Mia Sanchez: Varsity-level Cross Country + Track & Field

- Junior at Menlo Atherton High School in Atherton, California

- Varsity- level cross country and track athlete

1. How does being involved in sports affect your mental health, both positively and Negatively?

“Running and going to practice every day definitely helps me relieve stress, and feel better about myself – sweating and getting a good workout really helps me get through the day. I look forward to spending time with my team. Negatively, racing well and trying to refrain from getting injured really stresses me out, also making sure I am eating the right foods and getting enough sleep while at the same time balancing my homework is challenging. Running specifically is really tough physically and mentally as some days even when I am not feeling well I have to give it my all and push through my 5 mile practice as best as I can.”

2.How do you balance your social life with the demands of being a student-athlete?

“It’s definitely a challenge, especially when I have races on weekends. Something that helps is that I am good friends with everyone on my team and we are all pretty close to each other so races start to feel more like social events.”

3. How do you plan to prioritize your mental health as you continue your athletic and academic journey?

“I make sure that even when I am not feeling my best going into practice, I take a moment to reflect and remind myself that even though this is hard I can do it. Having my teammates to support me also really helps because we are always lifting each other up. I also always make sure to talk to my coaches and parents about how I’m feeling, letting myself have days where I don’t feel my best and recognizing that that's normal and okay helps me a lot.”

4.How comfortable are you discussing mental health with your teammates? What would help foster more open conversations?

“As a team, we are pretty good at communicating with each other by letting everyone know how we are feeling on a daily basis mentally and physically. Bonding with my team is what really allowed this to happen. When I’m not feeling good I’m pretty vocal about it with my teammates and most of the time there's another person who feels the same way and we're able to relate over that. Overall I believe team bonding is crucial to helping athletes foster more open conversations with each other.”