La Trobe University Hockey Club celebrated Men’s, Boy’s and Non Binary Health Round during Round 17.
The theme this year was mateship, men’s health and how mateship, particularly team sports, such as hockey, can help with men’s physical health, as well as mental. It is proven that mateship can help the following Men’s health issues such as Heart disease, Obesity, Depression & Anxiety Sleep problems Drug and Alcohol abuse and Suicidality. The facts don’t lie: 1 in 3 men experience loneliness and 1 in 4 men don’t have great mates.
The message to our players and the opposition over the weekend was to:
1. Stay in contact with old mates
2. Connect with new mates
3. Build closer connections
A sporting environment, such as the hockey club, provides a great environment to stay in contact with old mates, make new mates and build closer connections. We have juniors, adult beginners, seasoned players and veterans in their 40th+ year at the club who all enjoy each other’s company.
We were asked to help create environments where Men can open up without fear of judgment – this is really tough for most blokes! Support them in seeking the help they need, mental or physical, as 50 men die a day from preventable diseases.
The weekend was played in great spirits with all players sticking around enjoying a drink, a feed and great mateship. The cherry on top for the round was an appearance by former NBL, NBA and Olympian Chris Anstey at club on the Thursday night. He spoke about his career and his challenges he has faced along the way but emphasised his career highlights was playing with great mates around the world over his own personal success. We had a great representation of blokes from the the Vic League Squad, Metros and the Masters who wanted to hear about someone who has faced and overcame adversity.
