We’ve had an exciting first half of 2016 at Athlete Assessments and we trust you have enjoyed a successful start to the year too. This issue we are hitting the tough topics. Bo Hanson shows us how to better coach Millennials and shares four core lessons we can learn from underdogs Leicester City. We also look at what makes an athlete truly resilient, and ultimately – what makes them ATHLETE TOUGH! Enjoy.

COACHING MILLENNIALS
Here is an interesting concept. What if Millennials are no different to you or me at that age? Each generation has its own way of thinking, values and responds to different things. But what if this generation gap is nothing more than an empathy gap; an inability to remember what we were like at that stage of our lives? Bo Hanson talks about understanding our younger athletes better in a unique 14 part Millennials Video Series that challenges Coaches to look at things from a different perspective. Read more.

PREPARING FOR CAREER SUCCESS POST SPORT
At Athlete Assessments we work in high-performance, so we pride ourselves on being ahead of the curve and delivering services that have a positive and lasting impact to our clients’ lives as well. Our philosophy is athletes don’t play sport, people do. Whether you are a student-athlete looking to enter the workforce, or a retiring professional athlete, we are proud to release a new service to assist our clients’ in finding long term future career prospects after sport. Now, no matter which DISC Profile you complete (AthleteDISC, CoachDISC or Sport ManagerDISC Profile), it can be accompanied by a nine page Athlete Assessments’ DISC Career Management Report designed to contribute to your future career planning and success. Read more.

LESSONS FROM LEICESTER
Leicester City’s recent EPL title win has sparked a wave of reaction across the globe. An underdog story to compete with the best of them, Leicester made an incredible turnaround after a 14th place finish for the 2014-15 season — their first back in the Premier League since 2004. So what can we learn from this? How did a team with 5000:1 odds come back to defeat the odds and win? Bo Hanson shares four valuable lessons we can learn from Leicester. Read more.

US NAVY SEALS RESILIENCE: LESSONS ON MENTAL TOUGHNESS
Physical traits aside, what do the best athletes have in common? The answer is mental toughness. Those athletes who are revered and successful in their chosen sport have true grit, they have resilience. So we thought we would look at the Navy SEALs, some of the most resilient and mentally tough people in the world. They use four simple and proven strategies to develop toughness as a skill that can be taught and improved on. In this article Bo Hanson shares his experience with the Navy SEALs and discusses what it really means to be tough. Read more.

ATHLETE ACCOUNTABILITY 
Accountability in sport is doing what you say you’re going to do and executing the task to the best of your ability. Then being able to put your hand up and say ‘this is what I need to do better’ if you don’t get it right. Being accountable is not making excuses, not blaming others or whinging and complaining. Accountability in sport is taking ownership of something. It’s about being ATHLETE TOUGH. Read more.

SENIORS TAKING INITIATIVE; KNOW YOUR JOB, DO YOUR JOB
Too often Coaches feel as though they are the ones driving team culture, and while it’s important for accountability to start at the top, it’s just as important for the team to drive the continuity of standards. As a Coach, when an athlete shows initiative and takes ownership of team culture, it’s a big deal. The University of Utah’s Senior Softball team, the Utah Utes, Head Coach Amy Hogue reflects on the enormous focus a Coach has to put in, to get their team to the point where they step up and create their own accountability mechanisms. Read more.

KNOWING YOUR DISC PROFILE GIVES JOB SEEKERS THE PROFESSIONAL EDGE
As a Professor, it is always exciting to hear about the successes of previous students. But it’s even more exciting when they tell you they were offered a position paying $20,000 more per annum than the one they applied for, thanks to what they learnt in your class. This is exactly what happened to a student in Dr. Hedlund’s Master’s degree program in Sport Management at St. John’s University (New York) after she completed the Athlete Assessments Sports ManagerDISC Profile. Read more.

CREATING LIFE CHANGING MOMENTS – A CONSULTANT CASE STUDY
There are instances in sport when a Coach experiences a significant break-through with an athlete, or an intense moment of satisfaction when something goes exceptionally well. We describe these instances as “coaching moments”. For many, it is what they love most about their role. For consultants, it is the same. There are those special moments when it all comes together and the dedication to the role delivers a “life changing” experience for the client. Performance Consultant Patrick Rufo recently shared one of these moments with us. Read more.

PERSONALITY VS BEHAVIOR
Both psychometrics and DISC have their pros when it comes to assessing various components of personality and behavioral traits. In most cases it is a personal choice as to which you choose when evaluating your potential athletes or employees. However in sport, we have found that DISC is preferred because the focus is on developing self-awareness, knowing what works for you and what doesn’t, and ultimately increasing the choices of behavior to what is most effective to the situation and those you work with. This development of “adaptability” is the key to high-performance and leadership. Read more.

THE COACH-ATHLETE RELATIONSHIP, A PERFORMANCE FACTOR
Studies show how the most resilient people have positive relationships with others. The same goes for athletes. One of the most compelling of these studies was conducted by Penny Wurthner on the 2008 Canadian Olympic team which found the most significant contributor to a medal winning performance or personal best was a strong and productive Coach-athlete relationship. But what does that really mean? Read more.

WHAT’S AHEAD?

• Athlete Assessments will be sponsoring and exhibiting at the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) 2016 Conference in Orlando, Florida held from May 31st – June 4th so head along to find out more about what we do and how we can help you.

• The NCAA Women Coaches Academy’s 4-day educational training program will once again be held in Denver, Colorado from June 1st- June 4th and in Washington, DC from June 27th – June 30th with Athlete Assessments’ Liz Masen presenting sessions on DISC, Knowing Your Values, and Communication Strategies.We would also like to send a big congratulations to the new Alliance of Women’s Coaching Executive Director Megan Kahn who has taken over the reins from Marlene Bjornsrud. Marlene served as Executive Director of the Alliance of Women Coaches for the past two years. The team at Athlete Assessments wishes both women every success and joy in their new and exciting ventures. We look forward to a continued great relationship with the Alliance.

• Athlete Assessments’ Liz Masen is also presenting two sessions at the True North Assistant Coaches Immersion Program (ACIP) in Denver, Colorado alongside True North’s Celia Slater from May 31st – June 3rd on Understanding your CoachDISC and a Communications Workshop.

• The 2016 National Coaching Conference in Seattle from June 21st – 23rd will see Athlete Assessments’ Bo Hanson presenting alongside Sara Lopez, Co-Director for the Center for Leadership in Athletics and Program Director for the Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership (IAL) M.Ed. at the University of Washington, on the topic of ‘Leadership of Your Team, Get Hands-on with this Interactive Case Study’.

• We’ve moved offices!
  Athlete Assessments has moved offices. We have upgraded our facilities to keep up with business growth and are now located at Suite 7, 137 Brisbane Rd, Mooloolaba, QLD 4557.

• Want to be ATHLETE TOUGH?
  Athlete Assessments is releasing their Book and Video Series, ATHLETE TOUGH this June. Being ATHLETE TOUGH is defined by the actions you take when your performance matters the most. This unique and proven program is designed to ensure your athletes never give up, never quit on their team and never quit on themselves. It delivers strategies on how to be mentally resilient and provides step-by-step processes to help your athletes become and stay mentally strong. If you want to be the first to hear about its release and for more information click here.