Violence against women and girls is an epidemic in the making. While there are effective solutions in place for survivors, victims and perpetrators, this project focuses on the belief that no human is born violent or abusive. It is the combination of factors that lead to such behaviours.
This project takes a step back, and looks at how young boys and men can learn to process emotions like anger better through elements of movement and play. It is essential to shift focus on young boys and men in order to nurture better adult men in the future.
Under the umbrella of the project, we explore how the football environment can act as a catalyst for young boys to regulate emotions better through principles of intentional movement across the process of scouting, coaching and playing. Here, movement serves as a tool for kids and adults alike to identify and express emotions to connect with themselves and their surroundings better.
Currently, most solutions focus on rehabilitation of victims, survivors or perpetrators.
No human is born violent or abusive. It is a combination of various internal and external factors throughout childhood that leads to such behaviours. Hence,
There is a commonly known journey of anger to violence, being:
It is important to note that anger is not the start of this journey. There is unresolved trauma and emotions residing in oneself that lead to anger as a response. This is why when performing an aggressive act, one feels a meditative state of calm.
Men and boys most often rely on non-verbal expression of vulnerability, often finding it hard communicate. Ironically, existing support services available for men to access predominantly rely on verbal communication. This creates fundamental barriers in a man's journey to access help. These existing services also require men to be aware and proactively take action to reach the services.
Hence, there is a need for a non-verbal intervention that is embedded in their familiar environment to bridge this gap.
This negatively affects one's memory storage process and changes the brain's structure. The body plays an important role in how we process emotions, which is why movement has the potential to aid non-verbal expression of emotions in one's healing journey.
1.5 million boys play organised youth football in England at one time. Taking into consideration the popularity of the sport and the scale of impact, football proves to be an effective catalyst for positive behaviour change in young men when used effectively.
In a world where the rates of aggressive and violent acts are increasing by the day, how might we
The PlayBetter Collective is an intervention that works across the stages of scouting, academy training and off-boarding experiences within football clubs to teach young players to regulate emotions, in turn resulting in character development, better performance and safer environments.
Currently, PlayBetter focuses on the Foundation phase within football academies working with young boys between 6-12 years of age.
Approved
