“I hope my story can help someone out. Even if it helps just one person, I’ll be happy with that.” – Max Castin

“Yesterday is history,

tomorrow is a mystery,

and today is a gift…

that’s why they call it present”

― Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda (source)

This is an episode all about student-athlete mental health. In it, Lisa Bonta Sumii shares space with Max Castin, a track and field student-athlete at Mt. San Antonio College in San Diego, CA. Max shares stories that are sure to impact many other young athletes — stories of not being ready for college athletics, getting cut from his first collegiate team, seeking help for his mental health, and helping others with their mental health.

While Max Castin is a track athlete at Mt. San Antonio College, he was first on the Cal State Fullerton track team. As a high jumper, he jumped 6 foot 6 inches when in high school. All without ever having an entire year of training for track and field as he was an athlete first, playing other sports. So, he was eager to get to his track team at Cal State Fullerton to start his full-time training — only he was admittedly not prepared for that. And definitely not prepared for the difficulty of the schooling and overall time management that comes with being a student-athlete. As Max says, “It was definitely a learning curve and I struggled both in the classroom and on the track my freshman year. But then my event coach assured me that we were just worried about next year — and that we will get things back on track.”

In August before the start of school, he received an email from his head track coach informing him that he was cut. So much for getting back on track!

“I was devastated, and not only that, I had already enrolled in classes — so I was not really getting the opportunity to put my name in the transfer portal. I was stuck going to the school for at least the next semester.” As Max shares, this was a difficult time in his life as his anxiety worsened. He continued to struggle with school and ended up having to leave Cal State Fullerton altogether. This is when he went back home to San Diego. He was taking online classes when he was thankfully given another opportunity at Mt. San Antonio College, and in a Covid abbreviated season, Max was able to best his PR (personal record) after only joining the team earlier that year.

Max Castin is a sophomore at the time of this recording. He credits much of his success to a mindset switch, thanks to the help of his family, friends, therapist, and especially his head coach at Mount SAC. He has been able to let go of his anxieties whenever he is on the track and not worry about results. Today, Max focuses on the things he can control.

As a result of Max’s story, he wanted to share his journey and insight into the struggles that he dealt with — being cut from his first program and how he was able to work through his struggles — with support. He wants to share how he was able to turn his hurt into motivation and growth.

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This is the AthMindset Podcast Series on SportsEpreneur. And it’s all about mental health in sports.

From Lisa: I’m Lisa Bonta Sumii and this is the AthMindset Podcast Series on SportsEpreneur. This podcast series is a space for conversations with athletes, coaches, practitioners, and stakeholders in sports. And it’s where those individuals share their perspectives, experiences, and thoughts on mental health in sports. 

Eric Kasimov of SportsEpreneur is generously hosting the AthMindset Podcast Series on his platform as he deeply believes that these conversations are essential and deserve to be prioritized.

This is the AthMindset Podcast Series on SportsEpreneur.