Parsons joins Irish Rugby ambassadors for 'Tackle Your Feelings' schools platform

Rugby Players Ireland are today (Tuesday) teaming up with Irish Rugby stars Zac Ward and Ballinasloe's Béibhinn Parsons to launch the new school season of the Tackle Your Feelings (TYF) Schools online teaching platform.

As part of the launch, TYF are encouraging teachers and schools nationwide to sign up to the free classroom-based programme to help equip students across Ireland with practical tools for building resilience, emotional intelligence, and positive mental health.

To show their appreciation to the educators delivering the programme this year, TYF are running a nationwide competition which will give teachers from each of the four provinces the chance to win two tickets to a rugby game of their provincial team this season. To enter, teachers and their school must be signed up to deliver the programme this school year, 2024/2025.

On the TYF teaching platform, teachers are equipped with the tools and resources to guide their students through relevant resources where the students will complete tasks and exercises designed to make them more aware and knowledgeable about their own mental health and wellbeing.

It is a classroom-based, teacher-led, life skills development programme, with an eight-lesson schedule covering awareness, emotions, wellbeing characteristics and self-care. The content is developed using positive and sport psychology principles.

When one section is complete, the next will unlock, allowing the students and teachers to progress through the programme, which also features a number of our ambassadors  shareing their own experiences of mental wellbeing, acting as role models to encourage students to be honest with themselves when it comes to their mental health.

TYF ambassadors Zac Ward and Béibhinn Parsons team up with multiple influential rugby figures in Ireland, including Calvin Nash, Christy Haney, Eimear Considine, Ryan Baird, Deirbhile Nic a Bháird, and James Lowe, as they support the Tackle Your Feelings Schools Programme across the country.

Zac and Béibhinn joined forces with TYF this summer for the Seven Lessons with Rugby 7s series, which saw some of the Ireland Rugby Sevens players return to their schools, sharing advice on wellbeing whilst also hearing from the next generation on how they best manage the tools to support themselves and their peers with their mental health.

In addition, a pilot study  with eight teachers was conducted in association with the University of Limerick to assess teachers’ perspectives on facilitating the TYF programme on youth mental wellbeing. Teachers commented that TYF normalised conversations around mental wellbeing by acting as “a catalyst for them to talk about it”.

Speaking at the launch, Béibhinn said: “It has been brilliant to see the impact of the TYF programme in schools nationwide and I was delighted to be part of the Seven Lessons with Rugby 7s this year. We understand the importance of mental health in sport, and it's equally crucial in everyday life. The TYF Schools Programme provides invaluable resources, and the competition for provincial match tickets is a brilliant way to acknowledge the dedication of teachers who bring this programme to life."

The TYF Programme is run by Rugby Players Ireland and funded by the Z Zurich Foundation. It has motivated people across Ireland to be more proactive when it comes to looking after their mental wellbeing and has increased awareness around the importance of taking care of your mental health.

TYF has also reached international audiences and has inspired similar campaigns across the globe, including; The English Rugby Players’ Association (RPA), ‘Lift the Weight’ campaign, New Zealand Rugby’s ‘HeadFirst’ campaign and Tackle Your Feelings Australia, a collaboration between Zurich Australia, the AFLPA and AFLCA.

For more information on Tackle Your Feelings. follow the Instagram account @tyf or visit the website www.tackleyourfeelings.com which will share videos, updates on events and competitions.

TheTYF Schools app can also be downloaded from the iOS and Android app stores.