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Perhaps, there was never a more difficult time but more important time for the first counseling internship for Soccer Chaplains United. This past January, saw the first-ever joint venture internship to feature a counseling intern working with the pre-professional soccer players and families that comprise the Colorado Rapids Development Academy.

And just as the internship got off to a start with select age-groups, the global pandemic hit. Shutdown. Quarantine. And everyone had to pivot. Coaches. Players. Families. And more. There was a major shift and transition to zoom and online. There were at-home programs created and developed to help the athletes stay in soccer shape as much as possible while being apart from their teammates.

And in spite of all the different challenges and barriers to creating a good system of mental health and mentality support for desiring DA athletes and family members, perhaps there has never been a more timely moment to begin.

Brooke Ewert, Soccer Chaplains United’s volunteer Director of Counseling offered this observation:

We were able to normalize mental health services to the developmental academy in a way that they got use to seeing a counselor around and knowing they could talk at any point in the season if they needed support.

Brooke, on the impact of the first-ever internship

In the final review, the counseling internship (which recently ended) might be deemed a success. A number of athletes and families were helped and supported in the midst of a pandemic shutdown and a lost season — which also saw major changes within the academy and soccer scene, itself. There looks to be a precedent set for the future — one in which the mental health needs of some of the youngest of athletes who might one-day don a 1st-team shirt have been helped from the beginning of their journey.

Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 and depends upon the financial support of our partners to carry out our work of developing chaplaincy, counseling, and community service across all levels of soccer. Please consider making a contribution today to help us continue growing our work.