Promoting Mental Health Awareness Through Football: Men United FC Interview

At Simply, we are proud to support the initiatives our team care about most. One brilliant example is our sponsorship of the last season for Men United FC East Sussex, a football club raising awareness for important issues around men’s mental health.??

We caught up with Tayler Baumber, a member of Men United and Broking Out Manager at Simply, about his experience and why initiatives like this one are so important.??

Hi Tayler ?? can you tell us a bit about Men United and how the club started? ?

?? Men United are a?football team formed to raise awareness of important matters around men’s mental health. We were founded in 2021 during Covid as a way for men to get together and talk about anything that they were struggling with, particularly during the difficult time of the pandemic.? Not only do we focus on our own mental health (including partners and family), but we advocate into the wider community, raising awareness through social media and fundraising events. As the team was founded during lockdowns, we had our initial meetings over Zoom calls. I joined at the beginning of the second season so missed this but have been told it was quite strange setting up a football team over Zoom!?

What was it that inspired you to join the club???

?? Initially, I joined to return to football. I hadn’t played for many years and missed the sport. I only knew one person in the team when I started so this was quite daunting, but the rest of the team are amazing, so it didn’t take long to fit in. I was also apprehensive as I thought this was solely for men tackling mental health issues on a personal level, but after speaking to a few in the team, I realised it’s also about you advocating, listening to and supporting people who are struggling. I was in the right place.?

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What are some of the benefits you’ve felt since being on the team????

?? To start with, my physical health has improved massively (although my knees would beg to differ) but it is also nice to have a safe and inviting space to talk about anything that you struggle with. It doesn’t have to be a life-changing event to affect your mental health and I think most people overlook or underappreciate this. Of course, work, family, money and moving house are all things that can cause stress and anxiety but so can meeting new people, joining a new club or simply wanting to, but not being able to recharge after social events.??

"It doesn’t have to be a life-changing event to affect your mental health and I think most people overlook or underappreciate this."

Honestly, I struggled when I first joined the team -they were all open and honest about what they were feeling and their daily struggles and to me it was completely alien to be able to discuss this so freely. This is exactly why the club was established, to discuss and raise awareness that mental health is not something you should be ashamed of talking about. As a club, we spend a portion of our first training session of the month taking time to reconnect with one another, no football, just talking and making sure everyone is okay. That is what is important at the end of the day. For some of us, those few hours training or playing a match on a Sunday gives us the time to switch off from the day to day of our regular lives.?

"There has been a huge shift in awareness for mental health, which is incredible to see, and I am very proud to be a small part of it and I believe it needs to continue and grow."

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Are you seeing more of, or do you have much contact with, other mental health initiatives around the UK???

?? The club has links to many mental health initiatives all over the UK, which can all be found on the Men United East Sussex website. Samaritans , Rethink Mental Illness , Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and Sane . All amazing initiatives to provide support to anyone experiencing mental health issues. We do our part to not only raise awareness, but funds through social events such as pub quizzes.?

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Why do you think initiatives like this are important??

?? I?have grown up, as I think so many of us have (men, in particular), to not talk about how we are feeling and to bottle up any emotions and issues we face. Very few issues are resolved by ignoring them, especially around mental health.??

There has been a huge shift in awareness for mental health, which is incredible to see, and I am very proud to be a small part of it and I believe it needs to continue and grow. But, I think the whole narrative on the way we perceive mental health needs to change.

It’s not easy, but I hope that we’re all able to overcome any feelings of shame and build a more open world. ?

Find out more about Men United FC here: https://menunitedeastsussex.co.uk/about-us