DAVIS, Calif. -- On the surface, to the most untrained of eyes, the student-athlete resource group known as AGS is all about fun and games. In fact, Athlete Guidance & Support addresses one the campus's key hot topics – mental health – and has more recently forged an even stronger alliance with UC Davis' Student Health And Counseling Services as it heads into the upcoming school year.
Specifically, in late May, the Health Fee Oversight Committee awarded AGS a $1,500 SHCS wellness grant for an event to be held this fall. Weeks later, UC Davis was selected as one of 11 recipients of an NCAA CHOICES grant, which provides funding for member schools and conferences to "integrate athletics with campus-wide efforts to reduce alcohol abuse." The latter, totaling $30,000 over three years, will launch a program called PARTNER: Preventing Alcohol Repercussions Through New Efforts and Relationships.
Credit Raeann Davis, the UC Davis SHCS's health promotion specialist for alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, for penning the NCAA CHOICES grant proposal with three primary goals:
- Conduct a needs assessment to identify campus priorities around alcohol use, with a special emphasis on student-athletes, and to inform Aggies PARTNER efforts.
- Develop, implement and evaluate a peer Athlete Guidance and Support (AGS) Ambassador Program to connect UC Davis student-athletes to alcohol and wellness resources and guide them toward healthy coping strategies to deal with the unique pressures of being student-athletes.
- Empower student-athletes as role models to help develop and launch a campus-wide campaign focused on alcohol misuse prevention and social norming.
The grant will enable SHCS to create paid student leadership positions within AGS as a component to this new collaboration. The UC Davis PARTNER and NCAA CHOICES programs specifically deal with alcohol abuse, while AGS addresses a broader swath of mental health issues, including stress, anxiety and depression. A primary aim of AGS leadership, called the AGS Ambassadors, is provide student-athletes with strategies to cope with these issues.
The organization was formed in inspiration after track & field athlete Sydney Holmes joined a group of Aggies to the 2018 APPLE conference. (Yet another acronym in this space, APPLE stands for Athletic Prevention Programming & Leadership Education). The group returned to launch AGS that spring, with Holmes and football's Ethan Hicks serving as co-presidents during the first year.
But getting back to the "fun and games..." Yes, in fairness, one could be forgiven for associating AGS for lighter activities. Its public face largely advertises such activities as the AGS CAREnival, the Pumpkin Smash during the fall, and the Treat Yo Self Valentine's Day event. In between the bounce houses and cake walks, the AGS Ambassadors provide info and awareness of their overall mission.
"A lot of our events in the past have been about doing something fun and de-stressing, then we would throw our mental health aspect into it," said Jackie Graves, an incoming senior volleyball player and AGS vice president. "We really want to shift gears and establish ourselves that we have a purpose here. I really think that having a captivating guest speaker will make everything principled in what we're trying to do."
Indeed, the SHCS Wellness grant delivers a chance for AGS to step up the profile of its awareness events. Holmes and Graves wrote up a proposal to obtain funding for a fall event, this time with a catered meal, semi-formal attire, and a keynote speaker. Additionally, the as-yet unnamed event will provide subscriptions to Headspace, the popular meditation app, for the first 50 guests to register. For its part, Headspace carries content specifically geared for sports and athletic performance, and Holmes even hopes this could begin a larger partnership with the app – one that could even result in key research for the effectiveness of meditation.
"We know that just doing a one-time speaking event is not the most effective way to change a culture," said Holmes. "We want to get someone from Student Health or with Headspace and do a survey to see if this app can help student-athletes in their daily lives over a whole year. We can see if there is an improvement in mental health."
Holmes and Graves are still working out the specifics of the fall AGS event – again, including the name itself – although the grant proposal called for a sit-down dinner for 100 attendees at Aggie Stadium's Bruce Edwards Club Room. (More details will be disseminated to the UC Davis student-athletes through AGS and/or the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as the event approaches.)
For Holmes, a neurobiology, physiology & behavior student heading into her fifth year, standing before the HFOC to pitch the event was "definitely one of the more substantial, real-life things I've had to do." Her career plans are still unclear, but her experiences at the head of AGS will certainly play a major role. "I really take to personal relations and how people go about their lives and what makes them happy," Holmes said. "I love people and I love inspiring people. I'm looking for something where I can use that."
Holmes' role in intercollegiate athletics also landed her a spot on the hiring committee for the UC Davis' new sports psychologist, an area in which SHCS has long partnered with the athletics department. It makes sense that AGS would have a voice in this appointment: while the group operates on a peer-to-peer basis, Ambassadors will elevate more serious issues to qualified professionals – such as a licensed psychologist – whenever necessary.
Meanwile, Graves enters her senior year as a political science major. While the Phi Beta Kappa Society honoree seeks a career as an attorney, she knows her involvement with AGS will assist her in any profession, mostly because of the universal importance of mental health.
"It's part of being alive. You don't really think about it until life really hits you and you start going through things that are pretty stressful," said Graves. "No matter what profession, I think I'm learning very useful skills, like knowing to use 'I-statements' and not accusing people of their intentions. Going through life with that lens has been extremely healthy to me. You have to learn how to work with people no matter what, and I think this has been such a great catalyst to help with my skills."
Both Graves and Holmes commend Dr. Michael Lorenzen, UC Davis' senior associate athletics director and the head of the Aggie EVO program, for his guidance in helping AGS to flourish. "Mike has been a real supporter of us," said Holmes. "He has so much faith in us. He says, 'here is your budget, do what you need with it.' This has given my life so much more meaning, and I've gained so many more relationships with people."
Said Graves, "I'm really proud that, within athletics, we're being recognized for something that's not necessarily athletics. It's something we've done with our minds. It's not a physical attribute that we've put into what we've done. To see that happen within athletics is really remarkable to me."
For more on the AGS Ambassadors, including personal statements from more than two dozen student-athlete members, visit the group's website (link above).
ABOUT UC DAVIS: Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO: Established in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE: Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 women's athletics programs. Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year. All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs. Visit this site for more information.
