Police1’s Next18 report pairs golf with mental-health education. Examine the retreat format, evidence limits and questions about participant support.
In its October 2026 feature, Police1 profiled Next18, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that uses golf as an entry point for mental-wellness education for military veterans and first responders. The report describes an approach built around shared activity and structured conversation rather than a claim that playing golf treats trauma.
The featured gathering was Next18’s 40th retreat near TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Twelve men attended. Police1 described education about post-traumatic stress and moral injury alongside time on the course.
For active and retired responders, the story raises a practical question: what makes a recreation-based gathering a meaningful opportunity for support? The useful details are not just about the activity. They concern the program’s purpose and the people responsible for supporting participants.
Police1 reports that Matt McDonell founded Next18 in 2021. An Afghanistan veteran and former Army airborne infantryman, he has a master’s degree in clinical social work. He described golf as “the vehicle” rather than the mission.
That distinction is visible in the reported schedule. Educational sessions alternated with physical activity. Participants received PGA instruction and played golf, but the retreat also included reflection and sharing.
Police1 described journaling and yoga among the activities. Other practices included meditation, mindfulness and breath work. Education about post-traumatic stress and moral injury gave participants specific subjects to discuss rather than leaving the gathering at the level of general encouragement.
The editorial lesson is that the activity and the support structure deserve separate attention. Golf explains part of the setting. The educational content and opportunities for conversation explain what the organization was trying to provide.
For a responder considering this kind of program, that is a more useful starting point than treating every outdoor retreat as interchangeable. The name of the activity does not describe the full experience. The program’s stated purpose matters too.
McDonell told Police1 that Next18 does not diagnose or treat participants. Its stated role is education and resource-sharing. A retreat of this kind should therefore be understood as a possible route into connection and support, not a substitute for professional assessment or treatment when needed.
Police1 includes personal accounts of benefit. A corrections lieutenant who described insomnia and nightmares said the retreat helped him relax. Another participant later supported department wellness initiatives. These accounts describe individual experiences rather than measured clinical outcomes.
The broader research also requires restraint. A 2026 systematic review in Stress and Health characterized evidence for emergency-service health and wellbeing interventions as weak and methodologically uneven. It noted self-selection and limited long-term follow-up in residential-program evaluations. Small emergency-call-handler subsamples and the pooling of different roles also made role-specific conclusions difficult.
That review concerns other programs, not Next18. It supplies context for judging intervention claims rather than an evaluation of this organization. Neither participant testimony nor findings from unrelated programs establish that Next18 produces clinical improvement.
The practical distinction is between an opportunity that someone found valuable and an intervention with demonstrated health effects. Both deserve accurate description. Readers weighing personal care decisions can place the retreat question within a broader discussion of available mental-health support options, with qualified professionals guiding individual assessment and treatment choices.
One of the report’s clearest career-longevity examples involves Jeff Meloy, a retired police captain from Watertown, Wisconsin. Police1 says he attended a three-and-a-half-day camp and later became a facilitator. He also shared his experience and encouraged officers in his department to discuss stressors.
His account connects participation after retirement with a continuing role in peer conversation. It gives the story relevance beyond the question of staying functional for the next shift. Support and connection remain legitimate subjects after a responder leaves operational work.
For Rescuris, that is a useful career-wide perspective. Mental wellbeing should not be framed only as a tool for maintaining immediate duty performance. The question also includes what kind of support fits a person’s life during service and afterward.
Police1 reports one specific departmental response: Watertown Police awards officers training credits for attending a Next18 retreat. That is a documented local practice, not evidence of a general policy across police departments. It shows how participation was recognized in that setting without establishing what another agency should adopt.
The report also includes an assessment from Dr. Carrie Steiner, a licensed clinical psychologist for public safety and former Chicago police officer. She told Police1 that recreation such as hiking or fishing may feel more acceptable to some officers than formal one-on-one therapy. Golf was another example she discussed.
Her observation offers a possible explanation for the format’s appeal. It does not require making recreation and professional care competing choices. An approachable setting can be discussed on its own terms without turning a preference for that setting into a judgment about someone who chooses another form of support.
For readers nearing or living in retirement, thinking through support after service belongs alongside other decisions about an active life beyond the job. Meloy’s experience provides a concrete example of continued involvement rather than a template every retiree must follow.
The strongest practical guidance in Police1’s feature comes from Steiner’s advice about evaluating a program. Her focus is on the people and arrangements behind the retreat, not simply whether the activity sounds appealing.
For an individual or department considering participation, the reporting supports asking:
These are questions for an informed decision, not a guarantee of safety or effectiveness. They also help keep the discussion concrete. A statement that a retreat supports wellness is less informative than a clear account of facilitator experience and the arrangements for responding to distress.
The reported application process is another reason to distinguish different forms of professional involvement. Clinician contact when assessing fit answers a question about admission. It does not by itself describe the support available throughout the retreat, which is why Steiner’s broader questions remain relevant.
Practical access matters as well. Police1 reports that selected Next18 participants pay only for transportation. That describes the reported financial arrangement, but it does not settle the scheduling question for someone working nights or an unpredictable rotation.
For a working responder, time away from duty and ordinary responsibilities still belongs in the decision. For a retiree, transportation and the program’s fit may be more relevant considerations. Neither situation calls for treating attendance as a test of commitment to personal wellbeing.
A department considering a retreat can use the same questions without promising a particular result. Recognition of attendance and evidence of benefit are separate matters. The Watertown example documents the former; evaluating outcomes requires different information.
Police1 reports that Next18 had organized more than 40 camps for approximately 500 veterans and first responders from 44 states. It also reported a waitlist of more than 1,000 people. These are the outlet’s reported figures rather than independently audited totals, and they describe reach and demand rather than changes in health.
The feature also reported plans for a spouse program and educational content for people on the waitlist. Those were plans described in the article, not confirmation that either offering had launched. A relevant follow-up is what becomes available and how people can access it while waiting for a camp.
Other useful questions concern what happens after participants return home. Which resources do they use? Does the experience lead to further conversations or contact with qualified care? How does participation fit the different needs of active personnel and retirees?
Those questions keep attention on the purpose behind the golf. The report offers a concrete example of structured education and peer connection in a recreational setting. The next step in understanding its value is to examine what participants carry forward into daily life, without asking personal stories to stand in for outcome evidence.
Choosing a retreat involves judging the support behind the activity; Rescuris brings evidence-focused editorial guidance to that choice. By separating stress-resilience information from slogans and stigma, its coverage gives emergency-service readers a clearer basis for weighing support while respecting irregular work and health across a career.
Rescuris publishes evidence-aware guidance for firefighters, police officers, paramedics and other first responders on fitness, recovery, sleep, nutrition, stress resilience and long-term capability.
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