The Mental Matchup

In this special episode, Kat and Schuyler talk with Amanda McGrew, the founder of the Playoff dating app. Amanda played collegiate and professional basketball herself, and designed Playoff to allow for collegiate and professional athletes to meet and date. Amanda is a gritty entrepreneur and her competitive spirit from her basketball career have clearly carried over into the business world. We cov...

Trigger Warning: discussion of sexual assault and gender-based violence Molly Little played lacrosse in college at the University of Denver, and she now plays professionally and coaches for the Denver lacrosse program. She grew up in Rhode Island and went to Tabor Academy for high school, a boarding school in Massechusetes, to focus on her athletic career. At Tabor, she entered into her first long...

Jack Beer was a youth stand-out soccer player, who was a high school All-American, competed with youth national teams, and was recruited to play at Georgetown University. In college, he had a successful freshman season, but started to fall out of love with the sport due to mounting anxiety. He decided to take time away from the team for his sophomore season, but returned to the team his Junior yea...

In Episode 2 of season 2, we talk to Max McGuire. Max is a former D1 goalie who has his own clothing line, What a Wonderful Life, that focuses on creating clothing that helps bring awareness to mental health and a portion of each sale is donated to different mental health charities. We talk about growing up on the west coast and going to school on the east coast, his lacrosse career, injuries and...

Daniela (Dani) Schneider, Duke Class of 2021, currently works in marketing for the Washington Wizards, and was a co-founder of UNCUT Duke. UNCUT is a student-led athlete-driven storytelling platform focused on sharing athletes’ personal and unique narratives. Dani was inspired to found UNCUT largely from her time as a tennis player in high school, and seeing the impact sports could have on mental...

Madeline (Maddy) Price, a Bay Area, CA native, was born to two Canadian parents which allowed her to compete for the Canadian Team in Track and Field. Maddy is a 400m sprinter and 4x400 relay specialist who graduated from Duke University in 2018 and completed a Masters of Management Studies in 2019 while supporting the track and field team through volunteer coaching up until June 2021.  Maddy...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Anna Callahan, Morgan’s Message Ambassador and student-athlete at Duke University. Anna is a passionate mental health advocate and ally for all. She talks about starting the Morgan’s Message chapter at Duke, life as a collegiate athlete, growing up, how her environment fostered positive growth and so much more. You can read more about ou...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Schuyler talks with Kayla Christian who is a Mindset & Wellness Coach. Kayla played soccer at Coastal Carolina, started an instagram page @havinghealthyhabits in her last semester of college, and has grown her expertise in holistic health into her own coaching business. In this episode we cover a lot of helpful tips for improving mental wellbeing....

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Schuyler talks with our podcast editor, Annie Krabbenschmidt. Annie played just about every sport growing up, and then focused on tennis and soccer in high school. She went to Duke as an undergraduate and was a part of the club soccer team, but she struggled as her identity as an athlete shifted. Annie came back to Duke for graduate school, which is wh...

This week's episode dives into Morgan's Message. A non-profit founded in 2020 that is striving to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics. MM aims to expand the dialogue on mental health by normalizing conversations, empowering those who suffer in silence, and supporting those who feel...

In this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, Kat chats with Mary Griffin - Virginia Tech Women’s Lacrosse Defender, Morgan’s Message Ambassador and host of Not a 10 Podcast. Mary and Kat talk about playing at a Virginia Tech, kicking cancer’s ass, and little things she does to help keep herself grounded and focused. Mary’s podcast, Not a Ten, is a podcast focused on highlighting stories of humans...

n this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, Kat chats with Lizzie Colson - Maryland Women’s Lacrosse Defender, IWCLA Defender of the Year, Tewaaraton Finalist, 2x National Champion, Morgan’s Message Ambassador and host of The LineUp Podcast.  Lizzie and Kat talk about playing at a dynasty like Maryland, overcoming injury, and how to support teammates or players who may be injured. Lizzie’s p...

In our latest episode of The Mental Matchup, Schuyler talks with Camille Esnault (former D1 fencer) about her the intersection of mental health and being a first-generation American, her experience with depression and anxiety as well as her struggle with the idea that her own mental health struggles were not valid enough to warrant medical attention. You can read more about the podcast at www.them...

