{"id":9205,"date":"2025-05-18T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/?p=9205"},"modified":"2025-05-17T09:05:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T08:05:03","slug":"partner-athletes-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes on the importance of mental well-being in sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From Olympians to grassroots leaders, these athletes open up about recovery, resilience and the reality of life beyond the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Piper Logan \u2013 UBC Women\u2019s Rugby captain (Vancouver, North America)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paris Olympic silver medallist Piper Logan, captain of Canada\u2019s Women\u2019s 7s team, is currently navigating the challenges of a cruciate ligament injury sustained at the Vancouver 7s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI felt like I was constantly falling behind while others kept improving. But over time, I learned to celebrate the little wins and remind myself that growth isn\u2019t always visible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI found comfort in focusing on the things I could control like nutrition, habits and reconnecting with the life outside of sport. That helped me feel like myself again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cork Constitution RFC, Men\u2019s First Team (Ireland)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One anonymous first-team player reflects on the often-overlooked mental health challenges that come with playing at a high level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cMental health and rugby go hand in hand. Playing helps my well-being through the physical benefits and the social aspect.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI try to deal with stress by being organised during the week, accepting that not every match goes your way and always having time to relax with the lads.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Somerset CCC \u2013 Jack Leach, Charlie Dean &amp; Alfie Ogborne<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mental health is a growing focus in cricket, a sport known for its long seasons, psychological demands and intense competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>England internationals Jack Leach and Charlie Dean, as well as Alfie Ogborne reflect on how mindset, team culture and togetherness plays crucial roles in performance and personal well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alfie said, <em>\u201cYou will always see players who are less talented than others do better, and that\u2019s because of their mental approach and preparation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Charlie said, <em>\u201cThere is always going to be performance pressure, but these days it\u2019s great to see that we are more open about it as that\u2019s how it should be.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jack said, <em>\u201cAs teammates, we\u2019re always looking out for each other. We have to remember that people go through different things and be there to support them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>British Rowing \u2013 Matt Aldridge &amp; Josh O\u2019Brien<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Olympic bronze medallist Matt Aldridge and Paralympic champion Josh O\u2019Brien open up about how team support have shaped their mental resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe attitude towards mental health has changed quite drastically over the past few years. People are starting to talk about it more openly now, which is really good\u201d, <\/em>Matt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cAny high-pressure environment like rowing, you\u2019re going to have bad days, and if you can share that with different people to pick you up, then that is brilliant.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Josh added, <em>\u201cBefore the Paralympics in Paris, I had a bad back injury. I wouldn\u2019t have gotten through it without my teammates and coaches supporting me through it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sion Bennett \u2013 Valley RFC (Asia)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former Wales U20 and Sevens player Sion Bennett now captains Valley RFC in Hong Kong and leads conversations around mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cHaving gone through struggles in sport and life, I\u2019ve seen the impact of community, resilience and simply moving your body,\u201d he says.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After relocating from Wales, Sion leaned on sport to navigate change:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cBeing part of a club like Valley helped me build a new support network. Moving overseas taught me more about who I am and helped build self-belief.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI strongly believe in creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable to share. You can&#8217;t force people to talk about their feelings, but you can make effort with them to talk about their life, their work, have a joke, even if that is a simple hand shake before training, and so when the moment arises that they need someone to talk to they feel like they have built bonds and there&#8217;s an environment that they feel like they can share.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a brand committed to supporting athletes at every level of the game, Kukri stands with these athletes in challenging the stigma and calling for environments where honesty is strength and well-being is a priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you need mental health support, reach out to your primary healthcare provider for guidance. You can also call Samaritans on 116 123 or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mind.org.uk\/information-support\/guides-to-support-and-services\/seeking-help-for-a-mental-health-problem\/mental-health-helplines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">click here<\/a> to view the full list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes on the importance of mental well-being in sport. From Olympians to grassroots leaders, these athletes open up about recovery, resilience and the reality of life beyond the pitch. Piper Logan \u2013 UBC Women\u2019s Rugby captain (Vancouver, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health - Kukri North America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kukri North America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kukrisports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-18T08:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"garethloopdesignagency\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KukriSports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@KukriSports\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"garethloopdesignagency\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bbd8609559c047e10345c76e6c0786fe\"},\"headline\":\"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-18T08:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":724,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health - Kukri North America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-18T08:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/news\\\/partner-athletes-mental-health\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kukri North America\",\"description\":\"North America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kukri North America\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/favicon.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Kukri North America\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/kukrisports\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/KukriSports\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bbd8609559c047e10345c76e6c0786fe\",\"name\":\"garethloopdesignagency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kukrisports.com\\\/ca\\\/author\\\/garethloopdesignagency\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health - Kukri North America","description":"In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health","og_description":"In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/","og_site_name":"Kukri North America","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kukrisports","article_published_time":"2025-05-18T08:30:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"garethloopdesignagency","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KukriSports","twitter_site":"@KukriSports","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/"},"author":{"name":"garethloopdesignagency","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#\/schema\/person\/bbd8609559c047e10345c76e6c0786fe"},"headline":"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health","datePublished":"2025-05-18T08:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/"},"wordCount":724,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/","name":"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health - Kukri North America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png","datePublished":"2025-05-18T08:30:00+00:00","description":"In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kukri Sports is proud to share powerful reflections from its partner athletes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/MHAW-PR-Banner-3.png","width":1600,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/news\/partner-athletes-mental-health\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kukri Sports Partner Athletes Speak Out on Mental Health"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/","name":"Kukri North America","description":"North America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#organization","name":"Kukri North America","url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/07\/favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/07\/favicon.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"caption":"Kukri North America"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kukrisports","https:\/\/x.com\/KukriSports"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/#\/schema\/person\/bbd8609559c047e10345c76e6c0786fe","name":"garethloopdesignagency","url":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/author\/garethloopdesignagency\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9205"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9213,"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205\/revisions\/9213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kukrisports.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}