Norwin students are proposing a new addition to Norwin’s vast list of clubs this fall. That new club is called Morgan’s Message, which is a national club that many schools have, but a brand new chapter will be started at Norwin High.
Morgan’s Message is a club focused on eliminating the stigma surrounding the mental health of high school and collegiate student-athletes. The founders of this club push for mental health in athletics to be treated the same as physical health. In creating a better environment mentally, the club looks to encourage students to open up in safe spaces, peer-to-peer communication, and they want to empower student athletes that may be suffering all on their own.
The namesake of the club comes from the story of Morgan Rodgers who was a student athlete herself. She was an optimistic athlete and was incredibly talented in lacrosse. She poured countless hours into training and devoted herself completely to her sport and the people around her. Her hard work would pay off when she was recruited to play D1 lacrosse at Duke.
Going into her sophomore year of college at Duke playing lacrosse she suffered a terrible knee injury that had a long recovery time of 12 months. Over these 12 months, her self-worth plummeted and her mental state was reduced to rubble. She hid all of this away under a fake smile, until it finally became too much to bear. As a result, she died by suicide on July 11, 2019.
“I wanted to start this club because I felt like it’s a personal thing for me and sports,” said freshman Mary Jane Brosey. “Everyone should come together to spread awareness about mental health.”
That’s why Morgan’s Message was created to carry on her legacy of positivity and strength. Their end goal is to help athletes like Morgan who may be struggling, but not know how to voice their struggles and prefer to suffer in silence.
“The club will open up conversations so people feel free to talk about their problems and just have a place to talk in general,” Brosey said. “It’s my goal to help end the stigma around student athlete’s mental health.”
Fueled by the message of this organization Norwin student Mary Brosey, moved to start the Norwin branch of this club. Brosey urges any student-athlete who is struggling or not to join and support the club and the message that it is trying to convey. With the club just starting there will be posters up throughout the Norwin halls with QR codes for students to scan to join the Google Classroom. As for planned events, nothing is set in stone yet. Although Brosey has some fun ideas for the club like making bracelets, T-shirts, and other games that are for team bonding.
Any student interested in supporting athletes’ mental health should come out and join the club. Students can find more information on Norwin’s chapter of Morgan’s Message on their Instagram @nhs_morgansmessage.
