This February, Canadian Mental Health Association branches and Canadian Junior Hockey League teams across the country are coming together to celebrate their partnership on the Talk Today program and to promote positive messages about mental health.
This season, Talk Today is celebrating a major milestone – its 10th season of supporting junior hockey. In the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, CMHAs are connected with teams to provide mental health awareness/suicide prevention training and ongoing support as needed, and together they work to promote mental health awareness in the community.
Throughout this month, CMHA branches and Jr. A hockey teams alike are doing their part to raise awareness of mental health on social media. To follow along or join in, use the hashtag #TalkToday.
Talk Today is one of the most comprehensive mental health programs for amateur sports in Canada. It strives to promote the mental health of young athletes while spreading awareness about the benefits of positive mental health throughout communities across the country.
The key piece of the Talk Today program has been to educate players about mental health and suicide prevention, in addition to linking each team to a CMHA Mental Health Coach who provides support and mental health resources to individuals in need.
Since its launch in 2014, Talk Today has delivered suicide prevention training and provided resources to more than 7,600 athletes as well as 1,000 coaches, billets and team staff in junior hockey, and high school, college and university athletics.
This season, eight member leagues across the CJHL are participating in Talk Today. Upwards of 1,500 CJHL athletes and team personnel could receive mental health awareness and suicide prevention training – in 2023-24 alone – by seasons’ end.
Talk Today in the CJHL is generously funded by the Fifth Line Foundation and NHL Foundation. For more information about Talk Today, visit www.talktoday.ca.
