Episode 139 – Partnering for Change | Laura KrugerEpisode 139 – Partnering for Change | Laura Kruger
Keeping Ashland Healthy
(Record Date: February 26, 2026) On the next episode of Keeping Ashland Healthy, I sit down with Dr. Laura Kruger from Ashland University — wellness advocate, award-winning professor, and champion for building stronger, healthier communities. We’ll...
22:23•9 Sept 2026
Partnering for Change: Sport, Students, and Mental Health with Dr. Laura Kruger
Episode Overview
- Wellbeing is a shared effort; people reach goals faster and more sustainably when they partner and collaborate with others.
- Sport performance cannot be separated from mental and emotional health, especially under high-pressure conditions.
- Coaches and sport professionals benefit from skills similar to counsellors, including suicide prevention tools like QPR.
- Creating a safe, joyful, and authentic classroom environment helps students open up about stress and seek support.
- Strong, ongoing relationships between educators and former students reinforce support networks well beyond graduation.
“We thrive and reach our goals faster and more successfully when we partner and collaborate with others.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety and mental wellbeing? This conversation with Dr. Laura Kruger at Ashland University offers a fresh angle by linking student-athletes, sport culture, and mental health in a very down-to-earth way. Dr. Kruger shares how her path as an Ashland graduate, professor, and department chair blends with life at home, where her husband competed as a three-time Olympian.
Watching elite sport up close shaped her passion for "this sport and well-being mesh together," and you’ll hear how that experience now informs her teaching and mentoring. The episode focuses heavily on connection and support systems. Dr. Kruger explains that "we don't go through it solo" and describes wellbeing as a team effort where family, friends, coaches, and community all play different roles.
Her work in the classroom aims to create a safe, joyful space where students can be authentic, talk about stress, and learn to support others. You’ll also hear about practical mental health training like QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) for suicide prevention, and why coaches, trainers, and future sport professionals need these skills as much as counsellors do.
Sport is described as a high-pressure "microcosm of life", where relationship stress and performance demands collide, making mental health awareness essential rather than optional. There’s some fun insight into fashion merchandising, branding, and the business side of sport, including name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities, but it all circles back to wellbeing. Whether students end up coaching, running events, or working behind the scenes, Dr. Kruger wants them career-ready and grounded in healthy habits and relationships.
Her core message sums it up: "We thrive and reach our goals faster and more successfully when we partner and collaborate with others." If you’re curious how collaboration, connection, and sport can support mental health and recovery, this conversation might spark a few ideas for your own life too.
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