The Mental Matchup

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat connects with Brandon Teixeira. Brandon is the founder and CEO of Mental Health Declassified. Mental Health Declassified is a platform that focuses on creating a safe space for anyone struggling with mental health and highlights the importance of supporting those around you who may be struggling alone. In the episode, Brandon opens up about his exp...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Ben Greiner. Ben is a former collegiate ice hockey player and current founder and CEO of TadHealth. Ben is also the founder of an organization called The TAD Project. Both of these incredible platforms focus on creating a safe community and navigating the often difficult topic of mental health. Throughout the episode, Ben opens up ab...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Shelby Milne. Shelby played lacrosse at Hofstra University, is currently an Assistant Athletic Trainer UPenn, and is getting her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling. Throughout the conversation, Shelby opens up about mental health being on a spectrum, whether or not having a competitive mindset can be healthy or unhealthy, and the i...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Angelica Galluzzo. Angelica is the host of the podcast The Revolutionized Mind, which provides space for people to share their mental health stories in order to promote positivity and happiness even in difficult situations. She talks about finding one’s identity outside of sport, the differences in sports culture between the US and Cana...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Smita Nalluri. Smita ran track and field at Cornell University, while also handling a move from sunny California to upstate New York and balancing Ivy League academics. She opens up about her experience with depression and how important the power of connectivity can be. As a student-athlete, she dealt with injury and the difficult decisi...

In today’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Ida Farinholt. Ida played lacrosse for four years at Cornell before transferring to UNC to complete her graduate studies. Ida opens up about tearing her ACL not once, but twice while in college and how she dealt with the recovery process along with the mental struggles that come with being an impact player to having to sit out for multiple...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Jess Goergen, a current graduate student at Auburn University in the Counseling Psychology Ph. D. program. She currently holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Auburn University and was a student-athlete on the women’s lacrosse team at Presbyterian College. During the episode we talk about the hormonal and psychological impact of bi...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Emily Barnhart, who is a registered dietician working with athletes, and runs her own private practice that is called Injury RD (working from the point of surgery to their return to play) but has also worked with general athletes throughout her career. During the episode, we talk about the impact food can have on your performance as an a...

In today’s  episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Ashleigh Shanley, who swam at Duke and is currently working as a Content Associate/Production Assistant for ESPN in Charlotte, NC. Ashleigh received her Masters of Science of Journalism at Boston University in December of 2018 focusing on both sports journalism and broadcasting.  During the episode, we talk about injury and the im...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Lindsey Ronbeck, current Assistant Women’s Lacrosse Coach at the University of Richmond, and one of the most prolific women’s lacrosse players at the University of Florida. During the episode, we talk about the role lacrosse has played in her life, navigating athletics and education through learning disorders, grappling with disordered e...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup , Kat talks with Connor Coyne (@concoyne). Connor is a former collegiate baseball player, current social marketing associate and TikTok creator. During this episode, we talk about the importance of therapy, the impact of social media, and how one of the greatest powers you can have is being unapologetically yourself.

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup , Kat talks with Renee Norden. Renee has been the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of Fauquier County since November 2020. The Mental Health Association promotes mental wellness in Fauquier and Rappahannock counties. She facilitates the Mental Health Collaborative and the Mental Health School Coalition, while also serving on the Rappa...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup , Kat talks with Madeline Barlow. Madeline is a mentor to athletes, a 3x author, and a Reiki II and Human Design practitioner. She is also a former competitive swimmer and has her PhD in Psychology of Human Movement with a specialization in Exercise and Sport psychology. During the episode, we talk about transitioning out of athletics and into the next...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, we take some time to reflect on Season 2 of The Mental Matchup. Zoe Scurletis, host of Solace in the City, which is another podcast focused on making people feel less alone, reflects with us on the things she has learned in her own podcasting journey over the past year. We discuss the common threads between our podcasts, the topics that kept popping up...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Schuyler and Kat talk with Nakeie (Nak) Montgomery, a two sport athlete at Duke University. Nak grew up in Texas with his mom and sister, playing lacrosse and football. He went on to play lacrosse at Duke, and also joined the football team for his final fall season in college. Despite not playing as much as he wanted to his freshman year, and having hi...

This week’s episode of The Mental Matchup features Brian White. Brian currently plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS. During the episode, we talk about his successful youth, college, and professional career, and the ups and downs he experienced along the way. After growing up in New Jersey (and playing at the same youth club as Schuyler - fun fact), he attended Duke, making 73 appearances...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat and Schuyler talk to Noah Rubin about his tennis career and his mental health centric project, Behind the Racquet. After winning multiple international tournaments as early as age 11, Noah put together an incredible youth tennis career leading him to be ranked 6th in the world as a junior. Noah went on to play at Wake Forest for a year, before turn...

Leeann Passaro is a former student-athlete from Washington & Lee University and the current Chief Operating Officer at The Hidden Opponent. The Hidden Opponent (THO) is a non-profit and advocacy group focused on addressing the stigma of mental health in the athlete community, and providing support to athletes experiencing mental health challenges. Leeann has struggled with anxiety and depressi...

Trigger waring: discussion of suicidal ideation  This week’s episode of The Mental Matchup features Reagan Rust, the first D1 ice hockey player to come out of Mississippi, and now professional hockey player in Stockholm Sweden. Reagan is the founder of the Female Athlete Society, a free platform that connects female athletes to each other, and to resources, to help them navigate their athleti...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, we talk to Morgan Alexander, who recently graduated from Syracuse University, where she played lacrosse. Morgan is planning to go onto a career in sports journalism, and develop her mental health focused sweatshirt company. Morgan first experienced mental health in the form of anxiety, and immediately it became clear to her that mental health should be...

Trigger Warning: discussion of suicide and suicide attempt This week’s episode of The Mental Matchup features Scott Day, a former Division III baseball player at York College of PA, and now Director of Communications/Operations at Sean’s House and SL24: UnLocke the Light Foundation, an organization that provides free mental health resources, education, and assistance. Scott spent the first 15 year...

This week’s episode of The Mental Matchup features Brittnay Todd, who is the owner and clinical director of B Balanced Counseling & Wellness. Brittany attended the University of Florida where she achieved her bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Psychology, while competing as a swimmer. Brittany was an Olympic Trial swimmer in 2000 and 2004 and competed in NCAA’s, but dealt with a variety of m...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat and Schuyler talk to Cailin Bracken. Cailin (Kay-leen) grew up in New Jersey playing lacrosse and committed to play at Vanderbilt, where she is now a sophomore. Starting in her senior year of high school, Cailin dealt with depression and disordered eating. A week into preseason of her senior lacrosse season, it was cancelled due to COVID-19. Like m...

This week’s episode of The Mental Matchup features Kaleigh (KK) Kurtz, who is one of Schuyler’s teammates on the North Carolina Courage. KK grew up playing soccer in South Carolina, and committed to play collegiately at Richmond University. The stress surrounding her recruiting process led her to finding her first therapist, who also helped her work through abandonment issues rooted in friends mov...

This week’s episode of The Mental Matchup is with Joanne P. McCallie, also known as Coach P. Coach P is known for her successful basketball coaching career, which has spanned Auburn, Maine, Michigan State, and Duke University. She is the only coach to have won conference championships in four different conferences. Her overall record is 646-255, she has won gold medals coaching US youth basketball...