Number of Participants: 38
Hours Donated: 3.5
Value of Time Served: $1,124
Event Amount Raised: $860
Event Type: Health & Safety
Sport: Girls Lacrosse
Date: May 9, 2023
Location:
Medford High School
Winthrop Street, Medford
MA
About:
On Tuesday May 9th, Medford High School Girls Lacrosse hosted their second annual Mental Health Awareness Game. The Mustangs beat Malden 17-7 with goals from Meryn McInnis (3), Sadie Scott (3), Becky Casey (2), Zoe Kalaw (3), Bereket Ruemenapp (2), Lily Morris (1), Tatum Boudreau (1), Kaitlyn Alves (1) and Keegan Bernardi (1). Goalie Gianna Scarpelli had 8 saves in the game. The defense, led by Mykenna Galuzzo, Ava Lavoie, Rylee Walker and Gia Russo, had multiple impressive caused turnovers, providing their offense with opportunities to score.
This is the second year we raised funds for The Youth Mental Health Project. Varsity and JV student athletes wore t-shirts that read, “We’ve got your back!” on the back. They wore lime green, the color of mental health awareness, in their hair. Parents raffled off donations and sold t-shirts raising a total of $430. An anonymous donor matched the $430 raised, giving us a total of $860 to support the Youth Mental Health Project. The Youth Mental Health Project’s mission is to support parents and caregivers so they can support their children’s mental health.
Our goal is to raise awareness and end stigmas with mental health. Varsity Head Coach Meghan Olsen believes that mental health has often been overlooked or dismissed, especially when it comes to athletics. Athletes are notorious for being mentally tough or are constantly told that weakness is not an option. Last year our t-shirts read, “It is OK to be NOT OK.” It is important that we continue the conversation about the importance of mental health and its role in athletics. Hosting this game allows the student athletes to have these conversations and know that their team is there to support them.
This year was special because we had Medford Youth Lacrosse on the sidelines with us and played a 10 minute scrimmage at half time.
Photographs were taken by Medford High School student, Jonathan Malerba.