Illinois State Hosts Mental Health Awareness Meet With Message of Community
The timing for Illinois State’s Cassidy Carey worked out perfectly.
The Redbirds, under first-year head coach Riley Hilbrandt, were looking for something different to start their dual-meet season. Carey, a fifth-year senior, works as a campus captain for The Hidden Opponent, a national advocacy group for student-athlete mental health. Nationwide, Mental Illness Awareness Week falls in early October, ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10.
Reviving an occasional tradition of mental health meets at the school was a fitting convergence of all those threads, which the women’s team pulled off last Friday against Indiana State.
The meet was a chance to engage the on-campus community, both the larger athletic community and spectators, in conversations about mental health. It was also a way to broach tough topics within the Redbirds’ own locker room.
The event served as one of the monthly projects that Carey, a psychology major, does for Hidden Opponent. Illinois State swimming and diving also partnered with Hilinski’s Hope Foundation, a non-profit founded in 2018 by the parents of late Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski. Carey’s ties to both organizations led to presentations at the meet, from posters and signs to resources and giveaways for students and spectators. Illinois State swimmers wore wristbands and tattooed on green ribbons, the color of The Hidden Opponent’s advocacy, while theming out the pool.
Photo Courtesy: Illinois State/Dennis Banks
The activity served both to open doors for the community and signal the team’s values within their own ranks.
“I think it’s super important because when I came into college, I definitely was struggling a little bit with my own race anxiety, and I kind of felt alone in the sense of who to reach out to,” Carey said. “I think being able to have these open conversations and have these meets that raise awareness show that you’re not alone and that you can reach out and ask for help, and just that everybody around you is supporting you, and that your teammates also have your back.”
The meet, which the visiting Sycamores won 213.5-86.5, provided a team-building experience. The squad collaborated on posters, with information on available resources. They created a gratitude board, with the prompt of, “I am grateful for,” being answered by swimmers, students and spectators, plus online through the team’s Instagram account.
It meant a night at the pool spent not working out but playing music and arts-and-crafting.
“It helped us team build in different ways, rather than just swimming or doing dryland or something swim related,” Hilbrandt said. “So I think we had a little extra fun with it, and tried to get as many people involved as possible.”
The decision to spend their time and resources on the cause reflects the program’s values to the community. But it also serves as a potent reminder in-house, letting the members of the team know where and how to get support.
“I think even though mental health advocacy gets bigger and bigger every year, you still have a couple who are scared to speak out and uncomfortable to do it,” said Hilbrandt, who has coached since graduating from a swim career at the University of Nevada in 2017. “I think having the whole team do it and get comfortable with wanting to be the team to support and spread awareness for mental health is huge. I think it allowed our girls to realize it’s OK to have race anxiety, have depression, struggle in classes, need a little extra help. We have girls from different countries who struggle with different things.
“So for me, I think it’s just a good way to let them know that as a coach, being willing to donate to an organization and spending our team money on that is huge. I’m willing to put in the money and help any way we can, and I don’t want it to be a hidden factor. I want it to be known that we’re all there to help them in any way we can.”