Over the last couple of years, mental health has been one of the biggest concerns for our generation. Mental health is a growing epidemic and with the increasing level of cases being brought to light, there must be an appropriate response that helps tackle the problem head on.

Awareness on Mental Health in Sport

We have been lucky enough to partner with Surrey FA and Beder to help raise awareness in and around mental health and sports. After the Euros this year, the FA released research showing ‘one in four people experience a mental health problem in any given year with over 10% of the population having depression at any one time’ and with the millions of people involved in grassroots football, mental health is a large concern. As a digital agency we are doing our bit by creating videos at football clubs in and around London to get their experience first hand and see what is being done to help tackle this problem.

Mental Health in Football

We have been interviewing everyone from coaches and staff behind the scenes to the players themselves to get a better understanding of where problems arise and what can be done to help prevent the risk factors associated with poor mental health.

Some of the main concerns that were brought up included communication between players on and off the pitch, how to deal with losses, support networks outside of the sport and difficult transitions between academies and first teams.

The aim of these videos is to get sports and football teams more comfortable talking about mental health and start treating it the same way we treat physical injuries.

Changes to support mental health in Football

There are many changes that can be incorporated into sports in order to provide a safer, more inclusive environment including:

• Having a team psychologist to discuss problems on and off the field.
• Making sure there are external support systems in the personal lives of team members
• Ensuring xenophobic behaviour or language is taken seriously and treated accordingly
• Educating players about life after football or financial security incase of injury
• For those in the public eye, provide social media training

These are just some of many changes that could be incorporated into sports teams of any kind to ensure they are giving the best quality of life to their players.

Make sure you watch out for our videos in collaboration with Beder and Surrey FA and share to spread awareness around sports and mental health.

If you are looking to create content that spreads awareness and makes a difference contact us or visit our website: https://capitalcontent.co