Thursday night saw a community come together to celebrate mental health in a beautiful way. Bigger than Basketball is about creating a community that encourages athletes to be proactive with their mental health and be comfortable disclosing when something is wrong.

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The event’s founder, Bradley Braich, is a young man from Abbotsford who suffers from severe OCD. It greatly affected his drive to play basketball and nearly caused him to take his own life. Braich created this event so that no one should feel they have to go through what he did alone.

“There’s a decent population of basketball players and athletes that suffer and some of us are suffering in silence. And we need to better equip coaches and athletic directors and trainers with the tools and knowledge if a player comes and their showing signs of irregular behaviour or they’re showing signs and symptoms of any sort of anxious or depressive or obsessive-compulsive behavior we need to be able to get them the help they need.” – Bradley Braich

Perhaps the highlight of the entire night was the speeches section between the all-star games. Bradley, his father Bobby, as well as Sheldon Guy all gave speeches about how mental health has impacted their lives. Sheldon Guy is a former referee and current coach that lost his eyesight in November. His journey is heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time. There was not a dry eye in the Langley Events Centre when he spoke about what he has overcome.

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Bradley spoke to the importance of Sheldon’s involvement with this year’s event.

“It’s cool because Sheldon’s a coach and a referee. And so now not only are we recognizing the players mental health, we are recognizing other parts of the basketball communities mental health, and vital parts. Coaches and refs are a huge part of our game. And he’s being vulnerable, he’s expressing his emotions. And I think a lot of younger men can really learn from that.” – Bradley Braich

The event itself raised over $4400 dollars, bringing the total since its inception in 2018 to over $9400. All the proceeds go towards the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division.

If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, you can call the BC Mental Health Support Line at 310-6789 for free 24 hours a day.