Mental health workshops
Short sessions for teams and their coaches, led by athletes. Performance anxiety, identity outside sport, injury, comparison — and what to actually say when a teammate is struggling.
Bring it to the huddle.
You’re not alone.
Huddle is a youth-led program for teen athletes on the North Shore. We make mental health a normal thing to talk about in sport, and we make sure every player knows exactly where to go for help.
Anonymous confessions
Say the thing you can’t say out loud
Some things are easier to say when no one knows it’s you. Write down whatever’s been sitting on your chest — the thing making you anxious, the injury causing you stress, the bad grades, the horrible slumps, the arguments at home, the unhealthy relationship. No name, no account, nothing traced back to you.
What happens to it
- Your words stay anonymous. The form asks for no name, no email and no login. A real person at Huddle reads every message, and anything shared publicly has names, schools, teams and any giveaway details stripped out first.
- Saying it is a start, not the whole fix. Nobody here can write back to you. If it keeps weighing on you, tell someone who can actually help — a friend, a parent, a coach, a counsellor, or one of the numbers below.
Open the anonymous form
Opens a Google Form in a new tab. It doesn’t ask who you are, and Huddle can’t see who sent what.
Need someone right now? Call or text 9-8-8 (Suicide Crisis Helpline), text CONNECT to 686868 (Kids Help Phone), or drop in at Foundry North Shore, 604-984-5060. In an emergency, call 9-1-1.
Sport is where young people already are
Almost 70% of Canadian kids aged 5 to 15 play sports. Every week they show up, in a group, with a coach who knows them. It is one of the best places to reach young people — and it is barely used for mental health.
At the same time, sport teaches athletes to push through pain and say nothing. That works for a hard practice. It is dangerous for anxiety, burnout, injury or losing the identity that came with the game.
The services exist and they're free. What's missing is the short walk between a struggling athlete and the door.
What we do
Raising money for CMHA
Every fundraiser we run goes to CMHA North and West Vancouver, who deliver free mental health programs for youth here, including STEPS for ages 13 to 18.
Community events
Tournaments, clinics and open gym nights where sport and mental health sit side by side, so the conversation happens somewhere people already want to be.
What we are not. Huddle is an education and referral program. We are not counsellors, therapists or a crisis service, and we don't diagnose anyone. Our job is to make the subject speakable and the path to real help short and clear.
If you need support right now
- 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis HelplineCall or text 988, any time
- Kids Help Phone1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868
- BC Mental Health Crisis Line310-6789, no area code
- Foundry North Shore211 West 1st Street, North Vancouver · 604-984-5060 · free and confidential, ages 12–24
- CMHA North and West VancouverSTEPS youth program, ages 13–18 · steps@cmhanorthshore.ca
In an emergency, call 9-1-1.
Donate
Every dollar raised right now goes to CMHA North and West Vancouver, which runs free mental health programs for youth on the North Shore, including STEPS for ages 13 to 18.
Donations open soon
Huddle is setting up its donation page. Until then, you can give directly to CMHA North and West Vancouver, or email us to support a fundraiser. Huddle does not collect or hold donations yet.
Get involved
Bring Huddle to your team
Coaches and athletic directors: a session takes 30 minutes and costs nothing.
Play in a fundraiser
Tournaments, bottle drives, bake sales: whatever brings people together. Everything raised goes to CMHA.
Volunteer
Athletes who want to help run sessions and events are who make this work.