SPARTA is an athletic training facility for high school, college and professional athletes who strive to maximize their sport performance while minimizing their risk of injury. Located in Menlo Park, the athletic programs are individualized incorporating a foundation of science, technology, training, nutrition and recovery programs.
Dr. Phil Wagner, owner of SPARTA, “I was always interested in training athletes. My career path has been based around that from the beginning.” The East Bay native received his medical degree from USC and in 2008 set up his training headquarters in Menlo Park because of the city’s location and abundance of high level athletes. Athletes who train at SPARTA are first tested on a force plate using the company’s proprietary software. The test results spotlight how each individual athlete moves and what his/her strengths and weaknesses are in relation to force and time output. Dr. Wagner says the process is similar to taking a fingerprint but of the total athlete. An athletes training program is then developed based on that fingerprint.
SZ:There are many performance training facilities in the bay area, Sparta has developed it’s reputation around being a science driven training facility. Explain how this method is a safer, healthier method of training for athletes.
PW: We focus athletic performance and injury prevention into its simplest need; force production. How much force you can put in the ground determines how high you jump, your sprinting speed, your ability to change direction, and how hard you can hit or throw a ball. The second major aspect of force production is the way you produce force, whether it very quickly or smoothly over a longer amount of time, as this balance determines your injury risk. The final aspect we analyze is the consistency of force production. If your nervous system is healthy and trained, you can repeat the same intensity over and over again.
We use a force plate buried in the ground to measure these qualities, coupled with our customized software to measure the needed values. After completion, we compare the athlete to our database of training over a hundred professional athletes and Olympic medalists of all sports and both genders.
SZ: What are the psychological benefits for the athlete using this method?
PW: There is a psychological component in everything we do, whether it is the tone of coaching feedback or the scientific approach. In the end, the goal is the same, to get results. So psychologically, the athlete feels more confident when they see the drastically improved results every day. If they happen to not improve as much, then they must learn to cope with disappointment and focus on aspects they can control.
SZ: What experiences from your own athletic play or training created your drive to seek out a scientifically organized method of improving athletic performance?
PW: I had countless injuries on the field; seven concussions, several surgeries on shoulders, and dozens of muscle strains and broken bones. While some could not be prevented, most of the setbacks were from pursuing training that was only supporting my innate imbalances. For example, I was naturally strong, so lifting heavier weights was fun, but did not necessarily increase my athleticism or improve resilience to injury. This training made me more explosive but also more prone to muscle strains
SZ: In an article you wrote for The Performance Lab, “Too Much Playing Harms Youngsters,” you mention that, “training the same muscles year round is believed to be the main cause of the rise in overuse injuries in young athletes.” What is Sparta’s system for recognizing overtraining outside of Sparta? Do you have a conversation with the athlete and parent when this occurs? What is a typical recommendation for the athlete when this occurs?
PW: Every athlete over trains, it just comes down to how much. Over trains doesn’t necessarily mean working too much as it does over specialization. Baseball players playing their sport year round never experience jumping or agility, while soccer players never learn how to throw a ball. We provide a stimulus with other skills to prevent the overuse of certain movement patterns, while still trying to enhance the most important parts of their sport.
SZ: What are the most interesting parts of your job?
PW: Improving athletes’ lives, helping them to achieve their dreams and changing lifestyle habits (nutrition, sleeping, etc.) that will last long after their sporting career is over.
SZ: Do you have a favorite quote or story that has guided you on your professional path?
PW: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle
The most important thing we measure is consistency; how often you can produce force, reproduce a skill, and pursue positive regeneration habits (nutrition, sleep, etc.).
Phil thank you for taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to talk about SPARTA
and the training it offers to athletes.
To learn more about SPARTA Performance: www.spartascience.com
*Guests featured are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Bay Area Bandits - Women's Football League
The Bay Area Bandits’ organization was founded by a group of five players who wanted to prove that a women’s football team in the San Francisco Bay Area could be successfully managed, sustained and positively integrated into the community. The mission of the Bay Area Bandits is to afford its members an opportunity to play tackle football, a sport not traditionally offered to women, in an organized, life-enriching manner that promotes teamwork, discipline and dedication, while fostering the skills and knowledge necessary to compete nationally.
