MOVEMBER AHEAD OF THE GAME

The main thing I took away was how to show up for my mates. We always talk about rugby, or sport, but its also important to check how each others doing. It’s good to know we all have each others backs.

A few of our girls have been a bit off lately, now I know its anxiety. At school we’ve learnt what anxiety is, but I didn’t really get it until Keith made it real with sports examples. Now I know how to help.

The biggest bit for me was how I can better handle stress.  Exams feel like a lot right now, but this helped me see if I play to my strengths and celebrate the small wins I will feel stronger.

 I’d never thought about my mental fitness being something I needed to train, I’ve just always focussed on being strongest and quickest. Now I know its important to do things like get good sleep, set goals and talk more to be happy off the pitch too.

One of my favourite phrases before this was ‘Man Up’. I’d say it to the lads almost every week. Ahead of the Game has made me realise how damaging that might be, and how actually being more empathetic and supportive will help me get the best out of my players. These lads trust me, some of them don’t have many positive role models, so I’m going to do more to show up for them and do what I can when they need me.

Thank you for tonight. My son has spoken to me in great detail about what he learnt. I have certain problems currently and he asked me if the reason I stay in my room was because I was depressed. He said I shouldn’t be embarrassed as loads of people,  including sports stars struggle. I feel the more people speak about this, the more normalised my struggles are and the easier it will be to get help