The WHY

Seeing the Unseen

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​Holistic well being support for elite athletes is often inadequate—limited in scope and difficult to access, despite the intense challenges athletes routinely face. They are often ill-equipped, having little help, support or experience in managing fame, family, finances or life and sport practically and logistically, especially if and when they are living and/or competing cross culturally.

Among the most significant yet commonly overlooked struggles are loneliness and isolation. These are widespread issues in modern society but become even more pronounced in the high-pressure, performance-driven world of elite sport. Although difficult to capture through medical diagnoses, they are widely recognized as serious risk factors for both mental and physical health, as well as crucial to identity development. Their impact is far-reaching, often affecting not only athletic careers but, more importantly, athletes’ personal lives.

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La Source aims to help alleviate these struggles through our platform designed to provide and create connection and community as well as personalized holistic well-being care, services and resources for athletes and their families. To be present in person as often as possible, and accessible digitally to allow access whenever and wherever help is required.

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In the high-pressure sporting environment where value is often tied to results, elite athletes frequently face challenges of identity, mental and emotional strain, injury, transition, and isolation. For some, their means for performance are well-resourced for others much less so. However the prevailing need that is desperately lacking or worse completely ignored ignored, despite their sport, level of income, or achievement is their deeper human needs—mental, emotional, relational, physical and spiritual.

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Elite sport amplifies the pressures of life:

• Performance-based identity and self-worth

• Mental health challenges and emotional strain

• Injury, deselection, and career uncertainty

• Cultural displacement and lack of support networks

• Family pressures and life beyond sport

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Through 10+ years of experience within professional sport, in physiotherapy, and chaplaincy, working with elite athletes from self sustaining individual tour sports to high profile international team sports, a consistent pattern emerged: Even the most successful athletes wrestle with identity, purpose, isolation and belonging. Moments of vulnerability—injury, loss of form, transition—often expose a significant and unacceptable lack of holistic well-being and support systems.​

 

La Source was created to bridge that gap and respond to those needs.

Meeting the needs of the individual, and your club or sports organisation, with a vision to see transformation of the way in which athletes, organisations and sports entities function and compete. To see the athletes and the sports industry flourish, through celebration, unity, creativity, hope, excellence and joy.

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Our Purpose 

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Our Mission: Providing trusted and comprehensive holistic well-being services and resources, and helping cultivate healthy supportive communities for elite athletes and their families to flourish both personally and professionally in and beyond their sports careers.

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We also believe a healthy family unit is the foundation of a strong and healthy society, community and sports club. We‘re passionate about helping professional athletes build and maintain healthy family units, during and after their careers. Ultimately positively and significantly influencing the culture of the professional sports industry.

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La Source exists to transform the culture of elite sport. By building an eco-system that provides community, eliminating isolation to empower and equip elite athletes, sports industry professionals and their families, through providing the most comprehensive, trusted, holistic well-being support possible. Enabling them to flourish and thrive in sport and life beyond performance from ‘the source’ of a strong foundation and stable identity and purpose. Consequently having a positive impact on the sports clubs, organisations and entities as well as spilling over into their local communities.

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What or who is an Elite Athlete?

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An elite athlete is a sportsperson who competes at the highest levels of performance within their sport, typically distinguished by exceptional physical ability, technical skill, psychological resilience, and sustained competitive success.​

 

We define elite athletes through a combination of these criteria:

• Competing professionally or internationally

• Being selected for national teams or top divisions within a nation

• Training at a highly specialized and intensive level

• Competing consistently against top-tier competition

• Having sport as a central professional or high-performance pursuit

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Elite athlete statistics

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• 35% of elite athletes and 46.5% of former elite athletes have reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression. (1)

• 57% of female and 27% of male athletes worry about body image issues.(1)

• 34% of professional athletes reported experiencing symptoms of anger management issues.(1)

• 85% of male athletes in a recent study shared that stigma related to mental health made them reluctant to access mental health services. (1)

• 28% current professional male rugby players (rugby union, rugby league, and rugby sevens) reported feeling anxious and/or depressed (3)

• 95% of current and retired rugby players stated that symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD) can negatively influence rugby performances (2)

• 46% mentioned that specific support measures for players were not available in professional rugby. (2)

• 26.5% of high-performance American athletes earn less than $15,000 a year, and another 10% earn between $15,000-$25,000. (5)

• “Only 50% of all responding high-performance athletes reported any compensation related to their sport, and of those only 11.5% received sponsorships,” (5)

• Jones, L et al. (4) Concluded a theocentric, received approach to identity formation (personal identity that is received from God rather than achieved by athletic performance) provided Christian elite athletes with unprecedented existential fulfilment and security.

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(1) Gouttebarge V, Hopley P, Kerkhoffs G, Verhagen E, Viljoen W, Wylleman P, et al. A 12-month prospective cohort study of symptoms of common mental disorders among professional rugby players. Eur J Sport Sci. 2018;18(7):1004–1012.

(2) Gouttebarge V, Kerkhoffs G, Lambert M. Prevalence and determinants of symptoms of common mental disorders in retired professional Rugby Union players. Eur J Sport Sci. 2016;16(5):595–602

(3) Jones, L., Parker, A., & Daniels, G. (2020). Sports Chaplaincy, Theology and Social Theory Disrupting Performance-Based Identity in Elite Sporting Contexts. Religions, 11(12), 660.

(4) Jones, L., Parker, A., & Daniels, G. (2020). Sports Chaplaincy, Theology and Social Theory Disrupting Performance-Based Identity in Elite Sporting Contexts. Religions, 11(12), 660.

(5) Passing the Torch Modernizing Olympic, Paralympic, & Grassroots Sports in America. THE FINAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATE OF U.S. OLYMPICS & PARALYMPICS 2024. Dionne Koller, Han Xiao​​

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Our Core values

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Belonging, Hope, Freedom, Growth, Purpose, Resilience, Fun

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It all starts with BELONGING—feeling seen, valued, and connected. From that foundation we share and inspire vision for a positive future and a HOPE for everyone.  This inspires a FREEDOM to embrace who we are and have been created to be, using every circumstance as an opportunity for GROWTH, as we discover new strengths and possibilities. Discovering our PURPOSE, and our identity as received rather than achieved through accomplishments, to become influential leaders in our families and communities to make a meaningful difference. Knowing it won't be all smooth sailing our RESILIENCE and courage will have a chance to grow, in overcoming the trials and challenges of sport and life and keep moving forward. Through it all, remembering to have FUN, celebrate, laugh, and enjoy the journey together, with team mates, opponents, fans, family, friends and loved ones.

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At La Source, these values guide everything we do, creating a community where people can thrive with confidence, purpose, and joy.

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