Keith Archer is an ASU student journalist in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications assigned to cover Corona del Sol.

The game of life is a team sport and not an individual sport. The mental health and mindset aspect have become increasingly important in sports as the years go on because athletes face specific problems and get thrown into unavoidable curveballs for which they must prepare. You can only succeed in any facet of life if you are ready for whatever it is.

Jeff Becker is a mental health coach who uses the term “next-play speed”, defined as how fast someone can move on to the next possession. Whether it's after a play in football or after a missed shot in basketball, it's all about how you move on. That mindset also applies to life, with how you can make a bad or poor decision that results in some consequences, but it's really about how you can move past. That is what matters.

"We bring in a mindset coach to work with our guys during the season, and it's not so much dealing with ill mental health but rather keeping their mindset where we think it's in a healthy and wealthy place," said Corona del Sol basketball coach Neil MacDonald. 

Becker and MacDonald knew each other while Becker was still coaching before he transitioned into being a mindset coach. MacDonald was clear with the fact that he wasn’t brought in because of a specific situation but rather to be proactive and make sure that no situations arise. Often in situations you find yourself trying to dig yourself out of a hole and MacDonald wanting the best for his players and coaches will do whatever it takes to make sure they don’t find themselves in that hole. 

“Just pulling them aside and letting them breathe for a second and then letting them be able to regroup, think through their process and then be able to talk to them,” said Corona del Sol men’s volleyball coach Geoffrey Horewitch.

Being proactive about the situation is the approach both MacDonald and Horewitch have taken. Instead of waiting for a situation, having someone come in to keep everybody level-headed and on a steady path mentally allows the team to produce how they're expected. 

Balancing sports, school and a social life can be difficult.

CJ Hinder is a Corona del Sol freshman who plays volleyball. Despite all the ups and downs that freshman year may have thrown her, she tackled it with extreme confidence, allowing her to be recognized with all-region and all-city awards. At 6-foot-6, Hinder is one of the taller people in her school but says that doesn't faze her because of how much confidence she goes out with every day. 

"It's definitely a struggle, but it's just the confidence and knowing that I can just be confident in myself and not worry about what other people have to say," said Hinder. 

There's no denying that it won't be easy, but things are easier when you attack them with the kind of mindset that Hinder does. 

"I never really understood mental health, but I was a professional for nine years, and I hurt my tibia, and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't play basketball. I couldn't husband. I couldn't do anything, and it was the first time I couldn't do what I wanted to do, and I got depressed," said assistant varsity coach Russ Hinder. 

Russ Hinder formally played overseas and was thrown one of the more common curveballs in sports, which is an injury. Getting hurt is an easy way to start questioning everything you're doing. Rehabbing your injury isn't an easy process to go through, either, and going through the situation allowed Hinder to have a better outlook on mental health than before. Sometimes in life in order for us to learn something we have to go through it first so we can really understand the true meaning of what that feels like. 

Hinder learned to figure out some things in life that may be providing more negativity than positivity and then removing those things from your life. Hinder noticed that one thing in his life that, like many others, was providing much more negative than positivity was social media. 

Hinder realized that many high school kids need to learn that social media isn't the end-all be-all to life. High school is a crucial point in many kids' lives, and social media plays a vital part. Social media gives all high school kids a platform to portray themselves as something they may or may not be. Some kids may take it too far without knowing and that’s just part of the whole learning process. 

"So for me, it's social media, and like anything in our country, it's a tool. A tool is a good tool, and it's used for many good things, but like many other good things, we abuse that tool and turn it into a potentially negative or hurtful tool," said Corona del Sol coach Andrew Svorinic.

Social media has been used in good ways, whether to get news out or relay information but that can be taken advantage of and has been countless times. 

People use social media to attack others and talk down to them because they're behind a screen and can receive minimal consequences. Being away from social media has done precisely what you would think it does and allows you to receive a breath of fresh air.

It’s often forgotten that while we have to ensure that all the student athletes get their breath of fresh air, we also have to ensure that coaches get that as well. Being a coach comes with carrying an unbearable load and often that can become difficult for people but it helps when you have the right people alongside you. 

“I think a lot of times for me it was being able to trust my assistants to not put everything onto my plate and try to control and do everything and just really starting to trust the other people that are around me,” said Horewitch. 

Coaches taking care of their mental health is just as important as making sure their players' mental health is alright as well. Horewitch embodies that and understands that even though he is the head guy he’s got a great group around him that he can rely on at any time.