Before the Bledisloe Cup kicked off at Eden Park on Saturday 10 October, 672 children and parents ran onto the field.
The Sir John Kirwan Foundation says they set a world record for the most participants in a rugby, touch or mini-tag exhibition match.
The 12-minute non-contact Mitey Match was the curtain-raiser. Tamariki aged 5 to 15 came onto the field in waves to face a team of former and current players led by Sir John Kirwan, including Richie McCaw and Ian Jones.
The match was the high point of the foundation’s Drive for Five campaign. It set out to rally five million New Zealanders behind Mitey, its mental health education programme for primary and intermediate schools.
The campaign has a long-term fundraising goal of $5 million to take Mitey into more schools.
“We set out with a massive ambition to rally five million Kiwis behind mental health education and break a world record, but tonight was about so much more than numbers,” Sir John said.
“Seeing over 600 passionate kids and their whānau take to Eden Park, shows what Aotearoa can achieve when we stand together for our tamariki.”
Faith Diamond King, from Tauranga, was one of the young players chosen for the Mitey Match youth squad.
She shared her story on the Mitey website.
“I am currently suffering from a mental health disorder that disrupts my experiences at Kura and my environment I live in,” Faith said. “I try every day to do my best, and playing in the Mitey Match means I can be an example for my Kura, friends, and Whānau while supporting Mitey.”
What Mitey is
Mitey is a school-wide mental health education programme for Years 1 to 8. The foundation says teachers and the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education and Social Work co-designed it.
The programme works through the whole school, not just a single unit or extra lesson. Schools get coaching from Mitey coaches, who are senior teachers, and a wellbeing review tool to plan from their own strengths and needs.
The learning follows the Mitey Framework, a stepped progression aligned to the New Zealand Curriculum and the Mental Health Education Guidelines.
Units of work run across subjects, so a class can learn about feelings while also practising literacy skills such as inference.
The programme is built on the Mana Model of Student Wellbeing, which comes from New Zealand research. Its key finding, according to Mitey, is that children thrive when they can build their own mana.
Schools also get governance and policy advice, ideas for involving their community, staff wellbeing support and an online resource hub.
Rugby gets behind it
All Black Anton Leinert-Brown refereed the match.
“Building mental resilience early is so crucial, and seeing the rugby community gather to support Sir John’s vision and the Mitey Foundation is something really special to be part of,” he said.
The foundation thanked New Zealand Rugby and Eden Park for their support.
Schools interested in becoming a Mitey school can find out more at mitey.org.nz.
