Improving welfare support for professional rugby league players

The mental health and wellbeing of professional athletes in general and, in particular, sports which emphasize ‘mental toughness’ and are considered to reinforce masculine stereotypes, is an area of concern. Player welfare is a recent development in supporting elite athletes during their professional careers and beyond. Professional rugby players have traditionally had limited welfare support, with the majority of support directed towards improving on-field performance.

Dr Kiara Lewis

Professional rugby players are in a vulnerable position with short careers, uncertain contracts and a reluctance to seek help. Prevalence rates of anxiety and depression in male elite athletes in team sports is as high as 45% and rugby has been described as having a ‘toxic culture’ of denial of mental health problems.

Sport player welfare

Dr Kiara Lewis, Dr Susanna Kola-Palmer and Dr Alison Rodriguez carried out research between 2015 and 2016, working closely with the Player Welfare Director of Rugby Football League (RFL).

In the first study of its kind, the team used an anonymous online survey of professional rugby players to assess their knowledge of and attitudes to RFL player welfare. This study has shown that players who know more about the available mental health support and have more positive attitudes towards that support, report fewer mental health symptoms. This suggests that by increasing positive attitudes towards mental health support and mental health

literacy, it is possible to increase helpseeking behaviour, reduce stigma and in that way increase well-being and mental health in elite athletes.

A qualitative study was also conducted by interviewing Player Welfare Managers (PWMs) across the UK and France. The findings revealed that the majority of clubs employed PWMs on 3-day-a-week contracts, resulting in PWMs experiencing high levels of pressure and an inability to cope with the demands of the job, with a negative impact on player support.

Changes to welfare provision

The research findings were fed back to the RFL who then made substantial changes to policy and practice through expanding welfare provision across the sport.

The findings identified key areas of improvement in welfare support in elite level rugby league, and as a result, the RFL made policy changes affecting every single Super League club across the UK, France and Canada. It was recommended that all Super League clubs should have a full time PWM to deal with the demands of the job and in support of this change consequently, the PWM role within the RFL has been expanded. Additional policy changes include increased support for PWMs, such as additional qualifications and training, to enable them to provide the necessary support to players and provide them with regular wellbeing surveys to assess the mental health of players.

The changes led to a difference in awareness and attitudes of coaches and players towards welfare, in particular mental health support. The results of a second survey showed that player awareness had improved: 75% (compared to 69% in 2015) now know their club has a welfare policy and 78% (compared to 58% in 2015) know how to access mental health support.

For more information on the research in this article email: kiara.lewis@hud.ac.uk and s.kola-palmer@hud.ac.uk or visit pure.hud.ac.uk