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Bay Shore coaches weigh Northwell proposal to provide free mental-health support for student athletes
Summary
Coach Chris Agostino presented a Northwell Health program offering free sports psychology services to meet with teams and student athletes; board members asked for details on scope and programming and expressed interest in following progress.
At the Bay Shore Union Free School District work session, Chris Agostino told the board about a Northwell Health initiative that would send psychologists and therapists to high schools to provide free support to student athletes. Agostino said only a small number of area schools are currently participating and that Bay Shore could be one of the early adopters in Suffolk County.
Agostino described how the Northwell clinicians would meet initially with teams — varsity and junior varsity — without coaches present to let student athletes speak freely, then follow with team visits and assessments to recommend next steps. "I would like for her to meet with specific teams first... I want players to talk to this therapist to kind of understand what they're going through," Agostino said. He said Northwell has expressed readiness to start immediately rather than waiting until September.
Board members asked for program details and suggested building a menu of interventions and workshops that coaches could request (for example, sessions on anxiety, performance pressure or team dynamics). A board member said specificity would help coaches and students understand what to expect; Agostino said the model is still evolving but stressed that clinicians have no disciplinary role within the school and are there to help. "They're not somebody in the school district who's gonna rat them out," he said, describing the clinicians as independent supports.
Agostino framed the proposal as a complement to athletic and academic supports, citing his experience with a college program that provides sports psychologists for student athletes. He asked for the board's support to pursue the partnership and for permission to move forward with early team meetings; board members expressed interest in seeing a follow‑up report on implementation and programming specifics.
No formal vote to commit district funding or to execute a contract was recorded at the meeting. Agostino said Northwell representatives were ready to meet with Bay Shore teams in the immediate term and that his baseball and softball teams were prepared to begin sessions.
