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USC Ukrainian Student-Athlete Anastasiia Slivina Named CalHOPE Courage Award Winner
January 30, 2023 | Women's Rowing
SACRAMENTO — Two California college student-athletes from Ukraine—Anastasiia Slivina,a senior on the University of Southern California (USC) women's rowing team, and Yuliia Zhytelna, a sophomore tennis player for California State University Northridge (CSUN)—have been selected as the January recipients of the CalHOPE Courage Award.
The monthly CalHOPE Courage Award honors student-athletes at California colleges and universities who have overcome the stress, anxiety, and mental trauma associated with personal hardships and adversity.
Both student-athletes are natives of Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Slivina was in Los Angeles preparing for the NCAA rowing championships, while Zhytelna and the CSUN tennis team were on the road for matches at Sacramento State and conference foe University of California, Davis. Slivina and Zhytelna have experienced extensive stress and anxiety over the past year as they balance their academic and athletic pursuits with their concerns over the situation in their home country.
Here's a closer look at the January CalHOPE Courage Award honorees.
Anastasiia Slivina
Slivina, who spent the first 11 years of her life in Russia before her family moved to Kyiv, has always had a strong spiritual connection to Ukraine and to her family. The day the invasion began, she stayed home from school, eyes glued to the news, awaiting text messages from home. Her 19-year-old brother had to stay in Ukraine because men cannot leave the country, and her mother, a doctor, decided to stay to care for the wounded.
With the help of support staff, coaches, and teammates, Slivina was able to handle her emotions and continue to perform at the highest level.
She is once again a bright shining light on the USC women's rowing team and brings her positive spirit and energy to practice every day, no matter what is happening back home. An international relations and social sciences major, she trained in taekwondo until age 15, and at the suggestion of a physical education teacher, she transitioned to rowing. She competed for Ukraine at the 2020 and 2021 European Championships, and last year, she competed in 15 regattas for the Trojans, earning top five finishes at three events.
"Immediately following the start of the conflict, I became very sensitive to things that I wouldn't be sensitive to otherwise," she said. "I remember last spring that when one of my coaches said some completely normal things to me, I cried because my mental state was off. With the help of the sports psychologists at USC, my friends, and my teammates, and the passage of time, I have been able to regain a bit of normalcy. I still get upset when I receive news from Ukraine, but I have learned that it is okay to not always be okay."
Said Dr. Jim Kooler, Special Consultant for DHCS: "CalHOPE is honored to recognize student-athletes throughout the state who, despite setbacks, have overcome life's challenges to continue to perform their best as both scholars and athletes. CalHOPE's purpose is to build community resiliency and help people recover through free outreach, crisis counseling and support services. We hope that by sharing these stories student-athletes have experienced, we will all be inspired."
The monthly CalHOPE Courage Award is presented by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press; CalHOPE, a crisis counseling and support resource for communities impacted by public health emergencies, operated by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS); and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being.
At the end of the school year, two of the student-athletes recognized during this year will be selected as annual CalHOPE Courage Award winners, and a $5,000 donation will be made in each of their names toward mental health services at their schools. Previous honorees have included: Cameron Brink (basketball, Stanford); Garrett Jensen (baseball, San Francisco State); Lexi Zandonella-Arasa (soccer, Sonoma State); Anysa and Amaya Gray (soccer, U.C. Berkeley); Sam Nimmo (lacrosse, Whittier College); Ian Gilligan (golf, Long Beach State); Mike Asante (basketball, Academy of Art); and Gretta Kirkby (volleyball, Chico State).
Stories about all honorees are available at CalHOPECourageAward.com and via social media on Twitter and Instagram at @CalHOPE_Courage.
Sports information directors at all colleges and universities in California are encouraged to nominate deserving intercollegiate student-athletes through April 2023 at CalHOPECourageAward.com. The honorees will be selected by a panel of writers, editors and sports information directors from College Sports Communicators and The Associated Press. Fans can learn more and engage on social media on Twitter and Instagram at @CalHOPE_Courage.
ABOUT CalHOPE
CalHOPE is a multi-level campaign run by DHCS to connect people with vital mental health and wellness resources and information to help them find their way during difficult times. CalHOPE offers critical behavioral health crisis counseling programs and uses a public health approach that is focused on strength-based strategies of building resiliency and connecting people to the support they need. CalHOPE partners with the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being to promote the CalHOPE Courage Award. CalHOPE resources may be accessed by calling the program's warm line at (833) 317-HOPE (4673) or by visiting www.calhope.org.
College Sports Communicators: College Sports Communicators is a 3,600-plus member national organization, comprised of the athletic communications, media relations, digital and creative professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1957, the organization is the second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics. The organization's signature program is the Academic All-America program, honoring thousands of outstanding scholar-athletes annually. To learn more, visit collegesportscommunicators.com.
