How does MyHuddle help my injured athlete?

Injury is an unfortunate common experience for athletes with 90% of student-athletes sustaining at least one injury during their career. For many, injury becomes a repeat occurrence. While much of the rehab process is focused on physical recovery, athletes often cite the mental side of recovery as just as hard if not harder than the physical recovery. However, it is often not addressed or overlooked -- as a result, injured athletes are at a higher risk of developing more serious mental health issues. However, research shows that proper social and emotional support can contribute to better recovery outcomes and mental wellbeing during injury. The MyHuddle program has been developed with a team of leading sport psychology and mental performance specialists and tested with dozens of real injured young athletes. It's designed to improve social connection during recovery from mentors and peers they can relate to while also helping athletes learn proven mental skills to strengthen resilience, confidence, and stress management skills. Our team continues to measure the results of our program so we can design and deliver the most impactful service possible.

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What are common feelings young athletes experience when injured?

When injured, athletes often find themselves asking, “How long will I be out? Am I going to fall behind? Will I be the same when I return?’ This stressful game of “what-ifs” can leave the athlete feeling lost, scared, and stressed -- which can can negatively impact sleep, nutrition, and exercise thereby delaying the recovery process. Add to this rehab appointments, time away from teammates, and being sidelined from a sport that often defines their identity -- and injury can easily become an incredibly overwhelming and exhausting experience (we know this from personal experience!). Some common feelings your athlete may be experiencing include:

• Loss of athletic identity: As an elite level athlete, you spend the majority of your life defining who you are as an “athlete”.  When athletes go through injury and time away from their sport, this identity can feel like it’s no longer part of who you are. “One of the hardest parts of processing the loss of ability to compete in sport is feeling like you don’t know who you are without your sport” (Pinalto, Sidelined USA).

• Loneliness/Isolation: Being separated from teammates and a sport you love as a result of injury can make you feel like you’re ‘out of the loop’. You may also feel like people just don’t seem to understand what you’re going through.

• Increased stress: You may notice that, in general, things that normally don’t phase you trigger intense feelings of stress. Stress may show up cognitively (thoughts racing) and/or physically (tense muscles, body aches, etc.).

• Constant anxiety/ worry about returning to play: It is not uncommon for athletes to get cleared physically to return to play while simultaneously struggling with their mental game. Maybe you don’t feel as confident in yourself or your skills because you haven’t been playing. You worry you're "falling behind" and will never "get back" to where you were pre-injury.

• Feelings of hopelessness: Defined as a ‘feeling or state of despair; lack of hope’. You may notice that you’re constantly thinking about obstacles to your recovery or even struggling to feel motivated to do your rehab and like you're "falling behind."

• Fear of re-injury: “A common post injury psychological response is elevated fear of re-injury. You replay in your head the most challenging moments of your recovery and all the "what-ifs" that could occur. You feel stuck, frustrated, and like this recovery will never end. 

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Do you provide clinical therapy? 

No, we do not provide licensed therapy or mental health counseling. MyHuddle Injury Captains are not licensed therapists or medical doctors. If an athlete is suspected of having a clinical or long-term mental health issue, we will encourage the athlete and their parent/legal guardian to seek a medical professional. If an athlete is having a mental health emergency, we will call 911 and notify the athlete's emergency contacts asap.

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Who are the MyHuddle Injury Captains?

The Injury Captains are current or former college athletes and professional athletes who personally experienced injury and have completed our rigorous application and interview process. All Captains have demonstrated strong interpersonal and communication skills, leadership, and proven accountability. Our Captains complete ongoing training and evaluation rooted in best practices of sport psychology and life coaching so they can serve as effective mentors and role models for our high school athlete members.

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How do the Injured Athlete Squads work?

When you join, each athlete is matched with an Injured Athlete Squad based on their stage of injury, type of injury, needs and goals. Squads meet weekly over live virtual "training sessions" led by their squad's Injury Captain. Sessions are focused on building connection, sharing support, and learning mental skills/strategies for recovery. The Captain will guide the athletes through exercises and games and allow for a safe space to open up about their experience with injury in productive and supportive conversations. The sessions may also feature special guests like professional athletes and sport psychology specialists. Based on user feedback, we have focused the sessions on creating a safe space where injured athletes feel heard and supported. Sessions are planned for 40 minutes long and occur outside of school hours to optimize for athlete availability across time zones. 

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Can my athlete meet with their MyHuddle Injury Captain over one-on-one live video?

If an athlete is interested in meeting with an Injury Captain over 1:1 live video, please let our team know and we'd be happy to explore options to make this happen. We have received very positive feedback from athletes who have done weekly or biweekly 1:1 video chats with our Captains in the past. Based on this positive feedback, our team is working to roll this offering out to more of our athlete members in the near future. Stay tuned!

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Who can sign up to be a MyHuddle Member?

The MyHuddle service is for high school athletes based in the U.S. and must be at least 13 years of age. All minors under 18 years of age must have their parent or legal guardian provide consent for their participation.

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As a parent, how am I involved when the athlete is using MyHuddle?

Please join us for the initial consultation call where we can discuss how the program works and answer any of your questions. Once onboarding is complete, the group sessions are designed just for athlete members to join so we can create a safe space for connecting with other injured athletes and talking about their shared injury experience. We have found that this provides the athlete with the ownership and a sense of empowerment that's important to their growth and recovery journey. As a parent, you will have access to ongoing resources we send out like checklists and FAQs and also be invited to member-only educational events featuring sport psychology and sports medicine experts specialized in injury recovery. At anytime in our program, please message our team with questions or concerns.

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I have more questions. How can I learn more?

Click here to book a free consultation or email our team at hello@joinmyhuddle.com.