UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Bryce Jordan Center on Tuesday, October 22 was the container for collaboration and sharing of knowledge from Penn State Athletics faculty as they guided Pennsylvania high school sport administrators and coaches through a myriad of topics.
The 2024 Athletics and Academics Symposium - hosted in partnership between Penn State Athletics and the Pennsylvania School Study Council - brought a variety of disciplines together and provided a space for discussion about student-athlete development, enrichment and enhancement.
One of the many speakers was Director of Athletic Clinical Psychology Katy Pohland who provided a talk regarding the relationship between mental health and college athletics. Pohland shared how acknowledging mental health is a “real” concept enhances the connection between student-athletes and staff.
Pohland also said that symposiums like the one provided last week further builds the bonds of the athletic community and outlined the importance of sharing ideas with fellow colleagues.
“It's super beneficial to see the athletic directors, whether it's public school or private school, and just the way that their operations are run,” Pohland said. “That collaborative effort can be super helpful because there's not many opportunities for people to come together and have those discussions. It can be easy to get trapped in a system that you don't realize needs change if you don't have an outside perspective. Whether it's us at the collegiate level or other high school athletic directors, perspective can change the entire view of things.”
Pohland was one of 12 Penn State Athletics staff members who spoke to the crowd during the course of the day. The range of topics discussed included recruiting, physical and mental performance and facility operation.
Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Performance Rhian Davis, Director for Performance Nutrition Services Nick Yonko and Assistant Athletics Director for High Performance Tom Morris jointly hosted a panel about athletic performance and shared the various dynamics of what it means to develop athletes at an elite level.
Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athletic Development and Enrichment Meighan Julbert and Associate Director for Career Development, Transitional Programming and Events Gregg Wilson hosted a panel on “Building Unstoppable Teams.” Senior Associate Athletics Director for Compliance Matt Jakoubek discussed the changing regulations in the collegiate landscape.
Associate Director of Counseling, Eligibility and Compliance Neil Rager and Senior Associate Director of Student-Athlete Programming Sarah Schillaci discussed academic success for student athletes, Director of Human Performance Science Brad DeWeese shared his insight on the art of sprint speed and Associate Athletics Director for Events Jenn James highlighted the balance of crisis management and facility management.
Pohland and her Penn State colleagues provided strategies to high school administrators and coaches on how to prepare their athletes for the next level and Pohland shared her area of mental health is one younger student-athletes can already work to build.
“It's important to get the conversation going, especially in high school, so that way they can pay attention to certain things, like the importance of mental health and looking out, because then that only helps the kids as they get on to a place like this,” Pohland said.