For Myles Mattila, receiving the Chair of the Board Award during a B.C. Hockey banquet on Saturday night was a thrill. Equally exciting was finding out his initiative regarding youth mental health is gaining recognition and momentum around the province.
The 18-year-old Mattila, a recent graduate of the Cariboo Cougars major midget program, was handed the Chair of the Board Award while at Sun Peaks Resort for the B.C. Hockey annual general meeting. Each year, the award goes to an individual who has "brought honour to the amateur hockey fraternity through an outstanding humanitarian endeavour."
"For me, I didn't expect that at all," Mattila said of winning the award.
"That was my first time going to the AGM for B.C. Hockey and they just did a fantastic job and I couldn't be more happy to have been there and be the recipient of that award."
Mattila is the founder of a program called MindRight, which promotes education and awareness about mental health issues among young athletes. The program - with help from Jessie Sprague and the Cariboo Cougars - was launched this past hockey season, was adopted by the Cougars players and coaches, and was promoted within the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League.
At Saturday's banquet, Mattila gave a presentation about MindRight and, afterward, was informed by Randy Henderson, chair of the board for B.C. Hockey, that 91 minor hockey associations in the province want to get involved with the program.
"That was really inspiring to hear that and know that we're taking the right steps forward and going in the right direction," Mattila said.
Mattila first became interested in mental health when he read a newspaper story about former Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien, who suffered from clinical depression and took his own life in August 2011. That story led Mattila to mindcheck.ca, an organization that sprang from Rypien's death and one that has become a valuable online resource for people coping with mental health issues. Mattila, who recognized first-hand the struggles being experienced by a friend and hockey teammate, became a spokesperson for mindcheck.ca.
Last summer, Mattila came up with the idea for MindRight, which he envisioned as a tool of assistance for youth athletes dealing with the same types of problems.
On top of all this work in the area of youth mental health, Mattila helped bring a summit called Balancing Our Minds to Prince George in May.
Mattila is getting ready for the next phase of his life, which will see him play junior B hockey for the Kelowna Chiefs while he's working toward a business degree. He plans to become a lawyer and intends to keep promoting good mental health.
"I'll do whatever I can to really help out and speak up for others," he said.
Also on the weekend at Sun Peaks, Trevor Sprague and fellow Cariboo coaches Tyler Brough and Bryan MacLean were presented with a Silver Skate Award for the team's 2016-17 championship in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League. The award, given by the Vancouver Canucks organization, was presented by former Canuck and P.G. resident Darcy Rota.
"I think it was 1965 that he said he won that same award," Sprague said. "(The award presentation) was pretty special for (Rota) and pretty special for Tyler and Bryan and I as well."
