On Saturday, March 30, Castleton women’s lacrosse team hosted a memorial game for the cause Morgan’s Message. 

Morgan’s message is an organization fueled by sharing stories and resources to strengthen student-athlete mental health. 

Students can become ambassadors for Morgan’s Message and help plan events such as memorial games, team community service efforts, and creating Morgan’s Message t-shirts for their team. 

Gretel Seaman and Annie Duprey are the current ambassadors for the women’s lacrosse team. Seaman is a regular ambassador and Duprey is currently an at-large ambassador. 

“Being an ambassador has been a great opportunity for both this campus and me,” Seaman said. 

They focus on making sure fellow athletes know they have somewhere to go with resources if they are struggling, which can be often ignored in the sports community.

Morgan’s message was started due to the tragic death of former Duke athlete Morgan Rodgers from Virginia, who passed due to suicide July 11, 2019. Her parents started this foundation to spread her story and give the chance for fellow student-athletes to share their experiences with mental health. 

“Morgan’s Message provides resources, awareness, and lessons regarding mental health. As an ambassador, I get to take part in this through leadership,” Seaman said. 

Before the game, the announcer gave a small speech about the organization while also having a moment of silence for all the student-athletes who lost their fight against mental health. The girls all wore Morgan message shirts to show their support and advocate that it is ok to need help. 

“I’m an at-large ambassador, which is like a step up from regular. I don’t do too much different, I’m just involved more in Zooms with guest speakers, and I know a bunch of girls who go on to work for Morgan’s Message after school,” Duprey said. 

They have 4,939 ambassadors on 1,661 high school and collegiate campuses spreading awareness. They are in 45 states in the United States as well as Canada, England, and Germany. 

The parents of Morgan Rodgers, who began this organization, have made it their mission to help student-athletes realize it is ok to not be ok. 

“It’s mostly about bringing awareness and showing people it’s ok to talk about it and mental health is a lot worse than many people think it is,” Duprey said. 

The memorial games are mainly to show support for the organization and spread the word. Outside of the gates, they had more ambassadors from other sports teams on campus to help answer questions students and parents may have about the organization and what you can do to help spread awareness. 

“I have the chance to make an impact at Castleton by hosting meetings, dedication games and overall supporting the students who may be struggling,” Seaman said.

The effort was perhaps inspiring for the team, because it went on to post its first win of the season following the ceremony beating Rhode Island College 14-6.

The team was led by Gianna Geraci’s four goals and goalie Liv Cormier got her first win.