The Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI) was founded in 2005 by Olympic and World Cup soccer stars Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy and Marlene Bjornsrud. Bjornsrud, BAWSI’s CEO, has over 30 years experience in management and nonprofit work. Bjornsrud was previously general manager of the San Jose CyberRays women’s professional soccer team. Before her role with the CyberRays she was assistant director of athletics at Santa Clara University, where she supervised marketing and media relations as well as eleven sports.
SZ: BAWSI arose from the remnants of the professional Women’s United Soccer Association which ran from 2001-2003. “The rallying point was a consensus that the full aspirations of women in sports are yet to be realized, and that the full benefits of sports in society cannot be achieved without women.” What’s BAWSI’s role in moving this philosophy forward?
MB: Much of that comes from the thought that in our society a little boy can turn on the television and see athletes that look like him competing. ESPN will put on a men’s paintball championship before it will put women’s basketball, soccer, or lacrosse on the television. So our sense was that due to lack of media coverage how could we set about to make the invisible side of athletics, the female side, visible? We chose to do it in a meaningful way by aligning with female athletes in the community and involving them at the grass roots level to make a change in the lives of young girls who don’t have the opportunity to have women athletic role models in their lives.
SZ: In what way is BAWSI’s approach unique from other community based grass roots community sports programs?
MB: One distinguishing feature about what BAWSI does that sets us apart from everyone else, is not our curriculum because what we teach is common everyday playground games, hula hoops, kickball, a little soccer and basketball, but that’s not where the magic comes from. The magic comes from who is serving those young girls and that is women athletes, hundreds of professional, Olympic, collegiate, and amateur weekend warriors. We have a belief that every women is an athlete and any woman who cares about young girls especially those who live in poverty and have very little opportunity to be involved in sports, they are the ones going on the playgrounds and that is the distinguishing feature. Beyond the bay area I don’t know of any other organization that has focused on mobilizing the women’s sports community to serve young girls and that sets us apart.
SZ: That’s a great defining feature. What is the time commitment asked of the athletes involved with the school programs?
MB: We ask them to make a commitment for a semester. There are some teams that can’t make a semester commitment but will participate for four weeks. We are not interested in athletes who want to attend once, because that doesn’t build an authentic relationship. Santa Clara University Women’s Basketball is our shining star in terms of level of commitment. Every year they take on two BAWSI schools in the city of Santa Clara. Team members are on the playgrounds two afternoons a week. The women’s softball team at Gavilan College in Gilroy is the same way. They have a deep commitment year round to the girls that they serve.
SZ: What type of feedback are you receiving regarding the benefits of BAWSI in the schools? What type of benchmarks are you noticing where you can say, “This working it’s a good thing.”
MB: Certainly enough that we keep going and we keep expanding. The number of principals who apply for our programs is getting crazy. At this time we can’t accommodate all the requests we receive to be on campuses. The principal at Washington Elementary in San Jose, which is a very poor community in Santa Clara County, has shared with us that BAWSI is the factor that is allowing the school community of young girls to begin to participate not only on the playground, but it’s also allowing them to build their confidence in the classroom where they are raising their hand more. Teachers are telling us at every single school that often they had never heard the girls speak about college until BAWSI came on campus because the girls had never been around college students. As much as we began as a health initiative there have been a number of factors related to self esteem and confidence that principals, teachers, parents and intervention counselors are talking with us about and saying we want you here every year. That’s why we began a program for the mom’s. The girl’s are the anchor of what we do. They are the rallying point for the athletes but we also noticed early on that as we worked with the girls more and more moms’ would come and watch. A friend of mine from the Hispanic Foundation said, “I would be interested in giving you some seed money to see if you could do something for the mom’s.” We were fortunate to find a Latina elite athlete who has begun the program for moms’ and women that is now bursting at the seams.
If you go to a school in the afternoon where BAWSI is there you will see anywhere from 15 to 50 women working out with an athlete who speaks English and Spanish. The program involves fitness, a fifteen minute session on nutrition and making healthy choices for feeding their families and a few minutes of mindfulness training. So you’ll see mom’s out there in one part of the playground and eighty girls on another. It would be the only time of the week that you would see the females owning the playground.
SZ: What type of growth has BAWSI experienced since it’s inception in 2005?
MB: Brandi Chastain and I began with seven girls in April of 2005. We fast forward to just a few weeks ago in 2011 we’ve just enrolled our 10,000th girl. In six years we’ve given the BAWSI girls experience to more than 10,000 girls.
SZ: To date which BAWSI accomplishments are you most proud of?
MB: Every time I walk on a playground I experience a huge surge of emotion and it’s not ego or pride. It’s a funny sense of being both honored and humbled that this little idea is actually working. Because when this idea was created by the eight women who sat in my living room in 2005 there was a sense of we really need to mobilize the women’s sports community to do something right and do something good. I am amazed and moved as I watch what’s happening out there and my greatest sense of pride is the number of athlete’s that have said “Yes.” It’s also a huge tribute to Brandi Chastain who in the earliest stage day in and day out was on the playground every afternoon so that the athletes would see her and say, “If she’s out here I’m going to be out here too.”
SZ: You have an amazing history of involvement in women’s sports and it’s a challenging road. Do you have a favorite quote that has guided you on your professional path?
MB: The incredible highs and lows are like a roller coaster ride. I love quotes and someone gave me one the year BAWSI began and I keep it on my desk in front of me all the time. “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” Robert H. Schuller. I think of that a lot because even though we are almost forty years into Title Nine being passed as a Federal Law everything in the women’s sport world is still on the level of attempting to do something extraordinary so that has been something that guided me not just with BAWSI but beforehand with the CyberRays and while I was working at the collegiate level.
Marlene, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to explain how BAWSI works and how it’s influence is growing within communities.
Join BAWSI on Wed. May 4th at the Leavey Center on the Santa Clara University campus
for “Game On,” A Sportsapalooza to benefit the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative.
For more information: www.bawsi.org/events/gameon.html
*Guests featured are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Steve Young - Mental Toughness & Sport Transition
After completing his career of more than fifteen years in the NFL, primarily with the San Francisco 49er’s where he received numerous awards including Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXIX, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News’ Player of the Year from 1992-1994, and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for 1992 and 1994, Steve Young has made a successful transition to the next professional phase of his career. In 2005 Young was the first left-handed quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Young is also the highest-rated quarterback in NFL history and has the distinction of being the only signal caller to win four consecutive NFL passing titles.
Currently Young is a Managing Director and Co-founder of Huntsman Gay Global Capital. He also founded and chairs the Forever Young Foundation, which is actively involved in children’s charities worldwide and is currently the broadcast host as well as the former International Spokesperson for the Children’s Miracle Network which has raised over one billion dollars world-wide to benefit children’s hospitals. He remains involved with football for ESPN’s Monday Night Football pre-and post-game shows.
SZ: Steve as a professional athlete playing at the highest levels of football you demonstrated great mental toughness. In your opinion what are the qualities of mental toughness in professional football?
