Cleveland Guardians players support mental health initiative

The Cleveland Guardians are a team taking the lead in prioritizing the mental health of athletes as that becomes a more important topic in the sports world.

Over the past year, the mental health of professional and Olympic athletes has been a major topic of discussion. In particular, gymnast Simone Biles drew much awareness to athlete mental health when she withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics citing mental health concerns.

Although there has been much recent discussion about sport psychology, the Cleveland Guardians franchise has long focused on the importance of the mental aspects of athletics under the direction of Dr. Charlie Maher, now a senior advisor to the president and GM for sport and performance psychology.

In addition to Dr. Maher, the Guardians recently hired Dr. Lindsay Shaw as director of sport psychology. Also assisting Guardians players include performance coaches Brian Miles and Martin Rasumoff.

Not only has the Guardians staff supported mental health initiatives, but Guardians players have also recently been involved in bringing attention to the mental health of athletes.

During the NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, Guardians players Shane Bieber and his fiancée Kara Kavajecz, and Cal Quantrill and his girlfriend Eastin Ashby helped to promote a new line of fashion that brings awareness to the importance of mental health in sports. This new clothing line emphasizing mental health in sports and supported by the Guardians players was on display in a fashion show during the NBA’s festivities.

In addition to the fashion show, local professional athletes wearing the new “Power of Words” clothing were featured on billboards in order to raise awareness towards mental health in sports. Bieber was featured with his fiancee’ on a billboard with the words, “Aspire to Make a Difference.” Bieber also modeled a sweatshirt with the word, “Empathy.”