This week on The IX Sports Podcast College Basketball Edition, hosts Melissa Triebwasser and Michael Waterloo take some time to discuss the importance of mental health in college and youth athletics before being joined by special guest Chance Gray.
This week, Maddy McDaniel, the point guard for South Carolina, announced she will be taking time away from the team to focus on her mental health. Both Triebwasser and Waterloo praised McDaniel for making the decision to take a step back and South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley for supporting her decision.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
“I’m a high school teacher so I spend a lot of time with young people, a lot of time with young athletes, and I think that we’re going to see unfortunately more and more of this sentiment. I don’t know if we’ll see this level of support across the country. There’s a luxury to a degree to be a program that has the kind of depth and talent that South Carolina does,” Triebwasser said.
The culture of Name, Image and Likeness, elite club teams and AAU sports, Triebwasser said, only contributes to the pressures on young athletes that contribute to their mental health.
“Starting as young as eight years old, these kids start to have wins and losses. They start to keep score. They start to to feel bad when they lose because there’s rings and trophies and all of these things. And we teach them that the only thing that matters,” Triebwasser said.
Then the hosts chat briefly about newly-announced changes to the March Madness tournament next year, including a shift to 76 teams. Be sure to tune in to hear an interview with Los Angeles Spark rookie Gray.
Make sure to subscribe to The IX Sports Podcast for in-depth coverage of women’s soccer, hockey and basketball; and tune in each weekday morning for a quick overview of the biggest headlines on Women’s Sports Daily, like WNBA news and PWHL expansion updates.
What you missed on Women’s Sports Daily: Caitlin Clark and Fever have record-setting evening in win over Storm
