Skyline’s SAMHA (Student Athlete Mental Health Awareness) club is a new member of the plethora of extracurriculars in our building. Created by seniors Julian Kukor and Thomas Botsford, SAMHA aims to raise awareness for mental health and help student athletes take on their rigorous daily challenges. With more and more professional athletes speaking out about their own challenges with mental health, SAMHA looks to create change locally at Skyline. 

The club meets in Mr Jacobs room every Wednesday after school to discuss personal experiences as well as watch presentations about mental health in sports and the harmful stigmas that come with it.

“Because [Skyline] is a large school with many sports teams, it’s very important to have a support network for these athletes who are under a lot of stress,” says Kukor. 

According to National Federation of State High School Associations, an estimated 31.9% of today’s young people experience some form of anxiety disorder. USA Today High School Sports notes that “nationwide, studies show that one in five people aged 18 and over experiences a form of mental illness. In fact, suicide is the second leading cause of death for those age 10 to 24, with nearly 4,700 young people dying of suicide annually in the United States.” 

Kukor invites students to join SAMHA to “make new friends, form new connections and have a support system.”

https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2018/04/10/stigma-of-mental-health-issues-a-barrier-to-treatment-for-athletes/ 

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/04/teen-athletes-mental-illness/586720/ 

https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/identifying-mental-health-concerns-in-high-school-athletes/ 

SAMHA Club

Skyline’s SAMHA (Student Athlete Mental Health Awareness) club is a new member of the plethora of extracurriculars in the building. Created by seniors Julian Kukor and Thomas Botsford, SAMHA aims to raise awareness for mental health and help student athletes take on their rigorous daily challenges. With more and more professional athletes speaking out about their own challenges with mental health, SAMHA looks to create local change in our community at Skyline. 

“We created this club to help student athletes with their mental health,” Says Botsford. The club meets every Wednesday after school to discuss personal experiences as well as watch presentations about mental health in sports and the harmful stigmas that come with it.

“Because [Skyline] is a large school with many sports teams, it’s very important to have a support network for these athletes who are under a lot of stress,” Said Kukor. “An estimated 31.9% of today’s young people experience some form of anxiety disorder, according to ‘Challenges of Mental-health Issues in High School Athletics’ on the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) website.”  “Nationwide, studies show that one in five people aged 18 and over experiences a form of mental illness. In fact, suicide is the second leading cause of death for those age 10 to 24, with nearly 4,700 young people dying of suicide annually in the United States.” According to USA Today High School Sports. Kukor says that students should join SAMHA to “make new friends, form new connections and have a support system.”