Myles Mattila is making a difference on and off the ice.
The Kelowna hockey player is also a youth mental health advocate.
Mattila was inspired to take action over concern for a teammate while playing in northern B.C. when he was 13 years old.
“He was sad all the time, he didn’t know what are the right resources on where he could go to get help.”
But Mattila said he was surprised by what happened next.
“I wanted to get the help so I thought by going to the coach was the right decision, and he was actually removed from the hockey team.”
The now 18-year-old realized there was a gap in mental health support for young athletes.
Many are under pressure to perform.
“Many players are defined by their sport,” he said. “If their fathers are ex-NHLers then there is a little pressure there on trying to perform to your best.”
Mattila became an advocate for MindCheck in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association.
It’s the driving force being Mindright.info, a health and wellness program he designed to educate the hockey community about mental health.
Mattila was the recipient of the Chair of the Board Award from BC Hockey for bringing honour to the amateur sport through an outstanding humanitarian endeavor.
His efforts were even recognized by the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A young player making a difference - congratulations @myles_mattila12 on your @BCHockey_Source award for promoting youth mental health.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 29, 2017
“I was with my family at the time and we were pretty ecstatic about it,” Mattila said. “And for me I was personally shocked and thought about it and I’m like, wow, that is amazing that Justin recognized me for what I’m doing with mental health.”
The hockey player will soon suit up for the Kelowna Chiefs of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League and attend Okanagan College this fall, all while continuing to stickhandle the sensitive issue of mental health.
“If I open up and talk to others, hopefully that inspires other people to share their stories,” he said.
BC Hockey is taking Mattila’s work seriously, according to board chair Randy Henderson.
“We hope to coordinate efforts so that every player in the branch is able to reach out to an individual capable of providing them with appropriate assistance, support or direction,” Henderson said. “Having personnel at arms length from the team will be a great asset in helping players feel comfortable in reaching out during difficult and sometimes awkward times in their lives.”
Henderson said BC Hockey’s Safety and Risk Management team is examining how to best meet the needs of players throughout the system and not just the highly competitive teams at the junior level.
“At this time the Hockey Canada/ BC Hockey trained coaches are receiving some training in dealing with player mental health issues at the high performance/ competitive level,” he said.
Henderson said the organization wants to utilize the program Mattila developed to provide assistance to all grass roots programs and said the teen “leaves a tremendous legacy to minor hockey.”
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