Read the Play Sole Mates
Be part of the Sole Mates movement.
One in four young Australians (12-24yo) will experience a mental illness in any one year, which is why we are asking the sporting community across the Barwon Region to be part of Read The Play’s Sole Mates movement.
Football & Netball clubs (junior, senior players and umpires) will pull on their ‘Sole Mates’ socks in solidarity for the 2023 Read The Play Round on 4, 5 and 6 August to signify the importance of breaking down the stigma surrounding Mental Health and supporting your mates.
Leading the way by starting the conversation, the fundraiser aims to spread awareness and raise much needed funds to assist in further improving the educational support for Youth Mental Health in local sporting clubs.
Shop Socks

Purple socks
- Aireys Inlet
- Anakie
- Anlsea
- Apollo Bay
- Barwon Heads
- Birregura
- Colac Imps
- Geelong Amateur
- Grovedale
- Inverleigh
- Lara
- Lethbridge
- Modewarre
- Newtown & Chilwell
- North Geelong
- Northern Stars
- South Barwon
- South Colac
- St Joseph’s
- St Mary’s
- Thomson
- Torquay
- Werribee Centrals
- Western Eagles
- Winchelsea
- Corporates/Businesses

Orange socks
- Alvie
- Armstrong Creek
- Bannockburn
- Bell Park
- Bell Post Hill
- Belmont Lions
- Colac
- Corio
- Drysdale
- East Geelong
- Geelong West Giants (GFNL/GDFNL)
- Irewarra-Beeac
- Leopold
- Little River
- Lorne
- Newcomb
- North Shore
- Ocean Grove
- Otway Districs
- Peninsula Sharks
- Portarlington
- Queenscliff
- Simpson
- St Albans
- Surf Coast Suns
- Corporates/Businesses

Blue socks
- Football Umpires
- Netball Umpires
- Corporates
- Businesses
Win awesome prizes for your Club!
For every pair of socks that your club orders, you’ll receive an entry in the draw to win incredible club prizes including:
1st Prize: Sole Mates celebration with an RTP Ambassador at your club (catering, training drills and Q&A) – Winner: Lara Football Netball Club
2nd Prize: Team Road trip to see the Cats v St Kilda game at Marvel Stadium (rd 23) – Winner: Torquay Football Club
3rd Prize: $1,000 Steigen voucher to go toward 2024 club preseason apparel – Winner: Anglesea Football Club
*Terms & Conditions apply

Our Ambassadors
Leading the way by starting the conversation, the fundraiser aims to spread awareness and raise much needed funds to assist in further improving the educational support for Youth Mental Health in local sporting clubs.
Our ambassador’s Cameron Ling, Mark Blicavs, Mark O’Connor, Claudia Gunjaca & Kelsey Browne will unite and encourage others to take that first step and turn to their ‘Sole Mates’ in times of need. Highlighting the good that can come from positive club culture and the dedication to team mates well-being by simply lending an ear.
Our Socks
Read The Play have partnered with Steigen to produce the Sole Mates Netball and Football socks.
Steigen socks are an accessory for comfort – the less you feel them the better.
Designed to create an environment in which blisters are less likely to form and are a superior sock which fits the foot like a second skin.

Football Socks ($23)
The football socks are purposely made with a double layer, the inner layer is a carbon copy of the nylon lycra sock with the outer layer is made from cotton, nylon and lycra to provide extra cushioning and a warmer comfort purposely made for impact sports such as football.

Netball Socks ($20)
Steigen Netball socks are super thin, made of nylon lycra and do not hold a lot of moisture like other socks.
Read the Play!
Read the play round was a complete success 🦅
The ‘Match Ball Award’ was up for grabs for the junior games for the one player who displayed Read The Play`s values throughout the match.
Congratulations to our U15 Gold player, Eden Salvo securing this acknowledgment over the weekend 👏🏽👏🏽
📸 A grade netball
📸 U15 Saturday netball
📸 U15 Gold netball
📸 Senior Footy
#rtpsolemates
#readtheplay
#aftlbarwon
#gdfnl
readtheplayinc
Read the Play round is all about raising awareness about Mental Health, breaking down the stigma and supporting your mates.
Our Under 15 Netballers participated and the player who best displays the Read The Play Round values was presented with a Read The Play medal and the game ball! These values are RESPECT TEAMWORK
& COURAGE
Congratulations to Rikki McMaster Div 2, Chloe Aspinall Div 1, Hayley Whittakers Ammos Green & Diva Wardhana U/15 Ammos Blue.
#RTPSoleMates
#mentalhealthisateamsport
readtheplayinc
SOLE MATES 🧡💙💜
Read the Play Round
One in four young Australians (12-24yo) will experience a mental illness in any one year, which is why our U15s teams pulled on their Sole Mates socks as part of Read The Play’s movement.
Congratulations to our U/15s teams today and the winners of the Read the Play round…
Sophie Gorman, Tahlia Davis and Lilly Humphrey.
#RTPSoleMates
#mentalhealthisateamsport readtheplayinc aflbarwon
READ THE PLAY ROUND
K rock Football is proud to support readtheplayinc Round across aflbarwon and the geelongdfnl
This year`s campaign is labelled Sole Mates, with the K rock Football GFNL team all donning special Steigen socks today.
For more details on the work Read the Play does in the youth mental health area, check out https://readtheplay.org.au/
#RTPSoleMates