Kevin Love Announces Inaugural Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit

Kevin Love founded the Kevin Love Fund (KLF) in 2018 with a mission to empower athletes to improve their physical and mental well-being. In an exclusive interview with Kevin Love, Regina Miller, Executive Director of the KLF, and Ellie Foster, Co-Director of Education at KLF, they share an upcoming inaugural event: the Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit.

Love has not only incorporated mental skills training into his basketball routine, but he has also learned to talk about his emotions and be open and vulnerable with those around him. His experience in the NBA and his mental health journey led him to define four key pillars at the Kevin Love Fund: research, grant-making, advocacy, and education. Through his passion for sharing his story to increase awareness and help others, the Kevin Love Fund got to work on creating a curriculum for student-athletes, primarily those in middle school and high school. “The curriculum we created at the Kevin Love Fund helps model for student-athletes that they can talk about their emotions and don’t have to hide if they are struggling. This is something that I have learned how to do in my own experience in the NBA,” says Love.

Currently, there are 15 lessons in the curriculum and each lesson teaches a mental health tool or skills. “Strength means being open and vulnerable, so all of our lessons help students learn that through the power of modeling vulnerability”, says Foster. What sets the Kevin Love Fund apart is that the Co-Directors of Education will help find a way to bring this curriculum into any infrastructure, helping the facilitators, whether they be coaches or teachers, tailor the program to their needs and time that they have available. “When coaches lead these lessons for their team, they tell us that it helped them to build a team culture where players know they can be honest and open about their mental health,” says Love.

Love sees the importance of both mental health education and mental skills training when it comes to excelling as an athlete. When asked about the role of mental skills training in his game-day preparation, Love says, “Mental skills training is paramount in my game day preparation – through techniques like visualization, meditation, breathing exercises, and positive self-talk, I’m constantly trying to find ways to improve my focus, and maintain composure while under pressure.” Kevin Love and the Kevin Love Fund are continually working to add to their programs and resources to expand their reach and positively impact the lives of many student-athletes. “What makes Kevin a wonderful role model for other athletes is he really is of the understanding that you’re as good as your team,” says Miller. Love has been able to use his experiences in the NBA to shape many of the lessons in their educational curriculum.

On June 29, the Kevin Love Fund will be hosting its first Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit. “The summit will bring together professional athletes and current and former student-athletes at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels to normalize the conversation about mental health in sports and share personal experiences,” says Miller. There will be a panel of athletes, including Kevin Love, Victoria Garrick (Founder, The Hidden Opponent), Solomon Thomas (Co-Founder, The Defensive Line), and more to speak about their personal experiences. The event will conclude with attendees participating in one of the lessons from the Kevin Love Fund, led by the Co-Directors of Education.

“All student-athletes will come to the day when they are no longer competing on a professional, collegiate, or high school team, and these lessons will help them prepare for that transition, and to reflect on who they are in a more holistic way,” says Love. The Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit on June 29^th at 9 am PST will be free to attend and held virtually.