SY: I think like a lot of things people have a predisposition almost towards mental toughness. They just are that way. You can certainly become tougher. It can be taught. But if you really want to accomplish something, and I’m not talking about 4th quarter, down by four, but by daily looking at what you are trying to accomplish there’s a grit that I think you can really develop and accomplish by just demanding grit from yourself. You can be mentally tough in college sports or high school, but playing in the professional game does really separate a lot of people. That highest level, it’s like anything, it’s like any super talent that you develop. Mental toughness is a talent that can be developed. Mental toughness is as much a talent as eye hand coordination.
There are supremely athletically talented people that I’ve known that lack the mental toughness and did not succeed. They stopped a level below. They could have been a great professional player but were finished after college, not due to their lack of athletic ability.
SZ: The mental toughness is it the day to day discipline?
SY: It’s a challenge everyday. You’ve got to challenge yourself everyday if you are going to get there. At the professional level you develop it and you don’t know how to get rid of it. It seems innate. All those guys with mental toughness, they don’t back down.
SZ: Nothings going to get in their way?
SY: I’m not talking about being a bull in a china shop. I’m not talking about hyper-competitiveness where you race someone to the car. Mental toughness is not being overly competitive. It’s a quiet thing in the moment a grit that 99 out of a 100 people would stop or go around the challenge or would avoid it, and the one person who goes through it doesn’t duck.
SZ: A clarity or vision of the goal?
SY: No, it’s an inner will. I know a lot of really nice guys who are exemplars of this iron will. Peyton Manning comes to mind. There’s no backing down, but it’s within a context. I’ve seen people who are hyper-competitive who want to compete in places where it’s not useful.
SZ: It sounds as though you are describing mental toughness as a type of intelligence.
SY: It is. We have to actively engage will. You are right it’s not something that’s mindless. It’s almost like I see what I’m facing and human nature kind of tells me to duck it but I’m not going to and I’ve trained myself to face challenges in this way. It’s an intelligence definitely and that’s an important piece of the puzzle. The strongest willed people are the one’s that I think have learned, have trained themselves and those are the most scary because you go into it and you say, “Wow man this is going to be tough.” That’s a unique person and every once in awhile you find a person where iron will and talent meet and you get Jerry Rice.
You don’t necessarily develop an iron will at age ten but I think it develops very young. It’s how you deal with adversity that’s around you. You can blossom in this way later but I think it’s innate.
SZ: How have these qualities which we’ve just discussed helped you successfully transition into business after a playing career?
SY: I think the thing you hit on was awareness. Because a lot of guys fall off the cliff of retirement and don’t get back up because it’s too much of a transition. I think it’s because you are aware. There is humility to it, “I was really great at something, now I’m not great at anything.” So the misstep is to hold onto what you are great at. You want to talk about it you want to have people around you who talk about it. That activity that you were great at, it’s over, and that’s the challenging part. The process is, “I better become skilled at something new.” The greatest transition I made was saying that exact thing. I began the long haul process of becoming at least good at something else.
SZ: There’s humbleness in that process.
SY: There’s no question. The core piece to that puzzle is humility. You have to have the image within yourself of starting over. The knowledge of, “I did it once in one field, I’m capable of doing it again.”
SZ: Is it an exciting process?
SY: No, it’s a grind. But like anything else that you do head on in time is the most rewarding thing you’ll ever do. You take the best things in living life, after the grind, after the struggle and there’s richness to it. That’s in relationship, sports, that’s in transitions, there’s a depth of what’s accomplished. It comes through the struggle and so that’s why I think accomplishing something worthwhile the first time, you have that resource within yourself to do it again. Though you’ve got to accept it’s going to be a trial.
SZ: What are some of the challenges?
SY: At some level it’s like going back to school at 38 or 40 years old whether it’s metaphorical or real school. It’s not something you necessarily wish to do. That’s where the humility comes in. You have to say, “I’m not that knowledgeable yet in this profession.”
SZ: You already had your law degree prior to completing your professional playing career.
SY: Right so I had a leg up. I didn’t really have to go back to school. I was grateful for that. The fact that I had gone to law school gave me competency, so people could actually hire me. Once you are in the door it’s a game of making it happen. It’s like anything else at some point you get that job, you get that opportunity now you’ve got to make it happen.
SZ: Do you have a favorite quote, story or tip that has guided you on your professional path?
SY: One of the things that really helped me as a young professional football player was my hero Roger Staubach. Roger had served in the Navy for four years then came out and went on to become one of the greatest players for the Dallas Cowboys. I found myself early mid-career saying to myself, “Roger played late, I can do it.” Roger was a role model and inspiration for me.
Steve thank you so very much for taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to take part in this discuss of mental toughness and athletic transition.
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Currently Young is a Managing Director and Co-founder of Huntsman Gay Global Capital. He also founded and chairs the Forever Young Foundation, which is actively involved in children’s charities worldwide and is currently the broadcast host as well as the former International Spokesperson for the Children’s Miracle Network which has raised over one billion dollars world-wide to benefit children’s hospitals. He remains involved with football for ESPN’s Monday Night Football pre-and post-game shows.
SZ: Steve as a professional athlete playing at the highest levels of football you demonstrated great mental toughness. In your opinion what are the qualities of mental toughness in professional football?
SY: I think like a lot of things people have a predisposition almost towards mental toughness. They just are that way. You can certainly become tougher. It can be taught. But if you really want to accomplish something, and I’m not talking about 4th quarter, down by four, but by daily looking at what you are trying to accomplish there’s a grit that I think you can really develop and accomplish by just demanding grit from yourself. You can be mentally tough in college sports or high school, but playing in the professional game does really separate a lot of people. That highest level, it’s like anything, it’s like any super talent that you develop. Mental toughness is a talent that can be developed. Mental toughness is as much a talent as eye hand coordination.
There are supremely athletically talented people that I’ve known that lack the mental toughness and did not succeed. They stopped a level below. They could have been a great professional player but were finished after college, not due to their lack of athletic ability.
SZ: The mental toughness is it the day to day discipline?
SY: It’s a challenge everyday. You’ve got to challenge yourself everyday if you are going to get there. At the professional level you develop it and you don’t know how to get rid of it. It seems innate. All those guys with mental toughness, they don’t back down.
SZ: Nothings going to get in their way?
SY: I’m not talking about being a bull in a china shop. I’m not talking about hyper-competitiveness where you race someone to the car. Mental toughness is not being overly competitive. It’s a quiet thing in the moment a grit that 99 out of a 100 people would stop or go around the challenge or would avoid it, and the one person who goes through it doesn’t duck.
SZ: A clarity or vision of the goal?
SY: No, it’s an inner will. I know a lot of really nice guys who are exemplars of this iron will. Peyton Manning comes to mind. There’s no backing down, but it’s within a context. I’ve seen people who are hyper-competitive who want to compete in places where it’s not useful.
SZ: It sounds as though you are describing mental toughness as a type of intelligence.
SY: It is. We have to actively engage will. You are right it’s not something that’s mindless. It’s almost like I see what I’m facing and human nature kind of tells me to duck it but I’m not going to and I’ve trained myself to face challenges in this way. It’s an intelligence definitely and that’s an important piece of the puzzle. The strongest willed people are the one’s that I think have learned, have trained themselves and those are the most scary because you go into it and you say, “Wow man this is going to be tough.” That’s a unique person and every once in awhile you find a person where iron will and talent meet and you get Jerry Rice.
