Welcome to “The Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit” where we support adolescent athletes’ develop skills and tools to enhance resilience and performance, whilst navigating the flow of sport and life in an uncertain and changing world.
Background and Why?
There are a number of reasons why it is important for adolescent athlete’s to focus on enhancing their resilience and pay attention to their well-being, so they can perform well in their sport. Some research is included here, however let’s look at two definitions of well-being –
- “Well-being is more than just happiness. As well as feeling satisfied and happy, well-being means developing as a person, being fulfilled, and making a contribution to the community” ~ Shah and Marks (2004),
- “as the balance point between an individual’s resource pool and the challenges faced” ~ Dodge et al (2012).
We know within sport – there are many challenges faced, so do you think it would be useful to develop your inner resources so you can meet the challenges presented in our uniquely complex, uncertain and changing world?
The Toolkit is for Adolescent Athletes (aged 13-18). Parents / Caregivers are also part of the Toolkit as they are an essential part of an athlete’s world. We know one of the keys to life is paying attention and being present. Yes, this can be challenging given the many hats an adolescent athlete is wearing (from athlete to student to competitor to friend and family member).
On the surface, it can appear ignore or easier to bolt when challenges arise (don’t worry I have done that many times), however in the long run it doesn’t work. This is why we are going to continually practice coming back to focus on yourself, so you can continue to enhance resilience, perform to your ability and be a well-being.
Specifically it is for the athlete who is –
- ready to meet sporting challenges with greater attention and courage,
- wants to learn to ways to regulate their emotions more effectively,
- finds oneself being overly critical and wants to learn to be kinder to themselves,
- have tried lots of ways to manage stress and are ready to look at other ways to cope and enhance resilience,
- wants to discover other skills to manage injuries and pressure within sport,
- build a grounded sense of self-confidence and self-worth, and
- wants to keep growing and learning.
The Specific Learning Objectives will depend on the Module chosen. Each of the modules learning objectives are identified below –
Module 1 – Mindfulness for the Adolescent Athlete: Supporting Adolescents Foster Resilience and Enhance Performance
Mindfulness is a simple (although not always easy), powerful practice of training our attention. It’s simple because it is essentially about paying attention to what’s happening in the present moment (i.e. feelings / emotions, sensations and thoughts) with curiosity and awareness. It’s powerful because it can interrupt the habit of getting lost in thoughts by overthinking (mostly about the future or past), which often generates more stress on top of the current pressures of sport and everyday life.
The learning objectives for this module include learning how to –
- Support you in listening to your whole self,
- Identify different ways of paying attention in sport and life,
- Focus on what you have control over and how to respond to situations,
- Discover your inner supportive coach (rather than the one who judges),
- Ways to handle stress and pressure and deal with injuries and setbacks with courage and attention, and
- Apply mindfulness practises in to sport and life.
Module 2 – Self-Compassion for the Adolescent Athlete: Supporting Adolescents Transform Challenges and Embrace their Sport and Life
To discover what self-compassion is, I am going to ask you to think about the last time a friend told you something that was bad or challenging for them. Maybe they missed a goal in an important soccer game or got injured just before a competition they hadbeen training a long time for. How did you respond to them?
Now think of a challenging experience you have been through. How did you speak to yourself when this happened? Was it similar or different to your friend? My guess is that it was different as the majority (about 78%) are kinder to a friend than they are to themselves. And that is part of the gift of self-compassion – learning to be kinder to ourselves as well as other people.
The learning objectives for this module include learning to –
- Develop self-compassion practises to motivate yourself with encouragement,
- Manage stressful situations or adversity with greater acceptance and compassion,
- Understand the differences between self-esteem and self-compassion,
- Discover your own core values and learn how to use them to guide decision-making,
- Apply self-compassion practises in to sport and life.
The Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit is broken in to 2 modules – Mindfulness and Self-Compassion. Each module goes for 4 weeks. The modules can be completed individually (i.e. just the Mindfulness module), sequentially or based on current needs or requirements. The overview for the 2 Modules are –
Module 1 – Mindfulness for the Adolescent Athlete: Supporting Adolescents Foster Resilience and Enhance Performance
Week 1: Owning Your Arena – Recognising Stress and Riding the Waves
Week 2: Untangling the Mind – Discovering Your Supportive Inner Coach
Week 3: Dealing With Adversity – Meeting Life’s Challenges and Managing Stress
Week 4: Being Here Now – Taking in the Good and Learning to Accept Yourself
Module 2 – Self-Compassion for the Adolescent Athlete: Supporting Adolescents Transform Challenges and Embrace their Sport and Life
Week 1 – Navigating Your Arena – Recognising the Complexities of Life and Sport
Week 2 – Discovering Self-Compassion – Working With Your Wise and Supportive Coach
Week 3 – Embracing Your Arena – Virtues, Gratitude, Recovery and Self-Care
Week 4 – Living Intentionally – Aligning to Your Values and Goals.
