Originally from Victoria, Heath Black moved to Western Australia and started with AFL team Fremantle Dockers as a 17-year-old in 1997, moving to St Kilda for several years before finishing his career with Fremantle in late 2008. Heath was well known in football circles for his agility on the field and perceived by the public as a bit of a bruiser and larrikin that couldn’t seem to resist a good brawl. After leaving professional football and spiralling out of control, Heath sought mental health help, and realised the full extent of his mental health issues in 2010 following several personal setbacks, including the failure of his marriage, lost job opportunities, arrests, and a growing dependence on alcohol – all whilst in the public eye. After a series of misdiagnoses, he was finally diagnosed with both Bipolar II and Adult ADHD in 2011.
Since retiring from football, Heath has completed his Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment which formally qualifies him to write, facilitate and review his own workshops. In 2011, Heath was formally trained to facilitate 1Life Suicide Prevention presentations and travelled through WA with other 1Life representatives in conjunction with the WA Football League to speak with communities affected by suicide. In February 2012, Heath became an Ambassador for Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation.
During 2011 and 2012, Heath received formal training from the AFL Players Association (AFLPA) to facilitate workshops on Stress Management, Healthy Choices and Respect & Responsibility. He helped the AFLPA deliver Playwell and Playwise programs to each AFL club around Australia. The Playwise program was targeted at the AFL Leadership Groups to help them better recognise mental illness within their clubs and among their teammates. The Playwell program was targeted at the first and second year players to help prepare them for AFL careers and make good decisions with regards to drugs, alcohol and other social situations. During 2013, Heath participated in an internationally accredited Suicide Assist course, provided by Living Works. Heath also received formal training from VLine in Lifeskills for Young People, which included training on recognising bullying and understanding how to help victims.
Since 2010, Heath has played in the annual E.J. Whitten Football Game, a major fundraiser for prostate cancer research, alongside various Australian sporting heroes and entertainers; promoting sponsorship and corporate networking. In 2011, Heath Black presented as a keynote speaker for the Men In Black Ball, alongside legendary Australian icon, Ernie Dingo, and again in 2012 at the Australian Disability Employment Conference.
During 2012, Heath delivered various wellness sessions to AFL Players and Staff, Cricket Victoria Players and Staff and the U/17 WA State Cricket Team, also travelling to various Rio Tinto remote mining communities throughout Western Australia for various speaking opportunities.
During 2013, Heath partnered with “1Life Suicide Prevention” to facilitate workshops on suicide awareness. After the success of Heath’s work with Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia invited him to provide wellness workshops to various other State and National cricket sides. Heath took over from Nathan Thompson as a Mental Health ambassador for “VLine”. Heath facilitated workshops on bullying, drugs and alcohol.
Talks:
– Importance of Teamwork
– Importance of Leadership
– Accepting and Learning from Criticism
– Working with Diverse Personalities
– Physical and Mental Wellbeing
– Overcoming life’s obstacles & recovering from “rock bottom”
