As one of the founders for mental health education in sporting communities, OTLR has the experience of working with athletes from grassroots to elite level.
Identifying sport and sporting communities as an avenue to provide vital mental wellbeing education, Founder Jake Edwards, coming from an AFL background, understood the sporting landscape and how important sport is to the Australian community.
By going into sporting clubs, where athletes feel safe and secure around their peers, proactive prevention education around mental health is well received. Athletes are able to relate to each other, share experiences and learn from those who have previously been on similar journeys.
As stated by a person with lived experience, “we may be unique, but we aren’t special”. What they mean by this phrase is that while each of our experiences my be unique in their own way, we are not special to be the only ones who have been through these experiences before.
A sporting club is an incredible place, where 100, 200, 300 or more people come together for a shared value and to participate in their chosen sport. In these clubs, there are many life experiences we can learn from. Injury, marriage, birth, death, divorce, starting a business, losing a business, finding a job, losing a job, young love and broken hearts.
While we may feel like we are special and we are the only ones who have gone through this experience, we are wrong. There are many people around us who have been through these experiences before and come out the other side. We can learn from them, learn from their mistakes and their successes, and understand we are not alone in our journey of life, their is support around us.
This is why sporting clubs are such powerful drivers for mental health awareness, mental wellbeing education and for welfare support.
Having a program such as OTLR, TYF, Mindful Aus and many more, in your club is a vital step to providing on going guidance and awareness to your athletes, whether you are a grassroots sporting club or at the elite level.
Change the game for mental health!
