Last weekend, the Colac Basketball Association joined forces with Warrnambool to host a Mental Health Round. With 42.9% of Australians aged 16-85 experiencing a mental disorder at some point in their lives (ABS), Basketball Victoria strongly supports participation in initiatives like these to promote mental well-being in our community. Held at Bluewater Leisure Centre, 163 supporters attended and raised over $300 from gold coin donations, aswell as proceedings from the night’s raffle. Erica Gleeson, Colac Committe Member stated, “I approached Let's Talk around doing the round in CBL as locally here they do a mental health round with our local Football-Netball League, and I thought why not bring the Let's Talk message to the Basketball community!”
Let's Talk singlets worn by both teams in support of the round
“Mental Health is something that affects everyone in some way directly and/or indirectly and for a lot of us Basketball is one of those safe spaces where we get to do something we enjoy with our team mates. Training, playing and travelling together you get to know each other very well, so I think it is a good place to start locally with our senior basketball teams in bringing the message and changing behaviors around the need to talk about mental health.”
To celebrate the round, a best on court was presented for each game. Congratulations to Indiana Cameron from Colac and Liam Herbert from Warrnambool.
Both Colac and Warrnambool are looking to building on this Mental Health round in the CBL each season as well as bringing it into their domestic compeition.
If you or someone you know is struggling, please seek help by contacting a mental health professional or a support line.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
MensLine Australia: 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
