The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has expanded its focus on the wellbeing and mental health of Australia’s elite athletes to include their coaches and support staff.
Director of Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement at the AIS, Matti Clements said that with the impacts of COVID-19 being felt across the globe, the spotlight had been on high-performance athletes, but there was also a need to include coaches and support staff.
Ms Clements said the emphasis on athlete wellbeing during these challenging times had come with a more recent development to ensure that the professionals — and families — around them were not being overlooked.
“The AIS is offering its Mental Health Referral Network (MHRN) to those coaches and support staff,” Ms Clements said.
She said the AIS was highlighting the example of world champion javelin thrower, Kelsey-Lee Barber (pictured) who was encouraging athletes to check in with their coaches and getting them to ask the question: “Am I looking after myself too?”
Ms Barber, whose coach, Mike, also happens to be her husband, says that while part of a coach’s job was checking in with their athletes, it was critical that this care was reciprocated.
“So sometimes the simplest thing as an athlete we can do is stop and just go, ‘are you OK? How are you doing?’,” Ms Barber said.
Ms Clements said the AIS understood that the uncertainty, loss of normal routine and adjustment to new timelines were affecting everyone within the high performance sporting community.
“We are working with athletes as well as coaches and the wider sporting sector to ensure they have all the necessary support to get through these uncertain times,” she said.
