Personal Statement: Pursuing A Career In Sport Psychology

Starting from my freshman year in high school I have always been more intrigued by the human mind and how it operates. Thanks to the study of psychology my curiosity only flourished even more as I got older. I find the observations psychology gives about human behavior very interesting, and I have been fascinated by it for as long as I can remember. I’ve been caught in between approaching the journey of being a sports psychologist and an industrial organizational psychologist. I am passionate about sports and studying Psychology. I plan on extending my knowledge in the mixture of the two and contributing it towards my future. I want to examine the various areas of sports psychology and also learn more about the idea of improving quality performance

I believe my talent is time management, working hard, and helping others. Being a student-athlete I had to develop time managing early. When I made the girl's varsity basketball team my freshman year I realized just how time-consuming it was. There were days where I woke up at four in the morning to do homework and study for tests, after getting home from a game at nine pm. Learning to handle this full schedule challenged me as a student. It gave me the confidence to go take harder classes after freshman year. Sophomore year I took AP World History and three Honors classes. Junior year, I did so as well. But I’ve really pushed myself this year, because I am taking four AP classes: Environmental Science, Psychology, Calculus, and Government.

My goal is to finish my degree regardless of any obstacle that comes my way. I plan to complete my degree, find a job in my profession where it be in the state or out of state. My ultimate goal is own my facility and eventually expand my facility to having a major facility and a smaller facility.

This report was created to help the Florida Sports Committee understand why Clear Choice Coaching will want to partner and incorporate the sport phycology discipline in our practices to help us with our approach to recruit, retain and develop our coaches. This report was created to bring attention to the benefits of working together with coaches and sport psychology professionals to help advance and implement reliable yearly platforms of activities that carry out quality measurable assessments. We concentrate in coaching Soccer, Basketball, Tennis and Football. We are confident by integrating this discipline we will develop increased efficiency, knowledge sharing and transfer of improved skills to our athletes. We can see the benefits that

After high school, I plan to attend college for four years, and find a part time job during my time in college. While I attend college, I also plan to continue trying my best to have good grades and a good rank. After college, I plan to find a long term job, and or return back to school to obtain a PhD.

I've been asked one question…”What do you want to be when you grow up?” I thought for a long time I wanted to be a Sports Psychologist but for the last 6 months I’ve been asking myself, “Do I really want to be a Sport Psychologist?”, and I have discovered that I'm interested in more than just sports related things-I'm interested in marine life and the marine atmosphere. I don't see how this didn't come to me sooner because every time I would go to the beach I would ask if we could go to the South Carolina Aquarium just to look at the fish or when we would go to Miami I would ask if we could go to the Miami Seaquarium or the Zoo Miami. It's important to me to find out more about marine biology because this is my future and just in case

In accordance to Rotella (1990)’s philosophy of service, I think the most important thing to accomplish when one first starts working with a client is to figure out what exactly the client wants out of this relationship, what goals they want to accomplish, how they think they can accomplish these goals, and what they need from me in order to get there. A consultant can do this by being completely up front with their athlete about what they are or are not capable of doing and what they are trained to do. Although I would be thrilled to work with any type of professional or college athlete, my ultimate dream is to be the on-staff sport psychology consultant for a collegiate athletic department. My goal in that position, besides being the best consultant I can be for my clients of course, will be to normalize counseling. Many athletes shy away from seeking out consults from a sport psychology consultant because they are afraid of being seen by their teammates, coaches, friends, etc. as “head cases” going to see a “shrink” (Gould & Damarjian, 1998). If I can change that perception and help athletes see the benefits of sport psychology consulting, then I would have done my job well. I think the best way I can accomplish this goal is by keeping a friendly, laid-back, non-judgmental attitude with my clients

A potential career that I have in mind is becoming a Sport Psychologist. The first scholarly article I found is titled “NCAA Athletic Administrators’ Preferred Characteristics for Sport Psychology Positions: A Consumer Market Analysis”. The study conducted in this article looks into the market for Sport Psychologist in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It compares different Athletic administrator’s preferences for sport psychology positions based on time, commitment, affiliation, payment, services, and clients. The next scholarly article I found is titled “Professional Philosophy in the Sport Psychology Service Delivery: Building on Theory and Practice”. The purpose of this article is to explain the role of professional philosophy in sport psychology practice. Examples of how professional philosophy is the foundation of sport psychology practice are shown. And a conceptualization of the philosophy of service through s discussion of the the necessary components that were grouped using a hierarchy chart are explained. Both of these articles use a unique research process, and have relevance to my potential career path.

Their responsibilities are to aid their athletes in overcoming psychological barriers and assist them in reaching their maximum potential regardless of the mental behaviors that may render them from doing so. In order to help their athletes overcome these barriers a sports psychologist may introduce strategies that improve an athlete's trust in their team or coach, encourage the team to work together and work on that athletes self confidence. In order to become a sports psychologist you must have at least a master’s degree in psychology but, having a doctorate’s degree would provide you with a larger variety of opportunities. Before applying for a job as a sports psychologist it would be wise to possess basic medical knowledge (since you’ll be working with athletes.) The most successful sports psychologists have had prior experience working in the psychology field, have gained experience teaching and conducting research and have participated in or watched various sports.

I know that you have a background in ballet, but can you tell me a little more about yourself? How did you get into this field ?

After I am finished with schooling I will go straight away into a hospital to start working. I will not continue to get my phd or md because I feel that because I have done so much previous schooling I will likely be worn out and eager to work, also will probable want to start a family by then which will take up a lot of my

Hopefully, I will able to accomplish my goals in completing graduate school, and becoming a Licensed Educational Counselor. However, if worse comes to show and life does happen, it is always good to have back up plans just in case. I'm very much looking forward to putting more progress towards my career goals.

Through my experience with sports, particularly volleyball, I always knew I wanted to work with athletes, like myself. My ideal post-graduate job would be an athletic trainer. The dream is to work at the training booths at sports tournaments and camps helping athletes with minor injuries. My decision to become an athletic trainer has stemmed from my desire to remain in the sports world long after my college volleyball career is has completed. I have always been strong in Science and Mathematics, I am so glad that I was able to finally pick a major based on my athlete’s schedule, career goals, and academic strengths. Along with athletic training, I want to be a coach. Not only do I want to be a coach, but a phenomenal coach; someone that

It has been identified that through sports psychology one can improve their physical ability and performance. Sports psychology is the study of how the mind, mental states and behaviour effect sporting performance. There are several sport psychology techniques, which have helped me become a better volleyball player. These techniques include planning for performance, controlling arousal levels, mental rehearsal and concentration.

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to