The Kyler Wilson Foundation
Mental Health & Our Philosophy
Our Foundation’s primary goal is to impact young student-athletes in their sense of identity and how it ties to athletics. When we present to an audience of young athletes, we do not speak in styles of lectures or sermons; rather, our intention is to help create a dialogue that will assist these young men and women in how they perceive themselves. Through Kyler’s story, the experiences of the coaches in partnership with us, and other youth sports leadership directly involved in our organization, we are keenly aware that there is much more to a life than sport. This is difficult to comprehend, however, for aspiring athletes whose self-perception of being an athlete is so ingrained into their adolescent identity.
We wish to emphasize how essential it is to have aspirations outside of the realm of sports, and how establishing meaningful relationships to other aspects of life can save one’s own. Whether through school, religion, a future career, hobbies, or your relationship with others, there is extensive meaning to be found in other areas as long as you are committed enough to simply look. We want the kids we speak to ask themselves: what comes next? How do I want my life to move from here? And most importantly, it is beneficial to have young athletes confronted with these sorts of questions while they are still playing. A degree of preparation will go a long way when that final buzzer sounds, or a final pitch is thrown.
When we look at the athletes in our audiences, we see Kyler. And our most profound desire is to steer them away from the trajectory that befell a young man that we loved so much. In his struggle with the finality of his athletic career, he unfortunately turned to alcohol and drugs to fill a void that could only be filled by something more enduring and constructive then a quick hit of dopamine. It is through his story and the experiences of coaches and other former athletes that we look to prepare the next generation for the reality of having their identity as an athlete cemented in the rearview.