The Mental Matchup

This week, Cami Nelsen joins The Mental Matchup. Cami grew up in Lancaster, CA and attends Antelope Valley College, where she plays volleyball. Cami has had her share of ups and downs, both mentally and physically, and we get into everything during this episode. She shares her chronic kidney disease diagnosis, anemia episodes, and struggles with disordered eating. This past September, Cami spoke in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill  with the Eating Disorders Coalition. We are so grateful to have Cami on the podcast!

TW: disordered eating

#113 - This week on The Mental Matchup, we are joined by a mother-daughter duo, Kirsten and Joey Early. Kirsten, an Ambassador for Morgan’s Message, and her family moved from the US to England and throughout the episode, discusses the differences in culture, making new friends, and adapting to life across the Atlantic Ocean. The pair also shares both of their unique experiences when it came to Joey’s disordered eating. They talk about everything from the fear and concern of a parent to Joey’s inpatient care to what their life living in Malvern, PA looks like now. You can read even more about Kirsten’s side of the story in her beautifully written piece titled “A Parent’s Story” on The Mental Matchup Stories site. We are so grateful that they were both willing to come on and share such an open and honest conversation with everyone.

In this week’s episode, Paul Macrina joins The Mental Matchup. Paul is from Wrentham, Massachusetts. Growing up, he was on the football and lacrosse team as well as a member of student council. Paul started his own podcast called Smoove Talk Podcast after learning more about young athletes taking their own life. His mission is closely aligned with The Mental Matchup and we are honored to have Paul come on the show this week!

This week, we are excited to welcome Chibuike “ChiChi” Odo to the podcast. ChiChi is a first generation Nigerian-American, his parents being originally from Nigeria and eventually settling in McKinney, TX. After growing up in Texas, ChiChi went on to play football and was pre-med at Davidson College in North Carolina. He talks about the struggle to balance academics and athletics in addition to experiencing multiple injuries throughout his 4 years in college. ChiChi was also honored as a 2022 Thomas J. Watson Fellow, a one-year grant awarded to seniors to take time abroad for independent exploration surrounding a topic of interest. ChiChi traveled for a year and visited 14 different countries, focusing on mental health in sport. If you'd like to learn more about his experience with the Watson Foundation, go check out his story on The Mental Matchup site linked below!

#110: This week, we are joined by Andrew Mackiewicz on the podcast. Andrew is a fencer who went to Penn State and graduated in 2018. Growing up, Andrew’s family bounced around between the US and Canada after immigrating from Poland. Andrew opens up about his own mental health struggles as a collegiate athlete and how important talking to others is when you're going through a darker period. Andrew also opens up even more about his story in a written piece featured on our Mental Matchup Stories site, titled “Navigating the Unconventional: Our Struggles”.

TW: suicide

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Connect with Andrew here!

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In this week’s episode, Kat is joined by Niki Castle. Niki grew up in San Diego and went to a top-ranked high school for women’s basketball. She went to Washington State, where she played basketball and graduated in 2000. During her freshman year, Niki began to experience changes in her health but had difficulty explaining what was wrong. Throughout the episode, she opens up about these experiences and a diagnosis that she ran from for years. Niki now works with organizations like NAMI's Ending the Silence program, where she speaks with student-athletes about mental health. We are grateful to have Niki join us, and you won’t want to miss her story! After listening to the episode, check out Niki’s story here.

TW: suicide

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Connect with Niki Here

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#108: In this week’s episode, we have Part 2 of Emily Perrin’s conversation with Kat. After discussing her own student-athlete journey during Part 1 of her episode, this episode touches on her work with athletes and her company, Perrin Wellness and Performance. It’s clear that Emily’s passion is to spread mental health awareness and we are so appreciative that she works with Morgan’s Message! We discuss using mindfulness to check in and gain awareness, validation, compassion, breath work, and movement.

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Connect with Emily here

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Show notes: This week we are joined by Emily Perrin, LMSW. Emily is the Director of Medical Advisory Council for Morgan’s Message and owns her own company, Perrin Wellness and Performance. She played collegiate soccer at University of Virginia before becoming a D1 coach and understands the importance of mental health awareness and recovery for athletes. During Part 1 of Emily’s episode, she opens up about her own student-athlete experience and how that has impacted her work now. Stay tuned for Part 2!

TW: Suicide, suicide ideation, self-harm, anxiety

Follow Morgan’s Message: @morgansmessage

Visit: Morgan’s Message

Submit a story: The Mental Matchup

Connect with Emily here

Find out more about Perrin Wellness and Performance here

This week we are joined by John Armistead on The Mental Matchup. John is from northern California and went on to play college lacrosse at the University of Richmond before heading to grad school and using his 5th year of eligibility to play football at the University of Southern California. During the episode, John speaks with Kat about moving across the country to attend college and the social anxiety that accompanied the move. He opens up about dealing with multiple injuries, learning to balance rigorous academics and athletics and also his experience with therapy versus relying on teammates, coaches, and friends to get through difficult times. John's dedication to raising awareness for mental health helped him create an app called AthletesTogether, an app for student-athletes to focus on mental health and build community.

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Find out more about AthletesTogether here

Presented by Morgan’s Message

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#105: This week, Kat sits down with Kristen Vacca, a student athlete and Morgan's Message Ambassador at McKendree University. Throughout the episode, Kristen opens up about her experience as an international student both through the recruiting process and also as a student living in a new country for college. Kristen talks about her own struggles with mental health and how she has helped spearhead initiatives to bring about changes at her school to give student athletes more safe spaces around campus.

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Visit: Morgan’s Message

Submit a story: The Mental Matchup

Presented by Morgan’s Message