Soccer teams’ uniform features 988 suicide lifeline number
- People experiencing a mental health crisis can call 988
- Sacramento Republic FC soccer team is wearing the number on uniforms
- One team official said they hope this will start conversations
(NewsNation) — The Sacramento Republic FC soccer team in California this season started wearing patches on their uniforms with the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline number on them.
“Republic FC and its partners will create an important conversation point that can help save lives when the 988 patch is seen weekly in every community where the team takes the field, nationally as broadcasters talk about the importance of the crisis line when they see the patch, and every time a fan wears the jersey regardless of the city,” Republic FC wrote in a news release, according to NewsNation local affiliate KTXL.
Scott Moak, vice president of community investment for Republic FC, said when they saw the opportunity to do something good with the jersey, the team went with it.
“Anywhere you go, whatever city we’re playing in, whether it’s here in Sacramento, or in the Midwest, or back east on the road .. those three numbers are still the ones to call if you need a little bit of help,” Moak said. “Someone will be there to pick up that phone.”
The more people who know about 988, Moak said on “Morning in America,” the less stigmatized the conversation around mental health will be.
It’s a conversation Moak and the Republic FC have been having more themselves.
“We received amazing comments,” Moak told NewsNation’s Adrienne Bankert. “Everybody now knows someone that has lost a loved one, a friend, a family member. Having this there to help people in that moment, that very moment that they need it — it’ll be a beautiful thing.”