Football (Soccer) is Life

Have you seen Ted Lasso yet? There’s a character named Danny Rojas and his motto is: “Football is liiiiiiiife!”

That’s how I have always lived my life. Sport and activity have always been an outlet for me. For nearly 24 years, I have been playing soccer. It’s taught me so much along the way, both physically and mentally.

Most recently, soccer has taken me around the world to a strange foreign land filled with cuddly koalas and terrifying spiders. I have been here for a little over a year now and am finally starting to feel settled in. After all these years of playing and honing my trade, I wasn’t worried about the physical aspect of the sport. I wasn’t worried about my ability. I was absolutely terrified entering a place so unknown to me with no support system. I was leaving my life behind to fly 12,000 miles (sorry, I still don’t know how to convert to kilometers - and yes, I spell it “ers” not “res”) to play the sport I love. Scary stuff. Probably scarier than a huntsman…nah…not scarier than a huntsman.

You know what I found when I arrived? A group of people asking me how they can help with my adjustment to an Aussie life. A community of people eager to assist in helping me settle into a new country. That’s the beauty of a team sport. The collectiveness. I have been absolutely blown away by the outpouring of love.

Fast forward one year and people are still wanting to assist me in settling. It’s how I found Paragon PsychConnect. Nathan plays for the same team and offered me an introduction to Maria. Isn’t that so Adelaide? Now, here we are. One trophy down, two to go!

The Team at Paragon PsychConnect all work as a Team.  We all share clients to give them the best service possible. Maria may be working with someone as a Psychologist, I (Cameron) will be working as a Psychosocial recovery coach and Nathan as the Mentor.  But we are all on the same page – our goals are kicked when our client achieves the mental health (and physical) outcome they want. And that is the football (soccer) of life.