Program helps keep Newton athletes psyched

By James Whitters, Globe Staff, 9/4/2003

When T.J. Williams first heard about GetPyschedSports.org, he was immediately interested in bringing the organization's unique sports psychology curriculum to Newton North High School, where he is the athletic director.

"Having been a college and pro athlete, one of the things that always enhanced my ability to compete was understanding the psychological side of the game," said Williams, an All-American soccer player at the State University of New York at Brockport, who played one season for the Rochester Lancers in the now-defunct North American Soccer League.

"Being technically adept and tactically astute is part of any game, but for elite athletes there's also an important psychological dimension that enters into it."

The innovative sports psychology curriculum, which was created by Mitch Lyons, GetPsychedSports.org's founder and executive director, will begin its fourth year at Newton North and Newton South high schools this fall. The schools will host 20 workshops, where coaches and players will learn how to set achievable goals, visualize success, and think positively.

"Having a positive attitude is an important part of being a successful athlete," said Williams, whose soccer, volleyball, and swim programs have already signed up for workshops. "In every game, opponents are trying to take away your time and space, and that causes a level of stress. Learning how to manage that stress can lead to better performance."

Lyons, a former lawyer from Newton, who is also an assistant men's basketball coach at Lasell College, leads the classroom-based workshops, which use written course material and group exercises to teach techniques that Lyons insists "don't just help in sports, they can help with whatever you're doing; sports just provides a great two-hour window every day to practice."

"We're really making a radical change in how sports is taught," Lyons said. "Instead of using a verbal model, where a lot of things can get lost in the translation, we're using a written curriculum to teach specific mental skills. Nobody has ever quite looked at it this way before." Williams admits that it has been a challenge to convince some of his coaches and players that an hour spent learning how to visualize hitting curveballs is just as valuable as an hour spent actually hitting curveballs, but Newton North's athletic director continues to be an enthusiastic supporter of the GetPsychedSports.org curriculum.

"There are things that you can learn through this curriculum that are just as important as learning how to juggle or kick a ball," he said.

Participation in sports rising at high schools

A study released last week by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association found that the number of high school students participating in athletics at its member schools rose for the third consecutive year, reaching an all-time high of 195,638 during the 2002-2003 school year.

According to the study, 109,668 boys and 85,970 girls played sports at the MIAA's 352 member schools last year, an increase of 1,758 students from 2001-2002, when 108,864 boys and 85,016 girls participated in school-sponsored athletics.

The MIAA survey, which is part of an annual nationwide study conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations, also found that total student participation has risen by 9,754 since the 2000-2001 school year. Over that same period, student enrollment at MIAA member schools rose 15,898, from 281,434 to 297,332.

Despite significant statewide cuts in educational spending, the survey found a jump in the number of athletic programs offered at Massachusetts high schools last year. According to the MIAA survey, 60 new boys' programs and a whopping 252 new girls' programs were created between the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 school years.

"The budget cuts and the squeeze in spending doesn't seem to have affected things that much," MIAA spokesman Paul Wetzel said. "The reason, I think, is that even with the shortfall, schools have made up for it with [athletic department user] fees, and a lot of booster clubs have stepped up and helped raise money."

Football (19,807 players), soccer (12,531), and baseball (12,322) still rank as the most popular boys' sports. Lacrosse had the highest increase in players, with 422 new athletes, raising the number of participants to an all-time high of 5,917 in 2002-2003.

Soccer (12,173 players), outdoor track and field (10,763), basketball (10,577), and softball (10,541) were the most popular girls' sports in 2002-2003, according to the survey, while indoor track experienced the biggest increase in participation, with 404 new athletes, bringing the sport's total number of participants to 6,765. Girls' lacrosse also experienced a significant spike, with 302 new players participating in the sport last year.

Coach James Ronayne warmly remembered

James Ronayne, a former athletic director at Newton North High School, where he also coached golf and football, died Sunday at his home in Pocasset. He was 80.

Ronayne, who served in the Marine Corps during World War II and earned a Silver Star at the battle of Iwo Jima, was the longtime director of the state golf tournament and was elected to the Massachusetts State Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1976.

"He always led by example," said Newton North athletic director T.J. Williams, who was a soccer and golf coach under Ronayne from 1976 until 1981, when Ronayne retired to become a full-time golf pro at Pocasset Golf Club. "He was a gentleman and a class act. The amount of respect that other people felt for him was incredible."

A funeral mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at St. John the Evangelist Church in Pocasset.

Have an interesting item for the notebook? Call James Whitters at 508-820-4234 or send an e-mail to whitters@globe.com.