League Ahead brought together practitioners, researchers, athletes, wellbeing staff and more from all across the sporting landscape for the inaugural Culture of Wellbeing in Sport Conference, held at Allianz Stadium on October 13.
The sold-out event featured some incredible sessions and speakers who each examined a different aspect of the relationship between performance and wellbeing, and explored how to build psychological and cultural safety, identity and belonging, career development, purpose and hope in their environments.
The day began by grounding those conversations in culture and connection, with a traditional smoking ceremony thanks to Gamay Dancers. This provided an opportunity for attendees to cleanse, but also reflect and connect with Country before the conference commenced.
League Ahead's First Nations Wellbeing and Education Manager Tanisha Williams, who hosted the day, highlighted the importance of creating environments where athletes feel safe, seen, valued, connected and supported, and where they can show up as their whole selves, not simply the parts that contribute to performance.
That theme continued through the opening keynote from Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary, who shared his experiences of building a successful culture at the Panthers, with a particular focus on psychological safety.
Cleary spoke candidly about his own experiences with pressure and the lessons he learned throughout his coaching career, explaining how the Panthers introduced daily connection meetings designed to build trust and encourage vulnerability.
For Cleary, creating psychological safety isn't about lowering standards or accepting poor performance. Instead, it's about creating an environment where people feel comfortable admitting mistakes, asking questions, being vulnerable and ultimately bringing their best to the team.
“Culture is not what is said in presentations, or written on the wall. It is the lived experience of the environment, shaped by what is expected, reinforced, and tolerated every day.” Was the quote Ivan finished his presentation with.
The Culture of Care: Psychological and Cultural Safety in Sport panel continued the conversation, bringing together Dr Amy Joscelyne, Professor Jioji Ravulo, Professor Clinton Schultz, Courtney Humphreys and Mahalia Murphy to explore how culture, belonging and psychological safety influence wellbeing in elite sport.
The panel challenged attendees to look beyond individual resilience and consider the environments surrounding athletes, with discussion drawing on research, cultural perspectives and lived experience.
The afternoon then turned to two breakout sessions. Culture & Connection hosted by David Solomona, David Lakisa, David Fusitu’a and Tanisha Williams, explored how culturally safe and informed approaches can strengthen wellbeing, performance and connection within sporting communities. Life Beyond the Spotlight hosted by Rebecca Cook, Ryan Gonsalves, Kiana Takairangi and Marcelo Montoya examined the role of education, career development, family and identity in helping athletes build purpose beyond sport.
The conference also provided space for cultural celebration, with attendees treated to a performance of Caribbean music and a traditional Dhoeriw Sagul from Lag Mabuyag in the Western Torres Strait, performed by Mick Bani alongside Peter Warria.
The day concluded with The Culture of Hope in Sport, delivered by League Ahead General Manager of Wellbeing and Systems Cliff Thompson.
Thompson challenged attendees to think of hope not simply as a feeling, but as something that can be intentionally built through leadership, relationships, language and the systems surrounding athletes.
“We are at our best when we encourage people. We want to champion them to do the best things that they can in their life and in their work.”
Ultimately, the conference reinforced that creating a culture of wellbeing is not the responsibility of one person, department or program.
It is something that must be lived every day, through leadership, connection, cultural understanding, meaningful relationships and the environments we create for people.
For League Ahead, the inaugural conference provided an opportunity for the sporting community to come together, challenge its thinking and share practical ideas that can help shape healthier, more supportive and high-performing sporting environments.