Jelane Pryce: Shedding Light On Mental Health

Mental health is a topic that too often takes backstage in the world of sports. Saskatchewan Rattlers’ forward, Jelane Pryce, is actively attempting to change that and shed light on mental health within the athletic community.

Pryce is an open book about his struggles with anxiety that he has experienced throughout his basketball career. He is quick to note the impact anxiety can have on his performance. For Pryce, anxiety can often be seen in the form of increased fatigue. 

Not only can anxiety impact on court performance but it can also cause an increase of stress in the days leading up to a game.

The summer of 2020 brought a new challenge to Pryce as the pandemic forced the CEBL into a bubble. During their time in the bubble players spent a lot of their day in the confines of a hotel room. This is particularly hard for those facing anxiety as anxious thoughts tend to build up.

“Thoughts ruminate, you think about it over and over.”

As an athlete, Pryce’s anxiety is often provoked by times of uncertainty. These times include transitions to different levels of basketball. Uncertainties faced by Pryce and other athletes begin at a very young age; from team tryouts as a youth, to the transition from high school sports to university sports and again from university to professional careers, athletes’ lives are filled with times of uncertainty.

According to Pryce these transition periods are times that are particularly stressful for him.

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into’

“It can be very cut-throat, one day you can be there [on the roster] and one day you could be gone so you’re always on guard.”

Pryce himself has explored many strategies in overcoming his anxiety. These strategies have led him to know what works best for him and can hopefully work for other athletes as well.  

“Mindfulness is the first step, becoming aware of your thoughts and how your body feels, the next step is accepting it, once you do that you can start to develop mantras for yourself such as relax or stay calm, after that you can start to think tactically throughout the game.”

Research has played a crucial role in the development of strategies for Pryce. He notes YouTube as being particularly useful in the development of his own strategies for dealing with anxiety. He encourages all athletes to do their own research on what works best for them.

Pryce is grateful to have the platform to be able to share his story with anxiety as it has enabled him to help other athletes in similar situations. As a role model within the community, Pryce uses his platform to create a culture that is open and willing to talk about mental health in sports.

One of the platforms Pryce utilizes is social media. His Instagram page @psychvancing aims to give advice and inspire athletes with a focus on mental health.

Pryce notes the importance of athletes like himself opening up about mental health as it allows for conversation within the athletic community and eliminates the stigma of mental health in the world of sports.