Morgan’s Message is a national organization that strives to break the silence around mental health in student-athletes. Morgan’s Message was created in honor of Morgan Rodgers, a 22-year-old Duke lacrosse player who took her own life after a career-ending knee injury. Morgan’s Message uses an ambassador system to reach student-athletes in the US, Canada, and England. This year, students at ACHS launched a Morgan’s Message chapter.
The Morgan’s Message ambassadors at ACHS are senior Emily Mikolop, senior Cassidy Pyke, and junior James Libresco. Mikolop said that her role, alongside Pyke and Libresco, is to “organize meetings, host dedication games and to reach out to our community to offer support and resources while raising awareness about student-athlete mental health.”
While the ACHS chapter of Morgan’s Message is still fresh, the field hockey team has already hosted a dedication game on August 30. The impressive turnout accomplished the ambassadors’ goal of reaching their community.
Pyke and Mikolop have a personal connection to student-athlete’s mental health being overlooked as they “are both very involved in athletics both at school and outside of school and believe that mental health is a topic that should be talked about, especially in sports.”
“After we read the story of Morgan, we knew we wanted to spread the message and make an impact in our community,” said Mikolop. Although struggling with mental health is universal, student-athletes are faced with unique challenges. “Many athletes place their worth on the scoreboard and grades on a paper. This can be extremely degrading to self-confidence, self-worth, and self-image,” said Pyke.
The ACHS chapter of Morgan’s Message held its first meeting on August 28th. “During meetings we have one topic or idea we focus on and engage our community,” said Mikolop. Although the goal of Morgan’s Message is to support student-athletes, anyone, including non-athletes, is welcome to support the mission. “Anyone can join the club!” said Mikolop.
Field hockey kicked off the first Morgan’s Message game at ACHS, but other sports are encouraged to get involved. The ambassadors say that when more sports host dedication games at ACHS, more conversation around student-athlete mental health will be sparked, leading to a more positive sports culture.
Interested ACHS teams are encouraged to involve themselves with Morgan’s Message. “All you have to do is contact us . . . and we will figure out all the details with you and your team! Once those details are decided, we contact the national Morgan’s Message organization to confirm the dedication game and then they send us resources including pamphlets, bracelets, stickers, and ribbons,” said Pyke.
Despite Pyke and Mikolop being seniors, they intend for the club to continue for years to come. “The money we raised with the T-shirts [sold at the game] went to our club fund to be able to fund bigger and better dedication games as well as other events and meetings,” said Pyke.
Pyke and Mikolop have no plans of slowing down and have ambitious goals for the club. “Our future plan for the club is to continue to grow as a community, athletes and non-athletes. We plan to host a football dedication game next year as our club will hopefully be bigger and more well known. We are also working to instigate certain mental health trainings that all coaches at our school must do before every season to make sure they are supportive of their athletes physically, mentally and emotionally,” said Pyke.
Morgan’s Message as a whole is inspiring athletes around the world to speak up when it comes to their mental health. The organization is constantly working to break down barriers and create a greater sense of community among student-athletes. Morgan’s Message is a reminder that there are people to support you when there is too much on your plate. Pyke, Mikolop, and Libresco have started something at ACHS that will continue to uplift student-athletes for years to come.
