Discussions about the benefits of sports participation are often rooted in how much young people can gain from playing a team sport. Older adults have much to gain from playing sports as well, and that’s something retirees can keep in mind as they look for activities to fill their time.

A study published in the journal Biochemistry Research International found that physical activity can be a protective factor for noncommunicable diseases, including heart disease and diabetes, and can even help to delay the onset of dementia. The study also linked physical activity to improved quality of life and mental health. Sports require players to be physically active, so seniors who decide to dust off their athletic gear and play the following sports can reap all the rewards that getting up and moving has to offer.

Golf: Golf provides a range of health benefits that committed players are well aware of. Seniors who play golf, particularly those who walk the course instead of using a cart to get around, can reap the rewards of walking, including improved cardiovascular health, and even the benefits of strength-training, as carrying a golf bag around nine or 18 holes can build strength that protects bones and reduces the risk of fractures. Traversing a course also helps to burn calories, which can help seniors maintain a healthy weight.

Pickleball: The popularity of pickleball has skyrocketed in recent years, with the Sports & Fitness Industry Association estimating there are now roughly nine million pickleball players in the United States. The organization Pickleball Canada reports that nearly 1.4 million Canadians played pickleball at least once per month in 2023, proving that this popular sport transcends borders and offers a great way to socialize with fellow seniors.

Walking: Accessibility is one of the major benefits of walking. Even seniors with limited mobility can look to walking as a less demanding physical activity that compels them to get out of the house. And the benefits of walking may be more profound than people realize. Preliminary research presented at an American Heart Association gathering in 2023 estimated that walking an additional 500 steps per day, which is equivalent to roughly a quarter of a mile, was associated with a 14 percent lower risk for heart disease, stroke or heart failure.

Softball: Baseball was the first love of many a sports fan over the years, and senior softball provides a way to maintain or even reignite that passion, all the while reaping the health benefits of sports play. Softball can help seniors maintain their hand-eye coordination and improve their flexibility. But perhaps the most notable benefit of playing senior softball involves socialization. Senior softball requires being on a team, and the benefits of socialization for seniors are numerous, particularly when they play in leagues featuring players from outside their immediate social circle. A study published in The Journals of Gerontology found that older adults who socialize with people outside their typical social circle were more likely to have higher levels of physical activity and a more positive mood. Such individuals also had fewer negative feelings.

A growing number of programs in higher education focus on student athletes’ mental health, recognizing that the pressures of competing in collegiate athletics, combined with academic challenges, financial concerns and team relationships, can negatively impact student well-being.

At the University of Richmond, the athletics department created a new program to emphasize holistic student well-being, taking into account the different dimensions of a student athlete’s identity and development.

Spider Performance, named after the university mascot, unites various stakeholders on campus to provide a seamless experience for student athletes, ensuring they’re properly equipped to tackle challenges on the field, in the classroom and out in the world beyond college.

“The athlete identity is a really special part of [students’ identities], but it’s not the only part, so making sure they are [considered] human beings first—even before they’re students, they’re humans first. Let’s examine and explore that identity,” said Lauren Wicklund, senior associate athletics director for leadership and student-athlete development.

How it works: The university hosts 17 varsity sports in NCAA Division I, which include approximately 400 student athletes. Richmond has established four pillars of the student athlete experience: athletic, academic, personal and professional achievement.

“The whole concept is to build champions for life,” said Wicklund, who oversees the program. “It’s not just about winning in sport; it’s about winning in the classroom, winning personally and then getting the skills and tools to win for the rest of your life.”

These pillars have driven programming in the athletics department for years, but their messaging and implementation created confusion.

Now, under Spider Performance, the contributions and collaborations of stakeholders who support student athletes are more visible and defined, clarifying the assistance given to the athletes and demonstrating the program’s value to recruits. The offices in Spider Performance include academic support, sports medicine, leadership, strength and conditioning, mental health, and well-being.

