Wildcats Bench for Mental Health Awareness

By Leah Wyner
Special to UNHWildcats.com

It's not every day that the Jerry Azumah Performance Center's equipment is wrapped in bright green ribbon, but walking into the weight room at the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, April 21, it was clear something celebratory was occurring.

At 2:00 p.m., various teams started streaming into the weight room, welcomed by upbeat music and smiling faces of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, including that of SAAC vice-president and UNH football player Nelson Thomas (Plainfield, N.J.). "I let them know that you guys are pioneers of something that is going to be really awesome," said Thomas.

That "something awesome" is the fundraising and appreciation towards Project 375, an organization co-founded by NFL player Brandon Marshall that was created to destigmatize the idea of mental health, especially within the athletic community. The teams, dressed in vibrant costumes or their sports jerseys, all had the chance to bench press and compete for various titles. The competitive atmosphere was there, but even more evident was the encouragement and excitement in the air.

One lifter who felt the positivity was sophomore member of the women's hockey team, Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.).

"Bench out the Stigma showed that the community can come together to support mental health awareness," said McManus. "The event was great as a whole, a lot of fun and we just enjoyed being here."

Junior Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.), also of the women's hockey team, is a member of the America East mental health committee, so to experience this event's debut was something special for her.

"For the first time you don't really expect much, but a lot of different people from different teams really came through," said Taylor. "I only expect it to go up from here and I'll definitely do it next year for my final year here."

As a team, women's hockey had a successful showing at the event, winning best costume and most money raised. Individuals from the team also had their own victories, with freshman Paige Rynne (Ancaster, Ontario) winning Most Impressive Lift at 155 pounds, and junior Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brunswick) taking the prize for most repetitions with 50 reps at 65 pounds. The male winner for Most Repetitions was sophomore basketball player Chris Lester (Barrington, Ill.), with 29 repetitions at 135 pounds.

Even those who did not participate in the lifting challenges themselves felt the enthusiasm and impacts being generated within the weight room walls. Paul Chapman, Director of Strength and Conditioning at UNH, probably never thought he would see the day where his weight room was covered in balloons and streamers, but he had only positive reactions from the occurrence.

"Mental health is a big issue for our society and you know it's important at this level, at the university level, because these are our future leaders," said Chapman. "The more awareness they have, the more awareness they are going to carry on in their lives."

One future leader includes senior men's hockey goalie and SAAC President Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.), who was able to experience the kickoff during his last year at the university.

"Today overall was good, we had different sports teams here and hopefully as it goes we can reach some more people outside of athletics," said Tirone. "I think it's a really good cause for mental health. It's something that you can't see in someone but everyone has their own struggles that you might not know about, so just bringing awareness to that I think is really important."

Although Tirone himself will be moving on after graduation, he leaves knowing the organization and this event's support are in good hands.

Cathy Coakley, Coordinator of Student-Athlete Development and the advisor of SAAC, has supported the event since its beginning stages and to see the event in action was great.

"I'm very pleased with the turnout, as it was our first attempt to give a lot of visibility and word out about mental health to various communities, not just athletics," says Coakley. "Having teams here to support each other and cheer for each other while they were lifting was really nice to see, it really touches your heart."

Those involved in Bench out the Stigma were bound to have a good time thanks to prizes, pizza and costumes. Even better, they were able to raise $240 to donate to Project 375 and squeeze a quick strength workout in while they were at it. As the event winded down, Thomas could not help but be excited for next year.

"We want to make it something that happens every year to raise awareness about the importance of mental health," said Thomas. "We now have a lot of great stuff to work with to demonstrate to the campus community about how great this event can be."

With the help of those who participated in and attended UNH's first Bench Out the Stigma, this event will not only get more weights to be lifted in the years to come, but more spirits as well.

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO RECAP

To learn more about Wildcats in the Community, go to the Wildcats in the Community page presented by Kennebunk Savings.

Go here to visit the Project 375 website.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

Chris Lester

Meghara McManus

Marie-Jo Pelletier

Paige Rynne

Devan Taylor

Nelson Thomas

Danny Tirone

Upcoming Events

Recent Results