Australian rugby league club the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks have become the world's first professional team to partner with Optimize Mind Performance (OMP).
The Sharks, who compete in the National Rugby League, Australia's premier rugby league competition, will use OMP's game-changing mental skills training platform across their NRL, NRLW and under-age pathway programs.
Their men's team has already started engaging with OMP's sport-specific content as they prepare for the 2024 NRL Telstra Premiership season.
The Sharks' high-performance team, led by NRL Head Coach Craig Fitzgibbon and General Manager Football Darren Mooney, recognise the importance of mental skills training and the need to invest in this area of athletic performance.
"We at the Sharks believe for us to perform at a higher standard we must be mentally as well as physically prepared for the rigours of elite sport," Fitzgibbon said.
"OMP is a game-changer for us, as it gives all of our athletes the opportunity to train their minds and be ready for the season ahead."
Mooney added: "We are fostering a culture at the Sharks where training the mind is being prioritised along with physical training.
"With OMP we can seamlessly embed it into the players' weekly training schedule."
Founded in Australia and crafted by a network of experts in mental performance, OMP is being used by sporting programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Louisville Athletics in the US.
Optimize Mind Performance CEO & Founder Jack Preddey said: "We're delighted to welcome the Sharks to the OMP Team as our first professional organisation. They have a great understanding and recognition that mental skills training needs to be proactively included in their performance programs which we are excited to assist them with."
Entering the competition in 1967, the Sharks won their first premiership in 2016, and since 2012 have only missed the NRL finals (playoffs) twice.
In 2023 they made the elimination final and will be looking to push further in 2024 as they hunt their second premiership.
