The night before a meet, Brandeis swim team’s Audrey Teo ’26 meditates before she goes to sleep. That morning, she’ll be sure to eat a ba- nana, a superstition she’s held since high school, and then turn on her workout playlist to get in the zone. But Teo will be the first to tell you, none of this matters if her mental preparation isn’t there. “It doesn’t matter if I’ve been sick or healthy, if I’m not feeling good about myself, I’ve never swam well,” she explained. 

For this reason, Teo takes her work with The Hidden Opponent seriously. The Hidden Opponent is an advocacy nonprofit focused on destigmatizing mental health in athletics. They have a presence on over 750 college campuses, and a Brandeis chapter was founded last fall by Dominique Paglia ’25 and Lexi Kaufman ’24. According to Teo, the 2024-25 sea- son is their first full year of operation — one where they hope to leave their mark. 

“We’ve been planning fun events to help destress,” Teo told The Justice. “Last year we did pumpkin painting, for instance.” Past programming has also included bracelet making and a game of knockout during halftime of a Brandeis Women’s Basketball game, with proceeds go- ing to charity. “Sometimes, it’s just about being able to get together in a room and hang out,” Teo explained. That kind of cross-sport camaraderie is part of what The Hidden Opponent is trying to build in their goal to ad- dress the mental health needs of athletes at Brandeis. 

In the immediate future, Teo says they’re targeting Brandeis Home- coming on Sept. 28, especially given its proximity to World Mental Health Day, which is Oct. 10. The Hidden Opponent will have its own booth during Homecoming Weekend to raise awareness about the club host- ing a bake sale to raise funds for fu- ture programming. 

“Our main goals are mostly to help athletes de-stress and raise aware- ness about mental health,” Teo said. In the long term, The Hidden Oppo- nent hopes to host panel discussions, particularly highlighting the sub- jects of injury and recovery. There’s also the potential to work with sports psychologist graduate students at the University. This year, they’re also making a point to reach out beyond University Athletics to club sport athletes and just students interested in the link between mental and phys- ical health. 

Mental health can be a taboo topic among athletes, and when it is talked about, a lack of resources or vocabu- lary can cause athletes to struggle with coming forward. Terms like “the yips” in baseball can be applied as a blanket term at the expense of real attention and mental care. “Friends and teammates are great,” Teo explained, “but sometimes you need something more.” As a net- work, The Hidden Opponent hopes to provide that, with contacts at the Brandeis Counseling Center and other mental-health focused groups across campus and beyond. 

At the same time, The Hidden Op- ponent endeavors to show that men- tal health is important for athletes even if they don’t think they struggle with a mental health condition. Teo relates a story from her own time as a swimmer in high school. She found herself plateauing despite taking everything about her physical per- formance seriously. “I remember, I said to my coach, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,’” she recalled. The missing link was a focus on man- aging her own day-to-day mental health, which was causing distractions that got in the way of the preparation she needed to perform at the highest level. “Sometimes, it’s about the little things,” she said. 

Access to mental health resources for college athletes is increasing, ac- cording to 2023 data from the Nation- al Collegiate Athletics Association’s Student-Athlete Health and Wellness Study. With nearly 70% of survey respondents identifying resources on their campuses that they could turn to for support, groups like The Hid- den Opponent are helping to address the mental health needs of student athletes. 

At the end of the day, Brandeis athletes are competitors, and there is immense personal pride in perform- ing at the highest level and being the best. While this kind of pressure can historically lead athletes to neglect mental health, Teo emphasizes the opposite: “It’s [about] always want- ing to get better, it’s about being the best version of yourself.” 

So long as The Hidden Opponent continues to appeal to that desire that Brandeis athletes have to do their best, they’re likely to succeed in their mission to raise awareness and provide resources for student athlete mental health. That desire to be the best person one can be is one you’ll hear Teo mention if you listen to her talk about the club for any length of time — it’s a guiding value that shapes the work she does along- side Paglia, the club’s president. It’s a competitiveness that extends even to their status as a club on campus. “After all,” Teo smiled, “we want people to think we’re the best.” This pride in her club and its intended mission reflects a greater goal and hope to help athletes make their mental health a priority.