Ice hockey takes the lead in the fight for young people's mental health.

In a joint effort to promote young people's mental health,
Hockeykontor Stockholm-Gotland and PlayWellMinds are launching a pilot project. During the spring, 4 associations were trained in the groundbreaking mental training program PlayWell7, with the goal of strengthening young people's mental resilience – both on and off the ice. Now, the Hockey Office is taking the next step and continuing to train associations after receiving very positive feedback from the initial test.

"This is an important step for us. We see a growing need to support our youth not only physically but also mentally. This collaboration is completely in line with our values," says Carina Oddsberg, manager at Hockeykontor Stockholm-Gotland.

"We see mental training as an important part of player education. It helps our players perform better on the ice – but also feel better in everyday life," adds Matheus Vieweg, sporting director.

The pilot and the program also align with The Swedish Sports Confederation's vision of creating a safe, inclusive, and developing sports environment, where the psychosocial climate is prioritized equally with physical performance. With PlayWellMinds, we are building both the person and the performance – sustainably and in the long term.

During late summer and autumn, the program will be rolled out in several ice hockey associations within the districts with support from both lectures and a digital app. The goal is for the program, after evaluating the pilot, to become a recurring part of the Hockey Office's training for youth activities.

"We created PlayWellMinds to give young people the same mental tools as the adult elite – but in a way that is accessible, fun, and sustainable. That ice hockey in Stockholm & Gotland is now choosing to test this in practice shows both strong leadership and a commitment for a better future for our youth."
— Henrik Cronebäck, Founder of PlayWellMinds

About PlayWellMinds
PlayWellMinds has developed a groundbreaking concept that combines modern psychology, sport psychology, and digital pedagogy. The program has been developed together with licensed psychologist Lisa Clefberg and sports psychological advisor Johan Fallby and is based on seven key steps to train the brain in the same way as the body is trained on the ice.