Clubs invited to participate in Movember ‘Ahead of the Game’ program:
Movember partners with the GAA and
By John Harrington
The GAA and GPA along with Movember, the leading men’s health charity, are inviting clubs to participate in the third phase of the Movember ‘Ahead of the Game’ program.
Movember Ahead of the Game is a mental health literacy program that features a series of interactive workshops delivered by past and present intercounty players and members of the GPA.
It teaches young players, parents, coaches, and volunteers to understand mental health, build mental fitness, and strengthen resilience to deal with challenges in sport and life.
So far 10,307 people have participated in the program – 5,789 players (3,220 Male, 2,569 Female) and 4,518 Parents & Coaches – with 816 workshops delivered in 331 clubs.
A survey of participants found that 94 per cent of players reported a better understanding of who to go to and where to go for mental health help for themselves and others and the importance of being mentally fit and healthy.
While 95 per cent of players reported feeling improved confidence talking to their children about mental health.
It is hoped that 300 more clubs and 10,000 players, parents, and coaches will participate in Phase 3 which will run from September to May and be rolled out by a team of 36 facilitators that include Derry footballer Anton Tohill, Cork camogie star Saoirse McCarthy, Antrim hurler Domhnall Nugent, and Dublin ladies footballer, Leah Caffrey.
“The personality of the facilitators, how authentic and honest and open they are, is a big part of the success of this so far and the positive impact it has had,” says Movember Ahead of the Game Program Manager and Mayo hurler, Corey Scahill.
“They all have the values that are shared between the GAA and the GPA and Movember in terms of mental health, player welfare, community focus and being inclusive and showing respect.
“It’s about being accountable to your community as well and showing leadership while taking a player-centred approach.
“The most important part is their personal story, it’s very authentic. They’re using their brand within their community to make a difference and share their own personal stories making it relatable for players. They use their personal truth to give back to communities by educating others.”
When young people don’t talk about their mental struggles quite often it is for a couple of reasons. They believe that what they’re going through is a personal thing that wouldn’t be understood by others, or, for many young males in particular, there can be a fear of admitting what they might perceive to be weakness.
The Movember Ahead of the Game workshops break down these barriers to communication by showing that we all have mental struggles and they’re usually very common ones.
This doesn’t just help players on an individual level, the experience of sharing and supporting in a group setting has the added bonus of bringing a team of players closer together.
“The player work-shop is called ‘Help out a Mate’,” says Scahill. “It’s the idea of creating that culture within a team to be open and sharing with the view to creating a better bond between each other.
“That there’s nothing you can’t go through together because as a club player you play with these guys from U8 up to minor and then you play another 10 years with a lot of them as a senior club player.
“So you effectively play with the same people for a lot of your life and the younger you can create that bond and have those conversations the better the rewards are going to be for all the people involved in terms of, not just on the field, but off the field in your life and being able to navigate the different challenges that present themselves.
“There can be an awakening for players to see that it’s okay to talk about these things and to also be aware of other people and to maybe reach out and help them or talk to them.”