Hilinski’s Hope Offers Impactful Advice to Student Athletes
Huntingdon Hawks
MONTGOMERY, Ala.- On Tuesday evening, August 12, 2025, Huntingdon College Sports Medicine Department and Dr. Derek Woessner with Hughston Clinic hosted the Tyler Talk. Students, faculty, staff, and guests filled Roland Arena to standing room only for an evening of education and support around the topic of mental health. The forum was led by two advocates with a deeply personal story to the health issue that turned tragedy into an opportunity to help others.
The organization, Hilinski's Hope, was founded by Mark and Kym Hilinski in March of 2018 to honor their son, Tyler, who died by suicide on January 16, 2018. Tyler was a talented collegiate athlete, the quarterback at Washington State University, but he was most importantly a beloved person by his family, teammates, coaches, and friends.
Since its founding, the organization has gained attention in the sports world for their important message. The ESPN E:60 documentary, "Hilinski's Hope", won a Sports Emmy for Best Short Film Documentary and the Hilinski family was honored with the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award at the 2020 ESPYs. In 2022, Mark and Kym were named one of 11 "powerbrokers" in college football by ESPN and their youngest son Ryan, a former quarterback at South Carolina University and Northwestern University, was named to the final Allstate "Good Works Team" for his efforts to the cause.
The "Tyler Talk" program is the precursor to the researched based "Game Plan" and the H3H Mental Health Support Series modules created by Hilinski's Hope and in partnership with the NCAA and Prevention Strategies. Last year, over 200 schools and universities in all 50 states participated in the H3H created Student Athlete Mental Health Week.
"It is an incredible honor to host Mark and Kym Hilinski at Huntingdon today," stated Huntingdon President Anthony Leigh. "They have beautifully channeled their grief and sorrow over the tragic loss of their son into a dynamic ministry to serve and support others. We are well aware of the mental health struggles of today's generation of collegians and understand the added stress that participation in NCAA athletics can add to a student's life. I'm grateful that we were able to start this academic year with a reminder to our students that they are never alone, help and resources are easily accessible to them, and we are ready to assist them navigate mental health challenges they face in college."
The students' response to the program was extremely positive. Myles Johnson, a senior member of the Men's Basketball team, commented after the event, "I really enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Helinski coming to speak to us. Mental health is something not talked about enough and especially for athletes. I want to thank Huntingdon for bringing them out. For showing us that they do care about our mental health and they want us to be the best possible."
Allie Roberts, a junior pitcher for Hawks Softball, added, "This was such an encouraging and hopeful start to this school year. My biggest take away from Tyler's Talk was you don't have to have a tragedy to ask for help. It was a great reminder to check in on teammates, roommates, and friends throughout the year and remember that mental health matters!"
