For information and tips on COVID-19 mental health and wellbeing visit the: NSW Mental Health Commission
Your sport club may also be preparing for return to play and looking at how it can best support members who may be feeling anxious and stressed, as well as being welcoming to people with lived experience of mental health issues.
The following checklists and toolkit may assist you prepare: Orygen Supporting Mental Health in Community Sport resource
The NSW Institute of Sport is a high-performance sporting organisation that supports Australian athletes to become world’s best. We reach all regions of NSW with an Olympic and Paralympic training facility based at Sydney Olympic Park and high-performance hubs across NSW that provide world class daily training environments for our athletes and coaches.
NSW Institute of Sport has developed the High Performance at Home resource which aims to help everyday Australians maintain their physical and mental wellbeing at home.
Visit NSW Institute of Sport for more information.
- Beyond Blue directory of hotlines and referral services
- Black Dog Institute help directory
- Head space – young people
What club committees can do
There are 8 key steps club committees should follow to create safe and fair clubs.
Specifically, when it comes to mental health consider:
- Recognise sports clubs are a great place to help break down stigma and start conversations on mental health.
- Offer free talks or training to members
- Have mental health days or dedicated rounds to raise awareness
- Partner with local mental health agencies and support services.
- Club leaders should proactively discuss:
- Creating a mentally healthy workplace for your volunteers and staff
- Creating positive environments for sports participation
- Being inclusive and supportive of people with mental health issues.
Do this by:
- Having a good understanding of mental health yourself - be a role model
- Training and educating key people in your club on mental health
- Discussing mental health and risks for your club at meetings
- Develop, adopt and enforce policies and codes which support positive environments (eg. anti bullying)
- Ask members for ideas and listen.