Athlete Assessments Newsletter – August 2019
A big hello as we continue through August! In this edition we’re celebrating the success of our international clients – so our articles will take you across the globe from New Zealand over to Hungary, down to Australia, to Canada and the USA, and Japan. As you’ve come to expect, we’ve jam packed our update with tips and strategies to help your teams perform at their best when it matters the most. So, let’s get started…
Around the world - shining the spotlight on our clients.
Our clients are interesting and inspiring, so we thought we’d take you on a world journey that creates a window into their work.
Prodigious Contribution to Coaching
When Georgia Southern University formally acknowledged Hal Wilson’s prodigious contribution to coaching and the community with the Waters College of Health Professions Award for Service, they recognized the thousands of hours that Hal (and many coaches for that matter) spend every year, when he mentors and coaches athletes and coaches, propelling them forward, taking steps alongside them as they fulfil their dreams.
Ensuring Your Game Preparation is Complete
Why would you leave a gap in your game preparation, asks Kyle McDonald, Mental Performance Consultant. He questions why some athletes and coaches have a plan for physical and technical development, but not for mental growth and mastery. Kyle prepares some of Canada’s best and most competitive ice hockey athletes and teams for their professional, Olympic and Paralympic campaigns. In this article he reveals the impact of stress and pressure resilience on performance and underscores it as the #1 differentiator between elite athletes. He details the essential precursor to mental skills acquisition, the link between hardiness and high-performance and the ideal age to start mental skills training.
Exceptional Outcomes, Unexpected Approach
Extraordinary vertical jump heights, split-second qualifying times, personal bests; these are the statistics flying around the floor at Acceleration – the high-performance development centres, owned and founded by Stewart Briggs, located in Queensland, Australia.
Debunking The Myth of Leadership
Leadership is not anchored to a nominal position or the domain of the select few within a team, according to Sarah Leberman, Professor of Leadership at Massey University, New Zealand. Also a Fulbright Scholar and the author of highly significant research on leadership, Leberman specialises in applying the knowledge surrounding leadership to the sport space and in particular women and girls.
Hungarian Sport Reaches For New Heights
Szombathely might be 15,588 kms from the Sunshine Coast, but it’s home to our newest consultant client, Szabolcs Hollósi. Experienced in brokering change, Szabolcs now has the tools and resources to partner with Hungarian sport on a national level, creating opportunities for athletes and coaches to take their performance to exciting new heights based on DISC Behavioral profiling.
MOST TALKED ABOUT TOPICS
6 Reasons to Rethink 360 Observer Feedback Opportunities
The best teams take time to reward what’s going well, review what needs to be improved upon, and set plans to achieve future success. The same is true for individuals. How do they do this? One very effective way is to get feedback from others. Getting feedback from others in a formal way is called 360 Observer Feedback. The process is often perceived negatively, avoided by many, approached with trepidation or as a critical experience people must endure. BUT, we think it’s misunderstood and with some re-examining you too will know the value of 360 Observer Feedback.
How Skills from Sport Transfer to the Workplace
Every year thousands of students graduate college, but we’d argue, they don’t all graduate with as many employable skills as student-athletes. The National Center for Education statistics records that in 2018, some 2.9 million students graduated college but, according to the NCAA, only 2% of college students are student-athletes. This makes student-athletes a rare commodity.
Get WISE on a TOUGH Challenge
Coaches are unanimous in saying their athletes are lacking resilience, they’re not as ‘tough’ as their teams in previous times. And, not just physically tough, mentally tough. But, do todays Gen Y & Z athletes understand toughness? Do they know that the mental framework that lets you complete every training session, perform in a competition, and get you through a 20 second sprint are all unique mental skills? Have they got strategies to rely on when things don’t go to plan in the middle of competition? Are they resilient enough to bounce back from injury? Our goal is to get wise on this tough challenge.
WHAT’S NEW AND WHAT’S ON?
August 2019: Liz Masen will be in Japan presenting at the Japanese Women Leaders and Coaches Academy 27 – 29 August, Karuizawa, Japan
With Tokyo 2020 just over 12 months away, the 2019 Japanese Women Leaders and Coaches Academy promises to be exciting. Offering Japanese women coaches an exciting opportunity to develop their skill-set alongside coaching colleagues from around the country, the 2019 program features an accomplished line-up of local and international presenters. Liz Masen, Athlete Assessments’ CEO and Client Director, was invited back to speak at the 2019 conference, as she has been every year since the conference’s inception.
