“I have a big voice in the community right now. I have the impression that young people listen to me. 20-year-old Bennedict Mathurin is well aware of the impact he is already having on young athletes. And he intends to use his voice, his influence and his platform wisely.
“I always wanted to be [a role model] growing up. My friends laughed at me because I always called them my little brothers. I was their big brother. […] I always wanted to show a good example to the people around me and it really created the person I have become today. »
Mathurin spoke these words on Monday afternoon, while meeting the media virtually as part of the campaign against electronic cigarettes – also called the vapoteuse – led in concert by the Réseau du sport sportif du Québec (RSEQ) and the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health (CQTS). The basketball player, a young rising star in the NBA, accepted without hesitation to lend his face and his voice to the project, which is aimed at young student-athletes in the province.
“It was a no-brainer for me to do that,” he said. I was in from the start. »
Entitled Vapoter, c’est pas ta game, the campaign aims to raise awareness among young people of the risks and harms of vaping, a scourge in Quebec. “Some young athletes see vaping as a solution to manage their anxiety and quickly find themselves struggling with addiction,” says Annie Papageorgiou, Executive Director of CQTS.
Mathurin, himself a former RSEQ student-athlete, saw the campaign as an opportunity to show young people “how important it is to stay focused on the important things.”
“To be honest, I have some friends who vape, unfortunately,” he admitted. I really want to influence them to stop. It’s something I’ve never done in my life. »
“Even when things aren’t going so well in my life, I find something else to do. I meditate, I listen to music. I try to find other aspects that can influence them to quit vaping. »
The Montrealer is completing his first season in the best league in the world. He receives hundreds of messages on Instagram every week; messages from young people, yes, but also from parents who tell him of his influence on their children.
“[They] tell me that their children are motivated to go to school in the morning and play sports. These are things I like to hear. This is something that also motivates me, to be a motivation for young people in Quebec, to influence the community. »
During the first two editions of the Vapoter, c’est pas ta game campaign, athletes such as Nick Suzuki, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Samuel Piette and Kim Clavel were among the spokespersons. This year, the RSEQ and the CQTS have opted for one of the most prominent Quebec athletes on the international sports scene.
In the words of Stéphane Boudreau, assistant general manager of the RSEQ, the message “sends very differently” when it comes from athletes like Mathurin.
“It’s very difficult to tell a 13, 14, 15 year old that [vaping] will affect their health when they get older. But when it comes from an athlete of Bennedict’s caliber, they are much more receptive. The message gets through better. He speaks the same language as them. »
“He’s a role model,” adds Annie Papageorgiou. He is a young person who has gone through the RSEQ programs in Quebec. He is a champion and he has a healthy life. He knows the impact of the quality of his healthy life on his sport. He says he has friends who vape, he understands what this addiction means to them. We couldn’t have chosen a better spokesperson. »
The proportion of young people who vape rose from 4% in 2013 to 21% in 2019, reports the CQTS. According to the Quebec Survey on Tobacco and Vaping Products conducted between July and November 2020, 18% of young people aged 15 to 17 vape, and 72% of these are given their products by their friends.
Mathurin must visit the young people of a secondary school at the beginning of June in order to discuss with them on the subject. “I want to motivate young people to stay away from tobacco and vaping,” Mathurin said. […] It’s really something I want to do in the future. »
Bennedict Mathurin’s first career season in the NBA is just three games away. “It’s crazy, how quickly the 82 games went by,” said the main interested party on Monday. In 75 games – he missed a few due to injury – the Quebecer averaged 16.6 points, 4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He quickly became one of the main ingredients of the offense of the Pacers, a young team. “We didn’t really get the results we wanted, but it’s been an exceptional season. We had a lot of ups and downs as a team, but also me personally. I really think we’ve made a lot of progress. […] It will be a big summer for me. I tasted the NBA, but I will be able to improve too. »