SZ: The Bay Area Bandits women’s football team began in 2008. How many players were on the original roster and how many players does the team have today?
Bandits: We started with nearly 68 women who tried out and carried 45 players on the roster for the inaugural 2010 season. In 2011 we began the season with 45 women on the roster.
SZ: How would an interested player learn about where and when try-outs are held?
Bandits: There are try-outs each year for both returning and new players. These try-outs
typically run between September and December, which is during our mini-camp training period. Interested players can learn about our try-outs by visiting our website or via the hundreds of information fliers that are passed out while recruiting prospective players. Our advertisements are typically via free or low-cost media and word of mouth.
SZ: I read that the Women’s Football Alliance which has leagues across the nation is owned by Jeff and Lisa King, and has grown to over sixty teams for the 2011 season.
What are other features of women’s football that readers are probably not aware of?
Bandits:
* Women’s football has been in the U.S. since 2000.
*It’s a league where the women pay to play.
*Several teams nationwide participate in philanthropic youth programs such as,
NFL Play 60, Special Olympics, Girls Inc. etc.
Women’s football is an international sport.
Approximately 30% of the money spent for a single football season is given back to local schools and city parks and recreation departments.
SZ: What are some of the qualities that attract women to participate in football as a sport for health and well-being?
Bandit (Jen Romanini): Football is an opportunity to play a sport that has never been offered to women. It’s a chance to be involved in a team sport and experience the challenge of playing a sport that requires physical aggression.
Bandit (Julia Jalalat): Love for the game gives me the motivation to keep going and push harder during the most mentally challenging and physically strenuous moments during games and while conditioning.
Bandit (Cori Evans): The qualities that attracted me to participate in women’s football include the opportunity to compete beyond collegiate athletics. The challenge to succeed in a new sport that I love and dreamed of playing.
Bandit (Sandra Hernandez): Many women are attracted to being part of a team a unit. Many athletes have experienced that sense of camaraderie and want to feel “a part” of something again. The great physical conditioning is definitely attractive and a physical sense of accomplishment.
SZ: What are some of the physical and mental skill sets that are useful for players to have or acquire who wish to compete on a women’s football team?
Bandit (Jen Romanini): The more physically fit and strong the player the more likely the player will find success playing the game. Physical skill sets range from speed, agility and power to brute strength, endurance, athletic skill and coordination. The skills that prove to be more useful are mental. Work ethic, drive, determination, leadership and the ability to work with others, trust. Much of what a player does on the field affects the rest of the team. Understanding that a players individual success comes from and contributes to the teams success is a crucial key in enjoying and finding success in this sport.
Bandit (Danielle Golay): The mental toughness that is needed to play this sport is something that is ultimately needed for any player to be great. A big heart, a great work ethic, and the desire to continue to become better are also great traits for a player.
SZ: Does the team have a quote, motto or story that expresses the team’s culture and/or philosophy?
Bandit (Jen Romanini): Dedication. Determination. Domination. We ask a lot of the ladies that make up our roster, instilling in them our goal of bringing home a championship to the Bay Area. It takes a lot of time, preparation and organization to be successful in this league and this game. The bar has been set high and is being set higher each year. The longer the opportunity for women to play football is around the stiffer the competition gets.
Bandit (Julia Jalalat): I wish everyone got to experience what it feels like to be running your last 100 yard sprint thinking surely this time you will perish, and have your teammates come and run the final sprint with you, not letting you run or perish alone, their very presence giving you life. In all other athletics I felt tolerated; in football I have a sense of belonging. Feeling like I belong moves me to want to become stronger, faster, better. When I step onto the football field, I am home.
Lady Bandits, Danielle Golay, Cori Evans, Julia Jalalat, Jen Romanini, Sandra Hernandez, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to share your thoughts and experiences of participating in women’s football. As of this writing the Bay Area Bandits 2011 record stands at 5 and 0, next game is Saturday, June 4th.
