Return of Local Football Highlights Importance to Mental Health

The return of local football following a lost year to COVID-19 highlights the profound impact the absence of community sports has had on mental health, psychiatric nurse Jacob Mumford says.

“A common theme amongst the people I have cared for over the last several months has been their experience of social isolation, not being able to see friends or family and not being able to participate in their usual recreational activities,” Mr Mumford said.

“They (sports clubs) provide a community and an escape from the pressures of day-to-day life,”

The return of local sports was a welcome sight for many, given the Australian Bureau of Statistics most recent Household Impacts of COVID-19  Survey revealed that 20 per cent of Australians experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress in March 2021. 

Swinburne Centre for Mental Health researcher Dr Eric Tan said the lack of access to social community groups such as sporting clubs during lockdown directly contributed to an increase in mental health issues over this period. .

“We’ve established that a lot of people who previously never had mental health challenges developed them during the periods of isolation that we had last year,” Dr Tan said.

Aquinas Old Collegians Football Club (AOCFC) returned to the action at the weekend for the first time in 18 months, as did all other amateur football clubs, having missed the entire 2020 season due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This comes a fortnight after the AFL held its inaugural Spuds Game: Time 2 Talk match on March 27, which raised awareness for men’s mental health.

As someone who works alongside AOCFC as a trainer, Mr Mumford says said this initiative could potentially translate well to the local level, particularly as amateur sports made their return.

“I think any effort to raise awareness and help promote people looking out for one another and having the challenging conversations that can change or even save lives is a good thing,” he said. 

“Initiatives like a local Danny Frawley round would be great. However, it needs to be done well in order to be meaningful and change stigmas (rather than) just be an exercise in virtue signalling.”