“It’s building a team around them,” Wicklund explained. “Rather than our student athlete thinking, ‘I have to go eat here, I have to do my homework here, I have to do my workout here,’ it’s, ‘No, we want you to win at everything you do, and how you do one thing is how you do everything.’”

Outside of the specific athletic teams, Wicklund and her staff collaborate with other campus entities including faculty members, career services and co-curricular supports.

Preparing for launch: Richmond facilitates a four-year development model for student athletes, starting with an orientation experience for first-year students that helps them understand their strengths and temperament, up to more career-focused programming for seniors.

Recognizing how busy students’ schedules get during their athletic season, the university has also created other high-impact learning experiences that are more flexible and adaptive. Students can engage in a career trek to meet alumni across the country, study abroad for a short period, participate in a service project or take a wellness course, all designed to fit into their already-packed schedules.

Part of the goal is to help each student feel confident discussing their experience as an athlete and how it contributes to their long-term goals. For instance, students might feel ill-equipped for a full-time job because they never had a 12-week internship, but university staff help them translate their experiences on the field or the court into skills applicable to a workplace environment, Wicklund said.

The university is also adapting financial literacy programming to include information on name, image and likeness rights for student athletes, covering not just budgeting, investing and financial literacy topics but also more specific information related to their teams.

Encouraging athletes to attend extra sessions can be a challenge, but the Spider Performance team aims to help students understand the value of the program and how it applies to their daily lives. The program also requires buy-in from other role models in students’ lives, including trainers, coaches and professors.

“We work really hard to customize fits to different programs so we’re speaking the same language as our coaches,” which helps create a unified message to students, Wicklund said.

If your student success program has a unique feature or twist, we’d like to know about it. Click here to submit.

In the next and final part of the special report, she investigates the many approaches that the city’s local government can take to mitigate urban flooding for its residents, including green alleys.

Basements filled with murky storm and sewer water, or back alleys riddled with standing water. These are some of the images that Berwyn’s urban flooding problem evokes for residents who needto deal with it. What is local government doing to help residents protect their homes from rising waters? And how can residents take control to mitigate damage from excess runoff and sewer backups?

Mitigation efforts and setbacks

As made clear by the 2018 Stormwater Plan, there are many approaches Berwyn’s local government can take to mitigate urban flooding for its residents. One of the effective ones has been green alleys. As opposed to regular alleys, green alleys are built with sustainable materials, such as pervious pavements. Green alleys allow for better stormwater drainage, as standing water is more likely to sink into the permeable ground rather than drain into someone’s basement.

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The left is a photo of a green alley located at the 3700 block of Cuyler after heavy rain. The right is a photo of a normal alley at the 3700 block of Lombard after the same rainfall. Credit: Joshua Bowman

While green alleys can improve standing water in Berwyn, and this is something local government is looking to continually implement, they’re expensive and time-consuming to construct.

“Berwyn has 655 alleys,” said Robert Schiller, Berwyn’s Director of Public Works. “Not all of them will qualify for a green alley.”

This is because a green alley can only be implemented somewhere with permeable soil that will allow for water absorption, and it’s up to Schiller and his team to test that. Soil testing isn’t the only hurdle to implementing more green alleys.

“The cost for a green alley is about $360,000, and that’s one 600-foot alley. So, yeah, it’s a very long and slow process going through and applying. You apply for a grant, you get maybe a million dollars or a million three or something to that effect. Then we have our match. So we might get four, maybe five alleys done,” said Schiller, “To have the funding to be able to go through and do all that you need to do would be great, but it’s unrealistic to expect to get, you know, $70, $80, $90 million, $100 million for a community of 57,000 to install green alleys.”

This doesn’t mean green alleys are a dead end; members of local government, such as Alderman-elect Joshua Bowman, are looking to find ways to overcome these challenges, and of course, the MWRD will still work in collaboration with Berwyn to provide funding for these types of projects.

“We consistently and are constantly applying for grant funding for various types of stormwater mitigation,” Schiller confirms.

