When Claire* lost her mother at just seven years old, she turned to her netball coaches.

"When things were hard I always knew I had those netball games. And then at those games my coaches were right there," she says.

"They taught me how to be happy again."

Claire, now 16, is one of many young people who have sought the off-field advice of a sports coach, or talked to them about things they didn't want to broach with other adults.

But while coaches are used to half-time huddles and shouting encouragement from the sidelines, giving mental health advice isn't necessarily something they're trained to do.

"It's all done from the right place but they are simply not always that equipped. And in some instances they can do more harm than good," basketball coach and educator Tony Corr tells RN's Sporty.

"We have to get better at educating our coaches at identifying issues, knowing what the points of referral are, and knowing that they are available.

"As a coach, you don't have to do everything yourself."

Picking up the signs

Up to a quarter of Australians are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, sad, depressed, lonely or angry, according to the Australia Talks National Survey of nearly 55,000 people.

One in three 18-24 year-olds are struggling with anxiety (36 per cent), feel lonely frequently or always (30 per cent) and one in five (22 per cent) feel sad.

And even younger kids are struggling too.

For them, the sports environment can be a powerful place.

Simon Rice, a clinical psychologist and researcher at Orygen, the National Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health, says that's because it "taps into our sense of community and connection".

"Sporting organisations can have a really profound impact on the mental health of young people," he says.

Dr Rice believes coaches are uniquely placed to notice changes in their young athletes.

"If a usually connected or gregarious ... or fun-loving young person in a sports sense starts to disconnect, that would be a significant change and might be an indicator that something might be going on," he tells Sporty.

Mr Corr describes his basketball club as an "oasis" where young people spend time over the weekend, even if they don't have a game.

"The players I coach I know much better than the students I teach in the classroom," he says.

"I've known them for many years ... I've known their families, I've seen them through the highs and the lows, and we've experienced a lot together."

He says the club can be "the first port of call when there are breakdowns at home".

"[It's] a real community and social hub where players and our young people can feel safe," he says.

With support, community sport coaches can help improve young people's mental wellbeing. ( Getty: Hero Images )

But community sports club coaches, who are volunteers and often young themselves, might not always know what to do if another young person confides in them.

That's something a new toolkit from Orygen is aiming to change.

The free resource provides practical support and advice to community sports clubs on the ways they can support the mental wellbeing of young people.

It offers advice on how coaches might identify signs of mental ill-health and help young people access external support.

It also teaches coaches about how to have conversations about mental health.

"Orygen isn't advocating for sports officials or coaches to become mental health professionals and to diagnose," Dr Rice says.

"What we are suggesting though is that coaches might have a little bit of knowledge around knowing when a young person has changed in their presentation, and that change might actually represent something going on."

According to Dr Rice, "there's not really a perfect time to ever talk about these kinds of things", but finding a good time is important.

It's also important, he says, to have open conversations, to reduce stigma around mental health.

"Experiencing trouble with mood and feeling low ... is incredibly common," Dr Rice says.

"The more that it can be seen as something closer to a natural part of the human experience, we will start to become more comfortable with uncomfortable and awkward conversations.

"And just as we will talk about a broken bone, it's fine for someone to talk about some of their experiences in the mental health realm as well."

Dr Rice acknowledges that it can be tricky for coaches to know what level of support is appropriate when dealing with vulnerable young people.

"It is a fine line," he says;

"A way around that could be, for instance, for a coach to ring the guardian, the parent, the caregiver of a young person to talk to them about what they've noticed and maybe even to ask permission... to talk to that particular young person."

'One of the only people I could talk to'

Netball became Claire's "happy place".

On the court, she'd get a lift when she looked over to her coaches.

"Seeing them on the sideline influenced me because they were saying 'don't give up'," she says.

"I think having that at such a young age has made me more resilient now."

The strong relationship with her coaches continues today.

Recently, in the lead-up to a big competition, Claire didn't feel like training.

"One of my coaches stopped and said 'are you OK?' and 'you know you can talk to me about anything'," she recalls.

"I felt like she was probably one of the only people I could talk to."

*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.

The Australia Talks National Survey asked 54,000 Australians about their lives and what keeps them up at night. Use our interactive tool to see the results and how their answers compare with yours — available in English, simplified Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese. Then, join Annabel Crabb as she takes you through some of the most surprising and exciting insights with Waleed Aly on the ABC TV special on iview.