One of the Board’s primary goals for this year is to create a program centered on Mindfulness, Leadership and Mental Skills training for our players. The intent of this training is to provide guidance with the mental aspects of competitive sports and to promote life skills that will help our players to have successful and enriching futures. As the first step, we are undertaking a Pilot Program where we will work with a few selected teams and coaches the remainder of this season to develop and refine the Mindfulness, Leadership and Mental Skills Program. The coaches of the teams participating in the Pilot Program have been notified and it will begin when the teams return from the mid-season break.  

To help guide us through the pilot program we will be working with Dr. Jaime Sawchuk, a sport psychology consultant based out of Fairbanks, Alaska. After having been a collegiate soccer player, Sawchuk realized the importance of mental skills training and mindfulness and went on to pursue a Doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology. Sawchuk has worked with many athletes of all ages in an individual and team setting with hockey being her primary population. She has presented and worked with coaches at USA Hockey Level IV Coaching Clinics across the Pacific District as well as with athletes at the Pacific District Selects Camp, Oregon Development Camp, Alaska Development Camp, and the Western Regional High Performance Camp. 

The training will be for all age levels 8U and above on an age-appropriate format. Once the program is fully implemented at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season, the program will involve coaches, parents and players in the development and training process. Until then, look in the newsletter, postings on social media and in the Mindfulness section of the website in the coming weeks to get a taste of what is to come. Also make sure you check out the nutrition and health articles in the newsletter and the Health and Nutrition section of the website as well as postings on social media from Kelley Greninger, a certified Health and Wellness Coach with a concentrated interest in Athletic Nutrition and Family Focus.

Sno-King Staff