8-25-08

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Before the Lycoming College football team broke camp last week, the squad spent an evening with Jim Tkach, a 1978 graduate of the College. An assistant coach at Liberty, Tkach delivered a powerful message regarding depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and mental illness.

Tkach’s son, Bo, committed suicide last summer at the age of 25 after battling depression. Bo was a standout football player at Northern Lehigh High School in the late 1990s.

Tkach and his wife have prepared a message that they would like to deliver to as many young people as they can and they were honored when Lycoming head coach Mike Clark and assistant head coach Steve Wiser gave them their first opportunity to speak to a college team.

“We were a little nervous coming back,” said Tkach. “You never know how people are going to react to a subject like this but the coaches were confident that we would deliver a positive and appropriate message. I can’t explain how thrilled we were to have the opportunity to address the team.”

Tkach’s message centers around letting people know that depression is a disease and is a serious illness that cannot be cured by waiting it out. He stresses the importance of reaching out for help and not being ashamed to talk to someone if you or someone you know is faced with depression.

“We’re just trying to get the message out there that this can happen to anybody and the fact that depression is a disease. It’s not something you can just get over.”

Clark was grateful for Tkach taking the time to talk with the team.

“It was a powerful message,” said Clark. “It really hit a lot of our players who have dealt with this first hand.”

Tkach echoed Clark’s feelings about how the student-athletes responded to his presentation.

“The way the kids reacted to it was great,” said Tkach. “So many of the players came forward to speak with my wife and I after the talk was over. They spoke about how depression has hit their lives through family and friends. It felt good to cultivate an atmosphere where the young people felt they can talk about these issues without feeling ashamed.”

Lycoming was the first college football team that Tkach has addressed. He plans to continue carrying his message to high school teams around the state and hopes that the number of schools and colleges interested in having him speak will continue to grow.

“I know we will receive other calls and I know that it will be thanks to the opportunity that Lycoming gave us.”