In the meantime, local government has given agency to the individual homeowner to mitigate flooding in their homes with the Residential Flood Mitigation Shared Cost Program. This program provides a grant to homeowners who wish to install a flood control system – this can come in several forms, such as a backflow prevention device or check valve. The program is designed to reimburse the costs of installation with a city grant that covers up to $3,500.

However, these flood control systems are often much more expensive than a few thousand dollars to install.

“There’s a lot of concern from people that the overall cost is going to be so high that even with the offsetting grant that they can’t absorb the cost,” said South Berwyn resident Karin Nangreave.

Micah Caldwell, Berwyn resident and 1st Ward Alderman, said he spent around $15,000 to install an overhead sewer system, one of the options for homeowners who take advantage of the program.

However, now may be the best time to take advantage of the Shared Cost Program, as the American Rescue Plan has recently dedicated $500,000 to subsidize the program.

This means that, through the Shared Cost Program, a resident can receive an upfront grant of $4,000 to install a flood mitigation device.

“If it’s a backflow prevention device with a sump pump, electric discharge bypass pump, they would get $4,000 credit through the ARPA funds from the grant. And then after that, you take the balance of what’s owed and you get 50% of that up to $3,500 from the city,” said Schiller.

However, city officials understand that, despite these extra funds incentivizing the program, the Flood Mitigation Shared Cost Program may still be too expensive for residents to pursue.

So, where is the middle ground? Something cost-effective and sustainable in the long term.

A green solution: trees and native species

“Trees are the simplest solution, and the cheapest,” said Alicia Ruiz, former 6th Ward Alderman and Aldermanic Co-Chair of the Department of Public Works.

Specifically, the focus is on planting more native species around Berwyn to help mitigate flooding. Even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests trees and native species as a viable method to reduce runoff (while also removing harmful pollutants in water at the same time).

This figure shows how an urban tree absorbs water and can impact flooding and water quality. Source: https://host10.viethwebhosting.com/~cwsp/docs/Urban_Tree_Canopy_EP_Report_WQGIT_approved_final.pdf

As per the U.S. Forest Service’s guidance, there are four main ways in which increased canopy can reduce runoff:

“1) Through evapotranspiration, trees draw moisture from the soil ground surface, thereby increasing soil water storage potential. 2) Leaves, branch surfaces, and trunk bark intercept and store rainfall, thereby reducing runoff volumes and delaying the onset of peak flows. 3) Root growth and decomposition increase the capacity and rate of soil infiltration by rainfall and reduce overland flow. 4) Tree canopies reduce soil erosion by diminishing the impact of raindrops on barren surfaces.”

In short, native plants have very deep root systems that permeate the ground and can better absorb rainwater. There are several other benefits to planting native species, including improving air quality, mitigating erosion, and preserving local ecosystems, among others.

In fact, Berwyn resident and founder of Spoke Pockette Farm, Julia Klee, has witnessed the benefits of native species firsthand. Klee noticed a pattern of excess water built up in a cement alley that sits between her and her neighbor’s house.

“When we got a really bad rain,” Klee said, “It almost went into my neighbor’s window.”

In reaction, Klee built a pocket forest in her yard. A pocket forest is a densely planted collection of trees and shrubs; they have a host of benefits, including carbon sequestering and runoff reduction. As it exists now, Klee has around 25 native trees in her forest.

“That’s keeping water out of the alley. Anytime it rains and floods, there’s zero flooding right there.”

Klee now manages her business, Spoke Pockette Farm, and helps her neighbors and clients plant gardens with more native species.

“I want to make sure this is accessible for people,” said Klee. “The cost of labor and just the work of doing the install is prohibitive for a lot of people right now.”

Julia Klee: Working With Space

Julia Klee: Working With Spaceopen.spotify.com

Affordability is key to successful mitigation plans for urban flooding, especially in areas where green infrastructure is often sacrificed to reduce funding burdens. The Berwyn Tree Canopy Initiative recognizes this and has been encouraging residents to take advantage of Berwyn’s free tree-planting program.

