NM State to promote mental health awareness, Hilinski's Hope partnership vs Louisiana Tech

Las Cruces Sun News

New Mexico State is taking a big step to address student-athlete mental health.

The Aggies participated in Student Athlete Mental Health Week (SAMHW) from Oct. 5-12 as part of a new partnership with Hilinski's Hope, a non-profit organization providing awareness and education surrounding student-athlete mental health. NM State will promote its participation with a "mental health awareness game" against Louisiana Tech at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Aggies will wear green ribbons on their helmets in support of mental health awareness, and encourage fans to wear green to the game. NM State will also play a video from Hilinski's Hope during the game highlighting its efforts to provide counseling and resources for student-athletes.

Hilinski's Hope partners with over 250 schools across the country, but NM State is its first with a New Mexico school.

"I was really proud of New Mexico State," said Christine Lombardi, one of the founders of Hilinski's Hope and mother of New Mexico State baseball player Aidan Lombardi. "We sent them an invite to participate, and they jumped right on it. They wanted to be a part of it. They recognized how important it was. And for us, that was touching."

Christine Lombardi, the aunt of former Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski, founded Hilinski's Hope with her husband, Tony, and Hilinski family members after Hilinski died by suicide in January 2018. Christine Lombardi said his suicide was "sudden" and that there were no warning signs beforehand, nor a note left by Hilinski afterward. Seeing a wide disparity in mental health resources for student-athletes across the country, Christine Lombardi and her family created Hilinski's Hope to provide them.

Hilinski's Hope soon partnered with schools in 45 states. One of the five states without a partnership was New Mexico, leading Christine Lombardi to send invitations to both New Mexico and NM State. Lombardi says the Aggies quickly jumped on board.

Hilinski's Hope offers resources through six 15-20 minute "modules" that address how to find help and what a mental health doctor's visit can look like, among other things. Christine Lombardi says the modules collectively cost $6 per student. Hilinski's Hope also holds "Tyler Talks" at universities where Christine Lombardi and the Hilinskis educate student-athletes on how to recognize if they or others are having suicidal thoughts and how to deal with them.

One of Hilinski's Hope's primary goals is limiting stigmas associated with mental health struggles.

"It's always been considered a weakness," Christine Lombardi said. "But, I think that's changing. I think the more people out there in the world... who stand up and say, 'I struggled,' it's essentially a way to say you have permission to say you're not okay, because you're not alone."

Hilinski's Hope relies on partners like NM State for promotion due to its small manpower. Christine Lombardi is impressed with the Aggies' efforts, especially considering its financial struggles.

"I'm very fond of New Mexico State, because they don't have the funding that... everybody else has, and they have a huge number of students to support," Christine Lombardi said. "I'm always impressed when people (at smaller schools) want to be a part of stuff like this, because... they have to figure out how to implement some of the resources we provide them and do the best they can."

NM State deputy athletic director for Strategic Initiatives and Leadership Amber Burdge says NM State has taken steps to address mental health before. The university provides resources to all students through TimelyCare at its Aggie Health and Wellness Center, a "virtual health and well-being platform" providing psychiatry, counseling, support for depression, anxiety and stressors, and "health coaching" to help students develop things like healthy eating habits and sleep schedules. Sports psychologist Kai Chaung also helps NM State student-athletes combat mental-health-related issues.

Burdge hopes the Hilinski's Hope partnership bolsters those efforts.

"It puts it on a national scale," Burdge said. "This takes it up a level, because football programs across the nation that are participating in the exact same program. People will see us, too."

Several NM State players and coaches all have their own reasons for supporting the Hilinski's Hope partnership. Some hope it helps them find "someone to talk to" while Aggies coach Tony Sanchez believes it'll create a better environment for his players.

"It's important to address it," Sanchez said. "The more we create an environment where people feel like there is help out there... I think makes a big difference. It's good to have partnerships like this."

Burdge agrees, and will lead NM State in using its current resources and the ones it'll acquire from Hilinski's Hope to improve the mental health of its student-athletes.

"We have an opportunity to help New Mexico State be able to take advantage in mental health," Burdge said. "We've done a lot here with regard to bolstering our mental health program on campus, and now we're going to take advantage of everything (Hilinski's Hope) is offering us."

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