Read The Play expands to soccer in new partnership

LOCAL mental health service Read The Play has announced its first soccer club partnership in an exciting next step for grassroots sports.

Soccer club Geelong Galaxy announced the new partnership with Read The Play in late January, as mental health and wellbeing education will be made a priority at the club this year.

“Read The Play is a Geelong based charity that supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people in sporting clubs,” club president Amanda Galluccio said.

“They provide mental health education to young people and equip parents and club personnel with essential tools and knowledge to provide further support to young people at the club and at home.

“Mental health and wellbeing support and education is critical in a club setting, particularly with our young players.

“We are so fortunate to have the support of Read The Play in the delivery of education programs to our young people, club personnel and parents.”

The new program will run similarly to Read The Play’s current programs being implemented at local football, netball, and basketball clubs.

Read The Play will provide additional resources to player wellbeing officers at Geelong Galaxy, a series of parent education sessions in May, and its regular mental awareness programs to junior players.

Read The Play general manager Michelle Gerdtz said the new partnership was a sign the organisation is going where it wants to go as it aims to reach 15,000 junior sports participants by the end of 2026.

“We want to continue branching out into other sports and Geelong Galaxy has been fantastic in reaching out to us and putting a real emphasis on mental health and wellbeing.

“We’re really humbled the club wanted to take this new step with us and we’re looking forward to getting started.”

Read The Play has also partnered with Viva Energy to provide the Barwon region with free one-hour mental health education sessions at 10 clubs through the year.

The expression of interest process is open for applications and will close at 5pm on March 25.

For more information on Read The Play and its suite of programs, click HERE.