Prince William and David Beckham talk about mental health with soccer players

Prince William has been a strong advocate for mental health issues since quite some time and in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the member of the British royal family came forth to address the matter once again.

The Duke of Cambridge was joined by football legend David Beckham and other athletes in a video call where they stressed on the significant need for mental health to become a priority in sports.

The former soccer star told the duke during the interaction: “I made a mistake in ‘98 and the reaction at the time was pretty brutal...If social media was around when I was going through that time, it would have been a whole different story."

"But I was lucky, I had a support system within Manchester United, the manager and obviously family. But did I feel it was okay at the time to go to someone and say I need help? No, because it was a different era, and I just felt that I had to keep it all in and deal with it myself. Whereas now, I’m the one preaching to my kids and to other kids that I talk to out there that it’s really important to talk,” Beckham said.

“We all know now that it’s okay not to be okay, and it’s ok to say that. It’s okay to come out and say I need help,” he added.

Prince William launched the Mentally Healthy Football Declaration recently which has been signed by leaders of the entire football clan. This is the culmination of the Heads Up campaign that has been operating all through the season that was brought to a halt owing to the pandemic.

William expressed his gratitude to all the senior players and officials who jumped on a call with him last week as he said: "I really hope that you guys feel that the tide is turning on mental health and we are making progress.”

Steph Houghton, England and Manchester City player said during the call: "As a leader, you try and be this person that’s always strong and always really positive, but the reality is sometimes you’re going to have a bit of a bad day. I think the way that you grow as a leader and [create] the environment for people to open up is if you show that little bit of vulnerability – maybe one day you do have a bad day, you’re a bit down or you’ve maybe not played as well as you possibly can, it’s ok to show that.”