The appeal of football is changing – the general impression about football being a mere sport is slowly dissolving. More importantly, football’s great strength in promoting health In particular youth mental health, emotional well-being, social inclusion is being highlighted through the international focus at a new level with discussions involving United Nations being the perfect demonstration. Youth mental health issues that were once considered personal matters are now regarded as public health problems on a global scale. The pressure from school, isolation in social environment, watching TV for most of the time, uncertainty over one’s financial future and finally the lingering impact of major world events have been the drivers for the current mental and emotional turmoil among youth. While professional mental health services will always be a mainstay, the popularity of community-driven initiatives like sport, as a complement to the established support structures is a promising trend.
Playing football is an excellent way to get some vigorous exercise, make one’s mind work together through the team concept, and enjoy one’s time with other people. Football does not just offer great opportunity for exercise; it also creates very healthy social environment. Playing football brings people together at the grass roots level and makes them work as a team to achieve their collective goal. It also allows players to express themselves and to gain confidence through different types of play situations.
Football is probably one of the most accessible sports of the many. It only demands the possession of a ball and an open playing surface to start a match. So schools parks, and the surrounding areas are places where it happens a lot. In this way football is bringing children from different backgrounds together which enables football to stand out in creating platforms where everyone can feel that they have equal opportunities. Through participation in team sports, friends are built as young people are able to support one, another and develop skills like trust, problem solving, and perseverance. When they do this they are less likely to feel isolated and instead will get a sense or belonging which is very important for achieving good mental health
Beyond its contribution towards physical wellness, exercise also has a great impact on psychological well-being. Soccer has a unique feature of being not only physically challenging and fun, but also mentally rewarding, Mainly on the teamwork and setting goals through structured play.
Coaches have an important role in the mental health of young players. Coaches who are able to empathize with young players, create a friendly atmosphere for them as well as be good leaders, are essential for the development of confidence of the boys. Through playing football, children also learn about their own emotions and those of their teammates and coaches. Universities also acknowledge that football is a useful tool in their student well-being programs. These organizations are not only promoting physical health but they are encouraging the development of emotional resilience and the adoption of healthy lifestyles through sports programmes. Playing sports regularly has a big positive effect on school life; students are more attentive to the lessons, their relationships with others are solid, and they get a bit of satisfaction out of their activities on sports.
From the time that sporting activities were recognized as valuable means by which the United Nations promotes world development and peace-building, many have come to see the football as a powerful messenger for change. As the most popular football in fact the first football game played by nearly all of the world’s population to be the best, it is a tremendous channel for spreading the messages of inclusion, equality in sex, education and youth empowerment. In addition, its role in the mental health sector shows that people get to understand emotional health better by being more actively engaged in social activities and through lifestyles which are physically challenging.”