High school and college athletes are learning these days that the negative stigma for mental health is a thing of the past. They are being told to speak out when you see something or let others know how you are feeling.
For Katie Meyer and Sarah Shulze, life was not as simple as both tragically took their own lives in 2022. With that, Katie’s Save and The Sara Shulze Foundation were created to help raise awareness for athletes on mental health.
Katie’s Save and The Sarah Shulze Foundation hosted their second annual event Monday.
“Doing this the second year was so special because we were able to tell the story from a different side,” said Sarah’s mom Brigitte Shulze. “To be able to tell the story from their friends and teammates and hear the loss from their perspective. That was a special way to bring it around the second year.”
A panel of six athletes spoke and gave insight into struggles they faced during their playing careers and what they continue to struggle with to this day.
Among those athletes were former Harvard-Westlake soccer players Alyssa Thompson and Gisele Thompson.
Alyssa and the other athletes shared stories about what it’s like to be more than an athlete and getting out of a bad head space during games.
A common trend between the athletes was the idea of not having any direction besides being an athlete. The struggle to find an identity, especially when getting injured or not performing at your best, can really make it difficult to do everyday tasks.
The captivating moments for the audience were enough to let people leave with valuable lessons to share. All the more reason for the Shulze family to want to continue doing this every year.
“Our goal was to move past awareness and bring tools for people to be able to utilize this,” said Sarah’s dad Scott Shulze. “Having these young athletes willing to talk about their own need for mental health helps give the audience a new perspective. Helping the parents talk to their children. That’s what we’re hoping for, to continue the conversation and moving it along and being able to talk about it.”
If there was any message to take from the panel discussion, it would be that therapy is OK and should be normalized. No one should have to go through their struggles alone, because they are not alone.
With all the advice given, the biggest breakthrough of the night was announcing the passing of Katie Meyer’s Law. The law was passed and signed by Gavin Newsom on Sept. 28.
The law provides students at universities and community colleges with the option to have an outside advisor during administration-initiated hearings. With California now in the books, the hope for the family is to be able to spread the law nationwide to protect and save more college students.
“It’s so monumental not just for us but for the generations of kids coming through our public universities,” said Katie’s dad Steve Meyer. “Anybody who knew Katie would agree she was the least likely person to die by suicide. To protect our college students who are flourishing, they need to find solutions that are safe to have representation. They should at least be given due process. Not just here in California, but all across the nation the students should be protected.”
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