Sport Psychology Reimagined From On-Field To In-School
Dr. Jonathan Fader, New York Giants Sport Psychologist, Adapts Elite-Level Mental Conditioning Skills For High School-Level Life Skills.
NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Jonathan Fader and the Enlarged City School District of Middletown, New York, are launching a first-of-its-kind "Life As Sport" School Program, which is based on his book of the same title. The program will share the pro-athlete mental skills that Dr. Fader uses in his work with the NFL and MLB with 9th graders to teach resilience in its many forms to help them achieve real-life success.
The "Life As Sport" School Program is a semester-long with bi-weekly classes that teach mental conditioning concepts; illustrate these concepts with engaging, multi-media examples; and include interactive physical activities from flag football to golf ball stacking to juggling.
"I am excited to transfer sport psychology to schools because "Life As Sport" concepts are equally applicable on- and off-field," stated Dr. Fader. "I'm honored to bring the coaching that was previously only available to professional athletes to Middletown 9th graders to help make a difference their academic, social and sporting lives."
The main theme of resilience will be brought to life via five units focusing on a concept and mental skill. For example, Unit 1 is #EnjoyChallenge. Here, the concept is "enjoyment", and the mental skill is "goal setting".
Other units will focus on #OwnTheMoment (concentration/mindfulness), #MentalReps (composure/imagery), #MakeItPlatinum (confidence/self-talk) and #FeedYourFire (motivation/routine building). Hashtags will be brought to life via a social media initiative where students will be encouraged to upload images that capture their personal resilience efforts.
Enlarged City School District of Middletown's superintendent, Dr. Kenneth Eastwood, has become recognized for his innovative approach to education helping lead the transformation of the low-income district by increasing the cohort graduation rate from 54% in 2004 to 87% in 2017.
Dr. Eastwood has been on the lookout for an out-of-the-box 'mindset' program to help students aspire to more, set goals, stick with it, and achieve success. The idea for the program happened when Dr. Eastwood heard about "Life As Sport" via a connection in the Fire Department of the City of New York where Dr. Fader has collaborated on the FDNY's Mental Performance Initiative.
"My personal mission has been to give Middletown students access to advantages," said Dr. Eastwood. "We know many of our students face some pretty tough realities, we want to give students the skills to stick with things even when the going gets tough."
Dr. Fader, who is fluent in Spanish, will help reinforce the concepts with parents in a series of short YouTube videos, in both English and Spanish. Middletown has a population of 84% minority with large population of Spanish-speaking parents.
Dr. Jonathan Fader is one of the nation's preeminent sport psychologists, author of "Life As Sport", and founder of SportStrata, NYC's only mental conditioning practice. In addition to his work with the NY Giants Dr. Fader spent nine seasons as the psychologist for the New York Mets. He is a thought leader in providing mental conditioning for top performers in sport, firefighting, arts and business. Find out more at www.jonathanfader.com or www.sportstrata.com.
SOURCE SportStrata
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