A conversation starter around mental health has begun for junior footy players in the Central Highlands as clubs came together for a Mental Health Round on Sunday, July 16.
It was fantastic to see club volunteers and Support Squad members going that little bit extra to raise awareness in an area that’s underserviced in mental health resources.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to deliver a mental health awareness session to players from the Blackwater Crushers Juniors on the Friday night, prior to the Sunday fixtures held at Emerald Brothers, Middlemount and Dysart.
As part of the themed round, Blackwater players had mental health messaging "it ain't weak to speak" on their shorts, there were themed lollipop wrappers at Emerald Brothers, and Dysart had psychologists on site for a few hours.
Having that service available on the day I thought was pretty huge because it's probably something that the kids – and even some adults in regional areas – don't see that often.
Speaking to a Support Squad member in Emerald, I learnt there is currently a shortage of professional services in the region, so rugby league, in particular the Support Squad, has a huge role to play in community wellbeing.
Thanks to our newly formed partnership, everyone in our rugby league family has access to tele-mental health services via the White Cloud Foundation, but some people do want that face-to-face connection, at least as a starting point.
The trip provided great validation that Support Squad is an initiative that will not only create positive change at club level, but will have a wider community impact as well.
Our Support Squad members being on the ground all the time are able to form relationships in their clubs, and participants are far more likely to connect with someone they trust.
The trip also provided more evidence as to why it's so important to have that visual presence at a club in our regional communities, especially of the size of many Central Highlands towns.
Our regional towns are more prone to hardship and natural disasters, there's probably still a lot of the culture of ‘we just put our head down and we don't sort of talk about how we're feeling’. That means individuals are at greater risk of experiencing mental ill-health and as we know, mental health does not discriminate.
Themed rounds such as these are powerful in highlighting and normalising the conversations our young people can have with someone they trust, so it becomes part of their wellbeing routine. I would encourage other leagues to explore mental health awareness rounds in their respective areas.
Full credit to all of the volunteers at CHJRL and the clubs for getting right into it and being the positive role models our kids need. I hope it sparks year-round conversations for everyone involved.