You don’t necessarily develop an iron will at age ten but I think it develops very young. It’s how you deal with adversity that’s around you. You can blossom in this way later but I think it’s innate.
SZ: How have these qualities which we’ve just discussed helped you successfully transition into business after a playing career?
SY: I think the thing you hit on was awareness. Because a lot of guys fall off the cliff of retirement and don’t get back up because it’s too much of a transition. I think it’s because you are aware. There is humility to it, “I was really great at something, now I’m not great at anything.” So the misstep is to hold onto what you are great at. You want to talk about it you want to have people around you who talk about it. That activity that you were great at, it’s over, and that’s the challenging part. The process is, “I better become skilled at something new.” The greatest transition I made was saying that exact thing. I began the long haul process of becoming at least good at something else.
SZ: There’s humbleness in that process.
SY: There’s no question. The core piece to that puzzle is humility. You have to have the image within yourself of starting over. The knowledge of, “I did it once in one field, I’m capable of doing it again.”
SZ: Is it an exciting process?
SY: No, it’s a grind. But like anything else that you do head on in time is the most rewarding thing you’ll ever do. You take the best things in living life, after the grind, after the struggle and there’s richness to it. That’s in relationship, sports, that’s in transitions, there’s a depth of what’s accomplished. It comes through the struggle and so that’s why I think accomplishing something worthwhile the first time, you have that resource within yourself to do it again. Though you’ve got to accept it’s going to be a trial.
SZ: What are some of the challenges?
SY: At some level it’s like going back to school at 38 or 40 years old whether it’s metaphorical or real school. It’s not something you necessarily wish to do. That’s where the humility comes in. You have to say, “I’m not that knowledgeable yet in this profession.”
SZ: You already had your law degree prior to completing your professional playing career.
SY: Right so I had a leg up. I didn’t really have to go back to school. I was grateful for that. The fact that I had gone to law school gave me competency, so people could actually hire me. Once you are in the door it’s a game of making it happen. It’s like anything else at some point you get that job, you get that opportunity now you’ve got to make it happen.
SZ: Do you have a favorite quote, story or tip that has guided you on your professional path?
SY: One of the things that really helped me as a young professional football player was my hero Roger Staubach. Roger had served in the Navy for four years then came out and went on to become one of the greatest players for the Dallas Cowboys. I found myself early mid-career saying to myself, “Roger played late, I can do it.” Roger was a role model and inspiration for me.
Steve thank you so very much for taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to take part in this discuss of mental toughness and athletic transition.
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Eric Reveno - Univeristy of Portland's Head Basketball Coach
Eric Reveno, took over as University of Portland’s men’s basketball head coach in April, 2006, becoming the 20th coach in Pilot history. He previously served nine successful seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford. Reveno has had remarkable results building up the Pilots basketball team since he took on the head coach job. Reveno led the Pilots to a 21-11 record and second consecutive postseason appearance. The 21 wins matched a school record and the Pilots earned a top 25 ranking in the Associated Press Poll for the first time in 50 years.
An imposing 6-foot, 8 inch figure, Reveno commands respect not with mere presence, but with his passion for, and teaching of, a disciplined style of play. Himself a post player for the Cardinals in the late 80’s under both Tom Davis, and Mike Montgomery, Reveno was described as a fierce competitor on the court. After graduating from Stanford in 1989, he spent four years playing professional basketball in Japan. He returned to Stanford and obtained his M.B.A.
SZ: Coach Reveno you played a major role on the Stanford men’s basketball team as a starting center in the 80’s. Years later you became an associate head coach at Stanford. What awareness/ideas from your previous playing/coaching days made an impression on you regarding the importance and structure of a team’s culture?
Coach Reveno: The most important thing I learned from my playing days at Stanford was the value of productive conflict. The team I played on had the ability to confront each other with honest communication and move forward and grow. As a coach, I am cautious when I see a team that always “gets along”. Like any family, team working so hard together is going to have conflict. We try to make sure that team members are always respectful of each other and that the goals of the team are always the top priority.From this culture of honest communication, growth as a team can take place.
SZ: Since becoming the Head Coach of the Portland Pilots you’ve been recognized as a leader in the use of sport performance analysis technology. What types of technology do you utilize with the players in teaching player development? In what ways is this technology useful to you as a coach and for the player’s?
Coach Reveno: Digital video is the most valuable teaching tool that we use on a daily basis. It starts with digitally capturing all of practice and games including individual player footage. From there we log the video either from a team strategy or individual skill development perspective. The objective here is to have the video log based on how you will use it to teach. Sometimes it may be something like the ability to watch all of a player’s turnovers of missed shots. We try to tailor how we use the video based on what the player needs. Not what the technology allows us to do. Therefore, we are always trying to be more creative in what we watch and how we watch. We email clips, put video on in the locker room, post it on a server they can access and have individual meetings. Each player has different areas to focus on and different ways in which they learn so we try to adapt to them.
SZ: Prior to beginning your career as a basketball coach you completed your M.B.A. In what ways was attending business school useful in preparing you for your future as a head coach?
Coach Reveno: The most fundamental way business school helped prepare me to be a head coach is it teaches how to run a business. A Division 1 basketball program has all the challenges of a small business ranging from human resources to marketing to managing budgets. All the nuts and bolts of a small business exist for a college basketball coach. However, I think the most valuable lessons from business school had to do with defining and solving organizational problems. The training in strategic planning and market positioning are just examples of areas that take advantage of classic MBA training.
SZ:You’ve mentioned your passion for the game and look for this quality in your coaching staff. What are the signature qualities you look for in a staff member who fits your definition of “has a passion for the game?” How do these qualities add to the continued success of your program?
Coach Reveno: I think you have to be what Jim Collins calls “functionally neurotic” in the sense that you are truly driven to be the best you can be. No little element is too small to correct if it will help you be the best coach you can be. That approach is contagious and serves as an example for the players. You also have to be hard-wired to believe that truly great things can really only be achieved with teamwork.
SZ:Some of the preparation for the team season involves, players embracing the team culture, physical training, technological analysis, does the team practice mental performance tools or do the above mentioned items create the foundation of mental conditioning?
Coach Reveno: Unfortunately, we do not consistently do mental training exercises. We consciously work to establish pre-practice and pre-game routines and are very aware of the power of the language we use when teaching but I believe we could take it another step. Part of the constraint has been time and the inability to adequately individualize it based on players needs given both time and expertise constraints.
SZ:You became head coach of the Pilots in 2006 and your leadership gave the program an immediate burst of success that has continued. It’s just as important for the coaches to be in shape mentally as it is for the players. What are some things you do to keep yourself fresh mentally season after season?
Coach Reveno: The thing I do the most consistently is study other coaches, either by going to clinics, reading books or watching games and practices. Things do not get stale because I feel I can always be improving as a coach. In addition, I strongly believe you need to adjust to each team each season and also be constantly adjusting to what each team needs throughout the season. Therefore, no two practices are ever the same. What a team needs on any given day to help achieve its goals is truly unique and you are always in search of that “perfect” practice plan
SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote, story that has guided you on your professional path?
