#Who R U?: Virtual Forum
June 6, 2021 6:30 p.m.
The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, The Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, and The Hampton Roads Sports Commission continued their Youth Sports: Coaching Positive Mental Health discussion series with #WhoRU, a look at identity and specialization in youth sports.
The event, held virtually Sunday June 6, brought together an esteemed panel of guests to discuss the dangers of connecting one’s identity solely to sports. Topics discusses included:
- Recognizing the warning signs from an athlete that is experiencing negative effects from imbalanced identity based on sports.
- The positive benefits of sports participation, regardless of the level or stage at which one’s career has come to an end.
- A coach’s perspective on balancing the mental health needs of a team and how to manage the various identities of those same athletes.
- The role of the family and parents in support of mitigating all of the factors that go into making choices about sports specialization.
- Sports specialization and its impact on identity, what athletes and parents face regarding college sports recruitment, and how to support an athlete through it all.
#WhoRU continues the work of previous discussions, A Pandemic Playbook and Bench the Stigma. Both forums were a part of the Youth Sports: Coaching Positive Mental Health series. To access prior events, please visit the Community page on the Hall of Fame’s website.
The Hall of Fame would like to thank all of the panelists, moderators, and of course the sponsors for #WhoRU. Please check back regularly as we are in the planning stages for our next event.
Thank you to our event panelists:
- Joel Brenner, MD, MPH – Medical Director, Sports Medicine Program, CHKDSports Medicine and Adolescent Medicine Specialist, CSG/CHKDProfessor of Pediatrics, EVMS
- Mitch Callis, ATC – CHKD Sports Medicine Athletic Training Manager
- Will Driscoll – Executive Director, Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
- Kenny Owens – Former collegiate football player, UNC
- Tommy Reamon – Former professional football player, high school football coach
- Rianne Patricio – Parent
Panel Co-Moderators:
- Claudell Clark – Executive Director, Hampton Roads Sports Commission
- Will Driscoll – Executive Director, Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
Program Contributors:
- Sam Fabian – CHKD Community Outreach Program Manager
- Michael Cuddyer – retired MLB player and VSHF Inductee
- Betsy Cutler – Cutler Wellness Program
- Eli France – Cox High School student