Rugby League Cares is supporting Beyond the Sidelines, a mental health initiative for the the families of professional athletes.
Founded by and for professional athlete families, Beyond the Sidelines (BTS) vision is to create happy, successful and fulfilled professional athlete family lives.
Its mission is to bring together a trusted community of professional athlete families to care, support and educate one another through their unique shared experience and understanding of the highs and lows of a professional athlete’s career.
The idea was sparked through personal experiences of two partners of professional athletes and their time spent with Nigel O’Flaherty Johnston, Director of Swan Counselling, Mentoring and Coaching (CMC) who has been the Welfare Officer for Leeds Rhinos for four years. They joined forces to create BTS, a unique membership service that drives social support through its community and recognises the need for greater mental health and well-being support for the families of professional athletes.
In doing so, BTS seeks to encourage the professional sports industry to place more focus on the mental health of families and recognise the benefits of doing so for the performance of professional athletes.
Steve McCormack, Head of Welfare, Rugby League Cares said: “We are focused on providing a holistic support programme through our player welfare programme.
“BTS complements our efforts perfectly. Positive supportive relationships are an essential aspect in all our lives. The team at BTS understand this and can support from multiple perspectives, but more importantly come at their support from the perspective of a pro athlete partner.
“A happy, healthy family life ultimately leads to the delivery of our goal of a flourishing, successful athlete.”
Nigel O’Flaherty Johnston, Director of Swan CMC said: “Over the past few years there has been a shift in focus to the mental health of the athlete being just as important as their physical health in ensuring optimum performance.
“I am supporting more and more partners and families in dealing with both the impact on the mental health of the athlete in challenging times, but equally their own, providing them with coping mechanisms and tools to deal with the impact of such instances as athlete injury or retirement.”
Laura Hanson BTS Founder and partner of professional golfer Chris Hanson said: “Many people have the view that being a partner of a professional athlete is ‘glamourous’. Don’t get me wrong, being in the pro sport industry brings many highs but what people don’t see are the lows, challenges and pressures it can bring on the family.
“We need a more holistic support system that works both on the pitch and ‘Beyond the Sidelines’ – one that supports the athlete but also those closest to them with the emotional tools required to deal with the challenging times that a professional sporting career can bring and support a long term successful, happy family life.”
Lotty Steel BTS Founder and partner of retired professional Rugby League player Brett Delaney, said: “Life as a partner of a pro-athlete can be a rollercoaster; being able to talk to others who had experienced similar situations alongside regular catch ups with Nigel at the Rhinos meant I was more emotionally equipped to deal with the challenges that retirement and a career ending injury brought for Brett and our home lives.
“We are passionate about transitioning this change in the sporting industry, so that more families of athletes across all sports have access to the support we’ve had and the benefits that a more holistic support system can bring to family lives.”
Until now there has been no initiative that exists to support the mental health of families of athletes and research in this area across the globe is limited. To address this, BTS have partnered with researchers at Edge Hill University to better understand the mental health of families of professional athletes and use this research to inform the development of a holistic family support programme in the professional sports industry.
Professor Andy Smith, Edge Hill University said: “We are delighted to partner with BTS and RL Cares to support the mental health of families of professional athletes. Much of the existing research focuses on the lives of athletes and the mental health challenges they experience.
“Relatively little is known about the mental health of the partners and families of professional athletes and how this can, and often does, impact the lives of the athletes themselves. Some research has indicated that professional athletes divorce at a significantly higher rate than the general population, with some studies estimating this to be as high as 70% or above.
“There are also many other impacts on the lives of professional athletes and their families that need to be better understood and supported. To that end, the creation of BTS provides an important opportunity to help support professional athlete families to lead a happier, content and longer-term family life and we look forward to working with them and RL Cares to achieve this.”
On presenting the initiative to Leeds Rhinos and Rugby League Cares, they resonated with the BTS mission and aims, becoming key partners in supporting to drive the project forward in its founding year.
Kevin Sinfield, Director of Rugby, Leeds Rhinos said: “We are delighted at Leeds Rhinos to be supporting the ‘Beyond the Sidelines’ project.
“We have seen in recent years how important a holistic approach to player welfare is and how that benefits the player and the club as a whole.
“We are proud to think of our team as a family and ‘Beyond the Sidelines’ offers a way for us to support our players at home as well as in the work place.”
Beyond the Sidelines will offer free membership to families of all professional sport athletes enabling them to access online workshops, resources, peer mentor support and family counselling services. The next 12 months seeks to grow their trusted members community, developing new research with Edge Hill University, and running a workshop and peer mentor trial with Leeds Rhinos partners and families.
Visit www.beyondthesidelines.co.uk for more information or if you are partner of or a family member of professional athlete and would like to become a member, you can sign up via the website or email hello@beyondthesidelines.co.uk.
