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Fremantle Dockers #PressForProgress towards better mental health on IWD2018
Posted 7 Mar 2018
This International Women’s Day, (8 March 2018) the AFL Women’s Fremantle Docker’s team is promoting the importance of staying mentally healthy as a priority to women all over Australia.
Both head coach Michelle Cowan and midfielder Lara Filocamo are taking the lead in promoting the positive mental health message of Act-Belong-Commit to teammates, spectators and fans in their roles as ambassadors for the WA-based campaign.
Ms Filocamo believes that sport is the perfect vehicle for providing positive role models for women to get involved and keep active;
“The joy of seeing other women feel empowered and feel like they belong is important for me as an athlete, nothing is better than seeing and hearing young women wanting to get involved in sport and having the confidence to play after watching our games”.
Being active, having a sense of belonging and having a purpose in life all contribute to happiness, good mental health and stronger communities, and the good news is there are some simple things we can all do to build resilient communities, as is championed by Ms Cowan. She believes that being a member of a club is an invaluable experience because “you have a great sense of belonging, mateship and comradery, and you’re together with people, which is really powerful”.
In 2018, International Women’s Day is also highlighting the #PressForProgress Women’s World Sport Initiative, shining a light on gender parity for women’s sport – across all codes, teams and countries, and how equality in sport helps to drive positive change within the community;
“International Women’s Day is a fantastic time for us to celebrate women and also celebrate men who support amazing women” – Michelle Cowan
In addition to marking International Women’s Day, Michelle and Lara will be taking over the Act-Belong-Commit social media channels to #PressForProgress and encourage everyone to #actbelongcommit to keep mentally healthy.
Help us celebrate women who #ActBelongCommit and to #PressForProgress by joining the conversation on March 8 across social media: