MISSION STATEMENT

A 2013-14 survey by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed that, for 11–17-year-olds, 20% (1 in 5) reported high or very high levels of psychological distress, with anxiety being the most common type of distress (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, n.d.). Research also suggests that athletes appear to be a particularly susceptible demographic for anxiety disorders (Patel et al., 2010; Purcell et al., 2020; Rice et al., 2019). A 2014 report by XPro - which is an organisation that assists retired UK professional footballers adjust to life after football - reported that 40% of professional footballers declare bankrupcy within the first 5 years of their last contract ("The other side of football's coin: Divorce, dysfunction and depression | Goal.com", 2022). A systematic review by Carapinheira et al., (2018) showed that, regardless of voluntary or involuntary withdrawal, a significant amount of post-career professional footballers face relatively high levels of difficulties with mental disorders, drugs and alcohol, finding work, and nutrition. It’s studies like these, as well as first hand experience, that told us that something is missing for a lot of our most talented athletes.

Football, is known to many as The World Game. Football, or more importantly Footballers, have for a long time been a source of joy for millions of people around the world. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the world began to focus solely on the athlete and forgot to develop, protect and celebrate the human that lies beneath. The irony of this neglect is that life problems for ‘the human beneath’ also INEVITABLY AFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ATHLETE. 

Created by ex footballers Rashid Mahazi, Luc Jeggo and Salim Mahazi, Beyond Technique Football School seeks to confront these issues by being a school that develops athletes holistically; giving them the tools to succeed both on and off the pitch throughout their lives.

What does this mean in practice?

This means that we aim to connect a team of high level professionals from multiple professions, therefore, curating a holistic developmental environment for young footballers to become the best players and people they can be. Long term, the school will be a one stop shop for a players entire career development - meaning that through our school, they will be assisted in developing their footballing ability; their financial and academic education; their psychological well-being and awareness; their life-after-football pathways; and more.

What we are not?

Firstly, we are not a mental health program that also teaches football. We are a football program that also cares about mental health (and everything else that was previously mentioned).

Secondly, the school is not focused on simply protecting the players from the realities of football and life - in our view, this just breeds more vulnerability long term. Instead, the school focuses on comprehensively strengthening the individual (mentally and physically), so that they are competent enough to deal with the many challenges that are inherent in being a person and professional athlete.

At the fundamental level, the idea was to create something that all three boys wish they had access to throughout their footballing journeys. This idea is currently in its early stages, and there is much more work to be done, however, the foundations have been built with diligent attention to detail and a keen passion for proficiency - all with the focus of Building Complete Athletes.