iBELIEVE Works with QU Men’s Soccer

Most say that Sunday is a day of rest. It should be a day that is typically spent, mentally, physically, and emotionally as far away from work as possible. A day that should be reserved for ‘YOU’. Doing only what you are passionate about and. Doing what you want to do, when you want to and at the pace that you want to. It’s a day that should be filled with no thoughts of suits, ties, deadlines and emails. It’s a perfect day to settle in at home and spend time with loved ones.

So with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the thoughts and hearts of everyone across the country, the start of the NFL season getting kicked off and the northeast air beginning to feel like fall, this past Sunday should have epitomized that Day of rest (and passions). Thankfully the iBELIEVE team does a great job of blurring the distinction between work and passion. We had the opportunity to work with the Quinnipiac Men's soccer team in Hamden, CT. So on Saturday night, 3 members of the team set our alarms for 5am to make the trek towards Connecticut to make some changes at QU. With 2 of the 3 members being QU alum and the third member (me) having attended school right around the corner at Sacred Heart University we were all excited about getting back to our roots.

After coming off 3 straight loses the QU soccer players seemed anxious to work on training the mental game. We spent 90 minutes clarifying the team's vision for this season and the future. This vision is not what they want to DO (we know and they know that what they want to do is win), we wanted to know what they want to BE as a collective group. We also spent time clarifying ideas of mental resiliency on and off the field. The group was fun to work with and seem to mesh very well together despite their diverse backgrounds. We look forward to the next training session in a few weeks.
In summary, the day was a success. As usual, the iBELIEVE team learned just as much as our participants in a day filled with purposeful pauses, intentional action, mindful reaction, house building, vision creating and attitude adjusting. We are thankful for the opportunity to work with these student-athletes and are inspired by their optimism.

To all those in favor of reserving Sunday for all that you are passionate about. I believe we did...
Until the next time, Stay believing!

Pete Athans is a strength and conditioning coach at West Point Military Academy and the director for Athletics programs for iBELIEVE. He received his masters degree in Sports Psychology from Boston University.