IT WAS GAA president Liam O’Neil’s first visit to the GPA offices as he showed his support of the new ‘We Wear More Than our County Colours’ campaign.
The GPA aims to highlight the fact that behind the often high profile public personas of our county players the individual wears more than just the jersey, and is vulnerable to emotional distress.
The association produced a short film to help highlight the many issues that can often trigger emotional reactions for players and to encourage players to look out for each other, to recognise signs of distress and to encourage intervention through conversation and support.
Issues such as retirement, relationship break-ups, depression, stress, financial difficulties, addiction problems, performance and anxiety all feature in ‘We Wear More’.
Speaking about the campaign launch, GPA Chief Executive Dessie Farrell said: “We felt that it was important at this juncture to focus on a campaign tailored specifically for county players, identifying the various issues that can trigger strong emotional reactions for these young men.”
“We are acutely conscious of the vulnerability of this particular demographic in terms of suicide and believe that a focussed, internal approach would help encourage players to talk more openly to each other and to identify team-mates who may be in difficulty,” said the GPA boss.
More information is available on the GPA’s www.wewearmore.ie, which includes the campaign’s new short film.
The campaign features the following county players: Michael Murphy (Donegal), Padraig Brehony (Galway), Seamus Hennessy (Tipperary), Alan O’Mara (Cavan), Padraig Collins (Clare), Conal Keaney (Dublin), Richie Hogan (Kilkenny), Colm Begley (Laois), Eoin Cadogan (Cork), Rob Hennelly (Mayo), Jonny Cooper (Dublin), Ciaran McKeever (Armagh), Lee Chin (Wexford), Niall McNamee (Offaly).
