The push Birregurra FNC needed…
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The push Birregurra FNC needed…

At SALT we often receive letters of thanks. Rarely are they as well written or as moving as this one:

“A few of us at Birregurra FNC had been talking for a while about bringing someone in to do a mental health and wellbeing session with our footballers and netballers, knowing that for many of us – young and old – maintaining good mental health can be an ongoing struggle. 

As coach of the reserves footy team, I’m used to receiving Thursday night messages from blokes saying they won’t be able to play the coming weekend, because they’re going to a festival, going fishing, going camping, can’t be bothered, whatever. Midway through the 2022 season I received a Thursday night text from one of our twos players that absolutely floored me. 

“I’m really sorry Pete, I won’t be able to play this weekend. This morning I tried to take my own life.” 

Clubs With Heart Act Before Things Go Wrong

Clubs With Heart Act Before Things Go Wrong

Sport and Life Training (SALT) gets a lot of calls from local sporting clubs when things have gone wrong.

‘We need a course on respect and equality’ explained the President of this typical suburban footy club. He went on to explain why.

‘Our women’s teams do the warm-ups with our men’s teams at training. One of our young blokes said quite loudly, ‘Why do we have to train with these ****s?’ The Pres explained that they had dealt with it strongly. ‘We suspended him for 4 weeks and during those weeks he had to run the water out to the women’s teams. We need to follow up with some in-club education,’ he explained.

Are you languishing? Watch out for this symptom of pandemic fatigue.

Are you languishing? Watch out for this symptom of pandemic fatigue.

It’s been a very insecure and rocky road since the beginning of 2020 and mental health issues have been a very natural fallout of the times we’ve been through.

But there are large number of Australians who believe they are coping.  They are working productively (whether at home or at the workplace), looking after their families and loved ones, doing what activities are allowed dependent on the times and generally feeling like they are in control.  They have energy and they aren’t depressed but they may not anticipate anything in the future like they used to do. Describe “languishing” to them and see the understanding dawn in their eyes.

Success isn’t a straight line, look for alternative paths

Success isn’t a straight line, look for alternative paths

It’s important that we all work to empower girls to use their strengths, their skills, their talents to reach their full potential. To encourage them to pursue their goals, follow their dreams and live happy, fulfilled lives. It’s also important that we prepare them for the challenges, and train them to look for alternative routes to success if one pathway gets blocked.

Time to man up

Time to man up

Have you, like I have, been dismayed at the horrendous stories of sexual violence and assault over recent weeks coming from parliament house, Sydney schoolkids and so many other places?

We all know that this behaviour is in no way a reflection of men as a whole, however, fully two thirds of young men in Australia recall being told that a “real man” behaves in a certain way, i.e. self-sufficient, tough, physically attractive, rigidly gendered, risk-taking. 60% feel that society thinks that a bloke that doesn’t fight ‘violence with violence’ is weak.

Healthy Masculinity – what does it mean and why is it so important?

Healthy Masculinity – what does it mean and why is it so important?

Think about the men you know.  Chances are they are decent, loving, caring people – and that’s what you like about them. However, the traditional gender stereotypes applied to boys and men is more about being tough, self-sufficient, patriarchal, and even alpha. Most Australians acknowledge the harm this stereotyping does, and many are receptive to changing their language, their expectations and their portrayal of men in this way.  Not trying to stamp out masculinity, but rather moving away from rigid stereotypes and embracing more diverse forms of masculinity.