U. staffer recognized by NCAA for research on mental wellness in Division III sports

Matthew Choquette, a doctoral student in organizational psychology and the director of communications for women's soccer, gymnastics and rowing, recently received a grant for a project about improving mental health and performance in Division III sports, according to a press release.

Choquette received the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Graduate Student Research Grant for his project. The grant offers up to $7,500 in financial support to graduate students conducting research on the psychological experiences of student-athletes and the significance of intercollegiate athletics in higher education. 

"To be rewarded for hard work I'm doing now and then have the reward be funds that (are) going to end up potentially impacting many, many student-athletes … It's just amazing," he said in an interview with The Daily Targum.

Choquette said he began his project, "Manualizing sport psychology services in NCAA Division III athletic departments with organizational support from the institutions' Wellness Center," in January 2024 after starting an internship in mental health consultation at Rutgers—Camden in September 2023. He applied for the NCAA grant soon after, in May 2024.

He said that there is a lack of applied mental health intervention in Division III sports, and the goal of this initiative is to offer such services to Division III student-athletes. He added that he plans to translate the research into a manual on research-based strategies to construct mental health infrastructure in Division III athletic settings.

"The manual is going to be more geared to how to embed and integrate these services into that existing structure of a student wellness center," he said.

He said that during the Fall 2024 semester, he is interviewing student-athletes on a quantitative and qualitative basis to assess their academic and athletic performance and access to the services.

In his research, Choquette said that he applied Weisbord's Six Box Model to help him understand how to compartmentalize Division III athletics' organization. For example, Choquette told the Targum that the Rutgers women's soccer team and its players can be understood according to the model.

"You're going to look at, 'What are the parents doing? What are the coaches doing? What are the other teammates doing that are outside of that captain role? How does that affect leadership and their purpose as a captain?'" he elaborated.

Furthermore, Choquette said that he wants his research to cast attention on the disparity of psychology and wellness services between Division I and Division III student-athletes. He said that he hopes his research will weigh the impacts of accessible and inaccessible mental health services.

Ultimately, he said the relationships he built through his work held some of the largest significance for him despite the low pay.

"Those relationships I built with those student-athletes were so special, and it's really what kept me going in a really difficult job," Choquette said.