Minds Matter at annual Okotoks Oilers school day game

Mental health awareness was in the spotlight when the puck dropped on an annual hockey showcase.

The Okotoks Oilers and Foothills School Division’s Minds Matter Team brought over 850 students to the Centennial Arenas Tuesday morning for the second annual Mental Health Game.

“We’re talking about mental health and keeping the conversation open,” said Cortney Vines, Minds Matter wellness coach. “And the important part about having conversations about mental health is that often times there’s a stigma attached with it.”

Vines said it’s all about keeping that conversation going and talking about what positive mental health looks like.

“How does it look? How does it feel?” she said. “When we have positive mental health, we’re able to manage our emotions, have relationships, do well in school, do well in sport.”

“It’s a chance for us to carry on the mental health conversations that we’re having in classrooms,” added Minds Matter wellness coach Ila Tanna. “And we can have them here in the arena where kids tend to gather and have a lot of fun.”

Oilers players have been on a number of classroom visits and school presentations in the area over recent weeks, talking about what mental health meant to them and what they did to get ready for games and if they’re feeling unwell what they to do get back into a positive mental health state.

The students then had a chance to play dodgeball and floor hockey with the Oilers.  

 “The whole idea is kids are looking up to these guys,” Vines said. “It’s high-level sport, they have a lot of pressure on them, they live with billet families usually.”

During the intermission of the Okotoks and Brooks Bandits contest on Feb. 13, the event featured live discussions on the importance of mental health as well as recorded messages on the jumbotron from Oilers players talking about its impact on their lives.

“That just makes it another step to making it relatable to our students,” Vines said. “These are kids off the ice, they’re just a regular kid, just like the kids in the stands today.”

Students from Blackie, Cameron Crossing, C. Ian McLaren, Red Deer Lake, Spitzee, Dr. Morris Gibson, Percy Pegler, Big Rock, Okotoks Junior High and Westmount were in attendance.

“A lot of these kids don’t have the opportunity, it’s not normally something they’re able to do, especially the kids that come in from rural schools,” Vines said. “It’s a great opportunity to get them on buses, get them into Okotoks and be able to see the Oilers on their stage here.”

Tyler King, Oilers assistant general manager, business operations, said he was part of a similar project during his time with the Brooks Bandits and partnering with Minds Matter was a natural fit.

“We wanted to capture that same energy,” he said. “Especially with how mental health has become such a more talked about issue over the last few years.

“We thought, what a great way to get an important issue into the minds of local kids and also give them something really fun to do on a school day.”

To find out more about the Minds Matter program, go to foothillsschooldivision.ca.