Wellness Alliance
A strength of the Alliance is our membership. While we work collectively to increase conversation and decrease the stigma around mental health in sports, many of our members are also tackling this issue in their daily work. On the Alliance’s website you can view a “Programs & Training” page that features some of these platforms, along with more information on each and how to book/reserve for your team or organization.
Be sure to stay up to do on everything happening with the Alliance. Membership is FREE and can be done via the form on the Alliance’s website.