Men’s mental health was front and centre at a session at the Nangwarry Football Club, thanks to a local grassroots wellbeing initiative.
‘Switch the Play’ was presented to players, shining a spotlight on a topic not often discussed in sporting clubs.
Melaleuca Park Primary School Social Worker Celeste Raymond said she started the initiative because she encountered many people with different struggles and stresses throughout her career, particularly over the last two years.
Ms Raymond believes more needs to be done locally regarding mental health overall – but particularly men’s mental health – and wanted to do something at a grassroots level to support the community.
Nangwarry Football Club A Grade Coach Luke Thomson also works at Melaleuca as a School Support Officer, so Ms Raymond approached him with the idea and he was keen to get on board.
“Switch the Play is about changing up what you’re doing if you’re struggling with something and doing it in a different way,” she said.
Ms Raymond developed quick-reference cards which include local and national helplines such as mental health support, Indigenous support, services for alcohol and drugs, housing and relationships, women’s information services and financial counselling.
“We’re directing it towards a focus on men’s health, but obviously the women in men’s lives are a real influence in their lives and have struggles as well, so we wanted the cards to be inclusive of everybody,” she said.
Ms Raymond and Mr Thomson presented Switch the Play to the Nangwarry senior playing group, where Ms Raymond’s son Isaac Raymond plays football and her husband Shane Raymond is the A Grade assistant coach.
Ms Raymond said they discussed strategies players could use if they noticed someone struggling and they could contact the helplines on the card for advice.
She felt there was a significant gap in regards to people asking their mates if they were okay and knowing how to respond appropriately if they said no.
“It gives people the confidence to actually ask and then know that if someone says ‘no, I’m actually not okay,’ they know where they can go for help as a supporter,” she said.
Ms Raymond said the informal, helpful and non-confronting discussion was well received by the playing group.
Ms Raymond and Mr Thomson have since been invited to speak on ABC Radio Grandstand about the initiative and said they would be keen to speak to other sporting clubs.
“We have had amazing feedback and we hope it’ll be helpful directly as well as raising awareness and normalising these conversations,” she said.
Mr Thomson said males particularly struggled with expressing their mental health and decreasing the stigma was important.
“I think we need to learn how to not just speak about it but also how to react when someone actually does admit when they are struggling,” he said.
Mr Thomson said it was good to start with Nangwarry, however every football club was in the same boat and it would be beneficial to encourage more men to speak up and seek help.
“There’s people at every club that have lost someone unfortunately to suicide, or there’s people in the footy club that are struggling and do not know who to go to,” he said.
“If I can help one person then that means a world of difference to me.
“I want to push it as far as we can and try and get as many people helped as we can.”
The ‘Switch the Play’ cards include many important local and national helplines which the players can use if they are struggling or notice someone else going through a tough time.
