How could a more appropriate story inspire people’s mental health?

For many athletes, years of training can provide routine, purpose and identity – but what happens when it all stops?

That question is at the heart of a new story that explores the mental health of people around the boxing world.

An angler follows a fighter forced to confront life outside the ring after years spent dedicated to the sport.

Through the story, the story explores the loss of purpose, the difficulty some have spoken of in terms of mental health and the support they can find within themselves.

Writer and producer Cathal J Ferris said the idea grew out of his own experience of fights and interviews with fighters.

“What happens to the boxer after he retires really played on my mind,” he said, adding that the same questions about identity and purpose could apply above the smile.

‘What does he fight after he retires?’

The story follows Liam Casey, who devoted much of his life to boxing, from the age of about nine to the age of 30.

For Ferris is told not only of the ring being left, but of the loss of custom that comes with it.

“The idea of ​​structure and what life is like every time you lose that structure definitely played on my mind,” he said.

“There are people who have been working in odd jobs for 10, 12, 13 years and just decide to change industries.

“I think a lot of people don’t know what to do for themselves.”

Ferris grew up performing in amateur theater in Belfast and Lisburn before going to drama school in London in 2012.

On returning home he said he had the opportunity to tell new stories about the place where he grew up.

“I’m a Belfast boy at heart and it’s great to tell stories from the city,” he said.

Ferris said that “the boxing association in Belfast is phenomenal” and that it should be portrayed as the biggest part of the story.

‘If you’re a man and you’re struggling… you talk to someone’

Along with boxing, the story also looks at how people talk – or sometimes don’t talk – about their mental health.

“I think the old phrase is ‘say nothing,’ and we know it all too well,” Ferris said.

“As a person, it’s definitely difficult for me to talk about these things, and I’m trying to be a little more open.”

In the story, Liam struggles with life behind the scenes, but there are other people around him who provide a support network – something Ferris said was a big part of the story.

“Of course you have to talk, so definitely if you’re a man and you’re struggling, at least talk to someone,” he said.

‘men supporting men’;

Director Emma Copeland said she knew little about boxing before getting involved in the production, but she quickly immersed herself in the fun.

“He really got into boxing and went to pack in boxing classes and is still going,” he said.

Copeland said he also watched movies, read books and autobiographies and listened to podcasts to make sure he knew the world he was portraying.

For her, one of the most important parts of the story is that they offer themselves to help men.

“The angle that I see is people helping people, helping each other and talking and encouraging and encouraging the conversation,” he said.

“rather than blocking or obstructing oneself in one’s sense.”

‘Make the children think a little’

For actor Gary Trainor, the experience Liam goes through isn’t something that only applies to boxers.

Trainor, who plays gym owner Marty as well as several other roles, said suddenly losing something that was central to your life could happen in many different situations.

“He’s been so busy fighting in the world his whole life, to lose it in one injury and to try and figure out his life after this is, I think, probably in a lot of people’s lives universally,” he said.

“That maybe losing a job, something like that.”

Trainor called the story “full of heart and humor” and said she hoped to “make a few boys think.”

For him, his message was elaborated – that “people should talk to each other a little more about what they are feeling and how things should be done”.