Varsity Leadership Committee hosts mental health week

Alyssa Wheeler
January 30, 2025
Est. Reading Time: 3 minutes

McMaster’s Varsity Leadership Committee's Mental Health Week offers activities for Marauder athletes to connect and discuss mental health and well being

On Jan. 22, 2025, the McMaster Varsity Leadership Committee kicked off their Mental Health Week with a mental health panel. This event took place in the David Braley Athletic Centre classrooms and featured a number of speakers discussing various topics in mental health.

The panel included McMaster athletics alumni Sam Cooper and Brandon Bernard. Current student athletes Jenine Alkhatib and Sammi Slater, as well as a speaker from the student wellness centre, Jin Byun, were also present. The speakers discussed a range of topics including how to take care of your well-being outside of sport and women’s health in sports

McMaster VLC president Evan Mitchell spoke about his experience in helping to put together the event, “I was able to help create an environment where people could feel like they could share their story and not have any fear about what people were gonna think. It was a really great crowd that we had too and a good audience and some really good questions as well and some real raw emotion that kind of came out of like people just really like going into their story and it's like, like I loved it. I thought it was amazing.”

It was a really great crowd that we had too and a good audience and some really good questions as well and some real raw emotion that kind of came out of like people just really like going into their story and it's like, like I loved it. I thought it was amazing

Evan Mitchell, President
McMaster Varsity Leadership Committee

Proceeding the panel event, the VLC hosted a trivia night event at TwelvEighty Bar & Grill on Jan. 23, 2025. The event allowed student athletes from all sports to enjoy a dinner together and partake in trivia. Mitchell was shocked by the number of student athletes who attended.

“So it was special because we kind of knew what we were capable of, but when everyone comes together and is there for that, it's just like it just reminds you of that the sky's the limit with event planning for athletes because word of mouth spreads so quickly and if you catch a buzz like you're gonna get a lot of people to come out which is pretty cool,” said Mitchell.

Going forward, the success of this event may signal even bigger things for the VLC. Their original goal was to give better opportunities for the OUA and club sports at McMaster, compared to the USports teams. Mitchell believes this has been surpassed.

“I've seen so much change in the department with VLC and what we've been able to achieve. Now, our goal is to create a stronger sense of community amongst athletes and get everyone together more. You should be a Marauder alumni and be able to connect with any Marauder alumni. We want to create more opportunities for people to network and connect with one another,” said Mitchell. 

I've seen so much change in the department with VLC and what we've been able to achieve. Now, our goal is to create a stronger sense of community amongst athletes and get everyone together more.

Evan Mitchell, President
McMaster Varsity Leadership Committee

Mitchell attributes the growth of the VLC and their ability to reach so many student athletes to its wide-reaching executive board, as well as their interpersonal relationships.


“The reason why I think the club has been so successful is because we're all friends. . .It's a big reason why the club is so integrated and we have so many sports like swimming, soccer, basketball, baseball and we used to have a couple others [on the executive board], but even that in itself, four or five sports within your club is huge because you reach like so many networks,” said Mitchell.

The VLC’s mental health week initiatives showcased the team’s commitment to connecting and providing spaces for McMaster student-athletes to make meaningful relationships.

Looking forward, the VLC looks to continue its growth, hosting a number of events including Marauder Momentum, a series of career development workshops. Information can be found here.

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