E-Motion Facilitates “Create the Space” Retreat with NWSL Players

Create the Space is a collaborative project created by Common Goal, with co-design and lead facilitation by E-Motion, Inc., that brings together professional athletes from across the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and youth coaches and directors to prioritize mental health within the game and within society.

“I was really wanting to do…something I thought could have helped a younger Katie.” - Naomi Girma, US Women’s National Soccer Team and San Diego Wave

The initiative was conceived of by US Women’s National Soccer Team standout and NWSL Defender of the Year Naomi Girma, who wanted to do something in honor of her best friend and former Stanford teammate Katie Meyer who tragically died by suicide in March 2022.  “I was really wanting to do…something I thought could have helped a younger Katie. I didn’t want anyone else’s family, friends or community to have to go through something like this.”

At the inaugural Create the Space Retreat in January 2024, twenty athletes representing all 14 NWSL clubs and twenty-five coaches representing community organizations across the United States came together to focus on their own mental health through connection, community, and increased emotional literacy. They also worked together to imagine how they can use their platform to improve mental health for their teammates, their clubs, their communities, and the world.

“The support shown for this first Create the Space retreat from the grassroots to professional ranks shows both the continuing leadership of women in global football and also what is possible when we commit to working together,” said Common Goal Executive Director Lilli Barrett-O’Keefe. 

Centered around the pillars of movement, community, and ritual, E-Motion programming is designed to enhance coping, connection, and belonging. With foundations in bereavement-science, lived experience and spirituality, athletes and coaches at the retreat were invited to move toward hard things, integrating - rather than avoiding or compartmentalizing - experiences that felt heaviest.

“Honestly it's life changing. Because some people haven't ever experienced a safe space before, in their life. You are being heard and seen in every aspect and that’s all we really want.” -Sinead Farrelly, Ireland National Team and Gotham FC

E-Motion’s movement-based activities are uniquely inviting for athletes of all levels, who may already turn to exercise as a means of managing stress and anxiety. E-motion takes this connection a step further, inviting the athletes and coaches to process and move with the hard things they are holding.

“Honestly it's life changing. Because some people haven't ever experienced a safe space before, in their life. You are being heard and seen in every aspect and that’s all we really want,” reflected Sinead Farrelly (NY/NJ Gotham FC) on her experience at the Create the Space retreat.

After the successful launch, Create the Space is just getting started. Together, we aim to leverage the global platform of soccer to break down stigmas about seeking support for mental health, while supporting the individual athletes and teams to show up for one another during challenging times.