DGN girls volleyball held its first Morgan’s Message dedication game Oct. 21. DGN and York High School partnered with the foundation to raise awareness for athletes’ mental health. The Trojans defeated York in two sets at home, improving to 23-10 on the season.
While it was still a conference matchup for both schools, there was a purpose beyond the game. Morgan’s Message is a national organization that honors the late Morgan Rodgers, who succumbed to mental health issues through athletics. The organization attempts to eliminate stigma surrounding mental health in athletes and promote healthy management.
“I think any time you create an opportunity for this topic to be discussed, you’re spreading awareness and normalizing that these are very real experiences that people go through,” varsity girls volleyball assistant coach Meghan Nauss said.
Student ambassador Adysen Fanta helped organize the event and hopes that it will encourage more athletes to talk about mental health.
“It’s about equalizing physical and mental health in student athletes,” Fanta said. “I think we can definitely change the stigma surrounding it, and we have a good community at DGN willing to do so.”
Players wore Morgan’s Message t-shirts during warm-ups and participated in a pregame presentation alongside York, displaying the unity around this topic. Senior volleyball player Kelley Crowley has reflected on how mental health affects athletes since learning about the message.
“I think to our team, it allowed us to acknowledge the fact that mental health is important, especially in athletes,” Crowley said. “Many athletes, including myself, put too much pressure on themselves, which puts pressure on our mental health. So just taking care of ourselves and our mental health first before being an athlete is super important.”
The game has allowed the message to be clearer for DGN athletes. It has led DGN girls volleyball to hold team discussions to talk about what they learned from Morgan’s Message and to be comfortable applying it in their lives.
“I think having our discussions regularly forces us not to forget the human component of the athlete,” Nauss said. “Our lives carry a lot of different stories, and we juggle a lot of different roles throughout our day, and those things can’t be forgotten when you’re training as an athlete.”
Morgan’s Message has something for players. Junior volleyball player Angelika Krob urges athletes to be open about their mental health.
“Sometimes, whether it’s from a game or how you played, you get down on yourself,” Krob said. “You need to know that there are other people feeling the same way and that there are people you can talk to.”
For DGN, the game was about more than volleyball. Even through their victory, the game recognized that personal wellness is an important part of athletes’ lives, and that every athlete has a story that extends beyond their sport.
