WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 10 OCTOBER 2024 – RUGBY FOR HEROES

Anyone who has suffered or has watched a loved one suffer from poor mental knows that prevention is better than cure, and poor mental health can be a terrible, even fatal, downward spiral. This year’s Mental Health Day theme is ‘workplace mental health’ . Happily, poor mental health amongst serving members of the British Armed Forces remains low. What may be surprising is that poor mental health amongst veterans is higher and increasing, particularly amongst veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, even more so for veterans that served in combat units.

In the military you are surrounded by your teammates, your brothers and sisters-in-arms that you have bonded with through shared experience; be that arduous training on freezing exercises or in life-threatening contact under enemy fire. The active, outdoor life, as part of a team, amongst those with shared identify and a clear sense of purpose, pride in serving the nation, pride in altruistic motives to put oneself in harm’s way, being a force for good on the world stage, alongside adventurous, resilience and leadership training, are critical components of good and resilient mental health of all service personnel. But what happens when you leave that behind and try and integrate back into the community and civilian work?

Much like a professional rugby player, service personnel’s identity and self-worth have come to over rely on their uniform, their regiment, or their club. Their days have always been structured for them, their clothes issued, and told what to do, when to do it, including when to eat, when to sleep and how long for. Remembering as a comrade bleeds out on the emergency helicopter landing site before the medical evacuation team can safely land, while ammunition runs low, it can be hard to relate to the co-worker who is acting like their world has ended because the printer is out of ink. Transitioning from training for war and operations, having faced life and death situations, can leave veterans feeling isolated, unfulfilled, lost and alone.

The loss of purpose and identity, as well as structure and supportive network can be incredibly discombobulating for both professional rugby players and Armed Forces service personnel as they transition to ‘civilian life’. In rugby, when you’ve been brought to ground and, despite your good sportsmanship, you hesitate to make the ball playable fearing a possible turnover, there is no greater feeling than when your teammate bridges over your floored body to protect you and the ball from would-be jacklers. Or when, being held up, your teammates join you to create a rolling maul, (and who doesn’t love a rolling maul?)! Everyone needs teammates, and connection and community are key components of good and resilient mental health.

For Armed Forces service personnel Rugby For Heroes is not just like the supportive player who is always first at the breakdown, it’s the supportive player off the shoulder of the ball carrier providing options left or right, ready to chase a grubber, ready for a pop, ready for scissors, a dummy run, suck in a defender, or ready to bridge and counter-ruck as needed. On my Rugby For Heroes course I was deeply moved that sponsors, donors, ambassadors, committee members and charity supporters cared about personnel leaving the Armed Forces. Helping service leavers reconnect with rugby keeps them active and gives them a community and connection vital to good and resilient mental health. Connecting service leavers with rugby clubs and enabling them to turn up as qualified England Rugby Coaches creates a win-win for the club and the lost military soul, as well as supporting getting more people playing more rugby more often. It builds on the fitness, confidence, leadership and command skills and experience military personnel all have, regardless of rank. But most importantly it gives them a new tribe, new friends, new soul mates and helps prevent them becoming lost and another poor mental health statistic.

Thank you to all those involved with or who support Rugby For Heroes charity, and to the rugby clubs across the UK who welcome ex-military players, coaches, first-aiders and match officials.
Lt Col Tony Hellier RGR, Rugby For Heroes.