Photo: Kyle Bray/WBZ NewsRadio
NEWTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) —Goals for Good, a three-on-three soccer tournament to raise money for youth mental health care, was held on Sunday at Newton South High School.
The event was organized by three rising Newton seniors— Liza Friedman, Jesse Dash and Risa Goldfeld— who are also spending their summer interning at Doc Wayne, a local mental health service for young people.
Dozens of people showed up to the soccer tournament.
David Cohen, CEO of Doc Wayne, told WBZ NewsRadio that traditional therapy may not be the most effective for some kids.
“The idea is just to get them to trust an adult to talk and if we can do it through a ball then that’s what we’re all about,” he said, adding that sports therapy is a great alternative.
Goldfeld said that’s what she was most excited to learn about at her internship.
“I feel like mental health is always treated as like a secondary need compared to physical health,” she said.
The three students were inspired to give back teach kids the importance of taking care of one’s mental health. Dash said he “thought the idea of combining sports and mental health is a really good idea.”
Meantime, Friedman said that hosting the fundraiser pushed her out of her “comfort zone.”
Sunday’s fundraiser raised around $5,000.
“I think it’s very rewarding that our work paid off,” Goldfeld said. “So many people and businesses were willing to help us.”
WBZ NewsRadio's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.