"Girls on the Field" Sport Psychology Session Photos

Maren Madore, Kristen Rasmussen and Rebekah Conway Roulier (TEAM DOC WAYNE)

Rebekah Conway Roulier Facilitating

Catch! (Rebekah Conway Roulier with Middle School Participant)

Great Goals

Goal setting can be very powerful in changing behavior. Not only does goal setting help people achieve what they are aiming for, but it also increases their self-confidence, motivation, and decreases anxiety. 

Effective goal setting requires hard work. Setting specific, measurable, adjustable, realistic, and timely goals is a step in the right direction. Below are a few additional helpful hints to create GREAT GOALS! Systematically providing feedback and following up with athletes can make all the difference.  

Coaches, when beginning goal setting as a team for the season don't forget the power of modeling. Take part in the goal setting process. 

Great goals are:   

1. Positively Phrased

2. Specific and Measurable

3. Manageable and Achievable

4. Written down

5. Performance goals, not outcome goals

6. Something the athlete actually wants to work towards! 

7. Simple

Using these tips, create a structure within your team to make goal setting part of your team culture (a ritual, fun, and enforced by participants). 

RR

#Competitive Dream - Living the Dream

Have you ever heard the phrase, “living the dream?” It’s one of my favorites to aspire to in life and in sport.  Using your support network and mental skills, your sport experience could be similar to the dream you wish for when drifting off to sleep...the dream you want to "redream"  For many of us (especially trauma victims and others who have been dealt a difficult hand in life) their sport experience is nonexistent or not ideal.  To hammer home the point, they are not “living the dream” when playing youth sport.

I mention competition, not referring to it in the typical sense of the word, (winning, trophies, medals, conference tiles) but rather true competition. True competition is putting your best foot forward each and every time out and challenging your opponent to do the same.  In true competition you strive for an equally matched game that challenges all involved to play their best.  This creates the most ideal “dream like state” that is similar to Csikszentmihalyi’s flow.

How can we design youth sport so that every child kids leaves the field thinking to themselves “I’m living the dream!”?

Girls on the Field

Do you remember being a high school athlete? Memories of the glory days may come to mind at first, but if you think harder for many of us it was much more complex than that. 


Moving Traditions (www.movingtraditions.org) is gathering adolescent girls to explore their own personal values and talk about issues that are important to them.  In addition to sport, they are addressing important topics such as financial planning, stress management, media literacy, body image and social activism. 


I'm flattered to have the opportunity to present: 


Girls on the Field: More girls today are playing sports than ever before. In addition to great physical activity, sports can provide girls and women with important opportunities to grow their confidence and self-esteem, and learn about being part of a team.  With these opportunities also come some challenges—for example, how do you balance sports and schoolwork, or your needs versus the team's? What about when you and a friend are competing for the same spot on a team or the team feels divided over an issue? In this interactive game-oriented session with Becky Conway-Roulier, a sport psychology consultant at the Doc Wayne Clinic (www.docwayne.org), participants will explore strategies to bring their own values into their performance on and off the field. (Please note: this session will be held outside, weather permitting.)

  

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Game Day Mental Preparation

An excellent topic came up at Friday's Do the Good (DtG) Training. The question was asked, "What do I do as a coach, when a physical warm-up is not an option?." Many youth coaches are familiar with the feelings of sheer relief and proud accomplishment experienced from just arriving at the field. Feeling victorious upon arrival you unload the vehicle, check your players' gear, and somewhat organize your team soon to hear the referee blow his or her whistle signaling the start of the game.  Ideally, each game and practice should begin with a very structured, player-led and dynamic warm-up. 


What is Plan B if a warm-up is not feasible that particular day or if your program or school's schedule is such that you arrive at the field minutes before each game? Teach your kids to mentally prepare!


Below are a few mental skills that players can be taught prior to games in lieu of a physical warm-up. It is not recommended that players be taught these skills on the day of the game. These skills can also be combined with a physical warm-up!

• Imagery
• Positive Cue Words
• Deep Breathing Exercises
• Watching Prior Successful Performances

For assistance learning and/or utilizing these skills please contact Becky at rroulier@docwayne.org.  

Doc Wayne and CFP at Northeast Atlantic Sport Psychology Conference

NORTHEAST ATLANTIC SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CONFERENCE

Communities for People's Therapeutic Sports Program (TSP) and Doc Wayne (DW) presented at the Northeast Atlantic Sport Psychology Conference in Philadelphia on Friday, March, 23rd. Rebekah Conway Roulier, Ed.M and Emily E. Pike, LICSW presented "The Use of Sport in The Behavioral Health Treatment of Youth."
Check out the video here.
http://youtu.be/vg3ywOf5y3I

DtG 2012 MetroWest Flag Football Training Schedule Released

Doc Wayne's 2012 MetroWest DtG Flag Football Training Schedule Released Today:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/1hSCbEr_ibZ5RwM9jUBkUTC6nf_aVULMXqnxdRjwry2VVbKbjohRx3k6kSzTH/edit?pli=1#