MindSKILLZ
Grassroot Soccer
Summary
MindSKILLZ is Grassroot Soccer’s flagship curriculum for adolescent mental health promotion. It combines soccer with life skills education to build resilience, improve attitudes toward mental health, reduce stigma, and strengthen support networks. The resource shares the principles behind the approach, evaluation results showing how the program has supported improvements in well-being and coping skills across multiple countries, sample activities, and the curriculum framework.
HOW AND WHEN IT CAN HELP
- To inspire organizations looking to develop their own mental health focused curricula.
- When seeking to prove the case for soccer as a platform for building mental health awareness.
- To help organizations develop their own outcome frameworks to better understand their impact on mental health.
- When coaching teams are starting to design mental health focused session activities.
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS RESOURCE
Each activity is simple to run, engaging, and grounded in evidence-based approaches. They use soccer to make complex conversations about mental health approachable and youth-centered.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN USING THIS RESOURCE
- How will your current coaches feel about being asked to have conversations with players about their mental health?
- How might parents and players feel about your organization having this wider skillset and remit?
- What support and training can you provide coaches to equip them to work safely in this area, and to ensure their self-care?
- Resources and strategies like this can help coaches and other people working in soccer to support players with their mental health. It’s important to note that these approaches do not replace a need for professional treatment, care, and consultation.
- When you access this resource, you will be asked to agree to a creative commons license. This allows Grassroot Soccer to understand who is interested in their work and sets out the conditions of use. The resource is still free to access and adapt, and you will not be added to any mailing lists in this process.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Grassroot Soccer is an international adolescent health organization that leverages the power of soccer to equip young people with the life-saving information, services, and mentorship they need to live healthier lives. To learn more visit grassrootsoccer.org.
CREDITING CONTRIBUTORS
The Resource Hub is made possible by the generosity of contributors. It demonstrates the rich expertise and collective team spirit that exists across our soccer community.
All resources that have been contributed to the Resource Hub are free for users of the Hub to learn from, adapt and implement in their own organization and community.
Where relevant, we encourage users of the resources to formally or informally credit the resource creator, to acknowledge their expertise and generosity.