CHESTER, Pa. – From a young age, athletes have been taught to play hard and be tough when it comes to their respective sports. After all, they are competing against teams and individuals in an effort to win.

This approach is something Widener's student-athletes have all experienced at some point in their lives. However, when dealing with the various pressures of competing at a high level in college athletics, this approach can have a negative impact on their mental health to the point where it can lead them to burn out, quit their sport, and possibly question their value as a person.

Fortunately for Widener's student-athletes, they recently had the privilege to attend two sessions conducted by The Hidden Opponent, an accredited non-profit and advocacy group that raises awareness for student-athlete mental health and addresses the stigma within sports culture. The advocacy group helps empower athletes around the world to face The Hidden Opponent together.

Dr. Madeline Barlow, who serves on the advisory board for The Hidden Opponent and works as the mental performance coach for Drexel University athletics, led the sessions that were organized by Widener's Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Barlow discussed with Widener's student-athletes how to navigate burn out and trauma in sport, promote a positive sport culture, enhance self-awareness, and apply mental tools/strategies during the sessions.

"Dr. Barlow and The Hidden Opponent gave a lot of great insight into what we should be looking out for when it comes to signs of mental health issues with yourself and your teammates," said Widener senior Andrew Hurrell, who plays on the men's soccer team and helped put together the two sessions that took place on Sept. 18 and 19 at Alumni Auditorium. "It helped us focus on what we can control and find our identities outside of sports so when we do have those frustrations in sport, we can grow out of it."

During the hour-long sessions, Barlow had the student-athletes do some exercises to illustrate the topics that were discussed. One of the exercises that stood out to student-athletes like Annalee Doyle were writing down that they are good at doing besides their sport.

"It is important to remember that your sport is not the only thing that you do," said Doyle, who is a member of the women's lacrosse team. "That really helped to show that your life is bigger and more important than the sport you play."

Another exercise the student-athletes performed was listing the factors they can control and factors that are uncontrollable. Senior Teresa LaPointe found fascinating because everyone had the same fears when it came to uncontrollable factors.

"I found that it was easier to write the uncontrollable things than the controllable things and saw that all of us mostly did the same thing," said LaPointe, who is a member of the women's swimming team. "We also saw that we all put the outcome and opponents as uncontrollable things. These are true because we don't want to disappoint our teammates, coaches, family members, and ourselves. Just recognizing that we all have the same realization that we are afraid of the same things and it is okay to talk about them."

For Widener senior baseball player Stephen Posner, one important lesson he learned during this conversation with Barlow was how to "enjoy the moment."

"Staying grounded in every situation is so important," said Posner, who also helped with Hurrell in putting the sessions together. "She showed us some breathing exercises that can help us realize that most things are out of our control and you just have to focus on yourself, take it slow and be present."

Overall, the student-athletes loved that they had the chance to experience these sessions and were grateful that Widener could help provide them with these opportunities to grow as student-athletes.

"I think these are absolutely valuable and necessary for us as student-athletes," Doyle said. "People on our team and other student-athletes have encountered mental health issues, which are normal but are not talked about as much. It is really important we are getting this here at Widener because it helps us recognize that it is totally okay to feel certain ways and it is okay to talk about."

"Not many places get to have sessions like this," Hurrell said. "Being at a D-III school, we have a lot higher stress and emphasis on performing well inside the classroom and in athletics than at other places. Also, being captain of the soccer team, it's great to be able to take in lessons from this and bring it back to my teammates in order to help them out. This experience has helped us learn how to balance our lives and it will really benefit us in the long run."