Jessica Cheung opens up about her challenges with mental health. The defender is a rookie with the Syracuse University women's hockey team.

As hockey fans, we dress up in our favourite team’s colours, splurge on merchandise during intermissions, all while enjoying a cold, fizzy soft drink and a medium popcorn with extra butter during the game. This all happens as we attempt to strike a balance between cheering for our favourite players while emphatically booing the opponent every time they touch the puck or make a save. 

But there are often aspects of the game which are hidden from our view, behind the masks, the smiles, the determination. That is where we find Syracuse University defender Jessica Cheung, who has been dealing with mental health issues while also preparing for, and recently embarking on, the next phase in her hockey career.

Cheung, an Ottawa, Ontario native, felt a change in her mental health back in 2020, as the world was in the midst of a global pandemic. “At the start of COVID, I experienced a lot of fear for my health and that of my family and friends which began to take a toll on me mentally and physically,” she said. “I felt like my struggles made me question my love of hockey and I thought about quitting a lot during this time.”

Those struggles remained with Cheung off the ice despite the continued success she was experiencing on the ice, with both the Ottawa Lady Senators of the Ontario Women’s Hockey League, as well as on the national stage with Team Ontario Red, where Cheung captured gold in the Women’s U-18 Championship.

That was until Cheung discovered an article which would help to begin shifting her outlook on what she was experiencing and rekindle her passion for the game. 

“I remember feeling very alone until I came across an article called ‘In My Own Words’ written by Erin Ambrose,” Cheung said. “In it, she talked a lot about her struggles with depression and anxiety. She inspired me to not feel ashamed of my struggles but to embrace them because my ability to overcome them made me a lot stronger and confident in myself.” 

Layered into this newfound perspective was also the support that she was receiving from her parents along the way, especially as she was looking forward to the beginning of her collegiate career at Syracuse. 

“My mom and dad both supported me tremendously during this time and helped me to realize that avoiding situations would mean that I lost and my anxiety won,” Cheung said. “They helped me to get the resources that I needed to get back to doing what I loved. They were there for me at my worst and always celebrated the little hurdles that I overcame to ultimately feel like myself again.”

Discovering the balance between the demands of high level hockey and academics comes with its own set of challenges as Cheung embarks on her first year with Syracuse, but this newfound outlook on managing stress and anxiety has helped Cheung to strike that balance and to discover success at this level, as she has throughout her young career. 

“I start by always trying to have a positive mindset in all aspects of my life, even when things don’t always go my way,” she said. “I still struggle with being anxious, but being more positive all around helps me to keep up with the physical and mental demands of the game.”

Between highlight reel goals, acrobatic “how did that not go in” saves and penalty calls which should never have been called and were totally unfair, we, the fans, become enveloped into the thrilling experience of a game. But slowing down and looking beyond the product on the ice, the goals on a scoresheet or the stats on a website, there are individuals who are hiding their own heavy burdens in order to perform at the highest of levels. This is an opportunity to help break that stigma and speak freely and openly about mental health in sports and know when to ask for help. 

And for those who are struggling to take that first step towards support, Cheung has some advice: “Approach somebody that you trust and know will listen, such as a parent, coach, even a teammate or a friend. Coming from experience, handling something like this on my own was extremely isolating and it distanced me from the sport that I loved. Once I told my parents about what I was going through, it was like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.”