Warren Tredrea, Premiership Captain of Port Adelaide, says, “In tough times, there is no one more valuable than a trusted and well-respected chaplain.”

In July 2015, the Adelaide Crows experienced this first-hand when their coach, Phil Walsh, was tragically killed. Mark Purser, sports chaplain, rushed down to the club immediately to support the players.

Mark shares, “My role was to usher the players into the club that day, be with them, talk to them about grief, and validate all the ways they could and would respond. Some wanted to go into those deep conversations, some didn’t, and that’s OK.

Being part of that welfare structure was vitally important.”

Thanks to Mark’s support, the team emerged from the tragedy shocked and devastated, but able to cope.

“You can’t have enough help,” comments Port Adelaide chaplain Brandon Chaplin. “When tragedy strikes, who will be there? A chaplain is well skilled to step in and provide extra support. Why wouldn’t you have one?”

ClubCare Cover, through SCA, provides on-call crisis response to sports clubs in need.

Find out more about ClubCare Cover