Soccer player volunteers for Morgan’s Message
By Dana Wentz
Photo Credit: Chris Sponagle
Kylie Sourbeck, an athlete and Psychology major at KU, has been fighting for change for better mental health in student-athletes.
Kylie is from Canton, Mich., where she has played sports her whole life. During her senior year of high school, Kylie tore her ACL. She faced a long road of recovery and endless hours of rehab which took a toll on her mental health.
Shortly after her full ACL recovery, Kylie sprained her ankle in a summer league soccer game. Once again, she had to sit out of soccer and spend a lot of her time doing rehab to recover from the injury.
The recurring injuries were challenging for Kylie and her mental strength. She spent many days upset, anxious, and depressed. Kylie said, “Throughout my injuries and my recovery process, I got so hard on myself and I didn’t really know how to get out of that stump.”
Eventually, Kylie reached out for help, and taking that step was something that completely flipped a switch inside of her. After improving her own mental thoughts, she decided to become heavily involved with fighting for change for other student-athletes who were facing the same things.
Outside of school and playing for the KU Women’s Soccer team, Kylie has been dedicating her time towards Morgan’s Message, a nationwide, non-profit organization that works to improve the mental health of student-athletes.
Specifically, Kylie is a volunteer for Morgan’s Message Education Program, which is an ambassador program for high school and collegiate athletes that enables them to advocate for mental health in their communities. Once a month, Kylie, and other student-athlete volunteers at KU, meet to discuss ideas to help mental health issues and fight the stigma.
Kylie knows there is still a long way to go to improve the problems, but she is happy with the way things are changing. Her involvement in Morgan’s Message is something she is very proud of. Kylie said, “I’m very passionate about finding change and bringing light to the topic.”
She hopes others can become involved in Morgan’s Message, or just take action to find ways to fight the stigma. Kylie believes something needs to change because there is a real crisis out there.