“What we’re trying to do is get the city to plant more trees as part of a flood mitigation strategy,” said McKinley of the BTCI. “They [the city] already have a free tree planting program, but it relies on resident requests, and it’s not advertised terribly well.”

McKinley believes that the City of Berwyn should be more proactive in their native species planting mission, especially where it concerns city-owned land and new construction projects.

In fact, in August 2024, the City of Berwyn and the Township of Berwyn signed an intergovernmental agreement that allocated $75,000 toward the Tree Canopy Restoration Program.

“Should the Program not commence by or before March 31, 2025, the parties (and each of them) shall have the option to immediately terminate this Agreement and withdraw from the Program and this Agreement.”

Robert Schiller clarified that, although the City has yet to receive the $75,000 to begin planting, the agreement remains intact. We reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on numerous occasions, but the only response to date refers [publication] to its flood information page online. Inaction to increase canopy coverage in Berwyn is potentially due to a lack of desire for more trees.

“There is a high percentage of residents in the community that are anti-tree,” said former 6th Ward Alderman Alicia Ruiz.

Schiller attributes some of the anti-tree sentiment to the fear of the large and deep roots that native plants grow. The fear residents maintain, Schiller said, is that these root systems will grow down to the sewer systems looking for a water source, and cause damage to the pipes – an expensive repair.

“Whether they’re on their property, the city’s property, the neighbor’s property, the tree roots will eventually get to those lines. And for those reasons are why some of these people say no, they don’t want a tree in their front yard, in their parkway, any of that.”

These fears are not completely unrealistic. CMAP’s Climate Resilience Program Lead said damage from large root systems happens and is potentially expensive to fix.

“Yeah, there could be some negative tradeoffs. But I think on the whole, trees can reduce flooding to a degree,” said Evasic.

While trees may not prevent major flood disasters such as the one in July 2023, experts agree that their benefits likely outweigh the maintenance costs. Decades-old studies have consistently shown that increasing tree canopy reduces runoff after a storm. A 2014 study conducted in Wilmington, North Carolina, found an 80% reduction in runoff using trees in combination with Silva Cell (a stormwater management deep root system). A similar study in Manchester, UK, found a 58% reduction in runoff during the summer and a 62% reduction in the winter.

The EPA completed 17 studies showing how trees (on a large scale) greatly reduced financial and physical burdens on America’s stormwater systems.

In its report, the EPA cited Minneapolis, Minnesota, as one of its case studies. In 2010, Minneapolis committed to planting 173 trees using a structural cell model, resulting in a 10% reduction in peak flows to the city’s stormwater management system. To this day, Minnesota continues to utilize this model in its construction efforts to support stormwater control and management.

While long-term investments in green-based solutions are largely reliant on local government initiatives, requesting a tree in Berwyn is a small step individuals can take to begin mitigating the risk of floods, especially as the rainy season approaches. This, in tandem with other measures such as disconnecting downspouts and investing in a rain barrel, may hopefully keep Berwyn residents a little safer (and drier) from urban flood and stormwater.

Editor’s Note: This story is made possible through the Berwyn Collaborative: Understanding Community Needs, led by News Ambassadors in collaboration with local news outlets, including Illinois Latino News, click HERE.

Britton Struthers-Lugo is a reporter with the Medill News Service at Northwestern University, a freelance journalist, and a photographer.

The Fulcrum is committed to nurturing the next generation of journalists. To learn about the many NextGen initiatives we are leading, click HERE.

The national debate around transgender student athletes’ participation in categories separate from their biological gender was again discussed at a local board of education meeting. 

Over the course of a half-hour, a total of 11 speakers on both sides of the issue weighed in for the third consecutive time as elected officials representing Naperville School District 203 opened up public comment at a Monday, June 16 meeting. 

Awake Illinois complaint against District 203

Last month, speakers began sharing their views at Naperville 203 board meetings for and against transgender students’ participation in sports separate from their biological gender.

