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Empower Student-Athletes with Sports Counseling.
30% of college athletes feel extremely overwhelmed and rates of mental exhaustion have doubled since the pandemic. We know College Leaders like you feel stuck: your counseling center is overbooked and you can’t hire a specialist in Athletics. MyHuddle was designed to solve this exact problem. Our roster of Sports Counselors truly understand the student-athlete experience and meet with your athletes from the palm of their hand -- all at a fraction of the cost of traditional services. Learn how MyHuddle can help your College program be a leader in student-athlete mental wellbeing today.
Book your free 20-minute consultation.
The value of a full-time Sports Counseling Program at a fraction of the cost.
Adjusts to Demand. Our service has the ability to scale up or down to meet demand from your student-athletes throughout the year.
Cost-Effective. Our service is priced at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional options.
Diverse Sports Counselors. Give your athletes choice in finding a specialist who understands their experience as a student-athlete.
On-Demand Access. Student-athletes are busy. With MyHuddle, athletes access mental support when it works for their schedule.
Easy to Implement. You don’t need another job. Our team manages the logistics so it’s simple and seamless for your department.
MEET OUR SPORTS COUNSELORS
Specialists who truly understand the student-athlete experience
Katie
A former two sport Division I athlete and two-time World Cup medalist in lacrosse, Katie takes a holistic approach working with student-athletes and teams to optimize health, wellbeing and performance. She attained a master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Boston College, along with certifications in nutrition and mindfulness, and believes that the different areas of health are not mutually exclusive, leading to a whole-human approach for helping athletes grow and thrive. Katie believes that sports are a platform for developing life and leadership skills, and she is committed to guiding athletes along their journeys on and off of the playing field.
Kelley
Kelley is a Mental Performance Coach, with a specialization in working with athletes competing or pursuing competition at the Olympic level. She approaches athletes as people first, working from a foundational framework that what we do comes out of who we are, and that athlete performance is tied to athlete well-being. She has her Master of Science in Sport and Performance Psychology, with a focus on multicultural counseling in sport.
Karelle
Karelle is a professional 100-meter-hurdler and a 5X Team Canada member. Her journey has been far from linear. In 2008, she suffered a back injury that kept her off the track for 3 years. Despite an orthopedic surgeon telling her to "pick up a new hobby because she would probably never run again", she made a successful return to the track in 2012. She has a BSc with a specialization in Human Kinetics and a MA in Counseling Psychology. She is now currently working towards her license as a Mental Health Counselor and becoming Certified Mental Performance Consultant.
Tim
Tim is a former athlete who played as many different sports as he could growing up. His experiences in sport led him to degrees in athletic training and then sport psychology.
He works with athletes at the high school, college, professional, and Olympic level. Not only does Tim help athletes learn how to mentally perform their best, he also helps injured athletes recover mentally from injuries, surgery, and lengthy rehabilitations so that their mind can be just as ready as their body when they start to play their sport again. He holds a PhD in counseling psych with an emphasis in sport, an MS in sport psychology, and a BS in athletic training.
Lauren
As a former elite athlete, playing Ice Hockey at both the college (NCAA DI) and professional levels, Lauren bring a combination of experience and expertise into her work. Her goal as a coach is to help athletes unlock the next levels of their performance by integrating top notch mental skills work and brain training to help athletes discover their passion for achieving their goals while learning how to live life with a positive mindset. Lauren holds a Masters of Education in Counseling with a focus in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
HOW IT WORKS
01
Sign Up
Athlete sends in a text and is welcomed by a MyHuddle Wellness Coordinator.
02
Get Matched
Athlete is matched to the Sports Counselor right for their needs and preferences.
03
Start Counseling
Athlete meets their MyHuddle Counselor over text and schedules their first video chat.
Learn how MyHuddle can help your Athletic Department with a 20-minute consultation
WHY THIS MATTERS
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Student-athletes need more mental support. 70% of student-athletes say they’re experiencing mental health issues and rates of mental exhaustion have doubled since the pandemic.(1)
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Student-athletes want solutions designed for them. Less than half of NCAA athletes say they are comfortable seeking support from a mental health provider on campus.(2) Athletes often find providers lack a true understanding of their challenges if the provider was not a competitive collegiate athlete themselves.(4)
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Athletes, Coaches, and College Administrators are not satisfied. 90% of athletic directors surveyed believe their institutions do not offer enough training or psychiatric support services for student-athletes. Campus Counseling Centers are already short-staffed and at capacity. (3)
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Limited resources and solutions to-date. Even before the pandemic, most college counseling centers had 3+ week waitlists and are struggling to staff up due to a nationwide shortage of mental health professionals.(4) Hiring a specialist within Athletics is cost-prohibitive for many college programs and "a lot of programs are just checking a box and it’s one person who can’t take care of that many people."(4)
Sources: 1, 2. NCAA Mental Well-Being Study May 2022; 1. TimelyMD July 2022 Survey; 3. Mantra Health & NAIA Survey 2022 (link), 4.Women's Health Magazine Nov 2022 (article),
"I started MyHuddle to equip student-athletes with the mental support I wish I had. Together, we can build a better future for today's student-athletes and the generations to come."
