Lisa & Tom Archie interview at halftime of the ASU/University of Nevada Game on 3/20/22.
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.
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.
Arizona State University men's lacrosse team and the AAF
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
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.
2024 ASU Men's mental Health Awareness Game Weekend.
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.
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.