Cairns Taipans coach Adam Forde has said his team’s mental health is his highest priority, not only for their performance but their lives off the court.
Speaking to ABC Far North, Forde said the team keenly tracks the mental health of all players, and outlined some of the ways in which the Taipans have worked to prioritise this in recent years.
“The great thing for our group is we see each other every day, we have breakfast together, we train, then we have lunch together, so if there’s any change in attitude or nature it gets picked up fairly quickly,” Forde said.
“I make sure I have an open door policy with a lot of these guys, I’m very conscious of [putting] the human being first… there’s been times where we’ve given guys a couple of days off to go to Port Douglas or see the Great Barrier Reef, and just disconnect from it.”
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Forde also outlined how professional athletes in particular can fall victim to mental health issues, which is why it is so important they are monitored as well as they are.
“It is a tough environment and there’s not too many jobs where people can be critical of other people, I don’t know too many plumbers that get up in the morning and check social media and they’re told that they did a shit night before,” Forde said.
“It’s really important that we’re diligent, that we get ahead of it, but also understand that they are human beings, they’re not just robots on the court.
“It can be disguised in the performance, some guys can be ultimate professionals, they can do well on the floor and you think they’re okay.”
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As part of efforts to aid athletes in maintaining their mental health, Forde said the team employs a number of strategies, such as tracking their player's sleep cycles and having them perform daily wellness surveys.
“We have tools in place to monitor on and off the court, and you can see that their sleep pattern for example is erratic, that can also be a sign of a hyperactive mind, or someone overthinking things, so it’s important that you don’t get to it too late,” Forde said
“Each morning when the guys wake up, we get them to do a wellness survey, and we get them to mark down how they rate their sleep, how long they slept for, what their motivation's like, how their bodies feel, and then we have some tools where we can get an indicator of how they are physically.
“The power of touch is more important than I think most people [realise], especially in this digital world, we can get so disconnected with each other that, simply having a conversation or being close to somebody," Forde said.
"I use it as a reference point even during a game, during a stoppage where guys have to huddle, just touch each other so you can reconnect, it can be a high-five, it can be a hand on a shoulder, and it can tell you a lot about the person you are connecting with."
These efforts seem to be working well for the Taipans, who have gotten off to a red-hot start this NBL season, currently sitting third on the leaderboard with a 3-1 record, including a big win over reigning champions the Sydney Kings last round.