Coach Reveno: I love quotes. Well thought out ideas that help guide us daily. My favorite is the poem by Rudyard Kipling “If” It seems to cover it all.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Coach Reveno, thank you for taking time out of your very, busy schedule
for this interview. Congratulations on another great basketball season.
*featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
An imposing 6-foot, 8 inch figure, Reveno commands respect not with mere presence, but with his passion for, and teaching of, a disciplined style of play. Himself a post player for the Cardinals in the late 80’s under both Tom Davis, and Mike Montgomery, Reveno was described as a fierce competitor on the court. After graduating from Stanford in 1989, he spent four years playing professional basketball in Japan. He returned to Stanford and obtained his M.B.A.
SZ: Coach Reveno you played a major role on the Stanford men’s basketball team as a starting center in the 80’s. Years later you became an associate head coach at Stanford. What awareness/ideas from your previous playing/coaching days made an impression on you regarding the importance and structure of a team’s culture?
Coach Reveno: The most important thing I learned from my playing days at Stanford was the value of productive conflict. The team I played on had the ability to confront each other with honest communication and move forward and grow. As a coach, I am cautious when I see a team that always “gets along”. Like any family, team working so hard together is going to have conflict. We try to make sure that team members are always respectful of each other and that the goals of the team are always the top priority.From this culture of honest communication, growth as a team can take place.
SZ: Since becoming the Head Coach of the Portland Pilots you’ve been recognized as a leader in the use of sport performance analysis technology. What types of technology do you utilize with the players in teaching player development? In what ways is this technology useful to you as a coach and for the player’s?
Coach Reveno: Digital video is the most valuable teaching tool that we use on a daily basis. It starts with digitally capturing all of practice and games including individual player footage. From there we log the video either from a team strategy or individual skill development perspective. The objective here is to have the video log based on how you will use it to teach. Sometimes it may be something like the ability to watch all of a player’s turnovers of missed shots. We try to tailor how we use the video based on what the player needs. Not what the technology allows us to do. Therefore, we are always trying to be more creative in what we watch and how we watch. We email clips, put video on in the locker room, post it on a server they can access and have individual meetings. Each player has different areas to focus on and different ways in which they learn so we try to adapt to them.
SZ: Prior to beginning your career as a basketball coach you completed your M.B.A. In what ways was attending business school useful in preparing you for your future as a head coach?
Coach Reveno: The most fundamental way business school helped prepare me to be a head coach is it teaches how to run a business. A Division 1 basketball program has all the challenges of a small business ranging from human resources to marketing to managing budgets. All the nuts and bolts of a small business exist for a college basketball coach. However, I think the most valuable lessons from business school had to do with defining and solving organizational problems. The training in strategic planning and market positioning are just examples of areas that take advantage of classic MBA training.
SZ:You’ve mentioned your passion for the game and look for this quality in your coaching staff. What are the signature qualities you look for in a staff member who fits your definition of “has a passion for the game?” How do these qualities add to the continued success of your program?
Coach Reveno: I think you have to be what Jim Collins calls “functionally neurotic” in the sense that you are truly driven to be the best you can be. No little element is too small to correct if it will help you be the best coach you can be. That approach is contagious and serves as an example for the players. You also have to be hard-wired to believe that truly great things can really only be achieved with teamwork.
SZ:Some of the preparation for the team season involves, players embracing the team culture, physical training, technological analysis, does the team practice mental performance tools or do the above mentioned items create the foundation of mental conditioning?
Coach Reveno: Unfortunately, we do not consistently do mental training exercises. We consciously work to establish pre-practice and pre-game routines and are very aware of the power of the language we use when teaching but I believe we could take it another step. Part of the constraint has been time and the inability to adequately individualize it based on players needs given both time and expertise constraints.
SZ:You became head coach of the Pilots in 2006 and your leadership gave the program an immediate burst of success that has continued. It’s just as important for the coaches to be in shape mentally as it is for the players. What are some things you do to keep yourself fresh mentally season after season?
Coach Reveno: The thing I do the most consistently is study other coaches, either by going to clinics, reading books or watching games and practices. Things do not get stale because I feel I can always be improving as a coach. In addition, I strongly believe you need to adjust to each team each season and also be constantly adjusting to what each team needs throughout the season. Therefore, no two practices are ever the same. What a team needs on any given day to help achieve its goals is truly unique and you are always in search of that “perfect” practice plan
SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote, story that has guided you on your professional path?
Coach Reveno: I love quotes. Well thought out ideas that help guide us daily. My favorite is the poem by Rudyard Kipling “If” It seems to cover it all.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Coach Reveno, thank you for taking time out of your very, busy schedule
for this interview. Congratulations on another great basketball season.
*featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Advocates for Athletes, LLC
Interview with Steve Britschgi, President of Advocates for Athletes, LLC
As a former college athlete and parent of a recruited collegiate basketball player Steve understands what it is like to go through the college recruiting process. He has been in and around sports his entire life. Through A4A, Steve educates families on how to realistically assess their child’s level of athletic talent and provides a path to take full advantage of the educational and life benefits that can be earned through playing sports at the collegiate level.
SZ: Steve what was your motivation to start A4A?
Steve: My motivation was the experience that my wife and I went through with our son’s college recruiting. We had no idea what to do or where to turn to get the answers that we needed to navigate through the process. Like us, most families sit back and wait for college coaches to contact them, when in reality it is the athlete and families that should be contacting the coaches. But how do you know that, how do you know when to start the process or even what to say? We did some research and located some internet based recruiting companies that we interviewed but found them to be very impersonal. We wanted someone who was local (bay area), that we could sit down with face to face and help us with the process. We did not find that and thus we made many mistakes. We then started talking to other parents of high school student athletes that were going through the same thing and found that we all had the same problem. So my motivation came from frustration. That and the verified need for a coaching business that is available to educate and guide student athletes and their families through this process.
SZ: What are the unique services that A4A provide for athletes and their families?
Steve B: What sets us apart is that the A4A team is all born and raised ex-athletes from the local bay area, so we are vested here. We want what’s best for our local student athletes. The whole team has either coached taught or volunteered locally and all have a passion for helping students succeed. Unlike most of our competition, we educate and guide through one-on-one sessions, and that is what makes us unique. By making it a more personal experience, we get to know the athletes better so that we can together find that right college fit, athletically, academically and socially.
SZ: Share a recent story of an athlete who benefited from the A4A program.
Steve: A4A was approached by one particular family this past October. Their athlete was a senior, very late to start the college recruiting process. He had some attention from a couple of colleges, but nothing like a scholarship offer, just a couple letters of interest. The family, like most we have talked to, was not sure where to turn or what to do. They found A4A by asking questions. At the point of our first meeting there had been nothing done to promote the athlete so we got to work quickly. Through hard work and reaching out to coaches the interest started coming in and by the first week of February the athlete had signed a letter of intent to play his sport at the college he wanted to attend, with a very nice financial package. The gratitude, the thank you’s the look in the young man’s face, and the “we would of never been able to do this without you,” was a clear validation.
