Colorado Athlete Well-being Program
Collegiate athletes face many unique pressures as they train to improve their performance. And they are well-supported with all sorts of resources to help them reach their athletic goals. However, there are currently no available support systems or resources to help them deal with harassment they might face off the field of play.
In particular, since Sports Betting became legalized in 2019, there has been a consistent yearly rise in harassment cases of NCAA athletes. These attacks take a significant emotional and psychological toll on athletes, and there is no cohesive mechanism for athletes to report abuse and get mental health support.
The harassment that athletes face is multifaceted; it can include performance shaming, homophobia, xenophobia, racism, disgruntled bettors attacking athletes due to missed bets, and attempts to influence the outcome of a match.
In coordination with Sportradar, Kindbridge Research Institute is bringing the Athlete Wellbeing Program to the State of Colorado. This program is designed to be a platform for the following:
1
Education: Provides self guided learning modules for anti match fixing, social media integrity, and athlete well-being.
2
Reporting: Provides a confidential service for reporting abuse or harassment by the Sports Betting community. The athletes remain entirely anonymous.
3
Investigation: Once an athlete reports an abuse incident, authorities will be notified and take necessary action against perpetrators of harassment.
4
Care: Athletes will get convenient access to mental health assessment tools, educational resources, or licenced counsellors through our Telehealth App.
The research and data collection from this program will help us better understand the problems athletes face and how we can prevent abuse from occurring in the future.
Program Goal
Like anyone else, young athletes can experience common mental health conditions. These conditions often worsen during times of competition and are even more intensified when harassment takes place.
With this in mind, the Athletes Well-being Program has the following three goals:
1
Athlete Protection: First and foremost, this premiere reporting system will make it easier for authorities and stakeholders to investigate and take action on individuals who harass athletes.
2
Data Collection: Through the reporting system, our goal is to demonstrate the impact of sports betting on common mental health conditions amongst athletes, such as depression, anxiety, pressure to perform, and social isolation.
3
Gambling Disorder Awareness and Prevention: Athletes are not immune to becoming addicted to gambling. This program will serve as an educational resource, awareness builder and tool for gambling disorder care and prevention.
Program Resources
The Athlete Wellbeing Program goes one step further by providing four essential resources that college athletes can conveniently access:
1
Athlete Wellbeing Introductory Video: designed to educate Colorado athletes on mental health.
2
Online Learning Platform: designed to educate student-athletes and staff on how to identify and report harassment and how to access or book mental health services.
3
In-person Athlete Wellbeing Workshops: Available to all 22 Colorado DI, DII, DIII, and NCAA schools covering athlete wellbeing, social media integrity, and anti-match fixing.
4
Mobile App: featuring anonymous reporting, in-app decryption, private distribution to agreed-upon recipients (schools, regulators, and/or law enforcement), mental health assessments and 'pathway to care’.
Athlete Mental Health Assessment Tool
For elite athletes to be at their best, they must be physically and mentally healthy. Learn more about our mental health assessment tool for athletes and find a link for participants to take the formal assessment.
Learn More