You may not have heard of Katie Willie. I'm guessing you haven't.
She doesn't coach, she isn't in athletic training, or strength performance.
But Wyoming's student-athletes certainly know who she is.
To them she is as important as anyone in UW's Intercollegiate Athletics Department.
Katie is a very special woman who is the athletic department's Director of Student Well-Being. She is a counselor by trade, and works with student-athletes facing everything from eating disorders, to assault. She is a therapist, not a sports psychologist. There is a big difference.
"I'm not going to be able to help you with your jump shot," Katie says. "But maybe I can help when you can't breath before taking a final exam."
She is just five months into her new job, and her impact has been significant. Since beginning Jan. 27, with the beginning of the second semester, she has conducted some 300 sessions with UW student-athletes!
Athletics Director Tom Burman believes that Willie is filling a very necessary role. "This was something our student-athletes requested," he says. "Many were struggling with the day-to-day issues that life presents. . . school, their sport, their social lives, and more.
"Today's young people are more comfortable talking to someone about these kinds of things, much more so than my generation or yours. A group of student-athletes came to us and said they needed help in the areas of mental health and well-being. The University does a great job of helping students in the area of total wellness, but its professionals have an overwhelming work load. We felt we needed to establish our own position to ensure the well-being of our 400 student-athletes. In a short time Katie has done a terrific job filling that need."
It's cutting edge, especially in the Mountain West where there is only one other position like Katie's. The other league schools 'out-source' her kind of work.
"We have had over 130 student-athletes access our resources in just this one semester," Katie says. "I started Jan. 27th, and by the 29th I already had eight sessions. I have two graduate assistants, and we are here to create a wellness plan for our student-athletes. These plans address issues involving stress, relationships, issues in their sport, anxiety in class, depression, panic attacks, and eating disorders. We determine how we can help and what our plan will look like."
Willie is from Indiana and a graduate of Valparaiso (Indiana) University. She earned her undergraduate degree in criminology and Native American Studies. It was at Valpo where she met her husband, Phil, who was a basketball student-athlete there.
She entered college thinking she wanted to be a police officer. "Early-on I realized that police work wasn't really the way I wanted to impact a community. So I adjusted my major. My focus was on teenagers, the high school kids who were getting ready to transition to college. I had an undergraduate internship which took me to Gary, Ind. I worked with males aged 17, 18 and 19, helping them make the transition as young adults. I quickly found out that it was more difficult than I expected. It was all about relationships and trust." After graduating, the Willies moved in 2005 when Phil was hired in the athletics department's compliance unit. He worked here for 12 years, and is now in UW's legal services office.
Katie became familiar with the UW athletics department through an internship while earning her master's degree in counselor education. Her internship focused on life skills and mental health.
If you go into Katie's office you in the High Altitude Performance Center, you are not going to see bucking-horse-and-rider decals or schedule posters. It's not brown and gold, in fact there's really nothing about Wyoming in there. She has created a sanctuary for the student-athletes, a place to get away. There are a couple of recliners (which all know can be therapeutic), there's soft music, and pillows. It's a place where kids can come in and, as Katie says, "take a load off."
Each of her sessions is scheduled for 45 minutes, but that time-frame can vary. Her unique space isn't just for those meetings. It's also a place for student-athletes to unwind. You'll see individuals relaxing in the recliners, taking naps, decompressing.
"I'll have kids come in and ask if I can wake them up in 20 minutes, which I do if I'm not in a session. It's a 'place' for them, and that's what I want it to be.
"We are now at a point where they are volunteering to schedule session," Katie continues. "In most cases, they know they need help and, while it may take some encouragement from teammates, or someone close to them, they are willing to seek it out. More and more individuals are understanding that I'm here to help."
Willie works closely with department physician, Dr. Matt Boyer, assistant athletics director for internal operations Taylor Stuemky, and her supervisor China Jude, senior associate athletics director for administration and the Senior Women's Administrator. But she also works with the department nutritionists, as well as folks in sports medicine, sports performance, and academic support.
"All of these areas are dedicated to taking care of the student-athlete. We're all part of a big pie. My piece of the pie is to focus on their mental wellness. We all work together with the student-athletes' well-being in mind. All of our focus, all of our attention, is on them.
"Some of the kids are referred to me by a teammate, 'talk to her, she can help', type of thing. Many seek me out on their own. Every once in a while, they want a teammate to sit in the session with them. Bottom line, the kids care for one another, they are deeply interested in helping each other.
"It's so rewarding to work with these young adults," Katie continues. "They're so authentic and excited for life. They are committed to becoming better in all aspects of their lives. They seek help to make them better. It's really fun working with them, and it's extremely rewarding.
"Thank goodness schools like Wyoming realized that these young people needed mental wellness too. It's exciting to work in a position I love."
Like her husband, Katie always wanted to work in athletics. But her path to our department took her on an interesting and tremendously rewarding journey.
Her first position in Laramie was working with kids at a home for at-risk youth, Cathedral Home. She spent 12 "wonderful" years there working with deaf and hard-of-hearing kids at Cathedral Home. From Cathedral Home she moved to PEAK Wellness (non-profit mental health and addiction treatment center). She also worked with the Department of Family Services (DFS). While working with DFS she developed a program for mental wellness that began with eight young people and grew to over 200.
"At Cathedral Home I worked with at-risk youth who were either deaf or hard-of-hearing," she says. "It was a lot of our kids having similar experiences. There was a lot of trauma work. Some had rare genetic diseases causing severe learning disabilities. They would be with us anywhere from six to nine months. I really enjoyed working with these young people. I'm still in contact with some of these families whom I got to know through their children.
While Katie was earning her master's she worked in athletics thanks to a 600-hour internship. "I was exposed to life skills and mental health. After I received my master's I was working at PEAK when a job came open in athletics last summer. I still had work to complete at PEAK, and I wasn't ready to leave PEAK, so I passed on the position. I felt I had a responsibility to myself and to a lot of individuals. I wanted to finish my work there. I really enjoyed that job and being there.
"When this position opened again in October, I decided to take a leap of faith. After interviewing for it, I was so excited for what the job could become. It has been a great move for me."
Despite the current landscape, Katie continues to work with a lot of student-athletes. She has conducted a great deal of Zoom sessions. "The good thing about Zoom is that it can be confidential, so student-athletes are comfortable doing sessions that way. In fact, I'd say I'm 'Zoom exhausted'. But I'm glad they are good meeting that way."
Katie has found a home in the athletics department, and without question her impact will continue to grow. She is playing an important role in the development of our student-athletes.
