Welcome back to Season 7 of The Mental Matchup! To kick off the new season, we are joined by Alexa Beyer. Alexa plays Division I lacrosse at Youngstown State and got inspired to start playing after watching her brothers pick up the sport. During the episode, Alexa and Kat talk about her experiences handling an injury and the mental health struggles that come with recovery. She also touches on how academic challenges can also impact your overall mental wellbeing and the importance of approaching each situation with a positive mindset.

This week, we are joined by Rares Judele during our final episode of Season 6. Rares is a Morgan’s Message Ambassador and mental health advocate. He was born in Romania and attends Wooster High School in Wooster, OH. Rares is a multi-sport athlete who shares mental health's role in his own life. He speaks about switching sports, dealing with his emotions, and learning how to vocalize what he is going through. Rares touches on an important topic, adversity, and the impact that it has had on his overall development as a student-athlete and individual. He has also shared his journey on our Mental Matchup Stories site, which you can check out after listening to the podcast episode!

#119: In this week’s episode, Abbey Sallila joins Kat on The Mental Matchup. Abbey is a junior at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, majoring in psychology and is also a member of the women’s lacrosse team. During her sophomore year of college, Abbey faced multiple injury setbacks and talks us through how she dealt with each experience and overcame them. She highlights the importance of a strong support system and you can also go check out her story featured on The Mental Matchup Stories site titled “Progress Isn’t Linear”!

A special episode this week, Emily Weible joins The Mental Matchup to chat about brain health and mental health. Emily graduated from Washington State University in 2019 and is currently in grad school at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, teaching an undergraduate course and a lab each semester. Emily recently started a coaching business called Brain+Body Foundations where she offers strength and conditioning and mentorship platforms.

This week, Emily Weible joins The Mental Matchup. Emily graduated from Washington State University in 2019 and is currently in grad school at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, teaching an undergraduate course and a lab each semester. Emily rowed in college at WSU and opens up about the importance of finding a community outside of sport, educating others about suicidality and self advocating for yourself. Emily recently started a coaching business called Brain+Body Foundations where she offers strength and conditioning and mentorship platforms.

#116: Brooke Kelly joins the podcast this week on The Mental Matchup. Brooke is on the women’s lacrosse team at Lander University. She opens up about how her love of lacrosse started, how she learned that it’s okay when things don't go perfectly, and what drew her to the school she eventually transferred to. Brooke emphasizes the importance of being grateful, and we are so thankful that she is on The Mental Matchup!

Episode #115: This week, Dan Maigler and Mags Roemer join Kat on The Mental Matchup. Dan and Mags both work for Paws for Patrick, a non-profit organization connecting young people with Emotional Support Animals and therapy dogs to help with their mental health. They discuss why the organization was founded, the benefits of having an emotional support animal and how Paws for Patrick works!

This week, Cami Nelsen joins The Mental Matchup. Cami grew up in Lancaster, CA and attends Antelope Valley College, where she plays volleyball. Cami has had her share of ups and downs, both mentally and physically, and we get into everything during this episode. She shares her chronic kidney disease diagnosis, anemia episodes, and struggles with disordered eating. This past September, Cami spoke in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill with the Eating Disorders Coalition. We are so grateful to have Cami on the podcast!

#113 - This week on The Mental Matchup, we are joined by a mother-daughter duo, Kirsten and Joey Early. Kirsten, an Ambassador for Morgan’s Message, and her family moved from the US to England and throughout the episode, discusses the differences in culture, making new friends, and adapting to life across the Atlantic Ocean. The pair also shares both of their unique experiences when it came to Joey’s disordered eating. They talk about everything from the fear and concern of a parent to Joey’s inpatient care to what their life living in Malvern, PA looks like now. You can read even more about Kirsten’s side of the story in her beautifully written piece titled “A Parent’s Story” on The Mental Matchup Stories site. We are so grateful that they were both willing to come on and share such an open and honest conversation with everyone.

#112 - In this week’s episode, Paul Macrina joins The Mental Matchup. Paul is from Wrentham, Massachusetts. Growing up, he was on the football and lacrosse team as well as a member of student council. Paul started his own podcast called Smoove Talk Podcast after learning more about young athletes taking their own life. His mission is closely aligned with The Mental Matchup and we are honored to have Paul come on the show this week!

