The Hidden Opponent (THO) is a nonprofit organization that advocates for student athletes’ mental health. Former collegiate athlete and mental health advocate, Victoria Garrett, started the organization in 2019, and Trinity University began its chapter in 2022.
With campus leaders that have been trained in mental health guidance, THO is a safe space for on-campus student athletes to talk about their mental health — something not often talked about in competitive spaces. Carsyn Lee, junior business analytics and technology major, was elected president her sophomore year. Caleb Manifold, senior communication major, serves as the chapter’s vice president. Manifold described the chapter’s goals on campus.
“Our main goal is to try and help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health, specifically to student athletes,” Manifold said. “It’s kind of a cliché answer to raise awareness for mental health, but part of that is where we like to have conversations around it, and to kind of demystify mental health if you will.”
The organization is able to share stories through athletes writing articles on THO’s website. The articles serve as a way for athletes to speak out about their experience in athletics and its effect on their mental health. Trinity’s chapter has published 11 articles from different sports on campus such as running, swimming and track among others. President Lee reflected on her decision to write an article during her sophomore year.
“When I discovered THO my freshman year, I just thought that it was a really good initiative, and it was something that I personally saw a need for in my own athletic experience. I wanted to help foster that by sharing my own experience,” Lee said. “Not everybody is ready to write yet, but people who are, I think it’s good to share your experience if you’re comfortable with it, just to raise awareness.”
As a testimony to the impact of sharing her story, Lee shared what it was like after publishing the article.
“It was really interesting after I posted it, a lot of unexpected people reached out to me saying that they were impacted by it,” Lee said. “Or now even I have people come up and talk to me and say, ‘Hey, Carsyn, I’m struggling. Like, what was your experience with therapy or seeing a psychiatrist or medication? Like, what do you think? What’s your opinion? How did you deal with it?’ So that’s been really good, to be somebody that people can come and talk to if they need to.”
Another medium through which stories are shared is the chapter’s podcast, “The Hidden Opponent: Off the Field.” Their recent episodes have featured sports culture expert, Jacob Sanchez, and Trinity’s own student athletes.
“We’re kind of coming at it from, from all angles, a little bit the personal side to help get those stories out there and bring awareness again. Then we have the things like here is what the research shows, and what we know that surrounds the culture that got us to that point and what we can do to help destigmatize it,” Manifold said.
The leadership of the chapter also includes multiple campus captains, including A’nnika Saenz, senior political science major. Through her role as a campus captain, Saenz focused on community outreach and has also helped out with the podcast.
The group assists in far more than just athletic struggles. When asked about a topic the group wanted to give more attention to this year, Saenz expressed interest in exploring the smaller struggles athletes face.
“There are so many multifaceted things about people, and the intersections of their lives are so incredibly diverse,” Saenz said. “And for a lot of athletes, especially on campus and honestly any athlete anywhere, collegiately, like high school, professional, they have so many things that it’s not just body issues, it’s not just injury, it’s not whatever. It’s a combination of everything.”
