Mental health is a key part of Paremata Plimmerton Rugby club, (Pare-Plim) north of Wellington, NZ (https://www.paremataplimmertonrugby.club), club program.
‘Offload’, a program developed by Sponsorship and Mental Health Manager, Logan (Gus) Ainsworth is about changing the conversation and bringing mental health awareness to the forefront and developing this culture within the club.
However, those ‘conversations’ require a level of trust and respect between coaches, players and management alike that can only be achieved by understanding and growing the ‘soft’ skills of leadership.
After a chance meeting between Gus Ainsworth and Calm leadership’s Sean Tagg, Pare-Plim engaged Calm Leadership to provide an in person interactive workshop for club coaches, players and management to ignite the understanding and growth of the ‘soft’ leadership skills.
Pare-Plim are well served with ‘soft’ leadership skills capability in the services of new Head Coach Gerard Fasavalu and his co-coaches. However, they felt that the CALM Leadership program would set the foundation for the Club through providing independent leadership expertise that they could build on and embed into their club culture.
Over a half day workshop, 27 coaches, players and management covered 4 Leadership topics – personal Philosophy, Effective Communication, Building Team Culture, and Coach Capability. Finishing with a Headfirst presentation by NZR personnel and outlining how the Offload program will work within the club.
The high energy levels generated with creative thinking and the sharing of ideas left coaches, players and management alike ‘buzzing’ after an enjoyable day and keen to learn more.
The CALM workshop served its purpose in ‘igniting’ the learning, creating the trust and respect between all participants, and laying the platform for the additional Mental Health topics.
The workshop was CALM Leadership team’s 1st live workshop. Having been told of the high energy levels and engagement when in person by leading Neuroscientist Dr Timoth Kieran O’Mahoney, founder of the Iterative Challenge Cycle and author of the Brain based Classroom, the energy exceed our expectations.
The CALM Leadership team will continue to work with Pare-Plim coaches and management as they build their Mental Health and Leadership programs within the club.
“The CALM Leadership model sets the platform for the Offload program by the participant establishing a strong understanding of themselves and their leadership styles – using this with the Head First program then helps emphasise the importance of leadership and our sphere of influence – as coach or player” – Gus Ainsworth
The engagement and enthusiasm of the Pare-Plim coaches and managers was inspiring, they came to the workshop with an open mind and eagerness for new learning. Each topic delivered cascaded on each other, and the outstanding collaborative learning was a powerful takeaway. The appreciation from all the participants for the leadership content delivered was genuine and warmly received from the CALM leadership team. – Sean Tagg Calm Leadership Director
For more details on the Offload program contact Gus Ainsworth or Gerrard Fasavalu at the Paremata Plimmerton Rugby Club
