Sport psychology as mental equipment

Abstract

This presentation describes how we have constructed sport psychology as mental equipment for adolescent athletes living in northwest New South Wales (NSW). Using local materials readily found in Moree, Gunnedah, Tenterfield and other towns in northwest NSW, we have been able to introduce adolescent athletes living in regional, rural, and remote NSW to basic sport psychology concepts using mental equipment packs. These low-tech, low-cost, and local resources contrast sharply with the high-tech, high-cost, and imported physical equipment required for most sports. We produced the first mental equipment packs for $1.06 in 2003, and we have continued to use them with athletes and their families and friends via the Northern Inland Academy of Sport (NIAS) Regional Athlete Coach Education (RACE) program. This high-cost/low-cost contrast is an important asset in constructing sport psychology as accessible to regional, rural, and remote athletes, and their families and communities. We understand that these packs, and the service delivery system that accompanies them, is the first program specifically designed for regional, rural, and remote athletes. This work is unconventional because it puts aside the orthodox view that equates basic sport psychology with mental skills. It does this by questioning the view that mental skills are the dialogical opposite to the physical skills needed for success in sport.