The Cincinnati Reds are making a difference when it comes to young people and mental health.Dozens of high school baseball and softball players from Greater Cincinnati gathered at the Reds Youth Academy this week, not to practice their skills on the field, but to learn key life lessons off the field.”One of our biggest missions with the program is to break the stigma around mental health,” said Brittany Talbott.Talbott is a senior engagement specialist with the “Adapt for Life” program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.The last night of this programming for the year was held Thursday. Talbott talked to a class of young baseball players about mental health.”Right now, I’m working with freshmen,” Talbott said. “Our goal is to teach them at a young age that you know, you can speak up, you can ask for help. It’s okay not to be OK.” She said that Reds players play an important role in the work they’re doing, they have players come speak with these kids about their own struggles to show them it’s something everyone faces.”Partnering with the Reds shows them that you can be a great athlete in your sport physically, but also it’s really important to be a great person and be strong mentally as well,” she said.The program has seen a lot of growth over the years.”Tonight, we have 40 boys, we had 50 girls that were here on Monday and Wednesday night,” said Sara Scharff, the outreach and education manager for the Reds Community Fund.For their players, it’s an important outlet.”I do have a lot of anxiety. The mental health program has been a huge help, you know, dealing with that. Just dealing with those stressors on and off the field,” said Deion Oatis, a senior at Hamilton High School.Oatis said this is his third year participating. It’s helped shape the way he processes his feelings, he said. That’s also been the case for Highlands High School junior Thomas Haggard.”I feel like just the program overall, it shows me there’s also life outside baseball,” Haggard said. This is the third year the Reds have partnered with Cincinnati Children’s to offer this programming. Organizers say it’s been a big hit with these players.
CINCINNATI —
The Cincinnati Reds are making a difference when it comes to young people and mental health.
Dozens of high school baseball and softball players from Greater Cincinnati gathered at the Reds Youth Academy this week, not to practice their skills on the field, but to learn key life lessons off the field.
“One of our biggest missions with the program is to break the stigma around mental health,” said Brittany Talbott.
Talbott is a senior engagement specialist with the “Adapt for Life” program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
The last night of this programming for the year was held Thursday. Talbott talked to a class of young baseball players about mental health.
“Right now, I’m working with freshmen,” Talbott said. “Our goal is to teach them at a young age that you know, you can speak up, you can ask for help. It’s okay not to be OK.”
She said that Reds players play an important role in the work they’re doing, they have players come speak with these kids about their own struggles to show them it’s something everyone faces.
“Partnering with the Reds shows them that you can be a great athlete in your sport physically, but also it’s really important to be a great person and be strong mentally as well,” she said.
The program has seen a lot of growth over the years.
“Tonight, we have 40 boys, we had 50 girls that were here on Monday and Wednesday night,” said Sara Scharff, the outreach and education manager for the Reds Community Fund.
For their players, it’s an important outlet.
“I do have a lot of anxiety. The mental health program has been a huge help, you know, dealing with that. Just dealing with those stressors on and off the field,” said Deion Oatis, a senior at Hamilton High School.
Oatis said this is his third year participating. It’s helped shape the way he processes his feelings, he said.
That’s also been the case for Highlands High School junior Thomas Haggard.
“I feel like just the program overall, it shows me there’s also life outside baseball,” Haggard said.
This is the third year the Reds have partnered with Cincinnati Children’s to offer this programming. Organizers say it’s been a big hit with these players.