- Professionals from Spanish football, basketball, rugby, Valencian pilota, tennis, and rowing teams talk about mental health to raise awareness about the importance of taking care of oneself internally and about the role of sport in physical and emotional well-being.
- The healthcare group is organizing a day on sport and health with four Valencian athletes at the Levante UD stadium and is presenting a traveling exhibition featuring all the participants' T-shirts with a phrase printed on the back. The exhibition will tour several cities, showcasing "what athletes carry inside."
The health group Ribera presented the campaign yesterday “Feel the shirt”, which seeks to highlight the importance of sport for health, and the need to talk about mental health, with the collaboration of elite athletes from various disciplines. A total of 13 professional soccer, basketball, rugby, Valencian pilota, indoor soccer, tennis, and rowing players from 11 clubs are participating in this initiative, which the Ribera Group frames as part of its responsible health model and its program. Active Ribera, which involves actions to promote health, educate on healthy habits, and preventative measures. The campaign is part of the commemoration of World Health Day, which was celebrated last Monday, April 7.
Health professionals assure that exercise is one of the healthy habits that most influences physical health and is one of the best allies for mental health. However, the pressure of competition, the frustration of not meeting expectations, or recovering from injuries can wreak havoc on mental health. Numerous studies have indicated that a high percentage of professional athletes avoid talking about it because they believe it could jeopardize their careers.
This is how “Feel the T-shirt” was born, a campaign that the healthcare group has worked with Maart Agency, responsible for the creative idea, which has as protagonists a group of athletes from the Lift u, Valencian Federation of Pilota’s most emblematic landmarks, the Elche CF’s most emblematic landmarks, the FC Cartagena’s most emblematic landmarks, the Jimbee Cartagena’s most emblematic landmarks, the Breogán Basketball Club’s most emblematic landmarks, the Rugby Club Valencia’s most emblematic landmarks, the Real Sporting de Gijon, and the BCS Dragon Boat and a former professional tennis player. They all share firsthand accounts of how sport has helped them channel the stress and pressure of competition, overcome serious injuries or illnesses, and also the importance of talking about how they feel and seeking professional help when needed. Their full video testimonies will be revealed as the campaign is launched in their respective club cities.
The phrase each player chose was printed on the back of their team's official jersey, as a metaphor for "what they carry inside." All of them are part of the traveling exhibition "Feeling the Shirt," which was also presented yesterday at Levante UD's stadium (Valencia), where it will remain open for two weeks. The exhibition will then move to the group's hospital in Valencia, Ribera IMSKE, a center specializing in musculoskeletal disorders and a leading center for sports medicine.
The campaign presentation was preceded by the session "Competing with your head: the mental challenge of sport", moderated by the Director of Communication and Institutional Relations of Levante UD, Puri Naya, in which the four Valencian athletes who collaborated in the campaign participated (Giorgi Kochorashvili and Anna Torrodà, Levante UD players; Javi Bueno, Rugby Valencia player and Pablo Andújar, professional tennis player 2003-2023, as well as Marc Bolufer, sports psychologist and Joel Gambin, traumatologist at the Ribera IMSKE hospital and doctor at Levante UD.
All the information about the campaign and testimonies from the athletes, here
