This month, the Forefront in the Schools team delivered our first-ever LEARN suicide prevention training designed specifically for athletic coaches. Our inaugural session took place with the dedicated coaching staff at Ballard High School in Seattle, who welcomed the opportunity to strengthen their skills in supporting student-athletes’ mental health and overall well-being.
Coaches play an influential role in young people’s lives. They see students at their highest highs and toughest lows, often forming trusted, long-lasting relationships on and off the field. Because of this, coaches are in a powerful position to notice warning signs, start conversations, and help students connect to lifesaving support.
Recognizing this, Forefront has been tailoring our suicide prevention programming to support youth sports and athletics, an area where mental health education and support can make a real difference. In the spring, UW Athletics psychologists spoke about suicide prevention among student athletes at our Forefront Speaker Series and the response made it clear that there is both need and energy for more resources tailored to coaches and student-athletes.
Ballard High School training represents our next step in this work. The session introduced coaches to the LEARN model, a practical and accessible framework for recognizing signs of suicide risk, asking directly about concerns, and connecting students at risk of suicide to help. Coaches engaged thoughtfully with the material, bringing forward their experiences, questions, and insights from working closely with teens.
We’re grateful to the Ballard coaching staff for partnering with us on this first training, and we’re looking forward to expanding this work to more schools, districts, and athletic programs across Washington. Supporting youth mental health takes all of us, and we’re excited to continue building tools and training that meet coaches and student-athletes where they are.