Sports Central is excited to announce that we have partnered with North Ballarat Football Netball Club, Melton South Football Netball Club, Ballarat Football Netball League and Tackle Your Feelings to conduct the 2022 Tackle Your Feelings Cup.
To improve understanding and awareness of mental health, the Tackle Your Feelings Cup will be played on Saturday 13th August between North Ballarat and Melton South at Mars Stadium, with the results of all football and netball matches determining the winner. Medals will also be presented to the best player from each team across all grades.
Tackle Your Feelings is a mental health training initiative designed for community football clubs that strives to help coaches, committee members and club support staff to build the skills to better support their players.
To kickstart the week, on Tuesday 9th August coaches and officials from Melton South Football Netball Club will participate in a Tackle Your Feelings mental health training workshop to be delivered by a local psychologist, before undertaking further online learning.
Coaches and officials from North Ballarat Football Netball Club successfully completed a Tackle Your Feelings workshop at the end of last season. To build upon this, on Thursday 11th August the club is inviting players, coaches, officials and supporters to attend a Q&A session hosted by Adam Baldwin (Program Manager – Tackle Your Feelings). The session will feature a panel discussion with special guests Dylan Buckley (Ambassador – Tackle Your Feelings), Brit Bonnici (Ambassador – Tackle Your Feelings and Collingwood AFLW player), Brendan McCartney (Senior Football Coach – North Ballarat FNC) and Michael Flynn (Executive Officer – Sports Central).
Tackle Your Feelings Program Manager, Adam Baldwin said “Congratulations to the North Ballarat and Melton South for the leadership they’ve shown by investing in the Tackle Your Feelings program, but also through the staging of this cup. It’s inspiring to see community football clubs act to create an environment where their people feel safe, valued and supported,”
Sports Central Executive Officer, Michael Flynn said “Sports Central has engaged in a significant number of conversations with sporting clubs across the region. A major priority for clubs has been and continues to be the well-being of their members and communities.
We are proud to have delivered Tackle Your Feelings with football netball clubs across the Central Highlands over the last two years. The initiative equips coaches and officials with the skills and confidence to identify a player who may be struggling, have a conversation and support them to seek help if needed.
The Tackle Your Feelings Cup will create a greater awareness of mental health for everyone connected with North Ballarat and Melton South.”
Tackle Your Feelings is a joint venture between the AFL Coaches Association, AFL Players’ Association and Zurich Insurance, and funded by the Zurich Foundation, with the learning based on the mental health training program delivered by the AFLPA to players, coaches and staff in the AFL industry.