About Us
Dave Burt, Founder
SALT Sport and Life Training is a not-for-profit health promotion organisation.
Our vision is To Transform Australian Culture Through Sport.
why we exist
in 2013-14, salt founder dave burt worked with 7 clubs over an 18 month period, all of whom had lost people they loved to suicide. at every club, dave heard the same message, "we never saw it coming".
Around that time, Latrobe University did a study that established that typically we are 3 times more connected in the sporting club than we are at school or work. https://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/742528/Latrobe_Value-of-a-Community-Football-Club_summary_FINAL.pdf
We play sport because we want to, we are highly invested, yet Dave recognised that there were blind spots in terms of our care for each other, sometimes also there was a hyper masculine attitude towards alcohol, sexualised attitudes towards women and more.
SALT began officially in 2015 as a not for profit, preventative, education company working in local sporting clubs to create connected, caring communities that would take their strengths from sport e.g. courage, inter-dependence, good decision making, good communication under pressure, selflessness etc and apply these strengths to the things in life that matter more than sport such as relationships, work, school and the challenges of a pressured life.
Today SALT goes wide and deep with clubs to address the myriad of influences that relate to mental health and wellbeing. Starting with Peer Group Pressure and Decision Making courses for 12-14 year olds and Positive Parenting and Positive Coaching courses for adults, SALT works with clubs to set young people up for success in every aspect of life using sport as the vehicle.
what we deliver
We deliver quality education, culture and leadership sessions into sporting clubs, schools and businesses.
We use trained and experienced teachers who understand the context of sporting club culture.
our story
SALT began in 2015 after founder, Dave Burt attended 7 clubs over a period of 18 months to help them recover and restore their communities due to the impact of suicide.
In every club, Dave heard the same thing, ‘We never saw it coming’.
Recognising the remarkable strengths sports people displayed on the field – courage, sacrifice, commitment, good decision making under pressure, strong communication and more, Dave resolved to create positive, interactive education programs that would drive clubs to become as strong off the field as they were on it.
Since 2015, times have changed and so has SALT.
We have worked with thousands of clubs in 22 different sporting codes. We now have over 12 different courses with versions suitable for 12 year old’s through to parents and coaches. We have discovered that to really affect change we need to go deep with clubs. We now partner with clubs to become ‘Clubs with Heart’. This involves working with clubs for 6 months to 2 years to create the club story, identify and overcome the barriers, acquire the knowledge needed, build the right structures, leaders and behaviours and ultimately achieve competitive greatness on and off the field.