Hokie ClubVirginia Tech Athletics held its annual THRIVE Rookie Training Camp on Monday, Nov. 7 inside the Beamer-Lawson Indoor Practice Facility, giving nearly 90 freshman student-athletes a chance to focus on mental health during a time of transition and managing new stress that comes along with freshman year.
THRIVE was created by Virginia Tech's Student-Athlete Development office in conjunction with the Counseling & Mental Performance (CAMP) department to break the stigma surrounding mental health. The initiative is led by CAMP's Lauren Naldo and Student-Athlete Development's Natalie Wimmer, in addition to the THRIVE Tribe, a small group of student-athletes from each athletic program. This group assists in the planning and execution of THRIVE events.
"Freshman year can be a very challenging time for many student-athletes, with lots of transition and changes," said Wimmer, an assistant athletic director within the organization. "We were thrilled to be able to provide these young men and women a space to hear from some of the upperclassmen about their own experiences, talk with one another about what this year has looked like for them so far, and build community around the topic of mental health, one that is often avoided.
"It was incredibly inspiring to see so many young people being vulnerable with one another and begin to create impactful connections and relationships."
For this particular event, Naldo and Wimmer selected three THRIVE Tribe members to be specifically responsible for playing a major role in the planning of this year's edition. The idea being that those student-athletes could best provide input and feedback on not only mental health topics, but could also relate with fellow student-athletes when trying to convey a powerful message meant solely for their peers.
With an agenda put together in an effort to keep that statement true, the freshman-only event included small group discussions, numerous other activities and a panel of upperclassmen student-athletes that were brought in to share their experiences. The panel, which consisted of three different student-athletes, featured football student-athlete Jaden Payoute, softball student-athlete Grace Chavez and women's swimming and diving student-athlete Emma Inch. All three invited over to pass along any information that can help the newest Hokies navigate their collegiate careers in the best way possible in all facets of the game.
"I think it's important to normalize the conversation about mental health and to give a space to student-athletes to be vulnerable and to be authentic," added Mary Griffin, a member of the women's lacrosse team and a THRIVE Tribe representative. "[It's so helpful] to have them recognize that there are outlets and resources to help them.
"I definitely think just including these safe spaces is the spark that we need in the student-athlete community."
"A lot of the time student-athletes can struggle a lot mentally," admitted freshman women's soccer player Taylor Price, an attendee of the Rookie Training Camp. "It's an overwhelming job to have. Some athletes feel like they're going to be weak if they talk about things that are hurting them, so it's really [important] to create a space where we can talk about."
So what does Griffin hope freshman like Price take away from the yearly event?
"They aren't alone," she explained. "I know freshman year is very hard, but it can also be really awesome in a lot of ways.
"Hopefully, they just take away that there are resources here and there are people here that have been in their shoes that they can look up to and also use as outlets in life. I'm really hoping the freshmen gain a lot of comfortability to be able to be themselves and that [they realize] they're going to get through whatever it is they might be going through."
A mental health workshop that'll be hosted by THRIVE is currently in the works for the upcoming spring semester. The event will be open to all student-athletes with the remainder of the details still yet to be determined.
Gallery: (11-7-2022) GEN: 2022 Freshman THRIVE