TEAMmate is a confidential emotional support service provided by our partner, Switch the Play Foundation. 'Their Teammates are available to listen to your concerns and to offer you advice, support and guidance. Wherever it is appropriate or necessary they will signpost you to further professional help and ensure you are supported on that journey.
Do you need a TEAMmate?
Sometimes you don’t feel your usual self. That’s okay. You may be feeling worried, not enjoying life, or have thoughts and feelings that you struggle to cope with. When this happens, we know how difficult it can be to ask for help. Not knowing where to go or who to speak to. Or feeling like you can’t deal with it on your own. Everybody needs a TEAMmate at some point in their life. With the right support, you will begin to feel better.
TEAMmates are friendly, helpful, and great listeners. All TEAMmates have a Mental Health First Aid qualification or are chartered psychologists and all TEAMmates understand the demands of elite sport. You can find short TEAMmate bios here.
TEAM stands for:
- Talking – sometimes, it helps just to talk through how you’re feeling to someone who will listen.
- Empathy – we want to understand your experiences and the effect this is having on your life right now.
- Action – we will help you to access the support you need so that you leave the call with a clear plan of action.
- Management – of the feelings and experiences that prompted the call.
If you need someone to talk to, and / or want some guidance on what support services are available to you then your TEAMmates can help. You can book a call with them below. Remember though, if you need immediate support or know of someone who does, you can ring the Samaritans Helpline for free on 116 123 or if an emergency dial 999.
Am I eligible?
The TEAMmate service is open to all IoM Sport Aid Performance Athlete Grant recipients and all those on the IoM Sport's Performance Development Programme, together with those athletes who have left the Sport Aid support programme within the last three years and/or are IoM Sport recognised professional athletes.
What do I get?
Through the TEAMmate service, you will get:
- A call with a qualified TEAMmate where you can talk about how you feel.
- An opportunity to explore what kind of help you think you might need and information on how to access that.
- A clear action plan of your next steps.
- A commitment of a follow-up call after 7 days to check in on your action plan.
You can find a short introductory video, explaining the TEAMmate service here.
How do I book a TEAMmate call?
You can book a call with TEAMmate here via Calendly. It's quick and easy and a TEAMmate will be in touch to organise the call once they receive notification of your booking.