{"id":1178,"date":"2025-02-14T08:19:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T14:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2025-02-19T08:26:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T14:26:03","slug":"for-student-athletes-mental-health-is-more-than-mind-over-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/2025\/02\/14\/for-student-athletes-mental-health-is-more-than-mind-over-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"For Student Athletes, Mental Health Is More Than Mind Over Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

JCCC Women’s Soccer Player Ansley Seevers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

JCCC\u2019s athletic program is one of determination, grit, and focus. Our program prides itself on its extensive track record of 12 national championships, 24 runner-ups, and 108 Top 5 finishes. Our coaching staff does an excellent job of bringing in talent from all over Kansas and Missouri, and even nationally. But, what does it really mean to be a student athlete at JCCC, and is it really as easy as it seems?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In all conferences and divisions, college student athletes have a lot on their plate, and it can be difficult to get adjusted to the college dynamic after high school. College athletics are faster paced, more intense, and put down a lot more pressure on athletes, as the stakes are higher than they are in high school. College also requires tuition, so many athletes may also feel pressure to perform well enough to obtain scholarships for future seasons. It\u2019s a heavy load, balancing practice, games, homework, exams, and personal life\/hobbies all at once.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re getting pressure from your teachers, your coaches, and you\u2019re putting pressure on yourself\u2026 you just feel like you\u2019re under a weight,\u201d former JCCC Women\u2019s Soccer player, Ansley Seevers said. \u201cI would say that\u2019s the hardest wall to get over.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There has been extensive research into the causes of student athletes\u2019 mental health concerns, and not surprisingly, it appears academics are the number one culprit, according to Chris Redford in his article <\/span>Student Athletes Report Fewer Mental Health Concerns<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Don\u2019t let that title fool you, as the article includes substantial information and outlooks into student athletes\u2019 and their mental well-being, and what may be true for most, isn\u2019t always true for all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A common misconception Seevers believes exists is that student-athletes receive \u201cspecial treatment\u201d and aren\u2019t held to the same standards as the common student. When in reality, they have expectations to meet with their professors, coaches, and even themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would be anxious about my grades, and then I would be anxious when my grade would <\/span>change<\/span><\/i>, and then I was anticipating what my <\/span>coaches<\/span><\/i> were gonna say about the grades,\u201d Seevers said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the added stress that student athletes have piled up on them, it\u2019s important to have an understanding support system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving another place to feel like you belong somewhere, and have a group of people that are constantly supporting you feels pretty good,\u201d Seevers said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, JCCC\u2019s student athlete support goes beyond just that of fellow athletes. Our school grants access to a plethora of resources for all students, athletes and non-athletes alike. The second floor of the Student Center provides students with academic advisors who are available throughout the semester.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have tremendous resources in our department to assist our athletes who are struggling academically. We have a [dedicated] academic mentor,\u201d said head women\u2019s basketball coach, Benjamin Conrad. \u201c…our most important contribution in this area, as a coaching staff, is to simply create [a] culture where every player knows they belong, knows they are important, understands they have value and feels a part of our family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In all conferences and divisions, college student athletes have a lot on their plate, and it can be difficult to get adjusted to the college dynamic after high school. College athletics are faster paced, more intense, and put down a lot more pressure on athletes, as the stakes are higher than they are in high school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1008,"featured_media":1195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[126],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Seth Lampton","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/slampto1\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2025\/02\/Ansley-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[{"link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/slampto1\/","display_name":"Seth Lampton"}],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Sports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Sports<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 14, 2025","modified":"Updated on February 19, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 14, 2025 8:19 am","modified":"Updated on February 19, 2025 8:26 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":126,"user_id":1008,"is_guest":0,"slug":"slampto1","display_name":"Seth Lampton","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f2e586f19d0db2ca6e0f54eba249df3470c40ec567565bda6e765754ffc14994?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"Seth","last_name":"Lampton","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2025\/02\/Ansley.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1197,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}