The wide-ranging comments come on the heels of a transgender Jefferson Junior High School student’s win at a Naper Prairie Conference track meet May 14 and a subsequent complaint from the organization Awake Illinois.

In a 4-page document, Awake Illinois indicating its federal civil rights complaint is based on “sex-based discrimination within education programs or activities that receive federal funding, in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.”

The complaint also notes Naperville 203’s history of receiving federal grants in the range of $9 million annually.

Speakers take aim at interest groups

At the June 16 meeting, some speakers took aim at Awake Illinois and other special interest groups, claiming the tactics and rhetoric used within the organizations’ communications have been harmful. 

Naperville resident Thomas Tomei described the groups’ conduct as “deeply disturbing” and suggested their efforts are “actively working against” public education.

“Our district is now facing mounting expenses to defend itself,” Tomei said. “Let’s be clear: This affects all of us. Look at your property tax bill — a large portion goes to support our schools. Whether or not you have kids in this district, you’re paying for these attacks.”   

Fellow Naperville resident Jim Best also lambasted the groups’ tactics to get their point across. 

“Why antagonize one’s neighbors and community? Why target a child? Why instigate personal attacks on teachers and school officials? And, finally, why go on local and national media with this deplorable and unethical campaign?” Best said. “Shame on these individuals and their co-conspirators, many of whom don’t even live here.”

Parents implore board to take action on sports guidelines

Parent Mike Aabram, in response to claims that opposing views are from outside the community, emphasized he is a local resident and wants to preserve the past practices that had been in place within Naperville 203.

“I’m not an outsider, and I’m not a part of any dark forces,” Aabram said. “I’m just a dad who wants to protect his daughter’s safe spaces, very private spaces.”

Naperville resident Jason Copeland suggested the board consider a series of policies on the matter, including one that explicitly states student athletes can only participate in a category corresponding to the sex assigned at birth and having in place the same provisions for locker room use. Copeland additionally suggested provisions be made available for unisex restroom facilities for students, beginning in grade 6.

“While it wasn’t needed in the past, it’s now clear the board needs policies in place to preserve spaces created exclusively for males and females,” Copeland said.

Naperville resident Simon Poole asked the board and others within the community to consider the bigger picture.

“The current situation is a huge setback for women’s morale, and women’s mental health – and girls…are obviously included in that in this particular situation, because it is going to affect their morale, and that will affect mental health,” Poole said.

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Many nights after work, as people often do, Washington Nationals first baseman Nathaniel Lowe checks his social media accounts. Unlike most, however, Lowe must brace himself to find out which anonymous trolls, miscreants and provocateurs, at that very moment, want him dead.

If the safe-word filters on his accounts do their job that night — and if Lowe happened to have excelled at his job, at least relative to the prop bets staked to his performance — the abuse might not be so bad. Otherwise?

“‘Kill yourself’ shows up pretty often,” said Lowe, who has won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and a World Series in his career. Those kinds of messages, he added, are there “five days a week.”

Like many athletes, Lowe, 29, has come to view the nightly stream of online vitriol as another annoyance inherent to his line of work, no different from late-night flights and professional autograph-seekers.

“That’s just what you kind of sign up for,” Lowe said. “And that’s what gambling has brought into the game.”

But in recent months, as online sports betting continues to expand in the aftermath of a landmark 2018 Supreme Court ruling — Americans legally wagered a record $147.91 billion on sports last year — the problem of online threats and harassment of athletes by gamblers appears to have become more widespread, more specific and more sinister, alarming many in the sports industry, not least of all those on the receiving end.

“I understand people are very passionate and … love sports,” Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. told reporters recently after detailing death threats made against him and his family that were later traced to a bettor overseas. “But threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with.”

Famous athletes have long been subjected to verbal abuse by angry partisans, as any NFL kicker who has missed a game-winning field goal or any major European soccer player who has missed a penalty kick can attest. Horrifying incidents between athletes and deranged fans are nothing new, either, with the on-court stabbing of tennis star Monica Seles in 1993 perhaps the most vivid example.

