By: Sabrina Stovall
Forced Positivity
By: Sabrina Stovall
| Madison Holleran and her mom following the Woman’s Collegiate Cross Country track meet |
new mindset
new everything
i can do this
i will do this
you CHOOSE your fate
willing to give it another chance
DON’T LOOK BACK
LOOK FORWARD
SETBACKS ARE NEEDED TO GET STRONGER
These words were one of many Madison Holleran wrote down in her iPhone in a folder titled “forced positivity” according to Kate Fagan’s book, What Made Maddy Run. Madison typed these words hoping to improve her mindset over the next semester.
Madison Holleran was a track star out of the University of Pennsylvania’s track program. Maddy was a gifted athlete and runner. Just months into her first year of college Maddy ran at the Woman’s Collegiate Cross-Country race and placed 44thout of more than 100 young women. Madison had a bright future as an athlete and as a young woman. But her future came to an abrupt stop on the evening of January 17th, 2014.
According to Philadelphia Police reports, Madison walked up to the ninth-floor of a parking garage in downtown Philadelphia and leaped to her tragic death. Madison left behind a short note
“I love you all… I’m sorry.”
What happened to Madison? How could such a bright, young woman who was so full of life, someone who “was always quick with a smile and was genuinely kind and personable”, have such a tragic end to her story? How did nobody see the signs?
Most of the time it’s hard to talk about mental illness. It’s even harder to see the signs. However, although Madison’s death was a tragedy, it brought to light something a lot of people had never thought of – mental illness in student-athletes.
As student-athletes, these 18-year-old kids are thrown into the spotlight of being a college athlete, as well as enduring the same stress of the average college student . Along with being away from family, studying for midterms, maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, graduate on time, and all the other stressors brought on by being a college student, college athletes add on to the list in more aspects than one. College atheltes are ambassadors of their school, role models for the younger generation of athletes, being well rounded to ensure they present their school to the best of their abilities. If universities create certain expectations for their athletes, shouldn’t athletes create certain expectations for their university?
In 2019, Texas Tech heard this plea and began taking preventative measures to ensure no other athletes fall victim to the same kind of pain Madison felt. Texas Tech is now providing mental health consulting for their athletes to help ensure their performance is top tier both on and off the field.
“The Clinical and Sport Psychology program’s mission is to provide psychological services to Texas Tech University student-athletes that foster mental health and well-being and promote performance excellence in sport competition and in the classroom.” This is the motto of the new Clinical and Sports Psychology Services provided by Texas Tech.
“This whole program is a direct result of Kirby Hocutt, Tech’s athletic director.” Blake Silverthorn, Texas Tech’s program producer for the athletic department said in regards to the new program for tech’s athletes. Listen to Blake talk about the new program here.
This new program has helped ensure athletes are meeting their full potential both on and off the field. In fact, requiring trainers to be trained in sports psychology has benefitted Tech’s football program tremendously.
| Mason McHorse and Alan Bowman after a scrimmage |
“Our athletic trainers help a lot when it comes to the mental health of athletes.” Mason McHorse, a tight end for Texas Tech, said in an interview.
Although the discussion of mental health in athletes was sparked by one tragic moment, athletic programs are taking steps to ensure no other athlete goes unheard. The program at Texas Tech has taken multiple precautionary measures to help make sure their athletes are healthy both mentally and physically. I guess you could say Tech is going to wreck mental illness in student-athletes.
Texas Tech University Alumni Center
The Breakdown 