Former Carlton AFL player Jake Edwards, 28, has now dedicated himself to helping Moorabool youth living with depression. Darley’s favourite son spoke to Esther Lauaki about his latest venture – Outside the Locker Room.
What’s your connection to Moorabool?
I spent five years playing for the Darley Football Club and I grew up in Exford so I have a strong connection to the area.
How did your youth welfare program Outside the Locker Room come about?
I was living the dream as a young man and got drafted into the Blues at 17. I had everything – a great family, financially very well off, a great group of friends. I was diagnosed with depression at 19 and everything turned out to be too much. I became addicted to drugs, my football career slipped away. On the back of my experience, I can see the frustrations between the parents and the kids who are going through the same thing I was.
What is Outside The Locker Room all about?
I work as a youth development officer and last year Moorabool council granted us $4000 in funding to roll the program out in local footy clubs. We’ve been working closely with AFL Goldfields to roll out the program in regional areas of Victoria. There’s a massive need for a program to help young people get help for problems with mental health, drugs and depression. Outside the Locker Room is a program for 10 to 18-year-olds at sporting clubs that provides education and support to ease them through the daily challenges they might face with drugs, alcohol, mental health and self-esteem.
What does it mean to you to help youth in Moorabool?
For me it’s very personal given that I grew up in the area and I went to Melton Secondary College. Because I grew up in the area, I see the challenges that youth today face and they are drugs, alcohol and depression. A lot of these kids I know. They are from farming backgrounds and when they finish school they end up working on the farm, they meet up with mates for drinks on the weekends, that can lead to drinking more frequently and potentially lead to dabbling in drugs. The issue is with resources in central Victoria. These kids just don’t have access to these services. But they do have access to footy clubs and that’s where we can help. I want to encourage youth to speak up when they have a problem. I want them to feel like they’re not alone.
For information: www.outsidethelockerroom.com.au