But what is happening now, to athletes of all degrees of fame, feels like a distinctively modern problem, resulting from an explosive mixture of forces: the exponential growth, financial might and cultural penetration of the sports-gambling industry; the AI-driven ability of that industry to deliver rapid, in-game gambling products via mobile devices; and the ubiquity of social media and the anonymity it provides while obliterating the barriers between athletes and fans. The dynamic is exacerbated by socioeconomic trends, such as the widening economic chasm between fans and athletes and the rampant disaffection sociologists have identified in young, online males.

“People get this idea, like, ‘This big baseball player making a great amount of money. … I see them out there living their lives happily with their family while they’re pitching poorly,’” Nationals right-hander Josiah Gray said. “So they say: ‘You shouldn’t be living happily with your family. You should be lamenting on your rough outing or your rough day at the plate.’ And then trying to ruin your day that way. It’s more [about] psychology and how players are easily accessible [through] social media.”

It is now commonplace, in fact, for gamblers to track down an athlete’s Venmo account and request money to cover the cost of a lost bet, often including a nasty or threatening message with their invoice. Occasionally, but far more rarely, an athlete picks up their phone to find a “tip” has been sent to their Venmo as thanks for a winning performance.

“That’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo — because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling,” golfer Scottie Scheffler said this week. Asked what was the most money a gambler sent him, the three-time major champion replied: “I don’t remember. Maybe a couple bucks here or there. That didn’t happen nearly as much as the requests did.”

Although little data exists to demonstrate the extent of the problem, recent polls and studies as well as anecdotal evidence suggest it is affecting athletes across the sports spectrum with increasing frequency.

A December study by four of the biggest tennis federations in the world found that angry gamblers were responsible for nearly half of the 12,000 abusive social media posts directed at tennis players that year.

A May 2024 NCAA study during that year’s men’s and women’s March Madness events found more than 4,000 instances of threatening or abusive social media posts or messages directed at athletes, with women three times as likely as men to be on the receiving end. (A subsequent NCAA-commissioned study of the 2025 tournaments, however, noted a 23 percent decline from 2024 in gambling-related abuse.)

And when the Athletic, in an informal poll this spring, asked 133 baseball players whether legalized sports betting has “changed how fans treat you or your teammates,” 78 percent answered yes.

Even athletes who at one time might have toiled in relative anonymity, such as offensive linemen and backup catchers, are now fair game to disgruntled bettors on the wrong end of a losing prop bet, placed on something as specific as a basketball player’s rebound total or the first player in a football game to score a touchdown.

“It’s definitely getting worse and worse — through every social media, people being in your DMs with death threats,” said Detroit Tigers backup catcher Jake Rogers, who said he received death threats this season despite having only 48 plate appearances as of Friday. “… You can ask every single guy in here, and they’ve gotten a really bad one, probably in the last week.”

Those types of findings do not surprise those who study the problem and those who are tasked with combating it.

“The speed of gambling, the intensity of gambling — they’ve increased exponentially. We’ve fundamentally changed the way people gamble,” said Harry Levant, a certified gambling counselor and director of gambling policy with the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University. “Then social media creates this idea of anonymity. … We shouldn’t be quite so surprised when we see an increase in the number of people demonstrating antisocial behavior.”

Levant and others in the problem gambling space have singled out the rise of microbetting — small, fast-moving, in-game wagers, delivered with the help of AI systems, on everything from the velocity of the next pitch in baseball or the outcome of the next play in football. Those bets, they say, are fueling the rise in gambling addiction, with all its attendant problems, including threatening behavior toward athletes.

“If you deliver a known addictive product to people at light speed with technology in this way, you are going to cause harm to people, and [those] people will take that harm to lengths of desperation,” Levant said.

