Women’s cricket team captain joins GCB as its wellbeing officer

Hannah Eulenkamp, the current Guernsey women’s cricket captain and a trained mental health first aider, has been given the voluntary role after the sport engaged with local mental health charity Guernsey Mind and its Team Talk campaign.

She will act as a confidential point of contact for anyone within cricket who may need to talk about issues inside or outside the sport which are affecting their mental health. The aim of the role is to ensure that everyone feels supported by the GCB, has an opportunity to access support wherever needed, and to continue to thrive through cricket.

Hannah, a former county-level cricketer, took time out from the sport a few years ago when her own mental health suffered and she lacked the necessary level of support locally.

‘I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in cricket and it became easier to run away and quit the sport than face it and overcome it. Having a mental health and wellbeing officer within our sport will create channels of conversation about our wellbeing and allow us to break down the stigma attached to it and understand the crippling, and sometimes devastating, effects of poor mental health,’ she said.

Staff, directors and players from Guernsey Cricket attended a Team Talk workshop on mental health in sport, run by Guernsey Mind, earlier this year. Since then, as well as taking on her new role, Hannah and the men’s head coach Ash Wright have both become ambassadors of the Team Talk campaign with the Team Talk motto: ‘We’re Stronger as a Team’ being embedded into the ethos of the GCB.

Mark Latter, chief executive and director of cricket, said: ‘We all know what to do when someone has broken a leg or cut themselves, but when a player is suffering with a mental health issue the signs and appropriate action are not so obvious.

‘Guernsey Cricket is committed to ensuring we hold the welfare of our players in the highest regard and the work with Guernsey Mind is another step towards providing a holistic approach to this. We are fortunate to have someone like Hannah with the skills to take this important role on, and alongside Ash as ambassadors to lead our team. Our thanks to Laurel, Emily and the team at Guernsey Mind for their support in this.’