VAFA AND MEN’S HEALTH ROUND

The VAFA is proud to announce that this week’s round (Round 13/14) is dedicated as Men’s Health Round. 
The VAFA has a strong history focussing on the health of the many thousands of young men that play Amateur Football each year. The opportunity to stay physically active in a team environment, creating fantastic friendships, lifetime bonds and support networks is something the Board and staff of the VAFA are very proud of. 
Whilst playing football in the VAFA has alway provided obvious benefits for men’s health in the physical sense, the VAFA just like the rest of the community has seen the shift in focus to include the mental health of men. 
The VAFA’s partnership with One in Five – a charity focussing on fighting the disease of mental health has been at the forefront of this shift. 
The vision of One in Five is to change the ‘one in five’ statistic (one in five men will suffer some form of mental health) to none in five – by funding cutting edge medical research focused on improving the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of major mental disorders. 
“For 122 years the VAFA has provided the opportunity for young men to stay active by playing Australian rules for the love of the game, however our role has become bigger than providing a physical outlet”, VAFA CEO Michael Sholly said. 
“We partnered with One in Five because we believe their message and the work they do around mental health, particularly focussing on young men has a significant connection with what the VAFA and our clubs are about.”
“Tragically, too many of our clubs have had first hand experience of the devastating end result of when young men go untreated for various mental health issues.”
The week is largely about awareness, but also if you are able to raise money in any small way for charity then we would encourage everyone to do so. As you will see from the Wayne Schwass story below, simply speaking out about his battle with depression has been a huge part of his own treatment and with it, he hopes to gain further awareness in the community. 
Various VAFA clubs have strong affiliations with One in Five and other charities focussing on men’s health and the VAFA is happy to help promote a club’s efforts to raise money for such charities. 
If your club plans to raise money and would like to submit it to One in Five through the VAFA’s connection then please transfer any money you raise to the VAFA with the description One in Five in your transfer.