With more than 75 percent of the Upper School students at Roland Park Country School playing at least one sport, RPCS is committed to supporting the emotional wellness of their student athletes. Last fall, RPCS teamed up with the MINDset Center, a psychology practice that offers a comprehensive wellness education program specifically designed for student athletes. Through their Person Before Player initiative, psychologist Dr. Shreya Hessler and psychotherapist and Associate Director of Sports Psychology, Casey Giovanazzi Kutner, M.A., provided ongoing seminars and resources throughout the school year to support students, parents, and coaches, and equip them with the tools they need to succeed in athletics and in life.
“The emotional health and well-being of our athletes is always a priority, and we are so grateful to collaborate with the MINDset Center to provide our community with practical advice and tools to help them,” said Scott Buckley, Co-Director of Athletics. “The Person Before Player initiative has been well received at RPCS and we look forward to continuing this programming to foster a healthy and positive environment for all of our athletes.”
Beginning last fall, Dr. Hessler and Ms. Kutner have visited RPCS several times to meet separately with student athletes, their parents, and coaches to provide education on mental health wellness, communication techniques and supportive skills. In these sessions, they also explored theoretical scenarios and engaged in other in-depth discussions with each group. They have already met with the same groups this fall as preparation for the upcoming l sports season.
“When meeting directly with students, parents and guardians and coaches, we emphasized the differences between who a person is and what they do, underscoring that identities are not linear and that all student athletes have multi-faceted interests,” said Dr. Hessler, who is also a past RPCS parent. “Through our Person Before Player program, our goal is to empower student athletes using tangible strategies and action plans to cultivate resilience, both in and out of the game.”
Payton Cavanaugh, 2023, a two-sport athlete, found the program to be beneficial and relatable. “One of my favorite things that I learned in the Person Before Player sessions was about having bad cycles in practices or games and how to break them,” Payton said. “It’s very easy to fall into a cycle where you constantly feel defeated, but this program gave us tips on how to maintain clarity and perspective.”
Including parents and coaches in these discussions is an important piece to providing positive mental health experiences for student athletes. Payton’s mother and RPCS Board of Trustees member Cynthia Cavanaugh, P’23 participated in the Person Before Player parent session last year and clearly sees the benefits the program has had on her daughter and fellow parents. “Our students are constantly exercising, working on their skills, trying to play at the top of their game, but if their mindset isn’t in the right place, will they really achieve that?” Cynthia reflected. “I think that’s the goal of Person Before Player; getting our student athletes in the right head space to be at the top of their game so that they can thrive mentally and physically.”
In addition to providing mental health awareness and education, the Person Before Player program also emphasizes the importance of students advocating for themselves as individuals before athletes. Elizabeth Blaum, Head Coach for the Varsity Field Hockey team, noticed that her students have felt comfortable approaching her to explain situations outside of athletics that might affect their performance on a given day. Having that knowledge has helped Elizabeth coach her team better as a whole.
“I love this program. I really like integrating wellness into my coaching practices and building upon healthy habits of my student athletes,” Elizabeth said. “This platform has also helped develop a shared language among coaches and with the players. Helping them adjust the language they use when describing themselves has been a very obvious change I’ve seen that stemmed from this program. The voices in their heads are sometimes the most important.”
With the success of the Person Before Player program, RPCS is committed to continuing its collaboration with the MINDset Center to support athletes, parents, and coaches in the future.
“High school sports can really take a mental toll, so I really hope this program continues at Roland Park Country School for years to come,” Payton added. “It’s so valuable to know that RPCS really cares about their athletes’ mental health and that makes us feel supported.”