SZ: Do you partner with other athletic community resources? Or is A4A a stand alone service?
Steve B: Advocates for Athletes is it's own business, but we wanted to be able to provide our clients with other resources. We have aligned ourselves with reputable local businesses and organizations that we can recommend to our clients if the have a specific need or interest. All have stellar reputations in the community and have a sincere passion similar to A4A for helping young student athletes on the peninsula. We are truly proud to be associated with them.
The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement, Mr Test Prep, Breakthrough, The Bay Area Womens Sport Initiative, and Sports Health Counseling.
SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
Steve B: I do, it's by Vince Lombardi. "A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."
Steve thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to explain the services that Advocates For Athletes provides.
Contact information for Steve Britschgi is steve@advocates4athletes.com
www.advocates4athletes.com
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
As a former college athlete and parent of a recruited collegiate basketball player Steve understands what it is like to go through the college recruiting process. He has been in and around sports his entire life. Through A4A, Steve educates families on how to realistically assess their child’s level of athletic talent and provides a path to take full advantage of the educational and life benefits that can be earned through playing sports at the collegiate level.
SZ: Steve what was your motivation to start A4A?
Steve: My motivation was the experience that my wife and I went through with our son’s college recruiting. We had no idea what to do or where to turn to get the answers that we needed to navigate through the process. Like us, most families sit back and wait for college coaches to contact them, when in reality it is the athlete and families that should be contacting the coaches. But how do you know that, how do you know when to start the process or even what to say? We did some research and located some internet based recruiting companies that we interviewed but found them to be very impersonal. We wanted someone who was local (bay area), that we could sit down with face to face and help us with the process. We did not find that and thus we made many mistakes. We then started talking to other parents of high school student athletes that were going through the same thing and found that we all had the same problem. So my motivation came from frustration. That and the verified need for a coaching business that is available to educate and guide student athletes and their families through this process.
SZ: What are the unique services that A4A provide for athletes and their families?
Steve B: What sets us apart is that the A4A team is all born and raised ex-athletes from the local bay area, so we are vested here. We want what’s best for our local student athletes. The whole team has either coached taught or volunteered locally and all have a passion for helping students succeed. Unlike most of our competition, we educate and guide through one-on-one sessions, and that is what makes us unique. By making it a more personal experience, we get to know the athletes better so that we can together find that right college fit, athletically, academically and socially.
SZ: Share a recent story of an athlete who benefited from the A4A program.
Steve: A4A was approached by one particular family this past October. Their athlete was a senior, very late to start the college recruiting process. He had some attention from a couple of colleges, but nothing like a scholarship offer, just a couple letters of interest. The family, like most we have talked to, was not sure where to turn or what to do. They found A4A by asking questions. At the point of our first meeting there had been nothing done to promote the athlete so we got to work quickly. Through hard work and reaching out to coaches the interest started coming in and by the first week of February the athlete had signed a letter of intent to play his sport at the college he wanted to attend, with a very nice financial package. The gratitude, the thank you’s the look in the young man’s face, and the “we would of never been able to do this without you,” was a clear validation.
SZ: Do you partner with other athletic community resources? Or is A4A a stand alone service?
Steve B: Advocates for Athletes is it's own business, but we wanted to be able to provide our clients with other resources. We have aligned ourselves with reputable local businesses and organizations that we can recommend to our clients if the have a specific need or interest. All have stellar reputations in the community and have a sincere passion similar to A4A for helping young student athletes on the peninsula. We are truly proud to be associated with them.
The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement, Mr Test Prep, Breakthrough, The Bay Area Womens Sport Initiative, and Sports Health Counseling.
SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
Steve B: I do, it's by Vince Lombardi. "A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."
Steve thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to explain the services that Advocates For Athletes provides.
Contact information for Steve Britschgi is steve@advocates4athletes.com
www.advocates4athletes.com
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Fight or Flight
Many coaches and athletes are familiar with the term fight or flight. The phrase is used to describe an instinctual reaction of fight or flight that occurs when faced with a perceived, real or unreal threat. Common physical/mental reactions in this state include:
• Increased breathing (typically shallow)
• Increased heart rate
• Racing thoughts
• Increased muscle tension
• Time speeds up
The majority of sporting events that most athletes participant in do not pose a physical threat, and most athletes report low to non-existent signs of stress during work-outs or practices. Yet, frequently an athletes physiological/psychological response leading up to or during a competitive event creates an “as if” reaction. When an athlete enters a state of fight or flight their athletic skills and abilities may derail creating additional frustration around sport participation. In extreme situations athletes may decide they are not able to compete any longer and give up participating in their sport competitively.
Although there are rarely quick fixes to this reaction, athletes can develop successful management strategies to lessen the physiological/psychological stress reactions of competition that can precede the state of fight or flight.
Useful management strategies include:
• Preparation for competition. Being well prepared mentally, physically, technically, leading up to a competitive event. Practices should include competitive like conditions to mimic the types of stresses of the upcoming event.
“Stress can occur when athletes are uncertain that they will be able to do what is expected of them and when the outcome is important to them.” Rainer Martens.
• Stress management techniques. Utilizing skills of visualization, controlled breathing, positive inner dialogue and tools which provide balanced mental energy.
• Identify obtainable goals. Process goals vs. outcome goals allow a more balanced gauge of short and long term improvement. Everyone’s outcome goal is to win, but process goals are the steps and details that lead to the wins.
• Healthy support team. Support from coaches, family, friends who care about the athletes goals and support those goals, yet aren’t overly invested in the athletes outcome.
Effective management of fight or flight responses begins long before an athlete steps into the competitive arena. Using management strategies can help alleviate the negative aspects of the fight or flight syndrome and can even be the detour from it occurring.
• Increased breathing (typically shallow)
• Increased heart rate
• Racing thoughts
• Increased muscle tension
• Time speeds up
The majority of sporting events that most athletes participant in do not pose a physical threat, and most athletes report low to non-existent signs of stress during work-outs or practices. Yet, frequently an athletes physiological/psychological response leading up to or during a competitive event creates an “as if” reaction. When an athlete enters a state of fight or flight their athletic skills and abilities may derail creating additional frustration around sport participation. In extreme situations athletes may decide they are not able to compete any longer and give up participating in their sport competitively.
Although there are rarely quick fixes to this reaction, athletes can develop successful management strategies to lessen the physiological/psychological stress reactions of competition that can precede the state of fight or flight.
Useful management strategies include:
• Preparation for competition. Being well prepared mentally, physically, technically, leading up to a competitive event. Practices should include competitive like conditions to mimic the types of stresses of the upcoming event.
“Stress can occur when athletes are uncertain that they will be able to do what is expected of them and when the outcome is important to them.” Rainer Martens.
• Stress management techniques. Utilizing skills of visualization, controlled breathing, positive inner dialogue and tools which provide balanced mental energy.
• Identify obtainable goals. Process goals vs. outcome goals allow a more balanced gauge of short and long term improvement. Everyone’s outcome goal is to win, but process goals are the steps and details that lead to the wins.
