Football World Cup | Katie Meyer, 22, committed suicide – now Team USA is using the World Cup spotlight to talk about mental health

Sport|Football World Cup

Athletes mental health problems have been on the back burner in the United States in recent years. One of the sad examples has played at Stanford University Katie Meyer22, who was found dead in her dorm room in March 2022.

Meyer’s mother tells the U.S. media NBC’s in an interview that he had spoken with his daughter only a few hours before the suicide. According to the mother, the daughter was excited, busy and happy.

Meyer’s best friend and teammate Naomi Girma also says that there were no warning signs. Girma wrote in the blog post Meyer has always been open and talked about his feelings.

“The first person you would turn to when you needed to talk about your feelings. And the last person you would think would take their own life,” wrote Girma.

of the United States The football team decided, on the initiative of Girma’s blog post, to use the limelight of the World Cup tournament to promote the mental health of young people.

The team announced on the eve of the World Cup tournament by US News including starting a project with the non-profit organization Common Goal.

The purpose of the project is to provide mental health training to the coaches of more than fifteen youth sports organizations. The training, which will begin after the World Cup, will focus on dealing with the anxiety, depression and loneliness of the problems that led to Meyer’s suicide.

“Everything we do now is for Katie,” said the team’s forward Sophia Smith.

“We will make sure that we carry on your legacy. We make sure your light never goes out,” wrote Girma.

Girma says that the team’s players consider it important to remove stigmas related to mental health.

The team especially wants to target its message to the millions of young people watching the World Cup. According to Girma, the US sports media FOX Sports, which broadcasts the World Cup on its channels, has promised to use one percent of the broadcast time of the World Cup to highlight the importance of mental health.

“We know from our own experience how young people, especially student athletes, struggle in silence. We want to use the visibility of the World Cup for something bigger than football,” wrote Girma.

“That’s exactly what Katie would have done. But he wouldn’t have stopped there.”

To the team the players have widely opened up about the mental health problems of athletes, both in interviews and on their own social media channels. In the video published by Girma, the players are encouraged to persevere and seek help.

“Vulnerability is a sign of strength, not weakness,” writes Girma on Instagram.

In the blog text Girma remembers Meyer’s encouraging words about getting to the national team and the World Cup. Even though Girma’s self-belief wavered, Meyer was always sure of Girma’s future success. The best friend was right, because now Girma is playing in the first World Cup tournament of his life.

“This World Cup is for you, my friend,” wrote Girma.