Darren Wooding still pulls the boots on for Orange City Lions third grade but he's hoping he can create a lasting impact off the field as well.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Orange City will host the inaugural Lifeline Shield of Hope against Dubbo Kangaroos at Pride park on Saturday, May 25.
The Lions veteran, who is a Lifeline volunteer, said it was an event many years in the making.
"So our club has been wanting to do something along this line for a few years now and now we've actually taken the leap and reached out the Lifeline and Dubbo Roos to see if we could make it happen and it's just all fallen into place this year," he said.
Wooding said youth mental health and suicide were front and centre for him with both his children now young adults in addition to coaching many young players at City down the years.
"I've got a son and a daughter in their early twenties so it scares me personally," he said.
"I always talk to my kids about it and I actually volunteer for Lifeline as well.
"It's a vital cause. We need to just have that conversation and we need to talk about it so it's not a scary thing.
"You're not in trouble, you don't have to be scared to call Lifeline if you are doing it tough. That's why they're there.
"It's a shield of hope. We hope one day suicide will be a thing of the past."
Lifeline will have a presence at Pride Park on Saturday and Wooding aid he hoped the day would encourage people to talk openly about mental health and break the taboo.
"It's about awareness and it's about talking, about getting it out where it's not stigmatised so much," he said.
"It's something we feel is important because we've got a lot of young boys and girls who statistically, it's one of the highest rates of death in young people which is very sad.
"So we want to make it easier to talk about and show we're there to support them."
