Port Kembla Football Club is partnering with University of Wollongong to implement a mental health program designed specifically for sporting teams. The initiative includes a 45-minute therapy session for groups of players in an environment like a changing room before or after training.

The Zebras have committed to funding the program's first 20 sessions. With support from Football South Coast and NSW NPL club Wollongong Wolves, Port will hold a United in Strength gala night this Saturday to raise awareness and generate money for the initiative.

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Port president Frank Gigliotti said United in Strength was "extremely important" for his club and the wider Illawarra community.

"In the last few years, we've had a couple of incidences in relation to mental health and we've lost a couple of boys. The club's still hurting from that and as a result, some of our players are still receiving some therapy. But I'm sure there's other clubs that are going through depression and mental health issues with some of their young players," Gigliotti said.

"I believe that also leads on to the general community. If we can get some suitable programs out there, it will help everybody in the community. We're working through this with the University of Wollongong and they've written a program specific to football. At the moment, Port Kembla's paid for 20 sessions to be rolled out to our football clubs, so the whole idea for our function on July 2 is to launch the whole thing, and to also raise funds to be able to roll out some more sessions."

Gigliotti also praised FSC and the Wolves for getting behind the initiative.

"It makes me extremely proud. The Wolves have supported this from day one and now, with Football South Coast on board, I think it will succeed. If we didn't have that support, we'd probably run the 20 sessions and then hit a brick wall," he said. "But with their support, we think we can grow this and just keep it going."

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The United in Strength gala night will take place on Saturday at the Fraternity Club. It will feature a host of guest speakers and entertainment from Dream Warriors and Ambition of Art.

Wolves chief executive Strebre Delovski said his club was proud to throw their support behind the initiative.

"We know it's [mental health] a major issue in society these days and as a club, we strongly support this and we believe it should be compulsory for all players at a level to be able go through this program and we want to be proactive rather than reactive," Delovski said.

"As a club, we support the initiative and commend not only Port Kembla, but also University of Wollongong for coming on board. As a community and a football family, we all need to get behind it."

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