AFLW coach in town to talk mental health

BEC Goddard will be in Bendigo next week as part of mental health program Tackle Your Feelings, speaking at Epsom Huntly Recreational Reserve.

The program is run in partnership with Sports Focus and will host the current Hawthorn AFLW coach in a session aimed at local women and girl football coaches and staff.

Tackle Your Feelings aims to train people on how to access the tools required to recognise and respond to mental health issues in players.

Lauren Fawcett from Sports Focus is the program’s coordinator and said the session was open to all but would be angled more specifically for those involved in female football.

“It’s a good opportunity for our women’s teams and our girl’s teams support members,” she said.

“We’ve got so many junior girls and women’s teams across the region now.

“It’s a good opportunity for coaches who maybe haven’t been coaching women for long to get a bit of an insight on how that might differ a little bit if they’re previously coached boys and men.

“The benefit of having Beck here is getting the perspective of her experience coaching women’s football.”

Past Tackle Your Feeling sessions in the area had been solely club based, with Nathan Buckley attending Rochester Football Netball Club earlier in the year.

However, this session is available to all clubs and officials.

“This is an open session at the Huntley Rec Reserve,” she said. “We’re hoping to get all the clubs engaged and representatives from all the women’s and girl’s clubs across the region to come out.

“They can have a chat and meet Bec and hear from her about getting involved and her experience with the Tackle Your Feelings program.

“Then they can take that back to their club afterwards, have a greater capacity to understand and greater skills around mental health support.”

Bec Goddard’s Tackle Your Feelings session is at the Epsom Huntly Recreational Reserve Tuesday, 6 June at 6.15pm and is free.