Hokie ClubDr. Gary Bennett has worked as a sport psychologist at Virginia Tech since 2000. Currently serving as Senior Associate Athletics Director, Clinical and Sport Psychologist, Bennett oversees the Counseling and Athletic Mental Performance (CAMP) program.
What new initiatives, workshops, or partnerships were introduced this year to support student-athlete mental health and performance?
GB: This year was more of the same in terms of partnerships and workshops: We partnered with Student-Athlete Development to offer THRIVE programming designed to help increase awareness of mental health challenges student-athletes may be facing. Chief Wilson and I met with each team to highlight recent developments relevant to our student-athletes and to provide tools for preventing sexual assault. For our suicide prevention efforts this year, we brought in Kevin Hines to meet with all our student-athletes. Kevin is nationally renowned for his work as an advocate for suicide prevention.
What did you learn this year (personally or professionally) that will influence how you approach your work moving forward?
GB: I have become more aware of what a big deal it is to so many of our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play their sport at VT. A good number of our student-athletes devote themselves for years and years to get that opportunity. I think I have tended to take that for granted—those chances are not guaranteed as is true for many things in our lives. So being sure to not only take advantage of those opportunities but also appreciate them has been a huge lesson for me.
Looking ahead, what are your goals or priorities for the next year in supporting Hokie student-athletes both on and off the field?
GB: Our number one priority is always helping student-athletes deal with the stressors and mental health challenges that come with being a VT student-athletes. Our staff will continue to be available around the clock to support our student-athletes.
If someone wanted to make a gift to CAMP, what would it go to towards?
GB: The money donated from our generous donors goes toward funding programs for our student-athletes. I mentioned Kevin Hines earlier. We were able to bring Kevin in because of the generous contribution of one of our donors. We are only able to offer programs like that because of the support of our Hokie donors.
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