Asked to respond to comments from Levant and others, Joe Maloney, senior vice president of strategic communications for the American Gaming Association, said in a statement: “The outcome of a bet is never an invitation to harass or threaten athletes, coaches, or officials. Abuse of any kind has no place in sports. The legal, regulated industry offers the transparency and accountability needed to identify bad actors and collaborate with leagues, regulators, and law enforcement to deter misconduct and enforce consequences.”

The gambling and sports industries have successfully prosecuted some gamblers who sent death threats to athletes and their families. Most notably, in 2021, a prominent gambler named Benjamin “Parlay” Patz pleaded guilty to transmitting threats after investigators linked him to more than 300 threatening messages sent to the social media accounts of pro and collegiate athletes, saying, for example, “I will sever your neck open” and “I will kill your entire family.” Patz’s sentence included six months of home detention and 36 months of probation but no prison time.

Publicity of such cases “could deter” such behavior, said Jeffrey Derevensky, director of the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-risk Behaviors at McGill University in Montreal, who has completed studies for the NCAA on gambling. “But it doesn’t happen very often. It’s difficult to catch these people — especially via social media because of the anonymity — unless they’re trying to influence the outcome of the game.”

The gambling industry is quick to highlight the role played by social media in contributing to the problem. Maloney pointed to a 2024 NCAA study showing only 12 percent of online abuse directed toward athletes was gambling-related, with the remaining 88 percent falling into categories such as racial, sexual or trans/homophobic abuse. (Knicks star Jalen Brunson is among the NBA players who have said they have faced racial slurs online.)

“Social media platforms,” Maloney said, “will absolutely have to be part of an overall solution to this problem.”

Many athletes, however, have all the anecdotal evidence they need to know what’s behind the rise in abuse. Most of them already had social media accounts before 2018; it was only after the landmark Supreme Court case and the explosion of legalized gambling, hastened by the coronavirus pandemic that kept people indoors and drove them online, that the problem got out of hand.

“Gambling is definitely the main thing,” the Nationals’ Lowe said. “DraftKings sponsors broadcasts, and they have [signage] all over the stadium. BetMGM is all over the place. These big companies are obviously making a whole lot of money off the [sports gambling] industry.”

Increasingly, authorities and the problem-gambling communities are trying to curb the prevalence of threatening behavior through regulation as well as services targeting gambling addiction and anti-bullying campaigns. The NCAA’s “Don’t Be a Loser” spot ran frequently during this year’s March Madness tournaments, discouraging harassment toward athletes resulting from lost bets.

“You’re going to start seeing more problem-gambling-prevention [advocacy] in middle schools and high schools, like you see drug prevention and alcohol prevention,” said Michael A. Buzzelli, director of problem gambling services for the Ohio Casino Control Commission. “And you probably won’t see a massive change in behavior until you do that — until gambling is looked at as just as addictive and just as problematic as alcohol and drugs.”

Ohio is one of 15 states that bans prop bets on college athletes, and this spring, the NCAA called for a nationwide ban on athlete-specific prop bets in states with legal sports gambling. “You have kids who have had thousands of [threats via social media] being directed at them during our tournaments,” said Charlie Baker, the governing body’s president. “Just getting prop bets out of college sports is a really important priority of ours.”

Aside from their association with threats, prop bets on individual athletes are also more susceptible to game-integrity issues, given the athlete’s unique ability to influence the outcomes of those bets.

But the AGA’s Maloney said that while the industry “isn’t standing in the way” of efforts to ban prop bets, such bans are likely to result in those wagers moving to unregulated or illegal betting markets.

“Regulated markets need to allow for growth and innovation,” Maloney said, “simply because we do compete with a vast, predatory and pervasive illegal market that has all the trappings of what a legal app, or in some cases what a legal physical space, would look like.”

In March, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Rep. Paul D. Tonko (D-New York) reintroduced their bill, the SAFE Bet Act, that would, among other things, limit advertising for sportsbooks; mandate “affordability checks” to restrict the amount of money a gambler can wager in a specific period; ban prop bets featuring collegiate and amateur athletes; and prohibit the use of AI in creating products such as microbets.

