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www.
ULSTERRUGBY
.com
19
IRUPA
TACKLE YOUR FEELINGS
The campaign features professional rugby players
leading by example, talking about personal challenges
they faced off the pitch and how they overcame them.
Tommy Bowe was the Ulster representative on the
panel discussion where he was joined by Ireland
Women’s player Hannah Tyrell who, as a Tackle Your
Feelings Ambassador, has spoken to groups across
Ireland about her story.
Tommy Bowe, who is often considered the poster boy
of Irish Rugby, spoke openly and honestly and gave
his reasons for lending support to the campaign,
“I had heard about the campaign and watched some
really powerful stories on the TYF website and I think
the message IRUPA are trying to get across is that the
campaign is for everybody, it is encouraging people
to tackle these problems at an early stage and not
let them get to a stage where you really need to seek
professional help.
I think mental health has become a huge area of
concern, especially in sport. It has always been
something that has been a part of sport and now it
is becoming a talking point, people are actually able
to open up and talk about it and we are trying to lose
that stigma of not being able to express how you are
feeling.
As a professional sports person you go through good
days and bad days and for me personally I have
gone through 12 months out being injured, at times
questioning if I will ever make it back onto the pitch.
I have gone through good days where things progress
really well then all of a sudden you have to take two
steps back and it is hard to try and keep going but
I have found that having coping mechanisms really
helps. The ability to talk to people you trust and also
setting yourself small goals to get yourself to the main
goal can really help and I just wanted to try and pass
the message on.”
Tommy, like the other professional players who are
fronting up the campaign recognises that society has
to break down the stigmas around mental wellbeing
and encourage young people to talk, he offers this
advice to young people who may be struggling,
“Go back to your strengths, if you are a young guy
coming up through the ranks who feels like they have
the world at their feet, there will be times when you
get knocked down, and when that does happen it is a
case of going back to your strengths, go back to what
you are good at and build your confidence back up
and try to put a smile on your face.”
Tommy showed a serious side during the panel
discussions but let us into a secret weapon he has for
times when he is needing a boost,
“I try to walk round with a smile on my face, I might
have a million things going on in the back of my head,
but I think if you smile and your quite upbeat it can
bring out positive feelings and it can help the people
around you as well.”
The campaign is specifically aimed at maximising
mental wellbeing rather than resolving mental illness.
Just like physical health, emotional health can be
improved by tackling pressures before they reach
crisis stage.
The Tackle Your Feelings campaign has an excellent
website which hosts a number of practical resources
to help people tackle their own feelings as well as
Ambassador videos which give a real insight into the
challenges that even our top rugby players face.
For more information please visit
www.tackleyourfeelings.comOn Tuesday 4th October at Kingspan Stadium the Irish Rugby Union Players
Association (IRUPA) hosted a panel discussion as part of their Tackle Your
Feelings campaign which aims to break down the stigma around mental wellbeing.