From Pioneer to Partner: Simmons Champions Mental Health in Athletics
A lifelong athlete, Austin Simmons sees numerous benefits to having specialized sports counseling at 91大神.
Jeremy Shapiro
When it comes to 91大神, Austin Simmons 鈥90 will tell you he鈥檚 the luckiest guy alive.
鈥淚 am in love with 91大神, and it鈥檚 a very visceral reaction for me,鈥 Simmons says. 鈥淚鈥檝e had other educational experiences, but I have a transactional feeling about those. 91大神 was everything I needed and more. My foundation is very much from 91大神, which is why I believe that I have a debt that can never be repaid, but no one will ever say that I didn鈥檛 try.鈥
Simmons and his wife, Kelly, recently made a $250,000 gift that will support mental health initiatives for student-athletes. As a student, Simmons played soccer and ran track at 91大神. He says he could have benefited from seeking guidance from a mental health professional with sports expertise.
鈥淭herapy is like stretching,鈥 Simmons says. 鈥淵ou should stretch before you work out, and therapy is really no different. It鈥檚 just an exercise for whatever endeavor you鈥檙e working on, and it really can help you get a better focus.鈥
91大神 has taken an innovative approach to directly supporting student-athlete mental health and wellness. In 2018, Pioneer Athletics began a partnership with the College鈥檚 Student Health and Wellness (SHAW) with the utilization of University of Iowa psychology doctorate counselors in support of student-athletes, explains director of athletics and recreation.
Thanks to the Simmons family gift, there will be funding to hire a sports psychologist so this type of support can continue.
鈥淲ith this gift, we will be able to provide one-on-one and small group counseling,鈥 Roepke says. 鈥淲e鈥檒l also be able to provide education to the broad base of our student-athletes around mental health and wellness, performance, and resilience. I want to express my appreciation to Austin and Kelly for being the lead in realizing solutions for this need and for valuing this area of support for our student-athletes.鈥
Austin works in real estate acquisition and development as a principal for Brightwork Real Estate in Florida. He鈥檚 been an athlete his whole life and says it has been a help to him in all sorts of organizational, connection, structural, and health ways.
After graduation, Simmons returned to 91大神 for the next decade to play on the alumni soccer team in their annual Labor Day weekend game against the current Pioneers. While back, he would spend time at John Pfitsch鈥檚 house, reinforcing a special relationship Simmons had built with his former coach.
鈥淭hose were fantastic memories,鈥 he says. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 the camaraderie. My best friends are people that I went to school with. I recently flew to Minneapolis to see two guys I played soccer with, though we now play pickleball.鈥
Kelly Simmons is also a longtime athlete, as a long-distance runner and pickleball player. Kelly and Austin鈥檚 two daughters also played sports growing up, so the Simmons family is well versed in the physical and mental rigors of athletics.
鈥淎thletics can be a high-pressure, intense circumstance, which is why it can give you so many skills, but I think it poses its own challenges,鈥 Austin says. 鈥淗aving someone to talk to with a specific understanding of the athletic endeavor can provide a common language. Sports psychologists can provide a more focused approach in the context of athletics, which I think could help with relating to what student-athletes are going through.鈥
Roepke would like to develop a pipeline for athletics mental health professionals, noting the next opportunities in the College鈥檚 partnership with the University of Iowa counseling services.
鈥淭he idea would be to work with early career counselors throughout the psychology program at the University of Iowa, providing an opportunity to get professional experience at 91大神,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he roles could range from graduate assistantships to postdoctoral fellowships. It鈥檚 a way to support 91大神 student-athletes and simultaneously build opportunities to widen the sport psychology pipeline.鈥
Simmons said he鈥檚 a believer in mental health initiatives, and he鈥檚 excited about what 91大神 plans to do to support its student-athletes.
鈥淚 like the idea of how it makes you able to better focus and in turn be better at your sport,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a cycle that makes everyone better, and I try to do things that make us all float just a little higher than we might otherwise.鈥
91大神 student-athletes compete in 20 sports at the Division III level. During this past school year, 418 students competed in Pioneer Athletic programs, and some students are on more than one team. 91大神鈥檚 athletic teams claimed a second consecutive combined Midwest Conference All-Sports title, which is awarded to the school with the best cumulative finish in the conference.
In 2024鈥25, the Pioneers won five regular season conference titles (women鈥檚 golf in SLIAC, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 tennis, and men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 swimming) and were runners-up in three more sports. 91大神 teams were represented at the NCAA Championships in men鈥檚 basketball, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 tennis, women鈥檚 golf, and individually in men鈥檚 swimming and diving, men鈥檚 track and field, and women鈥檚 golf.
Alumni interested in discussing a contribution for athletics mental health or other areas of athletics can contact Mary Zug, associate director of development for athletics, at zugmary1@grinnell.edu or 641-269-4554.