When Ball State University students commit to playing a sport, they typically trade in the stereotypical college experience for a life of order, discipline and mental strain.
Graduate student Emma Hilton and senior Maya Guinn, who both play for Ball State University’s field hockey team, expected to face new demands when they signed up for the team. They didn’t fully understand the scope of the challenges that awaited them off the field.
After struggling with their own mental health issues, Hilton and Guinn teamed up to help other student-athletes grappling with problems related to work-life balance and psychological well-being. They worked with Ball State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) — an organization that supports the university’s players — to form resource groups called Morgan’s Message and The Next Play.
Morgan’s Message is a nonprofit named after Morgan Rodgers, a lacrosse player for Duke University who experienced severe mental health issues after suffering a devastating knee injury in 2017. Two years later, Rodgers died by suicide at the age of 22. The nonprofit — known for its telltale blue butterfly — aims to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness in the student-athlete community.
In the fall of 2024, Hilton and Guinn brought Morgan’s Message to SAAC.
“Student-athletes can put a lot of their worth and identity into [athletics], and it’s just a big part of our lives in college,” Guinn said.
Guinn, a midfielder for the field hockey team majoring in biology, speaks from firsthand experience.
Before she co-founded Ball State’s chapter of Morgan’s Message, Guinn tried to improve her mental wellness on her own. She took up new habits, such as journaling, keeping a consistent routine and talking to her family daily. But Guinn said that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for psychological health. One big upside to supportive nonprofit communities like Morgan’s Message is that they allow student-athletes to help one another by sharing what worked for them.
Last semester, Guinn and Hilton brought Kalyn Melham, 2024 Miss Indiana and Ball State alum, to lead a yoga session in an attempt to raise awareness during Mental Health Week. They also hosted a hot chocolate bar and participated in mindfulness activities led by Ally Meehan, a graduate assistant at Ball State, who has also played a big part in this new program.
Junior midfielder and field hockey teammate, Emma van Hal found herself struggling with similar issues revolving around self-worth and identity as a student-athlete. As she began to seek help, she crossed paths with newly implemented committees and groups within SAAC, which encouraged discussion and support surrounding mental health.
“They create a platform to talk about these struggles with fellow athletes, while also providing resources to help with this journey since there is going to be a time where life is not all about your sport anymore,” van Hal said.
Hilton, who is majoring in exercise science, co-founded a branching organization designed to help student-athletes navigate the turbulent rapids of college life. The Next Play, also a support group under SAAC, helps graduates figure out their lives once they no longer have the structure that comes from playing a collegiate sport: classes, practices, games, travel, diet and recovery.
“The goal of The Next Play is more so for providing resources and outlets to help make this transition,” Hilton said.
Hilton faced one of the most difficult mental battles during her sophomore year at Ball State. Though she declined to detail the specifics of her struggle, she said that she was unable to work off her negative energy through simple physical activity. Through the stress of in-season commitments, her anxiety began to take over with no way to escape or reset. Without any organization to help out, Hilton turned to therapy, coloring and yoga to ground herself. The appeal to these activities was the ability to disconnect from reality and breathe.
The appeal of The Next Play is that it focuses on an area of mental wellness that is often neglected in some university settings, said Lindsey Blom, senior associate athletic director for championship performance.
“We spend more time helping people transition into college and athletics, whether it's student success programming or freshmen first-year programming, but we spend a lot less time helping people leave.”
In October, Ball State's sports dietitian, Jordan Jennewine, lectured students on the proper ways to fuel bodies before, during and after exercise. Staci Mannela, a former paralympic skier, and Andrea Bugari, a former diver at the University of Akron, came in November to discuss identity changes, transferable skills and tips for being successful as athletes transition out of their sports. Both Mannela and Bugari are PhD students in the Counseling Psychology program.
Hilton’s plans for The Next Play this semester include meetings, workshops and guest speakers.
“The topics for this semester may include a mental health seminar focusing on the transition out of sports, transitioning into new careers, how to change workouts to fit your new needs, career planning, resume building and goal-setting workshop,” Hilton said.
Dr. Blom has stepped in to fortify The Next Play program for the future. Dr. Blom, who has faced her own struggles with self-identity as an athlete, a mother, a wife, and a coach, has kept her own experiences in mind as she puzzles through ways to keep Hilton’s legacy alive after she leaves Ball State.
Blom said her long-term goal is to turn The Next Play into a one-credit-hour academic course for student-athletes to take, preferably in their junior year.
“It felt better to actually address it their junior year because they moved out of the freshman-sophomore transition, and now they're starting to think about what life is going to look like later,” Dr. Blom said.
To develop a course, a department within a college must be willing to take responsibility for it, find a professor and create a syllabus that is approved by the department, the college curriculum committee and the university curriculum committee.
For student-athletes, the work isn’t over after the game clock expires. With so many different hurdles to surmount, students like Hilton and Guinn are working hard to make sure their fellow athletes are being provided for once the final whistle blows.
Contact Meghan Sawitzke via email at meghan.sawitzke@bsu.edu or X @mags_sawitz
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