OL Reign defenseman Lauren Burns also noticed a change in Bullock after the team met with him late in the summer.
“This has been a tough year with a lot of things we have had to deal with internally,” Burns said. “And I think there’s definitely something to be said for mental health and just being able to leverage that for the group to be able to get through that.” [Bullock] For that many. I think she helped us keep moving forward, even though it was very difficult. ”
Burns, who joined the Reign in 2013 at the league’s inception, said he doesn’t remember ever talking about mental performance for at least the first six years of his professional career, and it took several more years before the team was on solid ground. It took a year. House sports psychologist.
“I think it’s changed dramatically,” she says.
Mr. Brock spends time with OL Reign to clarify goals for players and teams and helps players focus on those goals, reducing stress, building confidence, and giving a sense of control and success. I will tell you that there is.
She also works on managing her self-talk. Balcer said this was helpful because she experienced unhelpful thoughts while competing.
“They’re really good at giving me resources that I can use throughout the day, and just doing that changes the way I think and talk to myself and changes my focus.” said Balcer. “For me, if I don’t score, sometimes I feel like I’m not playing well. Well, there’s a lot more to soccer than just that. So I’m now on the field. I’m thinking about how am I defining my performance at the top? How am I talking to myself? What will my reaction be to my mistakes?”
Derek Farrar, a Seattle-based mental performance consultant, says the improved performance that comes from players’ mental training, including focus, grit, tenacity, passion, perseverance and confidence, has changed the demands on coaching. Stated.
A longtime head coach at programs such as Western Washington University, Farrar works with professional, college and youth athletes on mental visualization and mental preparation for competition. Masu.
“Athletes are learning that being intentional on the field means being intentional in their mental training,” Farole said. “This is a real change in culture.”
OL Reign defenseman Alana Cook believes that mental preparation will be key to OL Reign’s playoff performance this year.
“I think in order to lead and organize, you have to be right and you have to be able to take care of yourself,” Cook said.
This increased awareness of mental performance training is reflected in the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Partnership with Common Goal In a campaign to build mental health resources for football. Cook participated in the campaign along with teammates Megan Rapinoe and Sofia Huerta.
“On a personal level, I think it’s obviously important for all of us to take care of our mental health on and off the field,” Cook said. “I think in order to withstand any pressure, any adversity and be able to adapt flexibly to the situation, you have to be clear in your mind, focused and ready to perform.”
Common Goal last week launched a youth soccer mental health initiative called “Create the Space,” led by San Diego Wave and USWNT defender Naomi Girma.gilma and sophia smith Dedicated to the 2023 World Cup It was dedicated to Katie Meyer, a former teammate at Stanford University who passed away by suicide in March 2022.
Kelly Sklored, head of the psychological services team for the University of Washington athletics department, said the spring 2022 cluster of suicides among college athletes, including Meyer, served as a catalyst for greater awareness of mental performance in NCAA athletics. .