When Diane Harner joined the committee of Raiders All Stars Netball Club at the beginning of the year it did not take her long to realise her skills as a registered therapist could be just what was needed.
Informed of how stress and anxiety could be associated with many elements of daily life at the club, based in Brisbane’s inner north, Harner offered a solution by proposing the creation of the role of Wellbeing Officer as part of the Raiders’ committee.
“What I was hearing is that there was a stress and anxiety happening, particularly around trials and team selections, and umpiring,” Harner said.
“We are a massive club so it is reasonable to expect that some of our members would experience struggles with their mental wellbeing throughout the season that may impact their enjoyment of the game.
“As a registered therapist with my own private practice I thought, ‘I can help out here’.”
With the Raiders committee in full support of her proposal, Harner quickly became a sounding board for players, coaches, officials and family members throughout the club.
Examples of Harner’s work included aiding players who had suffered season-ending injuries to find their place within the Raiders community during their recovery as well as providing tips for parenting children in sports and tricks for reducing stress via the club’s website and social media channels.
“This support is there for everybody,” she said.
“It's for the players. It's for the families of the players. For our coaches. For our umpires. For our committee members. For our volunteers.
“Essentially anybody who makes a contribution to the club.
“We particularly wanted to support our junior umpires and coaches to ensure we nurture their development for the years to come.”
Harner’s initiative and the benefits she has provided to her netball community were acknowledged the 2022 NQ Awards earlier this month when she claimed the community innovation award.
Having shown the benefits of a Wellbeing Officer within her own club, Harner is hopeful it becomes a role that is adopted by clubs and associations across the state.
“There is a great need for this role throughout our entire netball community,” Harner said.
“Every club and association should be looking at this.
“In my private practice I specialise in adolescent mental health and I also co-facilitate a parenting programme for the parents of tween and teen girls.
“One of the things that I'm very passionate about is keeping kids playing and enjoying sport because exercise and sport are incredibly protective for mental health.
“During the teen years, there is a big drop off in participation and it’s partly due to things such as friendship issues, stress about performance, not getting selected into the team that they want and body image issues – amongst other things.
“Having a person that is on site and able to help these players get through these struggles, increases the chances of them staying in sport, and that's what I'm really passionate about.”
If you’re interested in implementing a Wellbeing Officer role in your club or association contact your Netball Queensland regional manager.