This week, we are excited to welcome Chibuike “ChiChi” Odo to the podcast. ChiChi is a first generation Nigerian-American, his parents being originally from Nigeria and eventually settling in McKinney, TX. After growing up in Texas, ChiChi went on to play football and was pre-med at Davidson College in North Carolina. He talks about the struggle to balance academics and athletics in addition to experiencing multiple injuries throughout his 4 years in college. ChiChi was also honored as a 2022 Thomas J. Watson Fellow, a one-year grant awarded to seniors to take time abroad for independent exploration surrounding a topic of interest. ChiChi traveled for a year and visited 14 different countries, focusing on mental health in sport. If you'd like to learn more about his experience with the Watson Foundation, go check out his story on The Mental Matchup site linked below!

#110: This week, we are joined by Andrew Mackiewicz on the podcast. Andrew is a fencer who went to Penn State and graduated in 2018. Growing up, Andrew’s family bounced around between the US and Canada after immigrating from Poland. Andrew opens up about his own mental health struggles as a collegiate athlete and how important talking to others is when you're going through a darker period. Andrew also opens up even more about his story in a written piece featured on our Mental Matchup Stories site, titled “Navigating the Unconventional: Our Struggles”.

In this week’s episode, Kat is joined by Niki Castle. Niki grew up in San Diego and went to a top-ranked high school for women’s basketball. She went to Washington State, where she played basketball and graduated in 2000. During her freshman year, Niki began to experience changes in her health but had difficulty explaining what was wrong. Throughout the episode, she opens up about these experiences and a diagnosis that she ran from for years. Niki now works with organizations like NAMI's Ending the Silence program, where she speaks with student-athletes about mental health. We are grateful to have Niki join us, and you won’t want to miss her story! After listening to the episode, check out Niki’s story here.

TW: suicide

Follow Morgan’s Message: @morgansmessage

Visit: Morgan’s Message

Submit a story: The Mental Matchup

Connect with Niki Here

Visit Healing Minds Coaching here

#108: In this week’s episode, we have Part 2 of Emily Perrin’s conversation with Kat. After discussing her own student-athlete journey during Part 1 of her episode, this episode touches on her work with athletes and her company, Perrin Wellness and Performance. It’s clear that Emily’s passion is to spread mental health awareness and we are so appreciative that she works with Morgan’s Message! We discuss using mindfulness to check in and gain awareness, validation, compassion, breath work, and movement.

#107: Show notes: This week we are joined by Emily Perrin, LMSW. Emily is the Director of Medical Advisory Council for Morgan’s Message and owns her own company, Perrin Wellness and Performance. She played collegiate soccer at University of Virginia before becoming a D1 coach and understands the importance of mental health awareness and recovery for athletes. During Part 1 of Emily’s episode, she opens up about her own student-athlete experience and how that has impacted her work now.

This week, Kat sits down with Kristen Vacca, a student athlete and Morgan's Message Ambassador at McKendree University. Throughout the episode, Kristen opens up about her experience as an international student both through the recruiting process and also as a student living in a new country for college. Kristen talks about her own struggles with mental health and how she has helped spearhead initiatives to bring about changes at her school to give student athletes more safe spaces around campus.

Tara Kerr is our guest on The Mental Matchup this week. Tara grew up in NYC and is currently a senior on the women’s lacrosse team at William and Mary. Tara discusses how she struggled at the beginning of college with loss, injury, and dealing with the strict rules of COVID. She used journaling and affirmations as constructive ways to help deal with difficult times and has created her own mental health and wellness Instagram to help record her journey, @tsgoodvibes. Tara also touches on opening up to her teammates and sharing her personal story with them.

#103: In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Brandon Allen connects with Kat. Brandon was born and raised in the Bronx, NY, and then moved to Lancaster, PA, when he was ten years old. He went on to play college football at Towson University and is now a mental health advocate after going through a difficult period in college when he questioned his self-worth. Brandon talks about his struggles with mental health and how his passion helped him create his brand @loveyourself.