On May 16, 2024, Lady Saints held a mental health awareness meeting for the lady basketball saints and other young women basketball players called Grrrl Power. It is super important to bring awareness to mental health in general, but also acknowledge athletes’ mental and physical health. May is the month of mental health and this year’s “theme” is to be able to not only feel your feelings, but be able to verbally talk about them with someone. 

Many people struggle with verbally speaking on how they feel because of their childhood or the way people treat them now. Some may feel vulnerable while telling someone how they feel and most don’t like the feeling of vulnerability because it makes them feel weak. They may also keep things to themselves because they don’t want to feel like a burden to anyone. It’s important to communicate how you’re feeling because the longer people you hold it in, the longer it builds up and the more emotions that build up that can easily make you lash out on the wrong people or things.

It’s also important to know how to cope with your feelings, especially in healthy ways. To be able to cope with your feelings, you need to know how you are feeling and why so you can then figure out what calms you down. It’s also crucial to know your triggers so you can react with more intention and have a better perspective and understanding of the situation. Triggers affect your emotional state and ability to remain present in the moment so being able to have control over how you respond to certain situations can be difficult. Assistant Coach Dominique Zarate mentioned that “athletes have a lot of pressure on them on the court and have to deal with that on top of all their personal problems” which can really drain a person.