Ryan and Christina Day and Chris and Lori Holtmann will be featured speakers at the April 16 MindGames panel, examining the topic of mental health in athletics.

 

Ryan Day, head coach of the Ohio State football team, and his wife, Christina, have used their platform to become public figures in advocating for mental health. In June of 2019, Ryan and Christina Day announced their involvement in the creation of the Ryan and Christina Day Fund for Pediatric and Adolescent Mental Wellness at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Day revealed the way mental health has impacted his own family after his father died by suicide when Day was nine years old. With the Days’ platform, their goal is to have treatment readily available for people who have mental illnesses, and to help break the stigma that might discourage people who need treatment from seeking it.

 

The Holtmanns have applauded the Day’s involvement in spreading the awareness of mental health in adolescence and athletics, being excited to aid in any way that they can. Holtmann, head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, stated that “There is nothing more important in our program than our players’ physical, mental health and overall growth”.

 

Holtmann’s wife, Lori, will be highlighted as the MindGames Honorary Chair.

 

Both coaches and their families continue to advocate for mental health both inside Ohio State’s athletic department with a push for a comprehensive medical staff and outside by funding programs like the Pediatric and Adolescent Mental Wellness at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

 

The Day’s and Holtmann’s will join us at lunch for a "Coaches Conversation on Mental Health," with SSI Director Nicole Kraft from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET.

 

The annual spring panel for the Sport and Society Initiative at Ohio State will be held on April 16 beginning at 8:50 a.m. taking place throughout the day until 4:30 p.m. ET. The event will be hosted by Ohio State football alum and current SSI board member and Big Ten Network reporter, Joshua Perry, and will include several public figures involved in athletics mental health such as Gina McDowell of Nationwide Children's Hospital, Dr. Jimmy Onate, Dr. Jennifer Carter of Ohio State, and Kate Fagan, author of "What Made Maddy Run", Ohio State football player Robert Landers and Dr. William Parham of Loyola Marymount. The event will include several panels throughout the day discussing different sectors that go into mental health in athletics.

 

RSVP for this year’s event.