Posters: Posters around the event help raise awareness and start conversations. Examples are available on-line.
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Pre-Event Social Media: Teams have used their social media to promote their Mental health Awareness Game as a way to drive up attendance and start conversations.
Brown University Women's Lacrosse Team
For the 3rd year in a row, the Brown University women's lacrosse team dedicated their game on April 13th to mental health awareness. The team created a video (see below) that was played between the 1st and 2nd quarter on the Jumbotron. Bella Cotier and Ashley Schafer have been the team's mental health advocates. This year the AAF awarded them the Alex Archie Leadership Award for their dedication to spreading the message about positive mental health and suicide prevention. Because of their efforts and those of new Coach Katrina Dowd, all 8 women's Ivy lacrosse teams dedicated their games on April 13th to mental health.
Mental Health Awareness Game Guide and Checklist
Pre-Game Announcement: Teams have created a script to be played prior to the game to let the fans know about the team’s game and commitment to raising awareness about positive mental health.
Team up with Your School's Mental Health Groups or Clubs: Many teams have teamed up with the Counseling And Physiological Services Group (CAPS) or Counseling group or Active Minds Chapters at their schools.
T-shirts: The AAF has created specialized t-shirts for teams to wear for their warmups. This ties into the pre-game message. It also unifies the team around their commitment to mental health and wellness. The AAF will work with you and your program to assist with the cost of t-shirts.
South West Conference Mental Health Awareness Game Initiative
The AAF started an initiative to spread Mental Health Awareness Games and mental health programing across all 13 SWC schools. The AAF is committed to working with all the schools to dedicate a game to their mental health. The AAF will provide shooting shirts for each team. In return the money raised by participating schools will be pooled and shared across all schools to provide mental health programing based on each school's needs. This year, Bethel Girls lacrosse held their first game on April 18th. We are working with Bethel High to sponsor mental health training for the 2024-2025 school year.
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Additional Resources:
Sample Pre-game/Halftime Announcement:
“According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, millions of people are affected by mental illness each year. Across the country, many people just like you work, perform, create, compete, laugh, love and inspire every day. 1 in 5 US adults experienced serious mental health illness in 2021. 1 in 20 US adults experienced serious mental illness. 16.5% of US youth aged 6-17 experienced a mental health disorder. You are not alone. Today [YOUR TEAM] has partnered with the Alex Archie Foundation to help break the stigma about mental health and suicide prevention. Please join us as we take a moment of silence to remember and support all those lost and or affected by mental illness and suicide.”
Fundraising:
The AAF is a 501 (C)3 non-profit. 100% of donations are used for scholarships, training events, t-shirts and wristbands for fund raising.
AAF Address:
Alex Archie Foundation
PO Box 2436
Providence RI, 02906
Cell: Lisa Archie: (203) 577-9696 or Tom Archie: (203) 577-9331.
Email: alexarchiefoundation@gmail.com
Website: www.alexarchiefoundation.com
Donations: AAF accepts cash, check (made to Alex Archie Foundation), Venmo, Paypal and Zelle.
If you are interested in running a Mental Health Awareness game for your school, please contact Lisa or Tom Archie at: alexarchiefoundation@gmail.com
Arizona State University's Men's Lacrosse Team
The AAF worked again with the Arizona State University’s men’s lacrosse team in 2024, following our initial pilot program in 2022. This year the AAF had a pizza dinner and spoke with the team about the AAF and coping skills/tools to help navigate the ups and downs of the season, the school year and life in general. On Sunday February 18, the ASU Men's team dedicated their game to mental health awareness. The team raised donations at the game and the AAF matched that amount and donated the money back to the team for future mental health training and tools.
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The AAF and Student Athletes - Promoting Positive Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Projects
The AAF launched a new initiative to help student athletes learn more about positive mental health and suicide prevention. We are working with schools to develop programing that includes speakers, videos, and coping skills/tools.
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Attached are some examples of Mental Health Awareness Games:
Videos: Teams have also created videos of the players talking about their commitment to their own positive mental health. These videos can be posted on-line and or played between quarters.
Pomperaug High School Boys and Girls Lacrosse 2024
Pomperaug boys and girls lacrosse held their Mental Health Awareness games again this year! The teams continue to make this a fun event for all involved by bringing positive mental health awareness out in the open, and they doubled their 2023 donations. The money from the 2023 Mental Health Awareness Games was used by the AAF to support mental health programing at the High School. Working with Dr Jones, the AAF sponsored a training event on March 8th for all the faculty via our partner, Minding Your Mind. Dr. Mattleman spoke to the faculty about adolescent anxiety and depression and how they can help. On May 13th, the AAF participated in the Region 15 Wellness Fair and sponsored 3 additional sessions on adolescent mental health. We are currently working with the high school to sponsor additional mental health programing for 2024-2025 school year.
2024 ASU Men's mental Health Awareness Game Weekend.
Halftime Talks: We have given a short 2 minute talk at several half-times with both teams present to the players and fans about the AAF and the goals to support our athletes, their families and their fans as we all fight to break the stigma about mental health.
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Mental Health Awareness Games are a great way for a team/group to dedicate their game to positive mental health while raising awareness about positive mental health and suicide prevention. Some groups have also added fundraising as a part of their project. Listed below are some of the major components. Please use as much of this information as helpful and also add your own fun ideas to make it a memorable event.
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PS: Jamie Prajer is our T-shirt designer and make - She is awesome. Creative Bell Designs jamie@creativebelldesign.com
Fundraising: Teams have set up tables with AAF flyers and bracelets as giveaways. They can also sell shirts and collect donations. A QR code is available in the checklist below. Others have set up Go-Fund-Me campaigns to collect donations and keep track of the amount of donations they are collecting for the AAF. Others have donated the games gate/admissions as a donation to the AAF. The AAF has used that money to help these schools with training for their faculty and/or students.
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Lisa & Tom Archie interview at halftime of the ASU/University of Nevada Game on 3/20/22.
The Hill School - Mental Health Awareness Day
The Hill School celebrated their 25th anniversary of co-education along with 5 Mental Health Awareness Games with over 200+ athletes. The girls' lacrosse team kicked off the event on Friday night, followed by boys' tennis, girls' softball, boys' baseball and then boys' lacrosse. Tom and Lisa spoke to all the visiting and home teams along with their parents about the importance of taking care of their mental health and working together to foster mental wellness. The Student Advocates for Mental Health collected donations and spoke with students and visitors about positive mental health. The AAF is working with Lisa Roethling, Director of Counseling, to develop mental health programing for the 2024-2025 school year. A special thanks to our friend and Athletic Director, Seth Eilberg, for a great weekend and helping us dash between the games to talk with all the teams
Arizona State University men's lacrosse team and the AAF