Paying attention to mental health in college sports
A conversation with John Chu, University of Southern California
Joyce K, Los Angeles
Joyce K, a Youth Media Forward participant based in Los Angeles, interviews John Chu, a business student at the University of Southern California and the manager of the university’s men’s volleyball team. They cover the role of a manager, and the importance of protecting the mental health of students as they balance their academics, sports, and social lives.
Q: Please can you introduce yourself?
A: I’m John Chu. I study business at the University of Southern California and I’m our Division 1 men’s volleyball team student manager.
Q: What is your role as the team’s student manager?
A: As the team manager I'm part of our support staff. We play a supporting role for our players and our coaches, and pretty much our whole men’s volleyball team. Essentially we have practices everyday and we show up, help set up the nets, help set up whatever drills or things we’re doing through for that practice. During the practice some of the things we do include shagging (picking up) balls and helping the drills run smoothly. If the coaches or any of the players need us to do something, we’re right there to help them.
Q: It sounds like volleyball is pretty unique compared to some of the other division 1 sports at USC. What do you think sets volleyball apart in terms of teamwork and strategy?
A: For volleyball, essentially every play there will be a pass and then a set, and then an attack, and since each thing builds off of the action before, teamwork is very crucial. You can have one superstar player but that won’t make your team do well or be successful.
There’s definitely strategy involved as well. I think when you’re playing at such a level, at the division 1 level, not only is there individual talent and teamwork, but also strategy, which mainly comes from the coaches and the offense and defense they want to run. So in short, teamwork is crucial and strategy is also a big factor.
Q: I’m sure you’d also have a lot of opportunities to interact with the players?
A: Yeah for sure, whenever there’s practices or games the managers as well as others on the support staff definitely have a lot of interactions with the players. What’s kind of cool about my role is you get to know them, more than just the player. They’re all very friendly, great personalities, and you get to interact with them both on and off the court. Through those interactions you get to build this bond and this sense of trust to the point that they know that if they need something they can always reach out to you and depend on you for whatever they need.
Q: How has this role shaped your perspective on sports and athletics?
A: I realized that especially at the division 1 collegiate level, it’s not all about just sports. When you’re playing at this level you are a student athlete, so that definitely involves academics as well. So not only can the practices be physically taxing on their bodies, but I think mental health and their mental fortitude can also take a hit as well - so I think our successful players are the ones that are good at balancing their priorities.
Q: You mention mental health, which has become so important in today’s day and age. What role do you think mental health plays in the success of a collegiate sports team?
A: Top sports programs across the nation are realizing that mental health plays a big role in the success of a collegiate sports team. Our teams have either counseling or therapists available to deal with pressure situations that our players are going through. And I’ve seen and witnessed first hand that having good mental health and having strong mental fortitude reflects on the court as well. Just being able to overcome stressful situations or be able to talk through how you’re feeling or what you’re going through reflects onto the success on the court.
Q: Would you say that there are challenges the athletes face in maintaining their mental health with the demands of training and competition, and since they’re still student athletes, with academics and social life as well?
A: I think being a student athlete at a school like USC can be definitely challenging because USC has a reputation of being a party school, a very social school, where social life is very big. I do think that for these athletes it can be challenging balancing or juggling three elements. I kind of see them as a triangle - social life, academics, and athletics. It seems like the players often have to pick two and compromise one, but from what I’ve seen players that are successful both on and off the court are ones where they can balance all three. They don’t have to compromise on one, which directly translates to their mental health and wellbeing, ultimately leading to their success on the volleyball court.
Q: Going back to the therapists and counselors that you mentioned, would you say those mental health resources are easily provided to the team? How accessible do you think they are?
A: There are definitely plenty of mental health resources provided to the players on the team and they are very accessible. If they need any help or if they have any questions regarding mental health, we have sports psychologists on hand, we have mental health resources and experts that they can talk to. I know that maybe at the D-1 collegiate level it can be hard for the players to kind of turn and use these mental health resources, just because maybe they’re not too familiar with the resources or benefits that USC provides, or they don’t have experience talking about their mental health - there can be challenges in that area.
Q: Any closing thoughts on your job as manager, or mental health in the world of sports?
A: I do want to highlight just the importance of mental health. I think something that I’ve witnessed first hand is breaking down the stigma of talking about mental health. I think it’s so important as the topic becomes more and more prevalent. I can definitely see it reflected in the collegiate division 1 level. So I hope we can continue to talk about our mental health and have more open and honest conversations around mental wellbeing.
Joyce K is a Los Angeles based participant in Youth Media Forward: meet the Los Angeles participants here