A Vermont hockey team is battling a different kind of opponent this week — the stigma surrounding mental health.
When the CVU boys hockey team hits the ice on Wednesday, victory won’t be the only thing they are looking to achieve. Instead, the team is supporting another cause, in drawing attention to the need for mental health resources.
The squad is looking to support Joe and Sue Hoeppner, after their son, Paul, died by suicide in 2018. Together, they launched Project Hoeppner to help open the discussion surrounding mental health to other at-risk teens.
With a lot of high schoolers, they might be feeling some issues with mental health but they could feeling some other issues but they don’t really want to talk about it cause they could think of it as being weak or [not] want their friends to know about it,” said CVU junior forward Jack Bryan. “But it truthfully is something anyone can talk about.”
Both Bryan and fellow junior Tommy Barnes were both on the CVU hockey team during the last Project Hoeppner game in 2023. Since then, the group has grown to implement free mindfulness courses to 17 schools, and giving away more than 10,000 shirts featuring words of encouragement.
“Especially for teens, it’s pretty tough to reach out when you are struggling and I think having someone that can be there for you or have someone to reach out to is really big,” said Barnes.
This week’s game aims to continue to spread that message of hope.
“We’re hoping we can get upwards of 150 people to attend just to hear them talk because it really is an important message,” Bryan added.
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