Woodcreek lacrosse takes time to talk about mental health

Woodcreek's varsity girls lacrosse team took some time last week to bring to light a more important topic than lacrosse. On Thursday night, April 11, they used a game night against Roseville to discuss mental health awareness and make sure it's known how much of an issue it is to athletes. In 2019, Morgan Rodgers, a 22-year-old Duke University student and lacrosse player took her own life because of mental health struggles she had that stemmed from a devastating knee injury that hampered her career. You can read about Morgan's Message, at morgansmessage.org. Addie Strong, a junior at Woodcreek and lacrosse player and daughter of lacrosse head coach Mike Strong, is a student-athlete ambassador on the subject of mental health awareness. "Basically, Morgan's Message is an organization that supports her and dedicates games to her," Strong said. "A lot of colleges do it and some high schools like ours do it. We just talk about mental health issues before the game and gain support for and letting people know how important mental health is in sports and how important coaches should pay attention to it." Addie's mom, Karen, talked about Addie's responsibility as a student-ambassador. "She's being trained for certain mental health programs, and she holds meetings on campus about it," Karen said. "She's really just a resource if anybody is struggling on campus, and she works with the athletic department. "Mental health is such a big issue. Morgan's Message just came out with some staggering statistics about it. The suicide rate of collegiate athletes has grown tremendously in the last 10 years." Statistics include: Death by suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among college athletes in the United States. Also, rates of suicide among college athletes in the U.S. doubled from 7.6 percent to 15.3 percent in the last 20 years. "Collegiate athletes are often thought to have protective factors like the sense of community with their team and support from coaches, trainers, doctors and others," said Bridget Whelan, a research scientist in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington's School of Medicine. "Unfortunately, this study shows that collegiate athletes are just as susceptible to these mental health concerns." If these mental health issues are relevant to college-aged student-athletes, it only makes sense they are relevant to high school aged student-athletes as well. As for Thursday's game, Woodcreek defeated Roseville 9-4. Scoring goals for the Timberwolves were Gabbi McCarthy (four), Lily Grover (two), and Natalie Sabanikh, Leah Klug and Marin Sells each scored one goal.