May 14, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Sacramento Republic FC News Release
On Monday, Republic FC hosted an intimate opportunity for soccer players at Inderkum High School to discuss the pressures and challenges they face on and off the field. The conversation was led by Dr. Mondo Gonzalez and Republic FC forward Kieran Phillips, who discussed the importance of destigmatizing mental health concerns – especially among athletes – and best practices for prioritizing mental health for one’s self and teammates to reach peak athletic performance.
“Days like to today are an opportunity for us to create awareness around mental health struggles, and also create hope,” said Dr. Gonzalez at the event. “Saying that there is another side to this, and there is help out there that we’ve never had before is the exciting thing for all young athletes.”
Dr. Mondo is a nationally recognized performance coach and psychologist who has designed mental health programs that engage elite athletes – including Chicharito, Mallory Swanson, and Lindsey Vonn – to improve their mental strength. His work has focused on reducing stress and addressing trauma, in addition to empowering individuals to seek assistance and promote open discussions about mental challenges. In teaming up with Republic FC, he wants to bring these practices directly into the hands of young athletes.
“Athletes can be seen as super-human sometimes mentally, as things that can’t be touched”, acknowledged Phillips. “But people forget sometimes we’re all just human beings with our feelings and emotions. It’s just about how you use them and process them to put into a positive outlook as opposed to negative.”
Phillips joined Republic FC in April from English club Huddersfield Town and has been an advocate for destigmatizing Mental Health discussions. From a young age, he recognized the importance of seeking resources to assist with the challenges he experienced as a young athlete – recovering from multiple serious injuries to return to the pitch, extended periods of time away from home as a young player, and more recently, moving to the United States for the first time to join Republic FC. The Huddersfield-born striker is off to a strong start with Sacramento, scoring three goals in his first four games.
“I think what Kieran did today is give permission to these student athletes to not just be warriors on the field, but also be multi-dimensional humans that struggle at times, with isolation,…
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