COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new requirement for high school coaches across the state means they will have to take a mental health training course. The new legislation is thanks to a push from one local lacrosse coach.
What You Need To Know
- Matt Triplet is the St. Francis DeSales boys’ lacrosse coach
- In 2018, an athlete came to Triplet with mental health concerns and Triplet felt ill-equipped to have the conversation
- Triplet got in touch with lobbyists and a former OHSAA director who helped him get a mental health training requirement passed for all coaches
- The new law passed with the budget this summer and will be a new training regulation for coaches in Ohio
Matt Triplet is very familiar with the halls at St. Francis DeSales, where he’s been the head coach of the boys lacrosse program for 19 years.
But the majority of his days are spent at Alumni Stadium. The boys’ lacrosse coach has won three state championships for the Stallions.
The boys lacrosse program has won three state championships. (Spectrum News 1/Kate Kapusta)
“It’s one big family,” Triplet said.
So much so that one of his players came to him in 2018 struggling with mental health.
“I went to go talk to him and see what was happening,” Triplet said. “He was potentially suicidal, and as I was walking through and talking with him, I realized I shouldn’t be having this conversation. I was ill-equipped.”
Triplet has set the example for his players to be open about talking about their mental health. (Photo Courtesy of Matt Triplet)
What started as reaching out to lacrosse coaches across the state to do mental health training, with only nine showing up, quickly turned into something that needed to be done.
“Fast forward through the pandemic, and then all of a sudden we have, all these kids are having issues, and now I’ve got coaches who are calling me and saying, ‘hey, how do I help my kid?'” Triplet said. “‘What do I say, what do I ask, how do I do this?’”
According to the Ohio Department of Health, youth suicide increased by 5% from 2020 to 2021. Triplet was seeing this among young athletes across the state and decided something had to change.
“We’ve got to get out in front of this, and we’ve got to make some changes,” he said.
Triplet then got connected with lobbyists and the former OHSAA director to start drafting legislation to make mental health training for coaches mandatory. The process took some time to get through.
Triplet along with other supporters of the mental health bill. (Photo Courtesy of Matt Triplet)
“As long as it’s passed, I don’t care,” he said. “It’s not the Matt Triplet bill, it’s the mental health bill.”
But the bill was tacked on to the Ohio Budget and was passed in early July.
“I can’t exactly wrap my head around how big this is going to be,” he said.
The bill will require coaches to complete a student mental health training course, which will be an addition for the pupil-activity program permit which includes other trainings necessary like sudden cardiac arrest training. The bill is the first of its kind in the country, and Triplet hopes it could mean other states may follow suit.
“In then long-term, hundreds of thousands, if not millions,” Triplet said. “You just never know how many coaches are out there who have kids, they’re trying to help but they just don’t know where to go or what to do and they have the kids best interest at heart. Now they’re going to have the training because it’s part of the requirement.”
While state championships are nice, Triplet knows this is his biggest accomplishment yet.
“I’m not an activist or anything,” he said. “I’m a coach and I’m a dad and I do my job. So doing something like this is completely out of character for me, but it was something where I was passionate about. I found myself at nights (thinking) someone should do something and no one was doing it, so you know what, let’s do this.”
The training is still being developed by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and Triplet hopes to see it finalized as soon as possible. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or having suicidal thoughts, call 988.
