Dundee United’s community trust has kicked off its first football festival for para and mental health wellbeing.
And coach Connor Moyes declared the event a huge success for everyone involved with more than 100 players taking part in the seven-a-side tourney.
He said: “On the day we welcomed 10 other teams from around Scotland to the GA Arena to take part in the monthly Mental Health and Wellbeing national league, run by the Scottish Para-Football Association.
“This has come from a Scottish Government initiative to use football therapy for people with all disabilities.
“Last year we had an amputees football event which was a big success and now we have entered this league which will take us all over the country.
“So the 11 teams had 10 players in each and this festival was for adults who have been treated for, or are currently receiving treatment for mental health issues and each month a different team participating in the league takes a turn to host it.
“This was the very first event of its kind in Dundee and we are delighted about how it went.”
He added that United’s community trust regularly run football sessions for people who have been treated for mental health issues.
Connor said: “As part of our involvement in the league we run sessions twice a week for those who have been treated for mental health issues.
“They offer an opportunity for those who come along to stay active and take part in regular football activity alongside those in a similar situation to themselves.
“Those who attend either of our sessions then have the opportunity to take part in the national Mental Health and Wellbeing League as a Dundee United team.
“At the league meeting our team recorded one of their strongest showings yet, managing to go unbeaten across the five matches with draws against St Johnstone Yellow, Kickstart United, Clyde and Queens Park before finishing the day with a 4-1 win against the St Johnstone Blue team.”
He invited more people to sign up for the twice a week football sessions which are held at the arena and also at Ardler Community Complex between 1 pm and 2 pm
Connor added: “We work closely with NHS Tayside for referrals and we have 19 people registered with us for the sessions which is really good numbers.
“It has been a brilliant success and we have a great wee group who help each others. When a new person joins a lot of the guys will talk them through what it involves from their own experiences.
“We also do a lot of football and coaching with people with physical disabilities such as the wheelchair football groups.
“There is a lot of work going on with the club in the community and we have had a lot of success with various groups.
“So anyone wanting to sign up for the mental wellbeing group can contact me through my email address which is connor.moyes@dundeeunitedfc.co.uk.
“We are now awaiting the details of our next league football festival and it would be great to have new players signed up.”
