Brent Loehr’s passion for and dedication to sports is leading him to a new opportunity back into the classroom. The author of The Global Baseball Classroom and long time graduation and career coach for the Horizon School Division takes his intensive study and worldwide baseball experiences into a new program to support athletes and performers in building a strong headspace for their endeavours. 

Mind Matters: Mental Performance Skills Training is a two part seminar that addresses ways of thinking to enhance performance, not only in the athletic and arts arenas, but potentially in academics, work, and life. The program is offered through Carlton Trail College. The first segment goes April 22 and 23.

“When I got into coaching, I started to get exposed to mental skills training and how to help out athletes,” Loehr explains. “I got interested in doing more and more with serving the needs of the kids themselves. I knew what worked for me when I was playing college baseball. Once I started studying formal coursework, I realized there were a lot of common themes that crossed over. I started to put ideas together that lined up with those goals.”

The fodder for his mental performance framework comes from travels and experiences with Major League Baseball outreach to places like Germany and Africa. It’s fed by extensive reading and an astounding collection of books and studies on the subject. Loehr has also incorporated overlapping ideas and strategies through his  coursework with California Southern University. The themes that kept showing up became the platform for his presentations. 

“Part one is going to focus on building mental toughness, so it’ll key in on self-confidence and how people can control their emotions, focus, and concentration. It’s things like building a positive mindset and goal setting. Part two in August is continuing on with everything from visualization and imagery, routines and habits, team culture and roles, and one of my favourites - how music can impact your performance.”

Loehr has been working with various local and regional sporting organizations and word has spread organically. Participant players and coaches have been enthusiastic about the results. Those team successes led to feedback on the sessions’ content and approach, and Loehr has been able to adapt the strategies to support teams and individual athletes and performers. 

“One thing leads to another,” says Loehr. “You do it for a baseball team, and that leads to a softball team. Somebody else hears about it, and before you know it, you’re talking to hockey and volleyball players. It has been interesting - the whole word of mouth thing. It will be interesting to see what other groups this can impact.”

Loehr is committed to the idea that mental training is for everybody, including the arenas of  dance, gymnastics, or public speaking. Indeed, the results can stretch into personal relationships, work lives, and all-around mental wellness. He tailors the workshops to the needs of individuals and teams. The Carlton Trail sessions provide a gateway to further instruction and presentations at team’s or performers requests.

Find out more about the Carlton Trail presentations with the spring and summer 2023 offerings viewbook and about Brent Loehr’s work in the field on his website.