Mind and Play

The 2TR Mind and Play programme has been developed by our in house Social Transition team in concert with external sports psychologists.  The programme is centred around using scenarios we can simulate on the football pitch that reflect situations young people face in real life.

Football creates the anchor point of understanding that we leverage to inform and develop positive behaviour.  We use football scenarios to deconstruct street language, often having the young people in hysterics at how sometimes this can be misunderstood and the impact of those misunderstandings.

We create structured positive vocabulary that can empower individuals and enable them to positively reinforce those around them.  We move from this on to life skills, goal setting and horizon broadening.  Moreover we make this a fun process that young people want to take part in.

The programmes are generally run over a week (can be 5 individual days spread out over a term) or a two week cycle (can be 10 individual days spread out over a term) and are generally run at schools or at the 2TR HQ.

The programme was originally aimed at young people from socially deprived areas, we often worked with social services and the police to help individuals back onto a positive path.  However over time we have added elements of the programme, e.g. positive vocabulary and trust building elements, into our regular Academy and Work Placement Sessions.

The Mind and Play programme generally splits its time between the football pitch and the classroom, two sample agendas below.

1 Week Programme

Day 1: Morning (Football Scenarios) Afternoon (Real Life Mirrors)

Day 2: Morning (Football Scenarios) Afternoon (Football/Street Vocabulary)

Day 3: Morning (Football with new language) Afternoon (Vocabulary Power of Words)

Day 4: Morning (Behaviour Planning) Afternoon (Design a plan for life)

Day 5: Morning (Present your plan / Debrief) Afternoon (Football competition/medals)

2nd or alternative Week – (Again using football scenarios but depending on the group the class room/field work will be split to where we feel that particular group of young people will be more receptive)

Day 1: Morning (Understanding ambitions and aspiration) Afternoon (Defining individual ambitions)

Day 2: Morning (Understanding the Path to success) Afternoon (Designing a path to achieve your ambition)

Day 3: Morning (Successful C.V. Writing) Afternoon (Writing individual C.V.s)

Day 4: Morning (Understanding Interviews) Afternoon (Structuring answers to achieve success)

Day 5: Morning (Test Interviews) Afternoon (Football competition/medals)