About Us - Clubs With Heart

about salt

Clubs with Heart was established by SALT (Sport and Life Training), which is a for-purpose, not-for-profit, health education charity.

Our team is dedicated to creating sporting clubs and team environments that cater for both the competitive and personal development needs of young people through to older adults.

Our Vision

Our vision is to create ‘Clubs with Heart’ right across Australia.

These will be club environments that provide and promote:

Physical and emotional safety for all people
Communities that are positive, competitive, resilient, and connected

We understand the importance and impact of sporting clubs – they are often the heart and soul of their communities. They bring together people that share a passion to excel and develop.

We aim to capitalise on the passion for excellence and development that exists in all types of sporting clubs – by providing the tools, systems and education that encourages personal growth, positive life choices and proactive care of others.

Our Objectives

To reduce the stigma around mental illness.
To increase help-seeking and peer-support behaviours.
To reduce suicide.
To facilitate conversations about important development areas, and to prevent poor behavioural choices and significant consequences.

Our education courses facilitate openness and broader acceptance of clubs playing a key role in improving mental health and overall wellness.

We see our role as preventing behaviours that can contribute to languishing mental health, but additionally, we aim to empower people to flourish and thrive and achieve their absolute potential in life.

SALT Values

Integrity – Our words and our behaviours are an accurate reflection of who we are and the principles we stand for, individually and collectively.
Humility – We have pride in what we do and what we achieve, but we leave our egos at the door and actively serve each other.
Honesty – We speak the truth, we own our actions, and we offer feedback without fear or favour.
Respect – We invest into each other, recognising and enhancing the strengths, qualities, and achievements found in each member of the team.
Teamwork – We focus on each other’s needs, playing a role in helping others to realise their potential.

Clubs with Heart - Core Principles

They have an inspiring vision and a realistic road map for achievement.
Understand and discuss what is important to the club, and how to improve it.
Treat everyone involved as a member of a community, not as a supporter of a club.
Understand the club is a brand that stands for something, one that is recognized and respected.
Set behavioural expectations and trust in people’s ability and willingness to adhere.
Empower their people.
Do not tolerate attitudes and behaviours that create conflict or disharmony.
Treat every individual as an equal. Be humble and respectful in all interactions.
Take pride in their history, reputation, their gear and facilities.
Strive for greatness in their sport, in a way that is focused, disciplined, respectful and strategic.
Have the right people, with the right character and competence, in the right roles, doing the right things.

Facilitating Team

SALT has a strong and developing team of 20+ facilitators, a growing number of program funding partners, as well as the support of many highly respected organisations. SALT’s vast experience in sporting clubs has helped inform the development and delivery of powerful and effective programs that are changing and saving lives. SALT’s mission is to help clubs to develop the environments within which children and adults work together with a united purpose to develop communities of care.

Measuring Clubs With Heart Impact

Measuring the progress and impact of Clubs with Heart at a club level is a critical component of our program.

Keeping tabs on progress is both motivating and rewarding, and helps all parties to maintain forward momentum for ongoing change and improvement.

The Clubs with Heart measurement system is managed by SocialSuite. At the beginning of the process, we capture a range of data points as a baseline, that serve as a reality check of your club culture before we start.

The Clubs with Heart measurement process addresses 4 key areas of club performance (knowledge, skills, structure and culture), against which we have assigned 18 questions as the basis of successful measurement across all clubs.

Clubs are then asked to revisit the same questions at 6 months, 12 months and on an ongoing basis for as long as your club remains involved in the program. The outcomes of this measurement process will inform your next steps, provide confidence in what you are doing and shape the narrative of your club becoming a Club with Heart with sponsors, players, administrators and your community.

The team

Dave Burt

I am the Founder of Sport and Life Training and look after the Relationships and Development. I love that we get to experience real impact in sporting clubs, seeing lives changed and meeting people from all different backgrounds, who are genuinely caring for our communities. I am an eternal optimist and known as that mug that buys the sales pitch.

Scott Angove

I’m the SALT Lead Facilitator, as well as Program and Presenter Development. I’m inspired by connecting with people when they are being genuine, humble, and brave in sharing experiences is truly inspiring. Here is something odd, I spent many years in a caravan with a giraffe for a colleague, teaching kids about drug and health education.

Layne Stretton

I'm the CEO of SALT and I am really looking forward to seeing the development and growth of SALT over the next few years. I love how we help communities and clubs embrace their responsibility to be safe places for the positive development of young people. I love all things Swans, and this is reflected in the names of my two new puppies, Buddy, and Franklin.

James Gallacher

I am a Customer Relations Manager, working with people to build better relationships across the clubs we support. I have been with SALT for more than 3 years and love working with and being able to influence people to make better decisions. I’m also a father of twins, I have cystic fibrosis and my last corporate role was 2 years as an HR Manager in the cemetery business.

Matilda Dillon

I’m the Operations Manager at SALT and I love organising things and making sure everything has a system. I love how we connect with people from different backgrounds, nationalities, and genders, on important subjects like Mental Health and Wellbeing. I love travel and almost got stuck trying to row out and visit the island and church that sits in the middle of Lake Bled, in Slovenia.

Chris Crowe

I am the Admin and Finance Manager, and I am one of those weird people who love a good spreadsheet. I love that SALT has the capacity to have a real impact on real people in real time, making a big difference. When I was 21 years old, I travelled through Europe and managed to just miss some big events - the most notable of which was the fall of the Berlin Wall.