The balance between school, work, and sports in high school can be one of the biggest struggles for teenagers. According to Education Week, 57.4% of high school students play a sport. Out of that percentage, about 15.6% to 33.2% of student athletes struggle with mental health. Many students are unsure about how to talk about their mental health problems, but luckily there are dozens of resources available to them, such as the Brian Dagle Foundation.
The Brian Dagle Foundation has dedicated its work to allowing not only student athletes to open up about their mental health, but also to anyone who has lost a loved one.
The foundation is located in Niantic, Connecticut. The foundation itself was started by Ann Irr Dagle, who was the mother of Brian Dagle, who unfortunately took his own life in November 2011. Ann created the foundation to allow for student athletes to advocate for themselves when they are struggling with mental health. Although they began by mainly focusing on mental health deaths, but have furthered their horizon to being a source for anyone struggling.
Brian Dagle played lacrosse for East Lyme High school and absolutely loved it. He was a very dedicated athlete. Unfortunately, he was struggling with mental health and no one noticed until it was too late. The foundation was created in 2016 and has been a major success since, winning many awards, such as the AFSP CT Anchors in Hope Award, 2023 Myra Kraft Community MVP Award, and the 2023 CT Sports Media Alliance Bob Casey Courage Award.
One of the largest fundraisers the Brian Dagle Foundation runs is the annual LAX2LIVE program. The program was started because Ann Dagle wanted to make sure all student athletes knew they could talk to anyone and spread awareness about the fact.
According to Brian’s Healing Hearts, their message is to “acknowledge the significant mental health challenges of student athletes by starting this conversation and encouraging the athletes to continue this conversation with their teammates, family, and friends.”
During the LAX2LIVE games, the players all receive a white T-shirt that they wear during warm-ups. The games are normal in season lacrosse games and played the same as the rest of the games during the season. After the game is played, there is a short presentation about the reasons for the program, resources that student athletes have, and how to donate/get involved in the program.
This year, there’s a total of 23 games across Connecticut, both girls and boys lacrosse, including the LAX2LIVE games for the Morgan. The Morgan girls lacrosse team is playing on May 20th, against Old Saybrook, and the Morgan boys lacrosse team’s game is on May 14th, against Cromwell.
Abigayle Stack is a junior captain and has been on the Morgan girls lacrosse team since her freshman year. She has distinct memories of how important she believed the program itself was. “LAX2LIVE is one of my favorite things about lacrosse. I love the message it brings to not only the school but also the community. I feel like it’s something that every student athlete should be aware of because of how imporant mental health is to teenagers in specific,” said Stack. “I hope that student athletes are aware of it if they’re struggling with mental health because it is definitely a helpful resource,” said Stack.
Although lacrosse and the LAX2LIVE game are very important events of the Brian Dagle Foundation, they host dozens of support programs for people who need help coping with loss. All of the support groups are free to attend, but donations are always accepted during meetings. A few groups that they host are Long Term Survivor of Suicide Loss, Loss of Spouse or Partner, Loss to Substances, etc.
These therapy groups are held in their office in Niantic. During these support meetings, everyone is able to talk freely about the struggles they’ve gone through and the loss they’ve felt. Anyone is welcome to attend, and they encourage new people to join. They have an organized calendar of when every meeting is and what it is for on their webpage.
The Brian Dagle Foundation, although they do a lot for the lacrosse community, many student athletes don’t understand all the options available to them. To donate to the foundation, check out support groups, or are struggling with mental health, go to Brian’s Healing Hearts where you can find information about the program and how they can help.
According to Brian’s Healing Hearts, Ann Ir Dagle said, “It is my hope that others who have lost a special person in their life or struggle with mental health, that you, too, will learn to live the life you were put on this earth to live.”
