Globally, one male dies every minute by suicide.

Read that again if you must. That means there are 1,440 men a day, 10,080 a week, and 524,160 a year who leave their friends and family forever. This number is much too high, and we all need to work together to bring that number down and end the stigma of speaking out about mental health.

Within 24 hours this summer I had two complete different feelings. My son, Bowen was born on July 31st, and I couldn’t have felt more full of love and happiness. On August 1st, I found out that my former student, friend, and teammate had taken his own life, and I felt empty.

I felt empty because I recognized Jevon was struggling - I think anyone who knew him did. But the feeling of emptiness came from thinking I didn’t do anything to help and that our community lost such a bright light.

Jevon Link was part of a group of men in our community often referred to as “Cuppers”. Our group yearly consists 30-32 men, but includes more than that. It includes former players, wives, girlfriends and family who watch our group compete as hard as we can against each other, and then become the best of friends with teammates and opponents once that competition is over. The competition is called the EI Cup and Jevon embodied everything that it was to be a Cupper.

He was a fierce competitor, and a very talented golfer. He took on players with more experience and better records than him, and often came out on top. So much so that he was known at the MVP of the entire cup; not only because of his play on the course, but his actions and quote we will always remember off of it.

This year however, Jevon was different. We didn’t quite see that fierce competitive side come out. We didn’t see him trash talk an opponent or call out a teammate for a bad shot. We didn’t see him argue with his buddies about a shot or let out that big laugh. Jevon was struggling and it was obvious.

We don’t want to ever have one of our buddies struggle again without being able to get the help they need. Jevon had reached out for help, and there were many people around him who tried their best, but he eventually succumbed to his struggles. There are so many “if only’s” that many people have struggled with since.

As a group the EI Cup is coming together once again to raise money for Men’s Mental Health. We are asking you to donate any way possible, whether that be online, sharing one of our personal profiles or team profile, or seeking one of us out to donate if you can’t do it online. Any little bit helps, and our goal is to raise as much money possible to aid in Men’s Mental Health awareness and support.

Thank you in advance for your support and donations, we all very much appreciate it.