The Associated Press (AP): The AP is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, The AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from The AP. For more information, visit www.ap.org.
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The monthly CalHOPE Courage Award honors student-athletes at California colleges and universities who have overcome the stress, anxiety, and mental trauma associated with personal hardships and adversity.
Both student-athletes are natives of Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Slivina was in Los Angeles preparing for the NCAA rowing championships, while Zhytelna and the CSUN tennis team were on the road for matches at Sacramento State and conference foe University of California, Davis. Slivina and Zhytelna have experienced extensive stress and anxiety over the past year as they balance their academic and athletic pursuits with their concerns over the situation in their home country.
Here's a closer look at the January CalHOPE Courage Award honorees.
Anastasiia Slivina
Slivina, who spent the first 11 years of her life in Russia before her family moved to Kyiv, has always had a strong spiritual connection to Ukraine and to her family. The day the invasion began, she stayed home from school, eyes glued to the news, awaiting text messages from home. Her 19-year-old brother had to stay in Ukraine because men cannot leave the country, and her mother, a doctor, decided to stay to care for the wounded.
With the help of support staff, coaches, and teammates, Slivina was able to handle her emotions and continue to perform at the highest level.
She is once again a bright shining light on the USC women's rowing team and brings her positive spirit and energy to practice every day, no matter what is happening back home. An international relations and social sciences major, she trained in taekwondo until age 15, and at the suggestion of a physical education teacher, she transitioned to rowing. She competed for Ukraine at the 2020 and 2021 European Championships, and last year, she competed in 15 regattas for the Trojans, earning top five finishes at three events.
"Immediately following the start of the conflict, I became very sensitive to things that I wouldn't be sensitive to otherwise," she said. "I remember last spring that when one of my coaches said some completely normal things to me, I cried because my mental state was off. With the help of the sports psychologists at USC, my friends, and my teammates, and the passage of time, I have been able to regain a bit of normalcy. I still get upset when I receive news from Ukraine, but I have learned that it is okay to not always be okay."
Said Dr. Jim Kooler, Special Consultant for DHCS: "CalHOPE is honored to recognize student-athletes throughout the state who, despite setbacks, have overcome life's challenges to continue to perform their best as both scholars and athletes. CalHOPE's purpose is to build community resiliency and help people recover through free outreach, crisis counseling and support services. We hope that by sharing these stories student-athletes have experienced, we will all be inspired."
The monthly CalHOPE Courage Award is presented by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press; CalHOPE, a crisis counseling and support resource for communities impacted by public health emergencies, operated by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS); and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being.
At the end of the school year, two of the student-athletes recognized during this year will be selected as annual CalHOPE Courage Award winners, and a $5,000 donation will be made in each of their names toward mental health services at their schools. Previous honorees have included: Cameron Brink (basketball, Stanford); Garrett Jensen (baseball, San Francisco State); Lexi Zandonella-Arasa (soccer, Sonoma State); Anysa and Amaya Gray (soccer, U.C. Berkeley); Sam Nimmo (lacrosse, Whittier College); Ian Gilligan (golf, Long Beach State); Mike Asante (basketball, Academy of Art); and Gretta Kirkby (volleyball, Chico State).
Stories about all honorees are available at CalHOPECourageAward.com and via social media on Twitter and Instagram at @CalHOPE_Courage.
Sports information directors at all colleges and universities in California are encouraged to nominate deserving intercollegiate student-athletes through April 2023 at CalHOPECourageAward.com. The honorees will be selected by a panel of writers, editors and sports information directors from College Sports Communicators and The Associated Press. Fans can learn more and engage on social media on Twitter and Instagram at @CalHOPE_Courage.
ABOUT CalHOPE
CalHOPE is a multi-level campaign run by DHCS to connect people with vital mental health and wellness resources and information to help them find their way during difficult times. CalHOPE offers critical behavioral health crisis counseling programs and uses a public health approach that is focused on strength-based strategies of building resiliency and connecting people to the support they need. CalHOPE partners with the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being to promote the CalHOPE Courage Award. CalHOPE resources may be accessed by calling the program's warm line at (833) 317-HOPE (4673) or by visiting www.calhope.org.
College Sports Communicators: College Sports Communicators is a 3,600-plus member national organization, comprised of the athletic communications, media relations, digital and creative professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1957, the organization is the second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics. The organization's signature program is the Academic All-America program, honoring thousands of outstanding scholar-athletes annually. To learn more, visit collegesportscommunicators.com.
The Associated Press (AP): The AP is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, The AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from The AP. For more information, visit www.ap.org.
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