Seven years ago, I assisted seven sporting clubs, one after the other, to overcome the heartbreak of suicides within their communities. At every club I assisted, I heard the same message, “We never saw it coming.” These were institutions that had teamwork at the very core of what they did, but they had blind spots when it came to identifying mental health issues amongst their communities.
I founded SALT with a view to taking the values and strengths that Australians demonstrate when they are playing team sport and challenging them to apply these values to other areas of their lives. I was also determined to identify some of these blind spots that existed, to save lives and to help clubs become stronger, braver communities of care and in doing so, make lives richer and better lived.