Through Zhilkin’s Vision, Danny Zhilkin and Lauren Shoss hope to raise awareness about mental health and promote conversations among athletes within the sports community
Inspired by teammates and their passion for the cause, Danny Zhilkin, a
gold medallist with Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team at the 2021 IIHF
U18 World Championship, and his partner Lauren Shoss have launched Zhilkin’s Vision, a
non-profit organization that strives to destigmatize mental health among
athletes. The goal of the initiative is to raise awareness about mental
health within the sports community and promote the prioritization and
accessibility of mental health resources for athletes of all ages.
For World Mental Health Day, Zhilkin and Shoss spoke with HockeyCanada.ca about why they started their organization, what it is like working together
as a couple on the initiatives, and their goals for the future.
Hockey Canada (HC): Why did you decide to start Zhilkin’s Vision?
Danny Zhilkin (DZ):
We wanted to do something like this for a while ever since [I joined] my
first OHL team in 2019. We just didn’t get to it, and we thought this is
the perfect time to make it happen. I think I was inspired by former Guelph
Storm captains where I play right now—
Garrett McFadden with his McFadden’s Movement, Cam Hillis with the Hillis Foundation he has. Cam Hillis was the captain
in my rookie season, so he was a bigger inspiration there. When he started
[his foundation], I was participating in that. I think it’s great to let
athletes see how mental health is a big thing in sports.
Lauren Shoss (LS):
Mental health is something that I’ve always been very passionate about.
I’ve also always loved sports, specifically dance and hockey. So when it
came to school, I was presented with this opportunity to study sports
psychology here at Boston University and [it was] the perfect hybrid of
mental health and sports. … For both of us, based on our personal
experiences, based on our passion for mental health, based on what I am
doing for my studies and for my future career, it really made sense to us
to advocate for mental health and sports and the de-stigmatization of
mental health in this community that we’ve both been a part of for our
entire lives.
HC: Why is it important to destigmatize mental health conversations
with athletes?
DZ:
Everybody sees us as just on the ice and performing. They see us score the
big goals, but they don’t really see…
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