Kansas City Athletics has entered a new partnership with Onrise, the leading provider of athlete mental health services, to expand access to modern, third-party support for student-athletes across the Roos’ athletic department.
Student-athletes will have immediate access to secure, virtual one-on-one sessions with Onrise, built to meet athletes where they are, including after-hours and during the offseason, when support is often hardest to access. This partnership reflects a broader shift in college athletics: as the environment becomes more professionalized and pressure-packed, schools are treating mental health as essential infrastructure rather than an optional benefit.
Student-athletes across Kansas City’s 14 teams will have access to Onrise’s comprehensive network, including peer support from retired and certified athletes, licensed therapist, psychiatric care and sports performance, delivered through secure one-on-one sessions with flexible scheduling. All Onrise peer supporters are Mental Health First Aid certified, trained, and clinically supervised.
“In today’s pressure-packed college sports environment, we need more forward-thinking approaches to address struggles and help student-athletes perform at their best,” Kansas City Assistant Athletics Director of Sports Medicine Keith Garnett said. “I see the joys and challenges they go through firsthand, and we look forward to having Onrise as a proven and vital resource that meets them when and where they are.”
“Though our network of peer support are clinically supervised and mental health certified, they are not clinicians, and that is by design,” Onrise CEO and Co-founder Dr. Kim Quigley said. “When athletes need help, they don’t always want to talk to a clinician first. They often want to talk with someone who has played their sport, faced the same challenges, and learned how to respond. In this way, peer support lowers a big barrier to care.”
“Kansas City Athletics is excited to expand our mental health services for our student-athletes by partnering with Onrise,” Deputy Director of Athletics/SWA Ursula Gurney said. “We continue to be focused on providing robust support services for our athletes, and access to wealth of mental health services Onrise provides us a key component.”
ABOUT ONRISE
Onrise was founded by a psychiatrist and mother of elite athletes as well as a retired athlete dedicated to helping former athletes who’ve seen firsthand the unique challenges today’s athletes face. Its mission is to make comprehensive care for today’s athletes more accessible, affordable and tailored by recreating proven, effective systems at elite youth, college, and professional levels.
Media Contact: Dartez Jacobs, Director of Business Development
dartez.jacobs@onrisecare.com or info@onrisecare.com
ABOUT KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS
The Kansas City Roos are the NCAA Division I teams of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, providing energy, excitement and a rallying point for campus and community. UMKC, one of four University of Missouri universities, is a public university serving more than 16,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. UMKC engages with the greater Kansas City area to promote exceptional student success, conduct impactful research, and elevate our region’s economy and workforce while fostering an environment welcoming to all. For more information, visit KCRoos.com or follow us on social media with the handle @KCRoosAthletics. For more information about UMKC, visit UMKC.edu.
Media Contact: Jerod Fox, Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communications
jerodfox@umkc.edu