Not in Hiding Any Longer

By Patrick Bohn, December 3, 2025

The Hidden Opponent supports student-athlete mental health at IC.

Andrew McDermott '26 shined on the diamond for Ithaca College after recovering, both physically and mentally, from a series of injuries.

(Photo by Ithaca College Student Creative Media)

Andrew McDermott ’26 was sitting in a dugout at Appalachian State University when his life changed —and nearly ended—in the blink of an eye.

While playing a summer game for Queens College of Charlotte, McDermott was on the bench when a batter hit a foul ball towards the Queens dugout.

“I took a ball off my temple at 101 miles an hour,” he recalled. “It was terrifying.”

McDermott spent four days in an ICU with a traumatic brain injury and another two months “in a dark room” recovering from the physical effects of the injury.

His journey back to the diamond was just getting started. As many athletes can tell you, overcoming the mental challenges associated with their sports can be just as difficult as mastering the physical skills needed to excel on the field. Student-athletes at Ithaca College have always been supported on and off the field by the entire athletic department, they now have a new ally: an on-campus chapter of The Hidden Opponent, a nonprofit organization dedicated to athlete mental health advocacy, education, and support that has chapters at more than 800 high schools and colleges across the country.

Eliza Salus '26, who is serving as a Campus Captain for the IC chapter of The Hidden Opponent this year, wants the group to be a safe place for student-athletes to connect about challenges. (Photo submitted)

Debuting in the fall semester, the chapter is currently led by “Campus Captains” —softball player Elise Waddington ’27 and diver Eliza Salus ’26— and provides a coach-free place for any athlete to talk about challenges and find mental health resources and support. It’s something Salus appreciates, after fighting her own battle with mental health earlier in her career.

“During my sophomore year, I started experiencing anxiety, which was making it tougher for me to get through practices,” she said.

A native of Chicago, Salus didn’t have her parents nearby, but with professional help and the support of her teammates and coaches, she was able to continue to thrive at IC.

“I also wanted to be open about what I went through and provide resources and support to other student-athletes who might be dealing with things as well,” she said.

At a meeting of IC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) last year, Salus heard McDermott talk about The Hidden Opponent. He’d served as a Campus Captain for a chapter at Quinnipiac University, where he’d played in 2021 and 2022, prior to going to Queens.

Though his time as a baseball player at Ithaca College as a graduate student was injury-free and marked by on-field success, he’d dealt with a torn labrum and a blown-out knee while playing for Quinnipiac. It was then that he researched mental health support for athletes and discovered the Hidden Opponent.

Armed with the resources and knowledge from his time in the organization, McDermott was able to fully recover from his head injury. But as he looked to his future in the sport, he knew a change needed to occur.

“We want it to be a comfortable, open space for athletes to talk about struggles they’re working through. It’s about relating to one another because we’re all going through the same thing, whether we know it or not.”

Eliza Salus '26

“Playing sports at the Division I level, a lot of times, it feels like a full-time job,” McDermott said. “That makes it incredibly stressful. I wanted to go somewhere I could enjoy playing the sport and focus on things off the field as well.”

He’d heard about Ithaca from playing travel ball with former Bomber standout Louis Fabbo ’24, who praised Head Coach David Valesente as being a “player’s coach” who, in McDermott’s words, “puts his players as humans before athletes.”

That gave McDermott the freedom to focus on getting The Hidden Opponent off the ground at Ithaca. He then connected with Salus and Waddington, who took the baton and ran with it.

The chapter hosts monthly meetings, open to all student-athletes, with a focus on advocating for services, education on mental health topics, and support in all forms for student-athletes.

“The meeting this past October focused on grounding practices and positive self-talk and ended with a roundtable where people could check in about how they were feeling,” Salus shared.

“We want it to be a comfortable, open space for athletes to talk about struggles they’re working through,” she continued. “It’s about relating to one another because we’re all going through the same thing, whether we know it or not.”

Discover The Hidden Opponent

Student-athletes looking for more information on The Hidden Opponent chapter at IC are encouraged to follow the organization’s Instagram page for updates.