Normalcy

Doc Wayne Girls All-Star Game Video

The Doc Wayne MetroWest Girls Program celebrated it's mid-season  Flag Football All-Star Game today (May, 15th). All-Stars were selected by their coaches and awarded in two categories:

1. DtG Skills
2. Athletic Skills

The Doc Wayne Program is known for it's incredibly impactful do the good (DtG) life skills curriculum that embeds key concepts into sport through teen friendly slogans.

In addition to the All-Star Game, every player was invited to participate in a skills competition, challenging them to reach for their potential in many areas (throwing, catching, agility, running, etc.). Individual scores were kept, but comparisons were not made to others.

RR

www.docwayne.org

Honored to Take Part in Celebr8-U (Article by EJewishPhilanthropy)

ejewishphilanthrophy.com has followed up with an article on Moving Tradition's Celebr8-U Conference. Please see the link below for the piece wrapping up a great afternoon.

http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/moving-traditions-holds-first-celebr8-u-conference/

It was an honor to take part in an event celebrating adolescent females’ strengths and diversity. Every teen should be granted the opportunity to build her identity in such a supportive, developmentally appropriate and engaging environment!

For former WNBA star and current Simmons Women's Basketball Head Coach Kristen Rasmussen, Doc Wayne volunteer Maren Madore, and myself the workshop we presented on values, ethics, and balancing one's life on and off the fields and courts was a representation of the lives we've lived the past 15-20+ years. To have the opportunity to share and learn about the young womens' experiences participating in our workshop was a mutually fulfilling experience for participants and facilitators.

While discussing all life activities to be juggled in the game oriented workshop, it became clear that the impact social media has upon young female athletes lives is significant. While attempting to be athletes, students, musicians, friends, daughters, sisters, healthy eaters, and excellent at "hanging out" some teens voiced that they were feeling under pressure keeping up with the speed of Facebook and Twitter. They spoke about the assumption that good friends responded quickly and engaged in these activities often. Within the group there were some teens that were avid users of social media and enjoyed every moment. However, it was surprising to hear how needing to respond, RT, post or update weighed on the minds of teens during times you would generally think of as dedicated to practices, games, homework, meals or sleep.

As a sport psychology consultant, my take away from Celebr8-U was a strong reminder that coaches, parents and sport psychologist should take the time to engage their teens or adolescent clients in conversation to learn about their experience. Your experience, no matter how similar, can never be assumed to be your child's, your player's, or your client's. This is often difficult when you have played the same sport perhaps even on the same field and lived to tell about the same pressured situation.

Being an adolescent female is difficult. It's a rough road at times. It can also be a magnificent journey. As one conference participant put it  "All of us are different, yet, we had a common goal; to demonstrate that girls are more then someone just “sitting pretty” but equal intellectuals." Ask these adolescent intellectuals what they're thinking about. You may be surprised and learn a great deal.

do the good.

RR

www.docwayne.org

Concerns of Adolescent Teen Girls

The Girls on The Field sport psychology workshop was created to address the concerns of adolescent teenage girls. While having conversations with teens playing middle school and high school competitive athletics the following struggles came up:

·         Time conflicts (sports vs. academics)

·         Your needs vs. the team’s needs  (position, playing time and number of teams competing for)

·         Competition with teammates (positions, playing time and varsity spots)

·         Difficult social situations (unsportsmanlike competitors and/or teammates)

·         Dealing with your mistakes

·         Cliques

Teen girls requested ethical and moral guidance via an active workshop. Thus Girls on the Field was born. 


For more information on individual or team sport psychology workshops and/or counseling please contact Rebekah Conway Roulier, Ed.M at rebekahconwayroulier@gmail.com or rroulier@docwayne.org. 

"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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