*Guests featured are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
SZ: The Bay Area Bandits women’s football team began in 2008. How many players were on the original roster and how many players does the team have today?
Bandits: We started with nearly 68 women who tried out and carried 45 players on the roster for the inaugural 2010 season. In 2011 we began the season with 45 women on the roster.
SZ: How would an interested player learn about where and when try-outs are held?
Bandits: There are try-outs each year for both returning and new players. These try-outs
typically run between September and December, which is during our mini-camp training period. Interested players can learn about our try-outs by visiting our website or via the hundreds of information fliers that are passed out while recruiting prospective players. Our advertisements are typically via free or low-cost media and word of mouth.
SZ: I read that the Women’s Football Alliance which has leagues across the nation is owned by Jeff and Lisa King, and has grown to over sixty teams for the 2011 season.
What are other features of women’s football that readers are probably not aware of?
Bandits:
* Women’s football has been in the U.S. since 2000.
*It’s a league where the women pay to play.
*Several teams nationwide participate in philanthropic youth programs such as,
NFL Play 60, Special Olympics, Girls Inc. etc.
Women’s football is an international sport.
Approximately 30% of the money spent for a single football season is given back to local schools and city parks and recreation departments.
SZ: What are some of the qualities that attract women to participate in football as a sport for health and well-being?
Bandit (Jen Romanini): Football is an opportunity to play a sport that has never been offered to women. It’s a chance to be involved in a team sport and experience the challenge of playing a sport that requires physical aggression.
Bandit (Julia Jalalat): Love for the game gives me the motivation to keep going and push harder during the most mentally challenging and physically strenuous moments during games and while conditioning.
Bandit (Cori Evans): The qualities that attracted me to participate in women’s football include the opportunity to compete beyond collegiate athletics. The challenge to succeed in a new sport that I love and dreamed of playing.
Bandit (Sandra Hernandez): Many women are attracted to being part of a team a unit. Many athletes have experienced that sense of camaraderie and want to feel “a part” of something again. The great physical conditioning is definitely attractive and a physical sense of accomplishment.
SZ: What are some of the physical and mental skill sets that are useful for players to have or acquire who wish to compete on a women’s football team?
Bandit (Jen Romanini): The more physically fit and strong the player the more likely the player will find success playing the game. Physical skill sets range from speed, agility and power to brute strength, endurance, athletic skill and coordination. The skills that prove to be more useful are mental. Work ethic, drive, determination, leadership and the ability to work with others, trust. Much of what a player does on the field affects the rest of the team. Understanding that a players individual success comes from and contributes to the teams success is a crucial key in enjoying and finding success in this sport.
Bandit (Danielle Golay): The mental toughness that is needed to play this sport is something that is ultimately needed for any player to be great. A big heart, a great work ethic, and the desire to continue to become better are also great traits for a player.
SZ: Does the team have a quote, motto or story that expresses the team’s culture and/or philosophy?
Bandit (Jen Romanini): Dedication. Determination. Domination. We ask a lot of the ladies that make up our roster, instilling in them our goal of bringing home a championship to the Bay Area. It takes a lot of time, preparation and organization to be successful in this league and this game. The bar has been set high and is being set higher each year. The longer the opportunity for women to play football is around the stiffer the competition gets.
Bandit (Julia Jalalat): I wish everyone got to experience what it feels like to be running your last 100 yard sprint thinking surely this time you will perish, and have your teammates come and run the final sprint with you, not letting you run or perish alone, their very presence giving you life. In all other athletics I felt tolerated; in football I have a sense of belonging. Feeling like I belong moves me to want to become stronger, faster, better. When I step onto the football field, I am home.
Lady Bandits, Danielle Golay, Cori Evans, Julia Jalalat, Jen Romanini, Sandra Hernandez, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to share your thoughts and experiences of participating in women’s football. As of this writing the Bay Area Bandits 2011 record stands at 5 and 0, next game is Saturday, June 4th.
*Guests featured are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Monday, April 25, 2011
Marlene Bjornsrud - BAWSI - Female Athletes On The Move
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
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
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.
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