'Very close to home': North Stars captain helps lead mental health initiative

Battlefords North Stars captain Jake Southgate is helping to raise awareness about mental health after losing his brother to suicide.

“It’s very close to home. About five years ago my brother took his own life so it’s a pretty big deal to me,” Southgate said, on why the team rallied behind a mental health partnership with ‘Better Together’ this season.

Southgate grew up on a farm just outside of Battleford, Sask. and shared how his hometown roots have helped him support others on the team this season.

“It’s been a dream come true [to be the captain for my hometown team]. But that means I get to go home to my family every day. I have a good support system here. I can talk to them almost every day," Southgate explained.

“So I try and talk to my teammates every day and let them know they can talk to me [if they are struggling] or anyone else on the team. We have a really good support system here in Battleford.”

Better Together was co-founded by Deb McNabb in 2019 after Battleford faced immense tragedy in 2018 when three seniors and five youth took their own lives in seven weeks.

“We dreamt about how we could connect generations and the ‘Better Together’ t-shirts started. We dressed 150 seniors over the age of 55 and 150 youth under the age of 22. We created ‘Together Tuesdays’ and we watched them connect through the logos on their shirts. We have [now] seen 38,000 citizens wearing our shirts through Canada,” McNabb explained.

“We were thinking and dreaming about how to grow our message and we connected with the SJHL and our local North Stars. We actually have three SJHL teams on board with us that all wear their shirts on Tuesdays,” McNabb added.

This season, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s [SJHL] North Stars held a contest for local youth to design a jersey featuring the past or current North Stars logo. They were challenged with coming up with a cause to support with their design.

The team then voted on which jersey they would wear on a number of occasions this season.

“This one [we chose] had to do with mental health and the guys kind of rallied behind that and thought that was a good idea, so then it kind of came to fruition,” Southgate said.

Kennedy Schmidt, marketing and office manager for the North Stars, told CTV News that this year’s campaign had some extra resonance for the team.

“It’s close to home for Jake and with him being our captain this year, it got brought up. It just became something that was close to all the boys so it worked out really well this year,” Schmidt said.

The winning jersey, with a special green colour for mental health awareness, was designed by local 12-year-old Gabriella.

“I was told that it’s [a cause] very close to the team and I also thought that it is a thing people struggle with and we should probably raise awareness about it,” Gabriella said, as she explained why she chose mental health awareness for her design.

“I was completely blown away and super excited,” she added, after learning her design was chosen.

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On Tuesday night the team donned the jersey for the second time this season in their 9-3 win over La Ronge on a special mental health awareness night.

Both Gabriella and McNabb were in attendance for the ceremonial puck drop with Southgate.

“We actually have Jake’s old elementary school coming out for family night. Where a bunch of kids and students pack the building as we really drive home our mental health initiative,” Schmidt explained, ahead of Tuesday’s game.

“Before I dropped the puck, Jake was there and I hugged him and reminded him I am so proud of him for being a leader regarding mental health in his community,” McNabb recalled.

“It’s very personal for me and my family,” Southgate said. “We take great pride in mental health and stuff. We’ve worked with Deb, she’s been a great role model for the community. She’s an amazing person.”

Southgate explained that he plays in memory of his brother, Trevor, every time he steps on the ice.

“I wear a necklace that has his fingerprint on it so everything I do is for him,” he said.

The North Stars are proving to be a force to be reckoned with this season as the team only has three regulation losses and sits in first amongst the entire SJHL.

Southgate noted their success comes from both their physical and mental strength as a team.

“I think our team does a really good job of making sure everybody’s comfortable and okay off the ice first and in the dressing room,” Southgate said.

“It’s all about mental health here and then that translates to on ice success.”

The Better Together initiative and the North Star’s involvement comes as the SJHL raises awareness around mental health and player wellbeing.

“‘Together We Are Better’ is a Canadian Junior Hockey League [CJHL] initiative with the Canadian Mental Health Association. There’s nine leagues in the CJHL and it is providing [every one of them] supports for athletes around positive mental health and suicide awareness,” SJHL Commissioner, Kyle McIntyre told CTV News.

“It’s a stressful environment when you’re competing and you want to be your best and unfortunately not every day as an athlete is his or her best. So you have to be able to understand and how to cope or how to deal with it,” McIntyre added.

The North Stars plan on wearing their special mental health awareness jerseys for at least three more home games before being auctioned off to fans.