Hi everyone, we‘re Lucas Ragen and John Armistead.

We’re both former division 1 athletes. Lucas played baseball at James Madison University and John played football at USC and lacrosse at University of Richmond. We met in middle school at St. Simon and immediately became best friends, bonding over our love for sports. By the time we both got to college, our love for sports had become our craft. We both fully embraced the student-athlete lifestyle, giving everything we had into the opportunity.

Before college, mental health wasn't really a concern for us.

When we got to college, we did our best to navigate the chaotic student-athlete lifestyle. I (John) personally had a tough time transitioning into college. Social anxieties formed, which quickly snowballed and created bigger and bigger issues that started to effect my personal life and on-field performance. I honestly had no idea how to handle this and refused to open up to friends and teammates in fear of being judged or looked down upon. This unhealthy approach started to eat at me until I reached a point where I felt extremely lost and depressed. During this same time, Lucas got injured and was going through Tommy John surgery. This procedure (which eventually ended his career) was difficult to navigate and gave him a rather harsh introduction to collegiate sports. Despite not personally going through severe mental health struggles at this time, he saw many teammates and friends have their battles with mental health. Student-athletes didn’t get the proper attention and resources for their mental health struggles, and frankly, most stayed quiet about their battles. While our schools employed sports psychologists, the demanding schedules, chaotic lifestyles, and pervasive stigma surrounding mental health in athletics often prevented athletes from seeking the support they desperately needed.

We knew something needed to change.