In this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, Kat chats with Emily Perrin (former D1 soccer player, former D1 coach and CEO/Founder of Perrin Wellness and Performance) as well as, Jules Heningburg, (former D1 Lacrosse and current PLL player, founder of Juke Lab, Mission Primed, and the Black Lacrosse Alliance). The three discuss mindfulness and tools athletes can implement into their everyday rout...

⚠️ Content warning: This week's episode contains references to anxiety, depression, and suicidal thinking. On this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, guest host Dona Rodgers talks with Elaine Anton about her experience as a parent with her son’s mental health journey. They dive into the emotions that surround having a child who is suffering. With keeping the mission of Morgan’s Message in focus...

⚠️ Content warning: This week's episode contains references to anxiety, depression, suicidal thinking, and attempted suicide. On this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, we chat with former D1 lacrosse player Lauren Hickman. Lauren opens up about her experience with depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal ideation and explains the impact mental illness has had on her relationships, her athle...

The Mental Matchup, Episode 9: Lauren Hickman (Part 1).   ⚠️ Trigger warning: Sensitive topics are discussed in this episode. On this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, we chat with former D1 lacrosse player Lauren Hickman. Lauren opens up about her experience with depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal ideation and explains the impact mental illness has had on her relationships,...

The Mental Matchup, Episode 8: Mike Olim. ⚠️ Trigger warning: Sensitive topics are discussed in this episode. On this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, our co-host Schuyler interviews Mike Olim. Mike is the founder and Director of Operations at Advanced Physical & Technical Training, or AP2T. Mike has worked with athletes of all ages and levels, and is known for being able to get athletes...

The Mental Matchup, Episode 7: Natalie Marsh. ⚠️ Trigger warning: Sensitive topics are discussed in this episode. This episode contains references to disordered eating and anxiety. On this week’s episode of the Mental Matchup, our co-host Schuyler interviews collegiate runner Natalie Marsh. In addition to talking about Natalie’s career as a runner, she shares invaluable insights into her journey i...

The Mental Matchup, Episode 6: Morgan Gott. ⚠️ Trigger warning: Sensitive topics are discussed in this episode. In our latest episode, now available on Spotify + Apple Podcasts, Kat and Schuyler interview Morgan Gott. They discuss depression, sexuality and Morgan’s personal experience in navigating her personal journey surrounding mental health. Morgan’s passion for destigmatizing mental health is...

In today’s episode, we talk with Imani Dorsey about her experience playing soccer at Duke and professionally with SkyBlue in the NWSL. We talk about the pressures of internal and external expectations, the grief associated with moving on from an important chapter of life, the things we get out of the sport, and so much more. We also talk about her involvement with the Black Women’s Player Collecti...

We talk with Lynee about her experience with anxiety in high school, being a top-rated basketball recruit at Duke, both playing while at Duke and multiple injuries she faced, and her journey since. We discuss her depression and anxiety, her mental health journey, and where she is now. Self-harm is discussed in this episode.

Today's episode takes a deep dive in Schuyler's experience as a soccer player at Duke, then as a professional player at AC Sparta and the Reign FC. It is about the depression, anxiety, OCD, and suicidal ideation which ended her soccer career. But, it is also about her amazing support system, and how she is the happiest she has ever been on the other side of her mental health crisis.

On today’s episode Schuyler talks with fellow co-host Kat Zempolich. Kat is a co-host of the Mental Matchup Podcast, co-founder of Morgan’s Message, former D1 student-athlete and mental health advocate. On today’s episode we discuss depression, suicidal thoughts, disordered eating, insecurities and how it can seem like someone has it all together from the outside but there’s really a different nar...

Morgan Rodgers was a former Duke Lacrosse student-athlete. Morgan was a successful student in the classroom, she had a witty and creative sense of humor, an unmatched artistic talent and carried a fierce loyalty to friends, family and animals. From the outside it looked like she had it all. In this 2-part episode, Dona And Kurt Rodgers tell Morgan’s story from their point of view. What they knew,...