Simeon Perry: "I Want to Break the Mental Health Stigma Around Young Men"

Simeon, 19, played for Charnwood College Riders in Loughborough for two seasons while completing his A-Levels, but now back in Derby, he is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Team England stars at the Commonwealth Games. 

Simeon, who fell in love with basketball aged 11 after his auntie encouraged him to take up the sport, explained: “When I was 10, I fractured my knee when I was at school – on my birthday actually, so the whole of that year I was pretty much wheelchair-bound and bed-bound and I really wasn’t active. 

“I'd been doing gymnastics, so I flipped and I just landed awkwardly. I had to have surgery the next morning so that was a birthday to remember! My auntie got in touch as one of her work friends had said, 'your nephew is quite tall, why don’t you see and find out if he’s good at basketball?' 

“I went down to a training session and ever since then, I’ve just loved it - it helped me make friends, it helped me with my confidence again. I just fell in love with the game. I’ve always played in Derby up until the last two years, where I moved to Loughborough to play at Charnwood College so I did that after my GCSEs. 

“I played in the EABL and the Division Two Men’s League - that was good because I completed my A-Levels. Then this year I moved back to Derby to do a third year at Derby Academy where I’m doing a sport massage course, and still playing EABL and Division One and Division Three with the men’s teams.” 

With the Commonwealth Games fast approaching, Simeon himself is very excited by the prospect of Team England’s basketball hopes in Birmingham – four years on from the men finishing sixth and the women winning silver on the Gold Coast. 

He said: “It’s amazing because I remember watching the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast and watching both the England teams perform well at basketball - especially the women’s squad. 

“They finished second at the Games there, so it was really cool to watch, but it’s going to be even better having it just literally on my doorstep – it’s a really exciting time. I think a big part of it is the fact that it is at home, not only in the UK, but in Birmingham, so having so many athletes in one place nearby and seeing them perform is going to be amazing to watch, and hopefully I'll be part of that someday. 

“It’s a long time away, but at the same time those four years are going to go quickly, so I think it’s good for me to have that target and hopefully get there, so I can see by the time the next Games come around if I have done the work to be able to get there.” 

And while Simeon loves basketball, he has other passions outside of the sport - namely in teaching and in changing the stigma around mental health in young men. 

“I’m hoping to become a professional basketball player and play at a high level for a long time,” he said. “But alongside that, I’m hoping to become a teacher - once I finish at college, I’m going on to study primary education at university, so I can still play basketball alongside my academic career as well. 

“I’ve always had in the back of my mind that I want to be able to provide for my family, so I have that to fall back on if needs be. Alongside being a teacher, I want to go to schools and help children to be able to express how they’re feeling a lot more. 

“I know when I was younger, I struggled dealing with my emotions and I would keep things to myself that I probably should have talked about to other people, and I know how that can affect you internally. 

“Being able to be that support for other children as they get older - I want them to feel like they don’t have to keep those things to themselves, and that it’s alright to talk out, especially young men and boys because there is a massive stigma about men and boys talking about their feelings. 

"It doesn’t make you any weaker than you want to be seen as - in fact, it makes you stronger to be able to articulate how you’re feeling.” 

And Simeon feels SportsAid has played an influential role in his already impressive basketball career as he looks to scale new heights in the years ahead. 

“SportsAid have helped massively with their financial contributions - since the age of 15 they’ve been supporting me," he added. “They have helped me so much - going to European Championships in 2019, going to tournaments in Denmark in 2018, but also throughout the pandemic. They had a lot of workshops on in the lockdowns that allowed me to stay active and learn more about myself as an athlete." 

Commonwealth Games England has appointed SportsAid to lead on the development, management and operational delivery of Team England Futures at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The programme, supported by Sport England, will reinforce the importance of the Commonwealth Games, particularly one hosted on home soil, as a developmental opportunity within the talent and performance pathway!