Student-athletes face the incredibly demanding challenge of juggling our academic and athletic commitments, along with our personal and social lives. Our struggles are unique, and in a world where emotional and mental health matters immensely, there is a desperate need for someone who can offer professional help to student-athletes who are struggling. Division I schools have the financial stability to staff sports psychologists on campus, but most Division II and Division III schools do not. 

This petition is for the NCAA to take immediate action and implement access to sports psychologists on campuses that might not have the funds to do so. Student-athletes should have access to these services regardless of the size or financial standing of their respective university. The lack of such resources at smaller schools seems to indicate that students who don’t go to a more prestigious university are not as deserving, or do not need counseling with the struggles all student-athletes face. The fact of the matter is that regardless of the division in which we play, being a student-athlete is still pressure-packed and warrants a close eye to be kept on the emotional and mental health of ALL student-athletes. 

If there is a trainer on every campus who tends to the physical health of athletes, there needs to be one who tends to the emotional/mental health of these athletes as well. Our brains are just as important, if not more important, than our bodies. The breaks, bruises, and injuries done to our minds are just as vulnerable as the ones done to our bones. If no one is there to help student-athletes rehabilitate those injuries, we will suffer significantly moving forward.