MENTAL HEALTH IS LIKE PHYSICAL FITNESS... IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK
Helping struggling teens gave ex-rugby league star Keith Senior the chance to rediscover his purpose
Following the sudden end of his playing career, Keith Senior battled the twin demons of drink and depression.
At his lowest ebb, he awoke on new Year’s Day to discover he had butted a hole in the wall of the home of former leeds Rhino teammate luke Ambler.
nearly a decade on, he is putting his head to more productive use. The former England and leeds centre, who won four Super league titles and the Challenge Cup during a 17-year career, is studying for a counselling qualification and working to improve the mental health of the next generation of rugby league players.
Senior is one of 13 former Super league stars who have come together to deliver mental fitness workshops to community clubs in the north of England, with the Ahead of the game project to be rolled out to 8,000 teenagers, their parents and 360 coaches across the country ahead of the Rugby league world Cup this autumn.
in his role as Community and welfare Manager for the charity Rugby league Cares, the 44-yearold took the lead during the third national lockdown in making time for one-to- one catch-ups with youngsters such as Tom owen, a prop at Milford, near leeds. Such has been the devastating impact of almost a year without junior sport that he is still regarded as the captain of Milford Under 16s despite having turned 17.
‘i struggled with my mental health when i retired — it was a big loss of identity for me,’ Senior says. ‘i went through some dark moments. when i played rugby i was just focused on rugby — i wasn’t interested in education and i thought i could wing it. i was very fortunate to end up becoming a professional rugby player but when that went i had nothing to fall back on.
‘Being Keith Senior the rugby league player, i knew who i was. Then i was Keith Senior the stayat-home dad. i was always a family man and i had other things going on but i never identified myself as that person.
‘After retiring, drinking occupied my mind for a while, occupying my time and keeping me busy and giving me something to do. That ended up being my purpose. one moment i got that drunk — i was absolutely paralytic — and i went back to luke Ambler’s house and i put my head through his wall.
‘waking up and just seeing what you’ve created and letting people down and dealing with that, it’s hard to deal with, it’s hard to comprehend. not only was i feeling a failure to myself but i was also a failure to everybody else.’
Having regained his sense of purpose through working for the leeds Rhinos Foundation, which runs a range of community and education projects, Senior has now enrolled at university.
‘i messed up my education so i’m having to go back to college and university,’ he says. ‘i’m studying a counselling qualification.
‘ working with your mental health takes a lot of hard work, it’s like working on your physical fitness. it takes a lot of effort.’
in his Zoom catch-up with Tom, who attended one of the fitness workshops delivered by Senior in october, Senior asks how he has coped during lockdown and quizzes him on how to spot signs of depression in others.
The 17-year-old reels them off: a team-mate seeming to be quieter than usual, losing concentration and stopping doing things they previously enjoyed.
Tom also explains the AlEC model (Ask, listen, Encourage action, Check- in), a process developed by men’s health charity Movember for helping encourage others to open up.
‘i’ve used it in a couple of situations,’ he says. ‘it’s a bit tougher with Covid because you’re mainly using it over social media. when you’re face to face you can notice people’s body language.
‘The biggest thing i took from the sessions — and it’s obvious now that i know it — is approaching someone one on one rather than in a crowd setting. They are more likely to feel comfortable sharing if they’ve got a problem, whereas if they’re in a big group they are more likely to feel pressured into saying they’re fine.’
ALL 13 of the Ahead of the game ambassadors, including former new Zealand star Robbie Hunter-Paul and England’s Shaun lunt, have had their own challenges and are open in sharing their experiences with the youngsters.
it is hoped that the scheme will help mitigate the damage caused by lockdown to children’s mental health, with those in northern rugby league communities thought to be among those at highest risk. Such problems have been exacerbated by the absence of sport, with Tom’s Milford side having only had one match in 12 months.
Senior is also the assistant coach at Championship club Sheffield Eagles, who have resumed full training with the 2021 season due to start at the beginning of April.
‘i’m still quite lucky — i coach at Sheffield so i’m still getting out and about and seeing people,’ he says. ‘i’m oK with my own company but we need to get community sport going again.
‘Playing any team sport has massive benefits for mental health for kids. it’s where they learn to be part of a team, build their confidence and their friendships.’