Do you or does your club/ organisation run cycling programs, events or training? Have you faced difficult issues around athlete well-being or concerned about the growing trend in prevalence of mental health issues?

As part of the Autumn Cycling Classic @ La Trobe University, we are hosting a mental health and athlete well-being session Friday evening before the event. This is an opportunity to hear from thought leaders who are actively working on these topics in other sporting disciplines. The panel bring diverse perspectives from various sports, as coaches, athletes, psychologists and approaching the full spectrum of issues from emergency situations, transition out of sports, high performance to well-being participation approaches.

Following short presentations, audience members will have the opportunity for Q&A as well as working directly with panel members to action plan how these ideas can be integrated into cycling programs. This is targetted at cycling club committee members, coaches, leaders, and La Trobe faculty/ staff.

Refreshments will be provided during the session, courtesy of event sponsors.

This event is free.

Guest Speakers:

Paul O'Halloran - Paul is the the Deputy Director of the Sport Exercise and Rehabilitation Research Focused Area at La Trobe University. Paul has been a practicing psychologist for over 15 years (primarily in sport, physical activity, and mental health) and is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society. Paul's research expertise is in behaviour change in sport and rehabilitation settings and evaluation research (increasing participation in sport and physical activity and mental health stigma reduction). http://betteroutthanin.com.au/

Simon Hogan - Playing within the strong midfield for the Geelong Cats during their recent dynasty, Simon openly battled mental health difficulties during his career with the support of the club. Following his retirement, he joined Headspace and founded Thick & Thin, an initiative to support players in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. http://www.thickandthin.com.au/

Caroline Anderson - Caroline is a Psychologist, Olympian (Taekwando) and Director of Performance Edge Psychology. Working in both hospital and private practice, she consults for the Australian Cricketers Associations, Tennis Australia and the VIS Diving Program. In addition, she partners with Crossing The Line to provide service for Victorian athletes transitioning out of professional sporting life. https://performanceedgepsychology.com/

Joanne Love - Joanne has extensive experience as a swim coach, being included on many State, National and International teams. She has coached Australian Olympic teams, medalists and world record holders. Holding a degree in psychology and currently working with elite sporting organisations imparting a wealth of information on how psychology and neuroscience can create successful outcomes. Joanne also acts as a mentor to other elite sporting coaches, working with them to incorporate psychological skills in their training programs. https://www.joannelove.com/

Hannah MacDougall - Hannah is well known within Victorian cycling as a member of the VIS, dual Paralympian and world record holder. Besides her on-going athletic accomplishments, she completed a PhD at La Trobe University in athlete well-being and continues to contribute to research in this area as well as speaking engagements for athletic and corporate groups. http://www.hannahmacdougall.com.au/

Registrations are closed

The Well-being Cycle: leaders session @LaTrobe