State of Mind Sport and St. Helens Rugby League Referee Society have teamed up and been awarded a grant from the Postcode Neighbourhood Trust
The Postcode Neighbourhood Trust is a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
State of Mind Sport received £5950 from the Trust to support the health and well-being of rugby league referees in St. Helens
Dr. Phil Cooper RMN MBE State of Mind Sport co-founder said ” The mental wellbeing of referees may be negatively impacted by the constant negative abuse that referees receive on a weekly basis and the treatment of referees as scapegoats for defeats appears to be accepted throughout sport.
The opportunity created includes monitoring the wellbeing of members the referee society for the first time. Delivering targeted mental fitness sessions and develop a support network to improve the mental fitness of each member and for new referees in the future.”
St. Helens Rugby League Referees Society Chair, Craig Hill commented, “We have been delighted to establish a strong partnership this year with State of Mind. Together, we can undertake academically robust groundbreaking studies to identify and address factors that perpetuate a popular acceptance of referee abuse. Thanks to this Postcode Neighbourhood award, we can use technology to help educate our members, players and coaches alike in de-escalation skills and agree standards of behaviour that may change the culture that treats match officials as pantomime villains.”
If you would like more information about the Postcode Neighbourhood Trust please click on the link here www.postcodeneighbourhoodtrust.org.uk and the award is funded by the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery www.postcodelottery.co.uk