COLUMBIA — Elise Tisler joined the Missouri Tigers gymnastics team in 2025.
Since being on campus, Tisler has co-led “The Hidden Opponent” at the University of Missouri, a nonprofit focused on student athlete mental health.
“We’re able to continue that conversation and break down those barriers and break down those stigmas and just really increase mental health awareness in general,” Tisler said.
Before Mizzou, Tisler spent three years in a different black and gold Tiger leotard at Towson University.
She said her journey with mental health started after she tore her Achilles tendon in her sophomore season.
“I couldn’t walk, and so I had my crutches and my scooter and I didn’t have a car, so it was hard to get certain places,” Tisler said. “School didn’t stop, the season didn’t stop, life moved on but I felt like I was getting stuck.”
Between the stresses of rehab, classes and college life, Tisler struggled mentally.
Her trainer at Towson recommended she talk to the team’s sports psychologist.
“It all came out of me, like the floodgates really just opened,” she said about her first session, “and my palms were sweating the entire time and even though I was telling myself the entire time that I hated it, I knew I needed it and that eventually I loved it.”
Therapy helped Tisler find a passion for being a student athlete mental health advocate.
“Student athletes can go to where they know that they feel safe, and that it is in confidence and that there are educated professionals willing and wanting to help,” Tisler said.
Kim Tolentino is one of the team therapists at Mizzou.
“Here at Mizzou, I think we do a good job of going out to practices and getting in front of coaches, getting in front of student athletes so that way they see our faces and know that we exist and that we’re here for their support,” Tolentino said.