Shore Conference helping NJ high school student-athletes address mental health challenges

🏀 Shore Conference Athletics helping student-athletes address their biggest mental health concerns

🏀 A student ambassadors program allows team captains to speak with school administrators

🏀 How a parents or fans behavior is impacting the play and mental health of student-athletes

The challenge of addressing the importance of mental health predates the pandemic but what transpired over a two plus year period certainly contributed to the anxiety many felt heading on the field of play.

Some of the issues student-athletes are facing today are similar to the ones any of us faced while we played high school sports but there are new ones that are added on to an already full plate of things to think about for today's high school student-athlete.

In recognizing what's going on but also listening to what's happening from the student-athletes across Monmouth and Ocean Counties, the Shore Conference is putting into play real changes to help.

One of the biggest initiatives already well underway is a student ambassadors' program that brings together representatives of all 46 schools under the Shore Conference umbrella in Monmouth and Ocean County with Shore Conference and school administrators.

It's focused on providing a platform for student-athletes to relay their biggest concerns and work with Shore Conference leaders and administrators to roll out solutions.

Their biggest concern right now is mental health, and the top subtopics are burnout, fatigue, and anxiety.

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To continue a conversation, I had in mid-January, I asked Manalapan High School Athletic Director Beth English and Colts Neck High School Athletic Director David Zwirz, both who are on the Shore Conference executive board, to come on Shore Sports Talk on 94.3 The Point on Sunday morning to discuss the key issues affecting student-athletes in Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

English-Zwirz Conversation Part One:

English-Zwirz Conversation Part Two:

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