Inclusions –
Each 4-Week Module of the Adolescent Athlete’s Toolkit includes the following –
1. 4 x 60-Minute Live Online (Un)Learning Circles
Each week we have a 60-minute online (un)learning circle. The circle will be interactive and include evidence-based practises and tools.
2. Access to the Online (Un)Learning Hub
Whilst you are completing the Toolkit, you will have access to the online (un)learning hub. All of the topics, practises and resources will be housed under there for ease of use.
3. Unlimited E-mail or Chat (Parents’ / Guardians included)
If you have a question outside the circles, we have it sorted! With unlimited e-mail support, you can ask as many questions as you like 🙂
Dates for Upcoming Modules –
Mindfulness for the Adolescent Athlete: Supporting Adolescents Foster Resilience and Enhance Performance
Dates – August 8, 15, 22 and 29, 2022
Time – 7.00pm-8.00pm
Where – Online via Zoom
Cost – $147 (AUD)
N.B. If this time or date doesn’t work, please contact us here.
Self-Compassion for the Adolescent Athlete: Supporting Adolescents Transform Challenges and Embrace their Sport & Life
Dates – September 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2022
Time – 7.00pm-8.00pm
Where – Online via Zoom
Cost – $147 (AUD)
N.B. If this time or date doesn’t work, please contact us here.
A. You have access to the “The Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit” (Un)Learning Hub for 180 days from the date of purchase.
A. Great question! It depends which module you choose to complete. There are many benefits to both mindfulness and self-compassion as an athlete. Please contact us here, so we can send you some research.
A. Please just Contact Us and we would be happy to answer them.
A. Mmm – are you sure? If so, don’t worry, I know technology can be challenging and frustrating, so I have made it simple and easy to participate.
Do you currently have –
an e-mail account?
access to Zoom?
access to a reasonable internet connection?
Also – parents will be sent a link for another group on a private messenger app.
Yes – Great! You will be able to participate in “The Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit”!
A. Thanks for the question, yes we can and please contact us here so we can discuss your requirements.
A. “The Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit” is offered in Australian (AUD) currency.
PayPal or Stripe will convert the payment to your currency. At 2/1/22 the $AUD was equivalent to .71USD. You can convert here to your own currency.
A. No, it is not.
“The Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit” is a mindfulness and self-compassion educational course, not treatment for any physical or mental health condition. It is about YOU developing awareness about your own sport and life situation. Participants in the course take responsibility for their own experience and choose the mindfulness and self-compassion practises that work best for them.
A. No – all sales are final on digital products and programs. We do not offer refunds.
A. Please just Contact Us and we would be happy to answer them.
A. Yes. Each time we run the Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit we will be gifting a scholarship. If this interests you, please contact us here and we will forward you the Scholarship Application form.
A. “The Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit” is aimed at athlete’s from 13-18 years of age (i.e. adolescence). If parents’ are interested in being involved with an athlete outside of this age range, please contact us here.
A. Yes we will be. Please contact us and let us know the following –
– Name,
– Your sport,
– Preferred day, and
– Preferred time (please use QLD Australia time).
Also – if you have any questions, please let us know also.
A. As the parent / guardian, you will have access to the (un)learning hub as well as your son and/or daughter. I will also have a private chat with Parents and Caregivers where you can ask as many questions as you like as well.
A. Yes of course we can. Please just contact us here and let us know the details. For example – time, number of athletes, location and dates. Then we can organise it from there.
A. Yes we do. We run a 4-Week and 8-Week course. Please contact us and we can let you know more here.
About Jane – the Facilitator
Jane Taylor (M.EdSt) is a former Professional Athlete, Registered P-12 Teacher (since 2002), High Performance Coach with Tennis Australia and ICF PCC Coach who is committed to supporting people change the way they see themselves and helping by “(Un)Learning, so You Can Reconnect and Engage With Your Innate Potential and BE Whole-Heartedly YOU… One Habit at a Time!”, so we can connect with life authentically and live in peace and harmony. She is a Trained Teacher in Mindful Self-Compassion and has been practising mindfulness since 2008.
Jane has been lucky enough to work and support over 31500 adults in leadership, coaching, education, emotional intelligence, mindfulness meditation, self-compassion, mental health promotion and prevention and organisational wellbeing and many thousands of students and young people within sport and education.
Since retiring as a Professional athlete, going to university to become a health and physical education teacher, working in a National Mental Health and Wellbeing initiative and then starting the adventure of mindfulness in 2008 and later self-compassion, I have had a number of athletes (past and present), parents and coaches ask me about the tools I use with clients and the ones I know that would have been beneficial growing up in elite and then professional sport. So I decided to create the “Adolescent Athlete’s Well-Being Toolkit” after years of learning or maybe it is better said unlearning using the tools of mindfulness and self-compassion. This is the toolkit I wish I had as a professional athlete.