Sports psychology project ends

Various Non-Sporting Organsiations (NSO) gathered to take part in the three-day long conference that featured numerous international psychological sport speakers.

International presenters at this final phase were Dr Shaw, Dr Ross Flowers, Dr Margaret Ottley, Dr Sheila Ward, Cobra Mansa, Mike Chu and Dr Damien Clement.

Also attending were Carribean US-based students Vernice Richards, Donald LaGuerre, Kevin Holmes and Rhonda Gillian Ottley.

Our local NSO’s represented in cricket, cycling, taekwondo, football, kayaking, netball, karate, rugby, scrabble, body-building, kick boxing, track and field, capoeira and dance.

The first day was entitled “The Process _ Producing a Powerful Product”; day-two “Sport, Culture and Society _ Embracing the Legacy”; final day “Be Bold and Brave _ Unleashing the Power Within”.

Professor at Westchester University, Dr Margaret Ottley explained that the conference played a significant role in developing a firm foundation for young athletes who are bound for success or a career in any sporting discipline.

Ottley explained that the course was also directed to coaches who were focusing mainly on physical development and neglected the psychological aspect

“Most coaches focus a lot on physical and technical training. We think that when you are building a programme at any developmental level in sport, you must include the psychological aspect, as it is often forgotten and bears successful fruit when implemented in the right way,” stated Ottley.

The programme was so intense it had to be split up into three divisions and held over three years to get the required understanding, the research done and gain the necessary feedback.

“The first phase (2009) was really to educate and provide knowledge on psychological skills processes. This was an evidence based seminar to evaluate how successful local NSO programmes were. We taught them how to collect data, use questionnaires and assess. In 2010, we taught them how to present to information that was attained over the past year. The NSO’s provided their theoretical approach, methodology used and results they found, and made presentations,” continued Ottley.

International presenter Dr Flowers lectured on “Mental Preparation - Confidence, Concentration and Composure (3 C’s)”. He revealed that these were some critical factors that were sometimes neglected by an athlete or coach and can be so beneficial if used in the right way and especially at the right time.