• Healthy support team. Support from coaches, family, friends who care about the athletes goals and support those goals, yet aren’t overly invested in the athletes outcome.
Effective management of fight or flight responses begins long before an athlete steps into the competitive arena. Using management strategies can help alleviate the negative aspects of the fight or flight syndrome and can even be the detour from it occurring.
Friday, January 21, 2011
SMI - Sport Injury Treatment
Mark Fadil is clinical director of the Sports Medicine Institute (SMI). SMI offers evaluation and treatment of sports related injuries and provides massage therapy geared towards injury prevention and performance enhancement for individuals and athletes of all abilities.
Sz: Mark what has been your professional path to becoming a certified massage therapist? What’s the training process?
MF: The training has changed as far as certification goes in the state of California. When I became certified right after I completed college I took a basic class at one of the massage therapy schools. At that time all that was required was a 100 hour certification class. I took the class and was fortunate to immediately begin working with Len Debenedictis, who had been my massage therapist when I was a competitive athlete. He took me under his wing and the training was arranged as an internship where he mentored me. Our arrangement was set up where we would both work with a client at the same time. Initially it was me watching him and then I began becoming more active in the sessions. As I learned more I did more of the work on my own. We did this for a year or so before I started working independently with clients.
Sz: Was Len working specifically with athletes?
MF: He was. He did a lot of work with athletes when I was on the Stanford track and field cross country team. That’s how I was introduced to him. He was working with a number of athletes on the Stanford swim team, track and field team and recreational athletes. He had really tapped into that community so it was a great way for me to become involved.
Sz: So you were a competitive collegiate athlete at Stanford.
MF: Yes, I ran the steeple chase and cross country.
Sz: Do you continue to be active in sports?
MF: I still run. I haven’t competed since college but I run and have been road cycling for about two years, for enjoyment, health and to stay in shape.
Sz: Did your experience as a competitive athlete bring you into the field of body work?
MF: Yes, I had an IT (lliotibial band) injury and was hurt for about nine months to the point I couldn’t run more than a mile without experiencing knee pain. I was participating in a lot of conventional therapies. This was back in the early 90’s. The therapies involved basic stretching, doing some strength exercises, and a couple of cortisone injections. My injury wasn’t improving and I ended up going to see Gerard Hartman, a physiotherapist in Gainesville, Florida. I went to Florida to spend ten days with Gerard. He worked out of his home and had his practice set up where clients, primarily runners, would stay with him for two or three weeks at a time. His clients were from around the country and around the world. His method was to work with a client everyday for 2-3 hours. It was deep, aggressive, painful work. The treatment helped and my injury healed. That experience really sparked my interest in body work.
Len whom, I had been working with in the bay area, had been doing more general sports massage on my injury. When I returned home I shared Gerard’s approach with Len and that sparked Len’s interest. He added dealing with injuries as well as general work, injury prevention, and maintenance to his practice.
After I graduated from Stanford I decided that this was the field I wanted to be involved in and started the courses to becoming a certified masseuse, then began working with Len.
Sz: Do you feel your experience as an athlete gives you a connection with the competitive athletes and better connection to what they are experiencing?
MF: Definitely. I think that competitive athletes approach things with a certain mentality. It’s hard to understand what that mentality is and how that plays a part of whom they are and how they approach an injury. Not only in regards to an injury but often times the sport or their activity defines who they are and that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve experienced it or been around these athletes a lot.
I had a good friend of mine who was a 1500 meter runner years ago. She was having some knee problems leading up to the Olympic trials a few years ago. She went to see an orthopedists and was working with him a few weeks and her knee wasn’t improving. At one point he said, “Well have you thought about picking up swimming.” Her response was, “Have you thought about picking up pediatrics?” A competitive athlete isn’t participating just for the fun of it. For many athletes competing in their sport defines who they are.
Sz: Describe what massage therapists at SMI do differently from traditional massage therapists.
MF: A vast amount of the body work that therapists do at SMI is to focus on one area. A client presents with a specific shoulder problem. The therapist will spend the appointment focusing on the clients shoulder. From my experience the majority of sport massage therapists will spend additional time on the shoulder area but within the context of a full body massage. Our niche is to focus on the problem area and as a result we see clients with specific injuries. The therapists here also work with the athlete on injury prevention and maintenance. But even there it is usually in the context of working on the specific trouble area. The sessions tend to be very focused and individualized. There’s not a set routine. Our therapists are trained to be in tune with the client needs and streamlining the session for their individual needs.
Sz: Baby boomers and health is a very popular topic in the media right now. Studies show that boomers are actively involved in sports later into their lives than any generation in the past. Has SMI experienced an increase in boomers utilizing the clinics services?
MF: We’ve always had a lot of clients in their 40’s and 50’s. The San Francisco bay area is a very athletically active community and it’s been an active athletic community for a very long time. I’ve been doing body work for fourteen years and ever since I’ve been involved in this work I’ve always seen a number of athletically active clients who are in middle age and beyond.
Sz: Is there a frequent injury the boomers seem to have in common?
MF: It really boils down to the sport they participate in. We see a lot of swimming, cycling, and running clients. The running population has a lot of IT band issues, hamstring problems and planter fasciitis. Cyclists tend to experience neck, and back issues. Swimmers deal with rotator cuffs, shoulder, neck and lower back injuries. The injuries seem to be sport oriented not age specific.
Sz: Sport medicine statistics report that younger athletes are experiencing serious over use injuries. Has the clinic noticed an increase in young athletes needing the clinics services?
MF: We have seen a pick up of clients in the junior high and high school age group. We do have a number of junior and high school athletes coming in on a pretty regular basis, not only for injuries but for injury prevention and maintenance. It probably is a shift to parents being more aware of the potential for injury in younger kids and parents are trying to stay ahead of the game.
Sz: Do you feel the increase in the youth population is because there are a greater number of youths participating on sport teams, or do you feel some of the younger athletes are being over trained and over played in their sports and not introduced to enough cross training and seasonal breaks?
MF: I do think there is over training and over structure of training. I reflect back to my youth and before I began running I played soccer. I played soccer all the time but it was less structured. I participated on a travel team and the season lasted about six weeks. We would take road trips maybe once or twice a season. The rest of my playing consisted of pick up games. I’d go to the field and players would show up and we’d split up the teams and play until we were tired. Now with all the drilling structure it’s seems as though it’s become more like work than play for youth. I think that when kids are just playing they are less likely to get hurt.
Sz: Because they are less stressed physically and mentally?
MF: Exactly.
Sz: As you see athletes going through the injury rehabilitation process and struggling with their psychological response how do you handle these situations?
MF: That can be a challenge. It’s not just dealing with the athlete it’s also working with the parents.
Sz: As a service provider you may see beyond the presenting problem, yet you’ve been hired to perform reparative massage.
MF: We remain respectful. We try to keep the athletes welfare in mind.
Sz: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
MF: I do. It’s a quote from Rudyard Kipling. In addition to being a writer he was also a runner. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run yours is the earth and everything that’s in it and which is more you will be a man my son.”
