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October 27, 2017 8:06 pm

Jersey Giveaway to Support Mental Health Awareness

Saturday, November 26, 2016 @ 6:50 AM

Prince George, B.C. – One lucky person will walk away from this Sunday’s Cariboo Cougars home game with a signed Duncan Keith Jersey.

You can enter to win the jersey either during today’s game or the Sunday tilt at Kin 1. Today’s matchup starts at 3:45 p.m. while the puck drops at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The Cougars are hosting the Vancouver North West Giants and the winner must be present during the draw Sunday.

“We’re hoping to raise mental health awareness and to get people out to our game and to give them a reason to come,” says Cougars assistant captain Myles Mattila who is also the creator of the website MindRight.infokeith

The site offers mental health resources for players in B.C.’s Major Midget Hockey League.

“If they ever have to talk to somebody or need to express their feelings, we have a person who has agreed to help them out, Dr. Saul Miller. He has a PhD in psychology.”

Mattila was inspired to launch the site this summer after a friend of his started exhibiting some signs of depression. His friend is okay now but is hoping more people check out the site if they feel the need to do so.

“It’s been good so far. The feedback has been great. It hasn’t been quite what I was hoping for but at the same time you can’t force something,” he says.

“Mental health is definitely a tough subject to talk about so people won’t be jumping on board right away.

But his team sure has. In fact, head coach and GM Trevor Sprague told 250News last month that both his coaching and training staff have taken an 18-hour course to help them deal with the issue.

“Mental health affects everyone no matter what age we are, and youth and young athletes are no exception,” he said. “We’re hoping that with MindRight we can help decrease the stigma around these issues, and show everyone that it’s okay to talk about mental health and mental illness.”

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