Student athletes and staff funneled into the South Campus Gold Room of the Simpkins Stadium Center to participate in Black Student Athlete Association’s “Blacktivating Community,” a speaker event with discussions surrounding student-athlete mental health on Monday evening.
The Black Student Athlete Association is a student organization at San José State that strives to create safe spaces for Black athletes to forge relationships and to build a community off the field, according to its website.
Jeremy Ebobisse, guest speaker and forward for San José Earthquakes, said when he first arrived at Duke University, he failed his first fitness test which triggered a series of unfortunate experiences with his team.
“I was running the fitness test every morning,” Ebobisse said. “That cycle kept on going and going for 18 days where I was training separately from the team and lifting separately from the team ... I was completely isolated.”
Ebobisse said he felt disconnected from not only his team, but the resources surrounding athletics, such as the team psychologist, who he felt disliked him.
He said it was common for him to see high-level athletes enter the league as freshmen and fall into depression after not achieving the results they wanted.
“They spiraled into alcohol, they spiraled into drugs, and that didn’t stop after college,” he said. “That’s followed them and they’ve had to really look into the mirror and get help.”
Ebobisse said he has faced discrimination on and off the field, recalling kids from South Carolina spouting racial slurs during the second half of a match.
He said at a young age, Black athletes learn to internalize that people will try to get in their way without giving a clear reason, and that it takes time to come to terms with that.
Sport psychology consultant Amara Niani spoke at the event and offered mental health tips.
Niani said she played basketball during high school and recalls the struggle of balancing school work and being an athlete.
“Within a year, I experienced my teammates battling depression and anxiety,” Niani said. “I had some teammates popping mollies before practice, or drinking alcohol in the showers because of the pressure.”
She said student athletes should lean into their outlets, whether it’s meditation or journaling.
Niani said it’s extremely common for student athletes to burn out and crash, especially when there is a lack of a proper support system.
Black Players for Change is an independent organization with nearly 200 Black players, coaches and staff from Major League Soccer working to tackle racial injustices and inequalities Black athletes face in the sport, according to its website.
“Black Players for Change is a group of Black players that came together in 2020 because we felt so isolated in certain locker rooms or unheard by general managers or ownership whoever it might have been,” Ebobisse said. “We’re in a pretty good spot from a support system standpoint.”
Prior to the organization being founded, he said issues in the league often led to self isolation.
Ebobisse said it wasn’t until players began speaking up about their experiences did he and his teammates realize how networking and building a community within Major League Soccer would benefit so many people.
“Going back to racial aggression on the field, before 2020, organizations would shut it down and say, ‘Nothing happened,’ ” Ebobisse said. “I’m not saying kick anyone out of the league but at least don’t gaslight us and tell us these things aren’t going down.”
Siena Brewster, president of Black Student Athlete Association and business administration senior said she looked forward to meeting a professional athlete and sports psychologist.
“Jahmal reached out to me to do this event and I was all in,” Brewster said.
She said Williams has helped the association get in contact with guest speakers and host events.
Brewster said she started the Black Student Athlete Association last year in hopes of forming a community, spreading knowledge and making an impact in the lives of student athletes.
“Us being in such an intimate setting and being vulnerable and open with each other was perfect,” Brewster said.
