The Dover Eagle baseball and softball teams held games to promote Morgan’s Message and its focus on the importance of mental health. They “decided to partner up to give the Morgan’s Message group at Dover… more exposure about what Morgan’s Message is all about,” said baseball head coach John McDonald.
This event set out to “bring out as many students as possible to the game and give this organization a platform to spread their messages,” said senior baseball captain Anthony Zito. “Hopefully, this creates a culture that values the mental side of the game just as much as the physical side.”
Senior softball captain Kaitlyn Thomas said, “Mental health can… take a toll on athletes because so many athletes are performance based…. if the athlete is doing well in their sport then they are doing well mentally, but if the athlete is not achieving goals or breaking records then they start to go down in a slump.”
McDonald wishes there was more of an awareness of student mental health when he was in school. “When I was in high school, we just had to deal with our problems on our own. I taught myself that playing baseball was my out… The problem was, when baseball was over (practice, game or season), I found myself struggling with mental health,” McDonald said.
Senior baseball player Anthony Zito understands the importance of having a life outside of his sport. He said, “When athletes don’t have anything outside of their sport to lean on or find joy in, it becomes mentally draining…it’s so important to encourage athletes to build a balanced life—one where their sport is a part of them, but not the only thing that defines them.”
Sometimes those outside responsibilities can contribute to anxiety or stress, though. “Not only do these athletes just have schoolwork to worry about, but they do other clubs, other sports, and work part-time jobs, ” Thomas said.
Morgan’s Message hopes that awareness of mental health struggles will lead more students to seek help. “I think a lot of student-athletes have that stereotypical mindset where they can’t ask for help because they’re an athlete and athletes don’t ask for help… our society has played such a big role on how mental health is seen …if one gets help then they’re just weak when that really is not the case at all,” Thomas said.
