MELBOURNE Football Club forward Brody Mihocek was down at Harley Hammond Reserve on Wednesday night to talk with players and parents at Broadford Junior Football Netball Club (BJFNC) about the importance of resilience and wellbeing in sport.
Mihocek was a guest speaker alongside mental health advocate Michael Donehue, but also assisted on the field with drills for the under-9s, under-10s and under-12s teams.
The night was organised by the managing director and founder of Alcohol, Drug & Mental Health Education Specialists (ADES) Ashley Gurney who is also the assistant coach of the Broadford under-9s footy team.
Gurney told the Review it was a great night for the club with a packed out clubroom hearing from Mihocek and Donehue about the importance of sticking with it even when things don’t go to plan.
“Brody’s such a great example of that. Missing five AFL drafts, he didn’t play his first game in the AFL until he was 25, so it really is that tale of keeping at it, sticking at it and working hard,” Gurney said.
Another key topic of the night was the importance of parents speaking to kids regularly, and the pair offered advice to the room about the best ways to go about it.
Donehue presented to the BJFNC and Seymour Junior Football Netball Club last year as well, but Gurney said the addition of a current star of the AFL this time around at Broadford definitely added to the night.
“Kids love having people who are in the mix of the AFL out there, but we probably had another 80 plus people there for the actual wellbeing talk which was fantastic,” Gurney said.
“I just love being involved with the junior sport and trying to give back as much (as I can). Not just for the kids, but also the parents,” he added.
“I think it’s really important, especially in country towns, that we can give those opportunities, those services, to the parents so that they don’t get left behind.”
Gurney started ADES back in 2010, and alongside Donehue as the national services manager travel across Australia and New Zealand to deliver bespoke alcohol, drug and mental health wellness talks.
“We probably get out to 1.5 million people a year … and we have such great affiliation with people like Brody Mihocek and other athletes as well who love what we do around that wellbeing space.”
