APRIL 4 • 2024 | 49
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are struggling with mental health issues
because of sports, raises awareness about
those issues, and works to eliminate the
stigma attached to them in the sports
culture. The group’s causes appealed to
Blank’s kindheartedness.
“A student-athlete’s lifestyle of a
daily commitment to their sport can
be overwhelming,” Blank said. “It can
lead to things like eating disorders,
performance anxiety and confidence
issues if you feel your self-worth is tied
to your success in sports.
“We [The Hidden Opponent] can’t
always find a cure for those issues.
But we can help if a student-athlete’s
recovery isn’t as linear as he or she wants
it to be.”
Blank’s work at Groves with The
Hidden Opponent included organizing
mental health awareness days at girls
basketball and softball games and a fun
run fundraiser.
She’s still involved in the organization
at U-M. She’s a head campus captain,
mentoring 19 high school campus
captains in 11 states, including
Michigan, and Canada.
Perhaps the most remarkable part of
Blank’s multi-faceted life story doesn’t
involve only her. It involves her parents,
Bloomfield Hills residents Howard and
Jamie Blank.
Howard and Jamie were seniors at
U-M and dating when they attended
the Rose Bowl game between U-M
and Washington on Jan. 1, 1998. They
watched the Wolverines win the game
and the national championship, their
last one until this past season.
Fast forward 26 years to Jan. 1, 2024.
Howard and Jamie were back at the
Rose Bowl, this time as U-M graduates
and a married couple (their engagement
announcement was in the Jan. 22, 1999,
edition of the Jewish News). They’ll
celebrate their 25th anniversary July 10.
They watched U-M beat Alabama
in overtime in January in a national
playoff semifinal game in the same end
zone of the Rose Bowl where they sat
as U-M students in 1998. Both games
came down to the final play before the
Wolverines prevailed.
There was more than football for
Howard and Jamie to watch in January.
They watched their daughter perform
with the U-M marching band.
They could have never imagined that
on New Year’s Day of 1998.
“If you would have told me back then
that a daughter of ours was in the U-M
marching band, I would have been
shocked,” Howard said with a laugh.
That’s because Ella’s parents are
admittedly not musically inclined.
Howard is a physician. Jamie is a middle
school math teacher at Hillel Day
School.
“Jamie and I like to listen to music,”
Howard said. “But music was never a
career path for us.”
Ella’s love for music was ignited by
Birmingham Public Schools’ music
program.
Her brother Ari, 16, a sophomore at
Groves, is following a similar musical
path. He plays viola in the school’s
orchestra program.
Ella’s family rooting section at the
Rose Bowl in January also included her
brother and her maternal grandparents
William and Marilyn Kohen of West
Bloomfield, both U-M grads.
In addition to her involvement with
the U-M marching band, Ella’s parents
are proud of her work with The Hidden
Opponent.
“Ella loves to help people. She has
great empathy for people. She was a
mentor to her teammates at Groves. This
organization is a great fit for her,” Jamie
said.
“There are so many wonderful life
lessons that come with being involved
with sports. Ella doesn’t want sports to
add stress to someone’s life.”
As for the U-M marching band, Jamie
said she’s been impressed with how
much band members support each other
despite the highly competitive weekly
auditions.
Ella is majoring in public health at
U-M with a minor in music. Her career
goal is to go into medicine or public
health.
Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.
Howard and Jamie Blank
at the Rose Bowl in 2024.
ARI BLANK
Howard and Jamie Blank
at the Rose Bowl in 1998
FAMILY PHOTO
“THERE ARE SO
MANY WONDERFUL
LIFE LESSONS
THAT COME WITH
BEING INVOLVED
WITH SPORTS.
ELLA DOESN’T
WANT SPORTS TO
ADD STRESS TO
SOMEONE’S LIFE.”
— JAMIE BLANK, ELLA’S MOM