After recent events that have been described as a mental health crisis within the AFL, advocates are calling on the league to introduce a Mental Health Round to help educate and raise awareness among a younger generation.
Ben Farish, co-founder of Speak and Share, is calling for a Mental Health Round to be added to the AFL calendar to help young fans. Photo: Sienna Stone
On April, Jaryd Dawson, older brother of Jordan Dawson (Captain of Adelaide Crows) died after battling mental health issues. Shortly after, 24-year-old Carlton player Elijah Hollands, suffered what the AFL described as a ‘mental health episode’ during the team’s Round 6 match against Collingwood, and was later hospitalised for treatment.
Ben Farish, co-founder of mental health organisation Speak and Share, said a Mental Health Round would not only benefit players, but also young kids who look up to these players.
He said young fans “think these people (AFL players) are perfect and don’t have any issues” and a Mental Health Round would help them “learn they’re actually human”.
Over the past five years, Speak and Share has been spreading it’s message of ‘a problem shared, is a problem halved’ through it’s school, sport and corporate programs. “We surveyed over 5000 young students and 97% had increased mental health confidence”, Farish said.
Charlie Findlay, a 17-year-old footballer, has participated in one of the Speak and Share programs. He said it was “really eye opening” and that he “walked away feeling better than when I started”.
Speak and Share’s approach is to start the mental health conversation at a young age, educating youth on how to handle and recognise their different emotions. Findlay said he thought a Mental Health Round would help to “unite us [his friends] in this problem”. Speak and Share hopes to bring this approach to a larger audience, such as the AFL fanbase.
“AFL is the biggest code in the country, and I think they have a duty of care to look after their players and the wider AFL community” Farish said, suggesting that through using the large crowds that pack the MCG, hundreds of thousands of people would be exposed to the mental health conversation, which can help to stop the stigma around sharing your feelings.
However, Farish warned there were risks involved with mental health messaging, with it “obviously being a touchy subject and if you don’t tell something the right way, the sort of repercussions that come with that, could be exponential”.
He questioned why it had “taken Elijah Holland’s situation for the AFL to then realise there’s a problem”. Advocates are getting frustrated and don’t want to wait any longer.
The AFL is yet to confirm any plans to support this initiative.