Mark thank you for taking time out of your busy day to talk about the work at SMI.
Mark can be reached at: www.smiweb.org
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Sz: Mark what has been your professional path to becoming a certified massage therapist? What’s the training process?
MF: The training has changed as far as certification goes in the state of California. When I became certified right after I completed college I took a basic class at one of the massage therapy schools. At that time all that was required was a 100 hour certification class. I took the class and was fortunate to immediately begin working with Len Debenedictis, who had been my massage therapist when I was a competitive athlete. He took me under his wing and the training was arranged as an internship where he mentored me. Our arrangement was set up where we would both work with a client at the same time. Initially it was me watching him and then I began becoming more active in the sessions. As I learned more I did more of the work on my own. We did this for a year or so before I started working independently with clients.
Sz: Was Len working specifically with athletes?
MF: He was. He did a lot of work with athletes when I was on the Stanford track and field cross country team. That’s how I was introduced to him. He was working with a number of athletes on the Stanford swim team, track and field team and recreational athletes. He had really tapped into that community so it was a great way for me to become involved.
Sz: So you were a competitive collegiate athlete at Stanford.
MF: Yes, I ran the steeple chase and cross country.
Sz: Do you continue to be active in sports?
MF: I still run. I haven’t competed since college but I run and have been road cycling for about two years, for enjoyment, health and to stay in shape.
Sz: Did your experience as a competitive athlete bring you into the field of body work?
MF: Yes, I had an IT (lliotibial band) injury and was hurt for about nine months to the point I couldn’t run more than a mile without experiencing knee pain. I was participating in a lot of conventional therapies. This was back in the early 90’s. The therapies involved basic stretching, doing some strength exercises, and a couple of cortisone injections. My injury wasn’t improving and I ended up going to see Gerard Hartman, a physiotherapist in Gainesville, Florida. I went to Florida to spend ten days with Gerard. He worked out of his home and had his practice set up where clients, primarily runners, would stay with him for two or three weeks at a time. His clients were from around the country and around the world. His method was to work with a client everyday for 2-3 hours. It was deep, aggressive, painful work. The treatment helped and my injury healed. That experience really sparked my interest in body work.
Len whom, I had been working with in the bay area, had been doing more general sports massage on my injury. When I returned home I shared Gerard’s approach with Len and that sparked Len’s interest. He added dealing with injuries as well as general work, injury prevention, and maintenance to his practice.
After I graduated from Stanford I decided that this was the field I wanted to be involved in and started the courses to becoming a certified masseuse, then began working with Len.
Sz: Do you feel your experience as an athlete gives you a connection with the competitive athletes and better connection to what they are experiencing?
MF: Definitely. I think that competitive athletes approach things with a certain mentality. It’s hard to understand what that mentality is and how that plays a part of whom they are and how they approach an injury. Not only in regards to an injury but often times the sport or their activity defines who they are and that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve experienced it or been around these athletes a lot.
I had a good friend of mine who was a 1500 meter runner years ago. She was having some knee problems leading up to the Olympic trials a few years ago. She went to see an orthopedists and was working with him a few weeks and her knee wasn’t improving. At one point he said, “Well have you thought about picking up swimming.” Her response was, “Have you thought about picking up pediatrics?” A competitive athlete isn’t participating just for the fun of it. For many athletes competing in their sport defines who they are.
Sz: Describe what massage therapists at SMI do differently from traditional massage therapists.
MF: A vast amount of the body work that therapists do at SMI is to focus on one area. A client presents with a specific shoulder problem. The therapist will spend the appointment focusing on the clients shoulder. From my experience the majority of sport massage therapists will spend additional time on the shoulder area but within the context of a full body massage. Our niche is to focus on the problem area and as a result we see clients with specific injuries. The therapists here also work with the athlete on injury prevention and maintenance. But even there it is usually in the context of working on the specific trouble area. The sessions tend to be very focused and individualized. There’s not a set routine. Our therapists are trained to be in tune with the client needs and streamlining the session for their individual needs.
Sz: Baby boomers and health is a very popular topic in the media right now. Studies show that boomers are actively involved in sports later into their lives than any generation in the past. Has SMI experienced an increase in boomers utilizing the clinics services?
MF: We’ve always had a lot of clients in their 40’s and 50’s. The San Francisco bay area is a very athletically active community and it’s been an active athletic community for a very long time. I’ve been doing body work for fourteen years and ever since I’ve been involved in this work I’ve always seen a number of athletically active clients who are in middle age and beyond.
Sz: Is there a frequent injury the boomers seem to have in common?
MF: It really boils down to the sport they participate in. We see a lot of swimming, cycling, and running clients. The running population has a lot of IT band issues, hamstring problems and planter fasciitis. Cyclists tend to experience neck, and back issues. Swimmers deal with rotator cuffs, shoulder, neck and lower back injuries. The injuries seem to be sport oriented not age specific.
Sz: Sport medicine statistics report that younger athletes are experiencing serious over use injuries. Has the clinic noticed an increase in young athletes needing the clinics services?
MF: We have seen a pick up of clients in the junior high and high school age group. We do have a number of junior and high school athletes coming in on a pretty regular basis, not only for injuries but for injury prevention and maintenance. It probably is a shift to parents being more aware of the potential for injury in younger kids and parents are trying to stay ahead of the game.
Sz: Do you feel the increase in the youth population is because there are a greater number of youths participating on sport teams, or do you feel some of the younger athletes are being over trained and over played in their sports and not introduced to enough cross training and seasonal breaks?
MF: I do think there is over training and over structure of training. I reflect back to my youth and before I began running I played soccer. I played soccer all the time but it was less structured. I participated on a travel team and the season lasted about six weeks. We would take road trips maybe once or twice a season. The rest of my playing consisted of pick up games. I’d go to the field and players would show up and we’d split up the teams and play until we were tired. Now with all the drilling structure it’s seems as though it’s become more like work than play for youth. I think that when kids are just playing they are less likely to get hurt.
Sz: Because they are less stressed physically and mentally?
MF: Exactly.
Sz: As you see athletes going through the injury rehabilitation process and struggling with their psychological response how do you handle these situations?
MF: That can be a challenge. It’s not just dealing with the athlete it’s also working with the parents.
Sz: As a service provider you may see beyond the presenting problem, yet you’ve been hired to perform reparative massage.
MF: We remain respectful. We try to keep the athletes welfare in mind.
Sz: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
MF: I do. It’s a quote from Rudyard Kipling. In addition to being a writer he was also a runner. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run yours is the earth and everything that’s in it and which is more you will be a man my son.”
Mark thank you for taking time out of your busy day to talk about the work at SMI.
Mark can be reached at: www.smiweb.org
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Thursday, January 6, 2011
2011 Fitness Resolutions
Have you written down and begun acting on your New Year Resolutions? Becoming more fit is always one of the top New Year’s Resolutions and a recent online survey rated fitness as number two this year right behind spending more time with family and friends. It makes sense that this choice is a high priority for people as the benefits of exercise and fitness are heavily supported by research. The Mayo Clinic lists seven benefits of regular physical exercise as;
1) Improves mood.
