Athletes Connected helps students thrive

There’s nothing more powerful than connecting in a time of need and finding that there is someone else who understands your distress, desperation and feelings. Will Heininger, former defensive lineman for the University of Michigan football team, found that person in athletic trainer Lenny Navitskis, who noticed him in distress and suspected he needed help.

Kally Fayhee, former U-M swim team captain, found that person in a teammate and good friend. She was struggling with anxiety and an eating disorder, finally breaking down to someone she felt confident confiding in. Fayhee was given an ultimatum by her friend to seek help.

Both made it through the toughest of times with support from coaches, teammates, friends and family. And, perhaps most importantly, they got on the path to recovery by connecting with U-M athletic department counselor Barb Hansen.

Now, they are the helping hands, the people other Wolverine student-athletes can reach out to for answers, direction and hope.

Heininger is a driving force behind Athletes Connected, a program designed to remove the stigma attached to mental illnesses while raising awareness and providing solutions. After first sharing his story at the U-M Depression on College Campuses Conference, he left a job in finance in Chicago to become involved with the initiative.

Athletes Connected began when Michigan received a grant of $50,000 from the NCAA after presenting the proposed program in a presentation in 2014. The grant funded the program start-up that included a pair of videos in which he and Fayhee told their stories. The Michigan Athletic Department has decided to extend the program because of the special value it’s had for student-athletes.

“Those videos have prompted a ton of people to seek help,” Heininger said. “And we created drop-in support groups for the student-athletes. It’s not just for those who are suffering from depression, anxiety or an eating disorder. You can be, but it’s to connect with other athletes — that’s how we created the name of the program. It’s hard to be a student-athlete, and it helps to be connected.”

They also made presentations to all 31 varsity teams and the coaches separately. Heininger said the response has been so “overwhelming” that the athletic department decided to continue backing the program. Additional funding through grants also has been sought.

He said, “This program at Michigan is groundbreaking because it is collaborative between the Depression Center, athletic department and the School of Public Health. That’s what makes Michigan great — bringing together great minds and collaborating for a common purpose.”