The bill, Tonko said in an interview, “speaks forcefully to the need to have guardrails or restrictions” on the sports gambling industry. “We don’t want to outlaw mobile sports gambling. But we’re trying to take a known addictive product and make it safer.” Still, he acknowledged their bill has a “tough journey” to passage.

In the meantime, athletes will continue to face an onslaught of vitriol on their social media accounts — unless, like many, they choose to delete those accounts, or, like Baltimore Orioles pitcher Charlie Morton, never open any in the first place.

“Personally, I don’t think the world should have access to me, to say anything they want at any time to me,” said Morton, 41. “When you threaten to kill somebody or hurt somebody, you’re doing something illegal. I don’t know why you would subject yourself to an environment where that would be normal.”

But for younger players, those who are online more often or those whose marketing teams encourage them to take part in brand-building there, that leaves only a couple of options.

“Don’t look at it,” the Nationals’ Lowe said. “And play better.”

Jesse Dougherty, Nicki Jhabvala, Bailey Johnson, Adam Kilgore, Rick Maese and Mark Maske contributed to this report.

The Unseen Battle of NBA Players

While fans and media revel in the spectacle of NBA games, the true struggles of players often remain hidden beneath the surface. The physical demands of the sport—injuries, rehabilitation, and the relentless grind of performance—are visible to all. However, the mental health challenges that accompany such pressures frequently go unnoticed.

Kyrie Irving’s Journey Towards Healing

In a recent livestream, Kyrie Irving opened a window into this often-ignored aspect of athlete life, shedding light on the importance of mental well-being. “It is Men’s Mental Health Awareness, but this is about awareness of your mental health,” he expressed, emphasizing that the journey to recovery extends beyond physical healing. This candid revelation serves as a reminder that mental health is just as crucial as physical fitness in the realm of professional sports.

Irving’s vulnerability during the stream resonated deeply, as he shared, “This stream is helping me heal—that’s as simple as I can put it.” His words not only reflect his personal struggles but also serve as a call to action for fans and followers alike. He urged listeners to engage in meaningful conversations with loved ones, advocating for openness by stating, “Don’t stay quiet. Don’t go into your shell. Reach out… say, ‘How are you doing? I love you.’ That matters.”

Building Boundaries and Finding Strength

This moment of honesty is pivotal, as it illustrates how Irving is confronting his own discomforts and challenges. “This is getting me to build more boundaries with myself,” he noted, highlighting the necessity of self-care in the journey toward mental wellness. The process of establishing boundaries is often overlooked, yet it plays a critical role in maintaining one’s mental health, especially for individuals in high-pressure environments like professional sports.

Irving’s reflections also underscore a vital truth: mental health is not a one-time fix but an ongoing commitment. He acknowledged the continuous effort required to maintain good mental health, emphasizing that healing is a journey rather than a destination.

The Importance of Community and Connection

The significance of community support cannot be understated in this context. Irving’s message encourages a culture of compassion and understanding, urging everyone to prioritize mental health discussions within their circles. As he navigates the aftermath of his injury, the livestream has become a therapeutic outlet for him, allowing him to connect with others while fostering his own healing process.

A Broader Reflection on Mental Health Awareness

Irving’s experience serves as a powerful reminder of the broader implications of mental health awareness, particularly in high-stress professions. His journey illustrates that athletes, like anyone else, face challenges that demand attention and support. By sharing his story, Irving not only advocates for his own healing but also inspires countless others to confront their struggles and foster open dialogues about mental health.

In conclusion, Kyrie Irving’s livestream is more than just a personal reflection; it is a clarion call for awareness, understanding, and action. As the conversation around mental health continues to evolve, it is crucial to recognize the ongoing nature of this journey and the importance of community in supporting one another. The path to healing may be fraught with challenges, but it is one that can lead to profound growth and resilience.