2) Combats chronic disease.
3) Helps manage weight.
4) Boosts energy level.
5) Promotes better sleep.
6) Can put the spark back into your sex life.
7) A way to have fun.
Many people who wrote “better fitness” as a resolution for the New Year are probably already aware of the benefits of fitness and exercise. Heading into the second week of January there are a group of people hot in their pursuit of their commitment to succeed in becoming more fit. Another group may have already slipped back into their pre-resolution habits and routines, meaning they thought about beginning a fitness routine but haven’t begun. Another group may have begun and is now starting to feel the pull of life distractions that can hijack their efforts to integrate fitness into their daily lives.
Here are six ideas for supporting your New Years fitness resolutions.
1) Create variety in your routines. Frequently people join a gym and within a few weeks become bored with the routine. When you join a gym find one that compliments your schedule and interests. Most gyms offer a large array of fitness equipment and free classes ranging from, aerobic and step classes, cycling, kick boxing,Zumba, water exercises and more. A gym or work-out facility that offers both, variety in fitness programs and provide peer camaraderie is a good way to stay physically and mentally committed to your fitness routine.
2) Engage your friends. Find friends who will join you for a day of kayaking, hiking,bicycling, jogging or even dance lessons. A base cardio work out routine
is useful but unless you are training for a specific race or event in which you need
specific weight, speed or agility training, there is no need to go to the gym
for all your fitness work-outs. In the bay area there are ample opportunities to join social/recreational league teams. These league teams typically offer a selection of several skill level categories, beginner, intermediate, advanced. There are basketball leagues, tennis leagues, ultimate frisbee leagues, soccer leagues and
many other sports. If you prefer to keep your exercise noncompetitive there are social bicycling, hiking, walking and running clubs.
3) Join or begin a healthy cooking class or group. People often begin an exercise program and neglect to alter their diets. Fitness and diet are best in combination. Taking a health conscious cooking class can enlighten and empower your nutritional choices and creativity. If taking a class doesn’t fit your schedule think about starting a group with friends. One format could be each month pick whose home will host and what the recipe theme will be for that meeting.
4) Know your distractions. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the page. On the left side of the page write down a list of past distractions that have drawn you away from your previous resolutions to become more fit. On the same side of the page continue your list of additional distractions that could emerge during the days, weeks ahead. Examples of this could be, couldn’t get to the gym because of work, family commitments, too tired etc. On the right side of the page write down solutions to the distractions that you wrote from the left side of the page. If you can’t think of a solution, ask friends or family for solutions to help you think of new ways to keep to your goals. The answers needn’t be perfect. The idea is to help you think of these problems in new ways.
5) There will be bumps in the road. Avoid minimizing your progress or giving up your goals on the days and weeks you fall short. For example if the plan is to exercise three times a week and for whatever reason you only exercise two times that week, move onto the next week with the same goal. Trying to make up for the lost day by adding an extra exercise day the following week may become a recipe for failure. If it works out great do it. But avoid the mentality of trying to catch up on lost days. Let it go and move on. When people begin to fall behind and the list of things they need to catch up keeps growing the goal becomes unobtainable and typically they quit.
6) Have fun! There is no reason a fitness program needs to be drudgery.
Understand that change occurs gradually and it is easy to become discouraged particularly in the early stages of beginning a new behavior. To improve your odds of succeeding stay proactive in combating the discouraging stages. Create variety in your routines, participate in activities that are fun, be flexible, engage in new activities, know your distractions, and build a support group of people to participate along with you as you to continue taking action towards achieving your New Year resolution of fitness.
1) Improves mood.
2) Combats chronic disease.
3) Helps manage weight.
4) Boosts energy level.
5) Promotes better sleep.
6) Can put the spark back into your sex life.
7) A way to have fun.
Many people who wrote “better fitness” as a resolution for the New Year are probably already aware of the benefits of fitness and exercise. Heading into the second week of January there are a group of people hot in their pursuit of their commitment to succeed in becoming more fit. Another group may have already slipped back into their pre-resolution habits and routines, meaning they thought about beginning a fitness routine but haven’t begun. Another group may have begun and is now starting to feel the pull of life distractions that can hijack their efforts to integrate fitness into their daily lives.
Here are six ideas for supporting your New Years fitness resolutions.
1) Create variety in your routines. Frequently people join a gym and within a few weeks become bored with the routine. When you join a gym find one that compliments your schedule and interests. Most gyms offer a large array of fitness equipment and free classes ranging from, aerobic and step classes, cycling, kick boxing,Zumba, water exercises and more. A gym or work-out facility that offers both, variety in fitness programs and provide peer camaraderie is a good way to stay physically and mentally committed to your fitness routine.
2) Engage your friends. Find friends who will join you for a day of kayaking, hiking,bicycling, jogging or even dance lessons. A base cardio work out routine
is useful but unless you are training for a specific race or event in which you need
specific weight, speed or agility training, there is no need to go to the gym
for all your fitness work-outs. In the bay area there are ample opportunities to join social/recreational league teams. These league teams typically offer a selection of several skill level categories, beginner, intermediate, advanced. There are basketball leagues, tennis leagues, ultimate frisbee leagues, soccer leagues and
many other sports. If you prefer to keep your exercise noncompetitive there are social bicycling, hiking, walking and running clubs.
3) Join or begin a healthy cooking class or group. People often begin an exercise program and neglect to alter their diets. Fitness and diet are best in combination. Taking a health conscious cooking class can enlighten and empower your nutritional choices and creativity. If taking a class doesn’t fit your schedule think about starting a group with friends. One format could be each month pick whose home will host and what the recipe theme will be for that meeting.
4) Know your distractions. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the page. On the left side of the page write down a list of past distractions that have drawn you away from your previous resolutions to become more fit. On the same side of the page continue your list of additional distractions that could emerge during the days, weeks ahead. Examples of this could be, couldn’t get to the gym because of work, family commitments, too tired etc. On the right side of the page write down solutions to the distractions that you wrote from the left side of the page. If you can’t think of a solution, ask friends or family for solutions to help you think of new ways to keep to your goals. The answers needn’t be perfect. The idea is to help you think of these problems in new ways.
5) There will be bumps in the road. Avoid minimizing your progress or giving up your goals on the days and weeks you fall short. For example if the plan is to exercise three times a week and for whatever reason you only exercise two times that week, move onto the next week with the same goal. Trying to make up for the lost day by adding an extra exercise day the following week may become a recipe for failure. If it works out great do it. But avoid the mentality of trying to catch up on lost days. Let it go and move on. When people begin to fall behind and the list of things they need to catch up keeps growing the goal becomes unobtainable and typically they quit.
6) Have fun! There is no reason a fitness program needs to be drudgery.
Understand that change occurs gradually and it is easy to become discouraged particularly in the early stages of beginning a new behavior. To improve your odds of succeeding stay proactive in combating the discouraging stages. Create variety in your routines, participate in activities that are fun, be flexible, engage in new activities, know your distractions, and build a support group of people to participate along with you as you to continue taking action towards achieving your New Year resolution of fitness.
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