Northwest Missouri State soccer will be apart of the Katie's Save initiative

Sep. 28—Northwest Missouri state soccer recently confirmed it's one of the first Division II programs to take part in the Katie's Save initiative.

Katie Meyer was a goalkeeper for the Stanford Women's soccer team. The 22-year-old was also more than an athlete, as she earned a highly coveted spot with The Mayfield Fellows Program and was chosen to be a Defense Innovation Scholar.

Meyer was also an ambassador for Just Women's Sports, was preparing to teach a class at Stanford Design School and had started a podcast with a subsidiary of Facebook.

This past March, Meyer committed suicide, and her parents Steve and Gina Meyer have now begun their proposed university policy, which has become Katie's Save.

Katie's Save gives students the option to opt in to a program that would notify an advocate of their choosing via email in the event they face challenging circumstances, including those dealing with physical injury, mental health, academic problems, substance abuse or disciplinary issues.

"I think the importance of it is that it doesn't matter the level that student athletes participate," head coach for Northwest Marc Gordon said. "And so the same challenges, mental health issues, that may be happening at the Division I level are happening at every level."

The policy proposal stems from the Meyers' shock that Katie had been dealing with a university disciplinary issue for six months without their knowledge.

The goal of the initiative is to be included during a school's registration process. Katie's parents understand that it might not have the same effects nor would it have its designed impact with all who opt in.

For Northwest junior midfielder Atiana Stratman, she believes this is the correct step to take.

"I feel like our team is specifically grateful just because we have a coach that is aware of that. He always tells us soccer is the most important thing of unimportant things," Stratman said. "I think that it's just something super important, and I feel like it can oftentimes be overlooked as well in terms of just the level and whatnot."

Gordon and his staff have an open door policy among his athletes that lets them come into his office, or any coaches office, during school hours to hangout in between classes, talk about life and soccer, or maybe to unwind for a bit. This new initiative now adds on to what the Bearcat program has already been doing.

"I think that on our team, there's just a lot that happens just like any other team," Stratman said. "And so I think that it's just a great opportunity for us."

Calvin Silvers can be reached at calvin.silvers@newspressnow.com.