Purdue soccer star, psychological sciences major shoots for better mental health for student-athletes

Before she faces opponents on the pitch, Chiara Singarella, a psychological sciences major and senior striker for Purdue University Soccer, is a proponent for seeking mental health assistance from team psychologists. She said most of her teammates have utilized such services and Singarella hopes to become a sports psychologist after her goal-scoring duties get their final whistle.(Tim Brouk)

Written by: Tim Brouk, tbrouk@purdue.edu

During a Purdue University soccer match, Chiara Singarella’s mind is free. When she’s dribbling circles around defenders, her thoughts are focused on getting the ball past the opposing team’s goalkeeper, which occurred five times in the 2024 season.

But when the senior forward is away from the pitch, her mind races. Even during halftime, Singarella’s mind gravitates to the mistakes, lost chances and what could have been. Then there are the pressures that come with being a student-athlete — to succeed in the classroom and on the field. There’s also the stress being a new Boilermaker after transferring from South Alabama in 2024 and navigating the Midwest after being born and raised in Mendoza, Argentina.

Singarella and many of her teammates have leaned on team psychologist Andy Walsh and his colleagues for mental relief.

“Sports psychology has been really big in my life since I was really, really young,” said Singarella, who competed on Argentinean national youth soccer teams throughout her teens. “It’s helped me a lot, mostly in the mental part of the game and understanding myself better.”

The experience has pushed Singarella to pursue a career in psychology in the hopes to someday help student-athletes like herself attain their goals in life off the field, pitch, court or rink.

Singarella and the Boilermakers kicked off their season against Indiana State on Aug. 14 at Folk Field.

Is there a stigma for student-athletes seeking psychological help?

I think nowadays, it’s less taboo than before. I grew up in South America where I think it’s still really a taboo thing. But slowly, I can see how my friends or other athletes are reaching out to sports psychologists to get the mental part of the game under control.

Do your coaches encourage seeking mental help?

Absolutely. My coaching staff — they’re huge in the mental part of the game. They’re huge in understanding we’re people before athletes. I think for my experience growing up in South America, I feel like as an athlete, you are supposed to be this huge hero and strong person because if you can deal with struggles on the field, then you should be able to handle struggles outside of the field. And it’s not like that. I’m really grateful that I’m here with this coaching staff because I have experienced other types of coaching styles and ideas, and it’s never felt this way. I feel taken care of; I feel important; I feel seen and heard, which is really important to me. I’m just really grateful to be here.

What makes a student-athlete reach out for help in general?

We all struggle with different stuff. But to be an athlete and to be a part of this huge program at Purdue, it’s really hard sometimes to have a balance between sports and academics. But I wouldn’t want to say it’s this and this because it’s a huge field. It could be anxiety or trying to perform well in the field and then having to go to class or having a final exam right away. It can be fear of failure. It can be many, many things that we all deal with differently. But I’m really grateful and really happy that Purdue offers so many resources to just talk about it and not have to deal with it by yourself.

Does working on your mental health improve your performance during matches?

For sure. I think, personally, it’s helped me mostly deal with frustrations on a game. Nothing ever is going to go perfectly, and everything is not going to be nice. You’re going to have to fight and struggle. So, I think just by seeking those cues and tools to overcome those struggles, how to be a team, be together and just work through everything and anything that we can face improves our performance. But personally, it just helps me visualize what I’m going to do, how I’m going to do it and have a plan B and a plan C. I think Andy (Walsh) and his team gave us a lot of tools and a lot of things to work around stuff to get to the goal of winning a game or having a great performance and just leaving it all on the field.

What do you hope to do after your psychological sciences studies?

Once I get my degree here, I would hope to be able to pursue a master’s degree in sports psychology. That would be awesome.

It’s helped me a lot, honestly, and I just want to give back a little bit by helping other athletes and other people.