AASP Newsletter - November 2020

Like our colleague Dr. Greg Young, I have come to expect a particular feel that accompanies the annual Association for Applied Sport Psychology conference. That feeling is a cocktail comprised of many different micro feelings.

There is a feeling associated with being disconnected from our regular routines and environments. Hosted in a conference center in an exciting destination city (for some, a new foreign country as well), the disruption accentuates a feeling of purpose—we are there to learn, to develop, to improve ourselves as professionals.

There is a feeling associated with being amongst our own professional kind—passionate and dedicated mental performance consultants, educators, and researchers. We are away from the athletes and performers; away from the coaches; away from other sport science staff; away from the university and governing body administrators. We are among like-minded people who deeply share our passion and interests and there is a positive energy generated from that.

I have personally come to appreciate a new feeling associated with seeing current and former students demonstrating their own passion of the field through presentations and student camaraderie. This feeling nicely supplements the awestruck fandom that came with meeting some of the field’s most distinguished and renowned practitioners and scholars.

Admittedly, the feel around this year’s conference was somewhat different. There was no excitement of being in a new city—and indeed, quite the opposite as I had grown tired of my living room walls by Saturday. But surprisingly through our virtual platform, I still experienced many of the key feelings that hallmark the AASP Conference feel. I felt the dizzying cognitive overload from watching presentations and visualizing how I might apply the presenters’ recommendations or research implications to my own work. I displayed a proud dopey grin at seeing a former student featured on a panel symposium. And Burt Giges’ virtual appearance kept me smiling all afternoon! There was even a bonus feeling as for the first time, there was no feeling of frustration at seeing two coveted presentations scheduled at the same time and knowing that I would only be able to see one!

While the delivery of this conference was indeed different, I am invigorated that the feel was quite similar. And I am especially happy that the feeling will be prolonged as conference sessions will be available for registrants to view at their convenience until April 30, 2021. And even beyond that, there are many opportunities to nurture the AASP feeling. AASP webinars are available for continuing education and the AASP blog contains many insightful reads, including the latest post “It’s Virtually the Same: Psychological Challenges of eSports Athletes.” Additionally, AASP has 29 Special Interest Groups that span a host of different sport, exercise, and performance psychology topics to help stimulate your professional and scholarly growth. And as always, there is the AASP Newsletter that is your source for insightful articles about a wide range of topics, AASP news, and information about upcoming events and programs.

The AASP Newsletter continues to reach out to AASP members and to the Special Interest Groups for contributions. I want to take the opportunity to thank all contributors as well as the members of the Newsletter Committee for their great work and effort. If you want to enjoy the feeling that is associated with contributing to the AASP newsletter, please reach out to apfriesen@psu.edu.