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 cover the inspiration behind the app, the characteristics that make the athlete community unique, the fear associated with taking a leap of faith into something new, but the value of doing so, plus all of the ~super fun~ anxieties and realities of dating.

Thank you @amcgrew21 for joining us – you are a dope role model to other female athletes who want to start their own ventures, and we can all learn from your grittiness, mentality, and hard work. And hey, if you are single, check out @playoffdatingapp

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-term relationship, which unfortunately turned unhealthy, and she was sexually assaulted by her then-boyfriend. Molly talks about her healing process, flags for unhealthy relationships, the sad frequency of gender-based violence, her involvement with the One Love Foundation, and how her lacrosse career unfolded throughout her assault and mental health struggles.

For more information on the One Love Foundation, which focuses on promoting healthy relationships you can go to: https://www.joinonelove.org/

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 year, and went on to be named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in the Big East tournament and win a National Championship.

In this episode, Jack lays out his experience of anxiety and panic attacks, how he eventually asked for help, and the ways in which his teammates and coaches showed up for him. We talk about athletic identities, the importance of finding balance and joy outside of sport, how coaches can support players struggling with mental health, and how athletes can take time away from their sport and come back stronger.

You can also check out his mental health narrative at The Hidden Opponent: https://thehiddenopponent.com/jack-beer-overcoming-anxiety-depression-on-the-road-to-a-national-championship/

You can read more about our podcast and contact us at thementalmatchup.com or on Instagram @thementalmatchup.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: 800-273-TALK(8255).

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 his experience with anxiety and depression. Max is an amazing mental health advocate, both in his immediate community and in the larger public sphere. On the podcast, he talks about his process of opening up to his parents, mental health professionals, his friends and teammates, and then sharing his story on social media. He also shares how his creative and business endeavors have helped him cope with his mental health.

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 health. She wanted to give college athletes a safe place where they could tell their stories. Dani personally struggled with mental health issues while a co-founder at UNCUT and found inspiration and strength through the athletes that shared their stories. In this episode, we talk more about the goals and expectations she had for UNCUT, how seeing athletes as more than their stat sheet is changing in media and sports, some of her favorite UNCUT pieces (linked below), and how the perception of mental health in sports is changing thanks to icons like Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles.

For more information on UNCUT you can go to uncutduke.com or contact their team directly - https://www.uncutduke.com/about-us

The UNCUT stories references in the podcast:

Nakeie Montgomery: https://www.uncutduke.com/uncut-athletes/Nakeie-Montgomery

Sheridan Wilbur: https://www.uncutduke.com/post/dear-duke-no-rest-no-renewal

Mike Buckmire: https://www.uncutduke.com/post/dear-cameron-crazies-how-covid-changed-the-course-of-my-senior-year

Schuyler DeBree: https://www.uncutduke.com/post/dear-duke-a-darker-duke-chapter

Kat/Panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ6xrYP-cik

Anna Callahan: https://www.uncutduke.com/uncut-athletes/Anna-Callahan

And a link to Dani’s favorite book, “Am I There Yet? By Mari Andrew:

https://bymariandrew.com/books

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 just barely missed the 2016 Canadian Olympic Team, the last race her dad ever saw, but then set her sights on Tokyo. Her road to Tokyo was filled with uncertainty, as she dealt with the passing of her dad from cancer, coming back from foot surgery a year before the Games, and navigating the global pandemic. Despite the odds, she made the Canadian 4x400 Olympic team and went on to run her fastest time ever in the finals with their team placing 4th. Far more important than the accomplishment of becoming an Olympian, is how she approached the process. With her family, and especially her dad, as inspiration, Maddy has always prioritized her relationships, staying present, and giving her best to everything she does. Maddy is an advocate and a mentor for the next generation of young female athletes through Voice In Sport, an advocacy platform providing resources and mentorship for girls in sport and through her work in 2020 with CAN Fund #150Women, a non-profit dedicated to helping Canadian female athletes be the best in the world. 

In this episode with Maddy, we talk about her running career from childhood, to Duke, to a professional and now as an Olympian. We cover her emotional responses to the many steps in that process, and the mental habits that have allowed her to be successful. She is a ray of sunshine, and has so many nuggets about how to mentally approach sport and life. 
You can follow Maddy at maddypriceless on Instagram and TikTok, and check out the video of Maddy’s journey to Tokyo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3xtzpqhdpg

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 our podcast and contact us at thementalmatchup.com or on Instagram @thementalmatchup.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at: 800-273-TALK(8255).