FOCUS on Performance: Supporting Healthy Athletes Beyond the Game
This week, I had the privilege of delivering the inaugural FOCUS on Performance education session to the AFLW players and staff at the Fremantle Football Club.
FOCUS on Performance is a new evidence-informed education program developed by OM Psychology to help athletes, coaches and support staff recognise, prevent and respond to disordered eating and eating disorders in high-performance sport. While nutrition and physical preparation are often prioritised in elite sport, conversations about body image, psychological wellbeing and eating disorders are frequently overlooked despite their significant impact on both health and performance.
What Does FOCUS Stand For?
The name FOCUS represents the five key pillars of the program:
- Fuel – Understanding the importance of adequate nutrition and energy availability to support performance, recovery and long-term health.
- Optimise – Creating sustainable training and recovery practices that enhance performance without compromising wellbeing.
- Confidence – Developing confidence based on skills, character and performance rather than appearance or body shape.
- Understanding – Increasing awareness of the warning signs of disordered eating and eating disorders while reducing stigma and encouraging early intervention.
- Strength – Building psychologically safe sporting environments where athletes feel supported to seek help when needed.
Together, these pillars reinforce an important message: health and performance are not competing priorities—they work together.
Why This Conversation Matters
The need for education in this area has never been greater.
The AFL Players’ Association’s recently released Insights & Impact Report found that one in four AFLW players have experienced online abuse involving body shaming. This highlights the growing pressures athletes face beyond training and competition, particularly in the online environment.
Comments about an athlete’s body, weight or appearance can have lasting psychological impacts. They contribute to body dissatisfaction, reduced confidence and increased vulnerability to disordered eating behaviours. For athletes already striving to meet the demands of elite competition, these pressures can become another barrier to both wellbeing and sustainable performance.
Education equips athletes, coaches and support staff with the knowledge to recognise concerns early, respond appropriately and foster environments where seeking help is viewed as a strength rather than a weakness.
Prevention Through Education
Research consistently demonstrates that prevention and early intervention lead to better outcomes for individuals experiencing disordered eating and eating disorders.
FOCUS on Performance provides practical, evidence-based education that helps sporting organisations:
- Understand the difference between optimising performance and harmful eating behaviours.
- Recognise early warning signs of disordered eating.
- Build psychologically safe team cultures.
- Reduce stigma surrounding eating disorders.
- Increase confidence in responding to concerns and making appropriate referrals.
- Support athlete wellbeing while maintaining a high-performance environment.
By creating informed sporting communities, we can help protect athletes before problems become crises.
Bring FOCUS on Performance to Your Organisation
Whether you are a professional sporting club, academy, school, state sporting organisation or community club, education is one of the most effective ways to protect athlete wellbeing while supporting sustainable performance.
If your organisation would like to learn more about FOCUS on Performance or discuss delivering the program to your athletes, coaches or support staff, OM Psychology would love to hear from you.
Together, we can create sporting environments where athletes are supported to fuel well, perform confidently and prioritise both their mental and physical health.
Contact OM Psychology today to discuss bringing FOCUS on Performance to your team.
