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New Look TYF Platform is Launched

Rugby Players Ireland have teamed up with Ireland internationals Brittany Hogan and Rónan Kelleher to launch the revamped Tackle Your Feelings (TYF) Schools online teaching platform and website.

Hogan, fresh from representing Ireland at the Rugby World Cup, and Kelleher, part of the series-winning British and Irish Lions squad this summer, joined TYF to encourage teachers and schools nationwide to sign up to the free, classroom-based programme. This initiative helps equip students across Ireland with practical tools for building resilience, emotional intelligence, and positive mental wellbeing, in a gentle and positive way.

The new TYF platform represents the most significant evolution since its launch in 2020. New features focus on enhanced user experience and improved accessibility. It integrates extensive feedback from students and teachers, alongside robust academic research and evaluation from the University of Limerick’s School, Child and Youth Mental Health and Well-being Lab (SCY-LAB), including Anna McHale’s PhD which specifically examines the use of role models in the TYF Schools programme for adolescent wellbeing promotion.

These evidence-based foundations, drawing on positive and sports psychology principles, inform key upgrades that focus on more interactive tools and resources, guiding students through fun, engaging, and playfully minded activities and lessons. The tasks and exercises are designed to enhance students’ awareness and knowledge of their own mental wellbeing, and ensures ongoing relevance for educators and their students.

Throughout the lessons, TYF ambassadors, including fellow Irish internationals James Ryan and Erin King, appear in short videos sharing their own experiences, acting as role models to encourage students to build their own toolkit for positive wellbeing.

Speaking at the launch of the new platform, Ireland and Ulster Rugby Player and Tackle Your Feelings ambassador, Brittany Hogan said: “Mental wellbeing is just as important as physical training. TYF makes these conversations easier and more engaging for students, and I’m proud to be part of something that empowers the next generation to build resilience and tackle life’s challenges head on.”

Also supporting the launch, Ireland and Leinster Rugby Player and Tackle Your Feelings ambassador, Ronan Kelleher said: “Taking care of your own wellbeing is a crucial part of being a professional rugby player and it’s great that RPI, TYF and the Z Zurich Foundation are investing so much time and effort into this platform which gives students access to these key strategies and principles.”

Simon Keogh, CEO of Rugby Players Ireland, said: “We’re immensely proud of the impact TYF has had on the community, and we’ve now taken everything we’ve learned over the past ten years to build a platform that’s more interactive, more engaging, and more impactful than ever. Our continuous evolution, driven by feedback from teachers and students and research from SCY-LAB at University of Limerick, will ensure teachers have seamless access to a programme that will always meet the growing demands of students and their teachers. Our goal with TYF is to make mental wellbeing a natural part of everyday school life.”

The TYF Programme is run by Rugby Players Ireland in partnership with Zurich Ireland, and powered by the Z Zurich Foundation. Since it was first launched ten years ago, it has motivated people across the island Ireland to be more proactive when it comes to looking after their mental wellbeing and has increased awareness around the importance of taking care of your mental health.

Anthony Brennan, CEO of Zurich Ireland said: “Teachers play a vital role in shaping not just academic success, but also the emotional wellbeing of students. Alongside the Z Zurich Foundation, we’re proud to support the launch of the revamped TYF school platform, in collaboration with Rugby Players Ireland. The platform is a powerful and positive resource that supports educators and inspires young people to thrive.”

Sign-up here.