June 2019: Laren Dyer was at the NASSM Conference in New Orleans
Laren Dyer, Athlete Assessments Operations Manager, immersed himself in the ideas surrounding Sport Management, its marketing, administration, organisation and operation at the three-day NASSM conference held in New Orleans. While he was exhibiting for Athlete Assessments at the pivotal conference, Laren also caught up with our clients and met some fantastic people from universities in the North American region.
May and June 2019: Liz was at the two 2019 NCAA Women Coaches Academies
Each year WeCOACH runs a series of highly acclaimed NCAA Women Coaches Academies and in May and June 2019 they were in Denver, Colorado. The Women Coaches Academy was run, alongside the graduate program, a master class Academy 2.0. The Academies are unique opportunities for women coaches to develop valuable professional networks, meet other female coaching colleagues, mentors and peers plus connect across all three divisions and sports. Liz Masen, Athlete Assessments’ CEO and Client Director, again presented at the Academy as she has done 3 times every year since 2010 and at every Academy 2.0 since it began.
AND HERE COMES THE PITCH…
We appreciate those of you who have made it all the way to this part of our newsletter. If you love what we do and want us to be involved in your sporting life, there are many different ways to consider working with us:
- Are you a sport psychologist or performance consultant and inspired by our articles about Kyle McDonald, Sarah Leberman and Szabolcs Hollósi? You too can take your consultancy to the next level and achieve great success. As a top consultant, your clients rely on you being the best in your field, knowing the true determinants of success, and having access to the tools that will make the most impact when it comes to improving performance. Athlete Assessments’ DISC Profiling is the tool you need to help your clients realize their full potential. Find out more about Athlete Assessments’ Consultant Program now.
- With the northern hemisphere Fall sports in their pre-season and planning underway for the Winter sports too, make sure you’re aware of our very popular Team Programs. These are still our foundation service and what is most in demand with our coach clients. Team building isn’t an event, it’s a process and it’s exactly why our Team Programs include staged development. We work alongside your coaches and team to ensure they get the most value from our work together, and most importantly, get results. Or, would this program benefit your team of staff like Stewart Briggs and his team of strength and conditioning coaches? With a client retention rate of 96%, alongside an impressive track record of National Championships, if you don’t already know about our Team Programs, find out today!
- If our article about award-winning Dr Hal Wilson inspired you, find out more about how he works with Athlete Assessments. Our DISC Profiles (the only ones available specifically for sport) are used in the classroom at many of the top universities within their Bachelor and Master’s programs in Sport Management & Leadership, Coaching and Sport Psychology. Our Academic clients know that the success of their students reflects the success of their program, so they focus on providing their students with the skills that will differentiate them within a competitive sports industry. Find out more about the Athlete Assessments Academic Program.
- Looking for fun team bonding activities to sustain you throughout the year? Consider our DISC Card Game! It has unlimited ways to be played to help build self-awareness, understanding of others, improve communication and build relationships. Find out about our DISC Card Game today!
- Get the answer to the Tough question! Developed initially as a support service to assist our existing clients with developing mental toughness in their athletes, the ATHLETE TOUGH Program has grown to be a stand out, stand-alone product. The Handbook is written in plain English and is highly illustrated to keep your athletes engaged, while the video series makes it easy for coaches to implement. Find out for yourself why so many coaches love the ATHLETE TOUGH Program and read what they have to say.
- With most of the summer camps now complete, are you thinking about your next Camp? And how to differentiate yours from all of the other choices young athletes have? Here’s how you can make yours standout from the rest and add exceptional value to your campers’ experience with you. Athlete Assessments now have an Elite Sports Camp service that you need to be aware of.
- Coming Soon! Athlete Assessments DISC Compatibility Report and Career Compatibility Report: Athlete Assessments is always chasing the 0.1% improvements. We have recently been working on two exciting new development tools that will be launched shortly to assist our clients in creating sustained success in their programs, and life after sport. Our two new reports are compatible with each of the AthleteDISC, CoachDISC and Sports ManagerDISC Profiles, and we will help you to implement exciting system features and reports. Get a sneak peek now!
Inspirational YouTube Video
With the theme of Japan 2020, we’re excited and want to share this with you too. *Warning* this video may get the blood pumping and adrenaline soaring.
Quotes to Inspire You
And we’ll leave you with our popular quotes section of our newsletter!
When my body gets tired, my mind says “This is where winners are made.”
When my mind gets tired, my heart says “This is where champions are made.”
Baylor Barbee
Forever is composed of nows.
Emily Dickinson
I’ve grown most not from victories, but setbacks.
If winning is the reward, then losing is what teaches us.
Inspired by Serena Williams
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My very best,
Liz Masen and the Athlete Assessments Team
and the Athlete Assessments Team 