~ Co-Founder of MyHuddle & Former D1 Athlete, Christina VandenBerg
TESTIMONIALS
"The decision to partner with the remarkable team at MyHuddle is one of the best choices our department has made in recent years. We had high hopes for the impact their program and they have far exceeded our expectations. Their professionalism, flexibility, and commitment to our institution have simply blown us away. There is no doubt that there has never been a better time to double down on the importance of mental health training for our student-athletes and MyHuddle has been a massive "win" for us in the 2021/22 school year."
- Alex, Athletic Director, Boston
"Too often we wait to reach out or ask for help once we've reached a tipping point. With MyHuddle, I got a trusted coach who invested in me early on and provided helpful tips geared to my personal situation."
- Kimaya, NCAA D1 Athlete, Soccer
"MyHuddle is so much more that just “sports-based counseling.” It’s about bettering yourself on and off the court. Through understanding and accepting myself as I am, I’ve been able to begin to rebuild my confidence."
- Hailey, NCAA D3 Athlete, Volleyball
“I like that my MyHuddle coach understands my sport. Diving is pretty unique and when talking to a sport psych who doesn’t know the lingo, it just feels less genuine and like they don’t really understand.”
- Drew, NCAA D1 Athlete, Swimming & Diving
"As a student-athlete, I often feel overwhelmed by my athletic and academic commitments. My coach at MyHuddle gave me the individualized support I needed to reach my personal goals. MyHuddle was a resource that helped me improve my performance on the field and in the classroom."
- Sammy, NCAA D1 Athlete, Soccer
“As Licensed Athletic Trainers we see and treat kids faced with season-altering or ending injuries and we can only hope that they are getting emotional and psychological support in addition to their world-class medical care, and MyHuddle offers accessible, age-appropriate resources and tools, professional trainers, and allied health professionals at the click of a button."
- Gwen, MS, LAT, Boston
WHO WE ARE
MyHuddle was founded by Christina VandenBerg, a former D1 Athlete at Harvard, and her husband, Dr. Curtis VandenBerg, an orthopaedic surgeon at Children's Hospital Colorado. We are a team of athletes, healthcare providers, and sport psychology specialists who believe mental health is as important as physical health for athletes. We're on a mission to break the stigma in sports and help college athletic departments improve access to mental support for their student-athlete community. Learn more on our About Us page.
We know this mission is only possible with support from coaches, athletic administrators, parents as well as the sports medicine, sport psychology, and mental health professionals who know their student-athletes best. If you too are an advocate for mental health and have questions or want to get involved, we'd love to connect! Email us at hello@joinmyhuddle.com.
We will help your Athletic Department demonstrate that it prioritizes student-athlete mental health.
FAQs
Q: Who are your Sports Counselors?
A: We have handpicked and personally vetted our team of MyHuddle Sports Counselors. All our counselors have completed or are in-the-process of completing a masters in Athletic Counseling, Sport Psychology, Social Work, or Mental Health -- some of our Counselors even have PhDs. Our counselors have extensive experience working with student-athletes and many were former college athletes themselves. To learn more about our counselors, visit the "Meet our Counselors" section where you can read bios and watch intro videos from a sample of our Counselors.
Q: What can a MyHuddle Sports Counselors help our student-athletes with?
A: MyHuddle Counselors specialize in working with student-athletes to develop mental skills and strategies to improve performance and general mental wellbeing. You can think of our Sports Counseling as the “front line of defense” for athlete mental wellness. Some of the most common areas that our Counselors address include: Performance Anxiety | Injury Recovery | Athlete Identity | Confidence | Fear of Failure | Managing High Expectations | Losing a starting position | Time Management | Mindfulness | Transition out of sport | Leadership Skills | Stress | Team/Coach Dynamics | Self-Talk | Visualization
Q: Do you provide clinical mental health therapy?
A: No, we do not provide licensed therapy. MyHuddle Sports Counselors are not licensed therapists or medical doctors. If a MyHuddle Counselor suspects that an athlete may be experiencing a clinical or long-term mental health issue, our Counselors are trained in knowing when to refer and will encourage the athlete to seek a medical professional and will refer the athlete to the licensed therapy contacts at your school.
Q: What if an athlete has a mental health emergency?
A: The health and safety of your student-athletes is our top priority. During onboarding, we will ask your school to equip us with contact(s) at your school for emergency situations. In emergency cases, we will also call 911.