THE PULSE – May 1, 2026

The joy of victory and the agony of defeat.

Despite these known outcomes (save for a draw), understanding there’s a real possibility that we may lose the game, we front up every weekend of the football season in search of the ultimate success – a premiership.

Winning a flag with your teammates, which I was lucky enough to do in my playing career, is what makes football so special.

But football is so much more than that.

Football is about purpose. Football is about belonging. Football is about connection.

These intangibles are the cornerstone of the VAFA’s partnership with community mental health program, Tackle Your Feelings.

Through the partnership, VAFA clubs have access to free mental health education where participants will be provided with the tools to understand, recognise and respond to signs of mental ill-health in themselves and their teammates.

Since 2021, Tackle Your Feelings and the VAFA have been changing the conversation around mental health – on and off the field.

The program has delivered 92 workshops, engaged with 51 VAFA clubs and reached more than 2500 participants in that time.

Across a 90-minute workshop delivered by a local psychologist, the program seeks to build participants’ confidence and provide them with strategies for having a conversation with someone who may be struggling with mental health challenges.

Clubs that have already been through the foundations workshop have the option of completing the ‘three-peat’ with our elective workshops – ‘Tackling Anxiety’ and ‘Driving Thriving’ – on offer for those looking to build on their journey.

Since completing the program, many VAFA clubs have taken proactive steps to invest in mental health – establishing wellbeing committees, strengthening their processes to create safe and inclusive environments and increasing overall player engagement in the mental health space.

The values of purpose, belonging and connection underpin a football club’s culture.

Having a strong football club culture doesn’t guarantee a premiership.

But if players, coaches, committee members and support staff feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves, the challenges, both on and off the field, become that little bit easier to navigate together.

Get in touch with Pranav Menon to book your football club in for a FREE Tackle Your Feelings mental health workshop.

By Ben Guthrie, Partnerships and Communications Lead for Tackle Your Feelings and an assistant coach with Geelong Grammar’s Football program in the APS Competition.