LOCAL sports stars Pody McCrory, Patrick McBride and Jody Lynch led a talk in ‘Resilience through Sport’ at Marrowbone Park Community Hub in north Belfast on Thursday night, offering insights into their own life struggles and mechanisms to overcome them.
Organised by local community group Community Football Company to mark World Mental Health Day, former Cliftonville ace Jody Lynch spoke about his troubles with addiction and how his family and surrounding himself with good people have helped him come out the other side.
“Since I’ve stopped drinking, I’ve found out who I really am,” said Lynch, who stopped drinking over four years ago.
“I’ve found out that I’m a good father, I’m a good partner, I coach kids, I give back to the community, I help others, I help the kids in school. I’m proud of who I’ve become and the person I was meant to be.”
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Antrim senior football ace Patrick McBride suffered the loss of his sister Marie last year who died by suicide. McBride spoke candidly about his family’s loss and how sport helped him through difficult times.
And local boxer McCrory wanted to take part in the local discussion to be brought out of his “comfort zone” having battled with a speech impediment for most of his life.
“Community Football Company is a non-profit social enterprise,” said organiser Conor Stewart.
“It was set up in 2020. We are committed to building better communities, fostering health and well-being and unity through football.
“We’ve organised events like this before and also cross-community football tournaments and educational programmes for schools. We want to empower communities through football.”
