{"id":1051745,"date":"2026-06-26T17:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T17:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1051745\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T17:05:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T17:05:38","slug":"albany-caledonians-under-14-mental-health-match-for-beyond-blue-raises-4000-and-starts-a-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1051745\/","title":{"rendered":"Albany Caledonians\u2019 under-14 Mental Health Match for Beyond Blue raises $4000 and \u2018starts a conversation\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Albany Caledonians raised more than $4000 for Beyond Blue after holding a Mental Health Match when their two under-14 soccer sides came head-to-head at North Road last Saturday.<\/p>\n

With Albany MLA Scott Leary conducting the coin toss and being introduced to both teams, the contest was given a cup-final atmosphere in front of a host of spectators who came to support the occasion.<\/p>\n

Mr Leary and the match officials also led out the teams before forming a circle to remember a friend to many of those playing who recently died by suicide.<\/p>\n

Other club sides playing matches that day also joined that ring of support.<\/p>\n

\"RampantCamera IconRampant and Thistle teams with Albany member Scott Leary. Credit: Claire Middleton<\/p>\n

The proceedings were organised by the Calies\u2019 Rampant coach Nathan Miller and his wife Dee.<\/p>\n

Miller said he felt strongly that young people needed to know there were resources available to help them through depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our club, especially given that we are honouring a former teammate who tragically died by suicide, a Mental Health Match can be a powerful way to remember him while encouraging others to seek support when they need it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are options out there for young people \u2014 headspace or a helpline \u2014 but do they know about them?<\/p>\n

\u201cDo they know there are resources, or even that they should check in on a mate?<\/p>\n

He was delighted at the sum raised by the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have raised $4527 thus far, with still some donations to come,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day was a great success, the number of people who turned up was fantastic and I think we did what we aimed to do, and that was to get the conversation started.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ScottCamera IconScott Leary and the match officials lead out the teams. Credit: Claire Middleton<\/p>\n

The game featured the Rampant against the Thistle, with the Thistle proving too sharp for their opponents.<\/p>\n

Goals from player-of-the-match Asher Craig and two strikes apiece from Isaac Grundy and Theo Wallefeld gave Thistle a 5-0 win.<\/p>\n

Lilla Jarzabek was recognised as Rampant\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n

Beyond Blue\u2019s Mental Health Match is a community sporting initiative which encourages clubs to dedicate a game to raising mental health awareness.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe teams are presented to Albany member Scott Leary. Credit: Claire Middleton\"PlayersCamera IconPlayers competing on June 20 formed a circle in support of Beyond Blue\u2019s Mental Health Match. Credit: Claire Middleton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albany Caledonians raised more than $4000 for Beyond Blue after holding a Mental Health Match when their two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1051746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4317],"tags":[288966,288967,288968,105,218,12,5039,288969,93,16,15],"class_list":["post-1051745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-albany-advertiser","tag-great-southern","tag-great-southern-sport","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-news","tag-regional","tag-regional-wa","tag-sport","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116817504080956236","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1051746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}