The United States women's soccer team is locked in on winning its third World Cup in a row, but the players have another goal they're focusing on as well: mental health.
Defender Naomi Girma, a Stanford University graduate from San Jose, wrote a powerful essay this week for The Players' Tribune about her friend and former teammate Katie Meyer, the star goalkeeper for Stanford who died by suicide in March 2022.
Girma said she's playing this World Cup for Meyer. So if fellow national team teammate and former Cardinal Sophia Smith.
"Anytime, you know, I talk about Katie, it’s obviously emotional," Smith said. "Everything that we do is now for Katie, so it means a lot."
Meyer's parents, Steve and Gina, appreciate the continued love and support.
"The fact that her friends love her, remember her, want to honor her, unbelievable," Gina Meyer said.
"It’s tough," Steve Meyer said. "Obviously, we wish Katie were there with them either playing or right behind them in the stadium.
In her essay, Girma also wrote about the time she was rehabbing her knee during the pandemic. She was struggling.
No one else was allowed in the gym that day, so Meyer went around to a window to cheer her on.
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"Metaphorically speaking, in a way this is Naomi and the team at the window now for Katie," Steve Meyer said.
The women's national team has partnered with Common Goal to launch a mental health initiative during the World Cup. They're working to destigmatize conversations about the topic. They'll also send mental health pros to your sports organizations to ensure coaches and players have the skills they need to identify mental health issues.
"It’s not only about awareness, because there’s a lot of awareness and that’s good, but it’s taking action," and Gina Meyer said. "We all need to take action, and I love that they’re using their platform."
