A Key Piece Of The Puzzle
October 12, 2024 | Athletics, Counseling & Sport Psychology, Joel Coleman
Mississippi State’s Counseling and Sport Psychology department is a vital layer of the holistic care of Bulldog student-athletes.
STARKVILLE – Dr. Allison Rogers has seen it many times before.
As an assistant director in the Mississippi State Counseling and Sport Psychology Department, Rogers has watched on during competition as an athlete she's worked with overcomes a struggle and gets the job done for the Bulldogs.
"Something finally clicks, and you get to go to practice or a scrimmage or a game and they finally do it," Rogers said. "It's a beautiful, beautiful thing."
Such stories are becoming more and more common at Mississippi State in recent years as the CSP program under the leadership of Assistant Athletic Director of Counseling and Sport Psychology Dr. Joey Case continues to become a vital part of MSU's success, both in student-athletes' personal lives as well as in their sport performance.
From being a resource Bulldogs can lean on for improved mental health, to providing interventions to get the most out of athletes as they fight for the Maroon and White throughout the athletic year, the work of the CSP group at MSU – made up of Case, Rogers, Dr. Quincy Davis and Brett Weaver – is making sure no stone is left unturned when it comes to the care of Bulldog student-athletes.
"I think from day one when [Director of Athletics Zac Selmon] got here, he talked about the holistic care of our athletes," Case said. "Yes, we want championships and on-field performance, but it's also about setting our athletes up for success in life. We are a piece of that puzzle, whether it's student-athlete development or nutrition or athletic training, we're another piece of it all to help set our athletes up for success here and for life."
The victories of MSU's CSP staff are many. Some of those are private in nature and simply lead to better well-being, while others are a bit more visible and led to exciting Bulldog victories, individual accolades and more. And while the work of CSP might go on outside the radar of the general public, State coaches are certainly aware of the impact the unit is having. They see it day to day in the athletes they lead.
"Led by Dr. Case, the Mississippi State CSP staff is second to none," Bulldog head football coach Jeff Lebby said. "Their expertise, dedication and service has been incredible. Our administration has done an outstanding job investing in such an important resource for our athletes."
Just how much importance does State put on this care? The numbers don't lie. MSU boasts the best student-athlete to clinician ratio of any CSP department in the entire Southeastern Conference, averaging one full-time clinician per every 92 student-athletes.
State's four full-timers all do their best to ensure that if any Bulldog needs their help in any way, they're all on call and ready to assist.
"As cliché as it sounds, for us, it's about being where our student-athletes are," Case said. "I think a mistake that a lot of sports psychologists make is setting up an office, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and I think we try to be very intentional being visible at practice. Or we make our schedules available where we can meet with someone at night, maybe when they finish tutoring or a strength session."
It's an open-door policy for MSU's CSP group, and that approach has helped Case, Rogers, Davis and Weaver build relationships all across Mississippi State athletics. As those bonds continue to strengthen, State's CSP staff can continue helping the lives and performances of more and more Bulldogs.
"I think what's cool about the department is we all have that shared vision and passion for serving student-athletes," Case said. "We all approach the world a little differently, so each one of our [staff members] has strengths in certain areas and when it all comes together, we have a lot of bases covered."