National Student-Athlete Day is celebrated annually on April 6 to recognize the accomplishments of student-athletes at all levels.

While approximately eight million student-athletes compete in high school sports, the number dwindles to over 530,000 who compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Among those collegiate student-athletes, the suicide rate has doubled from 2002 to 2022, according to 2024 research done by Bridget Whelan and Kelly Schloredt from the University of Washington. They found that although rates of depression, anxiety and suicide have increased among all students, the student-athlete population faces different challenges with pressures from both school and sport.

That’s why The Jason Foundation helped create the Coaches Assistance Program (CAP) which is designed to educate coaches on how to recognize the signs of suicidal thoughts from their students. Coaches can access information that helps guide athletes through stressful life situations with informational seminars that identify the problem of suicide for student-athletes.

CAP is one of the many programs offered by The Jason Foundation which is one of the leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the awareness and prevention of youth suicide. All programs and services provided by The Jason Foundation are available to the public at no charge at jasonfoundation.com.