Jumping Mental Hurdles

When GFS student-athletes are struggling with frustrations or limitations on or off the field that are affecting their play, they call Coach Colleen.

Colleen Kelly Finegan, MS, M. Ed is a former University of Pennsylvania basketball player who holds a master’s degree in Positive Coaching and Athletic Leadership. For the past four years, she’s worked at Germantown Friends as a mental performance coach. Brought on board by Senior Director of Athletics and Physical Education Katie Bergstrom Mark, Finegan is at the center of the school’s commitment to support the mental wellbeing and competitive preparation of all GFS student-athletes.

Many student-athletes first encounter Finegan during introductory meetings with their team where she speaks about the importance of the “environment and energy” within athletic programs and explains how she could help. Any time they are facing challenges, students know that she is available to meet one-on-one.

Finegan helps students' discouraged feelings turn instructive. Instead of mentally ruminating on negative emotions after a game, she might encourage them to write in a journal. If they report having trouble falling asleep, she may share relaxing body scan meditations. Together, Finegan and the students work on goal-setting and focusing on the things they can control, like practicing, eating right, and establishing pregame routines.

Progress and positivity

Finegan knows firsthand how important—and sometimes overlooked—mental wellbeing is in athletics. A lifetime multisport athlete, she excelled most in basketball, becoming the all-time leading scorer at Merion Mercy Academy in Narberth before playing at the Division 1 level at UPenn. But there, her star faded. She didn’t mesh well with the program, and without the mental skills to handle adversity, grew isolated. She finished her four years but fell out of love with the game and needed a long break afterward.

Years later, it was her own daughters who pulled her back in. As they began to play on youth basketball teams, she wanted to ensure they had more positive experiences with the sport and began coaching them.

“The way I was coached—the punitive, yelling approach—kids do not respond to that anymore,” Finegan said. “I changed my whole focus to positive coaching.”

In turn, she received positive feedback from team parents. She started sharing her techniques with coaches on other teams. Before long, she decided to turn it all into a second career. A speech language pathologist by training, Finegan enrolled at the University of Missouri to obtain a Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology and started her own consulting company, the Positive Coaching and Leadership Group.

Around the same time, Bergstrom Mark observed some athletic coaches at GFS successfully instituting mental preparation techniques—such as breathing exercises or visualizations—on their own. But she wanted all athletes to have access to these tools.

“I realized that this wasn't something that was consistently available across our 22 varsity programs,” Bergstrom Mark said. “So I began looking into how we could model this and make it more widespread.”

Bergstrom Mark began reallocating resources to emphasize mental training and coaching, such as holding department-wide training sessions. Hiring Finegan was integral: she now leads training sessions for coaches and customizes her involvement with each team based on the needs of the program, in addition to working with students one-on-one. That can take the form of everything from a simple phone call or email to a full-on family meeting.

“I’ve had parents sit in [on sessions with their child], or we’ll meet at a coffee shop, so they can carry over some of the techniques and language at home,” Finegan said.

Both Finegan and Bergstrom Mark are particularly excited about her work with the Middle School sports teams, where student athletes are just beginning their careers. Learning mental techniques can help them build a solid foundation for years to come. And, while mental skills training can have a positive effect on athletes’ self-esteem and wellbeing on the field, it also extends far beyond game day, with benefits like improved concentration and regulation of emotions showing up in other parts of life.

Sage Seltzer ’29 is a Middle School athlete who plays soccer and basketball, ran cross country in sixth and seventh grades, and pitches for the Upper School softball team. Last fall, Seltzer faced some challenges. In soccer, she was splitting time between the A and B teams, which she found dispiriting at first. But, after receiving Finegan’s lesson on focusing on what she can control, Seltzer worked on fostering a positive attitude and improving her skills. Eventually, she gained more minutes with the A team, and the following spring found her new skills helpful in pushing through training with the varsity softball team. 

She also saw benefits outside of Athletics, like taking a positive approach toward a difficult homework assignment, or learning to control her emotions when having a disagreement with her younger brother.

“I definitely feel like focusing on controlling what I can control has made me a more flexible person,” Seltzer said.