It was a sea of Out of the Blue t-shirts at the club rooms this week at the latest session of our Out of The Blue Program.
53 players from our Men’s and Women’s teams, coaches and staff took part in the session, held to raise awareness about mental health and mental illness, and to create a comfortable environment for open and honest conversations.
The night included definitions of what mental health is, some team building games based on Jenga and some of our players spoke about the benefits they’ve gotten out of the program this season.
Player Sean Fisher spoke about the importance of being vulnerable and our Head of Future Football, Nick Walsh led a short session on ALGEE ( a technique to help someone who may be in crisis) and took the players through some listening exercises.
“We will aim to incorporate more games and fun activities as the program evolves, things like the Amazing Race concept, possibly a trivia night etc.
We believe there is a strong correlation between healthy minds and performing well on and off the field.
If we have healthy players, we will achieve much better outcomes on and off the field” said Out of The Blue coordinator and De La Player Ed Clinch.
Important Contacts
Lifeline
13 11 14
Beyond Blue
1300 22 4636
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
Black Dog Institute
https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
RUOK?
MensLine Australia
1300 78 99 78
Free help, referrals & counselling for men: MensLine Australia
Gambler’s Help
1800 858 858
Gambler’s Help, Victoria, Australia (gamblershelp.com.au)
Suicide Call Back Service
1300 659 467
