My name is Maria Auth and I am a 5th year senior on the Penn State women’s lacrosse team. I love my school, I love my team, and I absolutely love playing my sport. Regardless of some hardships and adversity I faced during college, I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything. I began my career…
Q&A with Jack Wallace: Team USA Paralympian
Our editor interviewed Jack Wallace after learning that they hail from neighboring hometowns. Jack plays for Team USA’s sled hockey team and won a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Sled hockey, also known as sledge hockey, is an adaptation of ice hockey. Players are seated on sleds and use…
Kara Ruwin: Nothing will take away my passion for beach volleyball –not my eating disorder, nor the color of my skin.
During quarantine, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve built up the courage to open up about my experience as a black female athlete, as well as my struggles with an eating disorder and body image. I have learned the difficulties of managing an ED over quarantine and through society as a black woman. At the start…
Mackenzie Krueger: To All The Athletes Who Are Not Starting
For two years, I played on the Waterloo Women’s Varsity Rugby Team. I had only been playing rugby for a few years when I joined the team and even though I was not a “starter” I was proud of myself for working hard and getting through training camps and tryouts. After my first year, I…
Evan Fernandez: I Almost Killed Myself For Baseball
Evan Fernandez is a former baseball player from Jacksonville University. During his junior year, he collapsed during a baseball team workout. The next 10 days would prove even more difficult, as he ended up fighting for his life in the hospital. He wrote this story in 2017 while in recovery and has decided to publish…
Q&A with Leah Howard, The Sports Counselor
Leah Howard played tennis in college before deciding that she wanted to take up sports psychology for her career. She has already completed her Master’s in Education and is currently working towards her PhD in Counselor Education with an emphasis in Sports Counseling. She has worked as an educator, a school counselor, and a professor….
Wayden Ay: Family Pressure, Transferring, & Rewriting My Legacy
My mother, two aunts, uncle, and grandparents all attended Georgetown. To say the least, Georgetown was “our family school.” Growing up with divorced parents, life was rough. I turned into a people pleaser because I was always trying to stop the fighting at home. Once lacrosse recruiting came around, Georgetown was an obvious choice for…
Jessica McNellis: Hey, Tall Girl.
Hey, tall girl. What sport do you play? As a woman hedging over six feet tall at age 13, this is the question I fielded the most throughout my adolescence and into my twenties. The answer evolved from, “I don’t play any sports,” which was received with such perplexity, the conversation often ended right there;…
Emma Buford, Preston Anderson, & Joy Dennis: BIPOC Athletes in Predominantly White Sports
In honor of July being BIPOC mental health month, our Editor reached out to BIPOC athletes that compete in predominantly white sports. Historically, sports like rowing or sailing were only accessible to a privileged few. To this day, these sports remain predominantly white spaces. Athletes like Emma Buford, Preston Anderson, and Joy Dennis work to…
LivOn22 Virtual Athletic Event for Mental Health Awareness: Celebrating the Life of Olivia Wigon
Calling all athletes, runners, joggers, walkers, bikers, kayakers, surfers, and more! Join The Hidden Opponent and #LivOn22 as we honor the life of Olivia Wigon THIS SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020 with a virtual athletic event. LivOn22 was created to celebrate the life of Olivia “Livi” Wigon through action and activism. Olivia died by suicide a…
