34 Student-Athletes Attended Empire 8 Summit
PHOTO GALLERY
ROCHESTER, NY -- Thirty-four student-athletes attended the 2014 Empire 8 Summit, which was held at the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa in Fairport, NY from Jan. 24-25.
In addition to the student-athletes, there were ten campus advisors and eight Direct Reports in attendance. The Summit is made possible through the NCAA Strategic Grant Tier II funds and provides the Empire 8 with an opportunity to bring campus personnel together from around the conference to integrate and collaborate on ideas.
As a part of the Summit program, the Empire 8 welcomed guest speaker, Spencer Wood of Icebox Athlete to speak about mental toughness.
"Spencer's presentation shed light to a new aspect of preparation. The physical and tactical training are very important in order to win games but mental toughness is the ultimate key,” stated Associate Commissioner Janelle Zera.
Wood opened up his discussion saying that he wanted to have an honest dialogue with the audience. He then continued to ask questions such as, ‘What are you doing day in and day out to become the best athlete you can possibly be in the Empire 8?’
He touched upon that there is one piece that is missing in most practices, and that would be the implementation of mental skills training.
"You can never mimic what it feels like to be in a high pressure environment in a practice situation," said Wood.
So how does one incorporate mental skills training in their day-to-day practices?
Wood explained that it all begins with a formulation of a plan. He instructed that there are ‘4 C's of Peak Performance,’ which include composure, commitment, concentration, and confidence.
All four C's are necessary and carry equal importance. "If you lose one of these C's you will lose all of them," said Wood.
He then addressed that every student-athlete has a ‘hype number.’ This is a number on a mental sliding scale ranging from one to 10, measuring emotional arousal and intensity. This number indicates where a player must be mentally in order to perform at their personal best, which would be a state of being "physically present and emotionally neutral."
"Ninety-percent of athletes play their games over-hyped and practice under-hyped," explained Wood. "Not everyone on the team will be at the same number. Some may be at a two and they are very mellow. Then there are the ones who are at an eight or a nine and are screaming at the top of their lungs because of how excited they are to be playing. Every athlete is on a different hype number and their job is to stay within that number. They should not be too high or too low."
Wood offered a few tips to the audience that everyone should find out what their hype number is and then write it down. He also instructed athletes to respect what their teammate's hype number may be.
"You should always be asking yourself, 'Where is my hype number at right now?'" suggested Wood. "Put that number and tape it in your locker room, dorm room, or anywhere you can visually respond to it."
Wood also provided worksheets that serve as a self-reflective checklist to gauge your mental toughness. He challenged the group to fill it out about themselves and to ask their coach to fill it out.
The Summit also featured a working breakfast to talk about the integration of SAAC with their campus Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR), hot topic breakout sessions on leadership, emotional intelligence and fostering a healthy team environment.
The group also took part in the Everything DiSC Workplace profile, courtesy of the NCAA. Participants took the assessment online prior to the Summit and received their results and had an opportunity to discover why connecting with some people is easier than with others. The cornerstone principles of the DiSC are Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. We are all a blend of the four styles but your percentage of each cornerstone is influenced by factors such as life experiences, education and personality.
Through learning about their own DiSC style and the four cornerstones, participants were provided with a better understanding of how to effectively work with others in the room, teammates and coaches to build more effective relationships.
“We hope that the Summit provided the participants with information and resources to dedicate, discover and develop their future in Division III athletics and beyond,” stated Zera.
Remember to "like" us on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/Empire-8-Athletic-Conference. Follow us on twitter @Empire8 or at
www.twitter.com/Empire8