Candidate statement for President-Elect: Trent Petrie, PhD

Trent A. Petrie, PhD received his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the Ohio State University in 1991. He currently is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas, and has served as the Director for the UNT Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence since its inception in 1997. Trent has worked in the field of sport psychology since 1987, helping athletes, coaches, and sport teams at all competitive levels. He is a licensed psychologist in Texas, a Fellow and Certified Consultant, AASP, and a member of the 2008-2012 USOC Sport Psychology Registry. His research focuses on psychological antecedents and consequences of injury, eating disorders and body image, academic success of student-athletes, and professional training in sport psychology. Trent has published over 70 articles, book chapters, and books, given over 100 presentations at national and international conferences, and received grants from the NCAA and AASP to support his work. His book, coauthored with Drs. Doug Hankes and Eric Denson, is entitled "Academic and Life Skills for College Student-Athletes" and was published in its third edition by Wadsworth in 2010. He has served on the executive boards of the APA Division 47 and AASP. A former athlete at Ohio State University as an undergraduate, Trent remains physically active through running and activities.

Position Statement

Thank you for the chance to again be considered for President of Division 47. My initial involvement with the division occurred during the 1990S, when I served as newsletter editor and then as secretary/treasurer. Through these positions, I was part of important divisional changes, including the development of its initial website, expansion of the newsletter, and the development ofthe proficiency statement. Although I have not served on the executive board for a decade, I have remained involved in the division and our annual conference each year. I look forward to being able to contribute more directly to our division's growth and help guide it into the next decade if I am elected to serve on the board once again.

There are perspectives, experiences and values that are important to me and these will guide the work I would do if I am elected president. Over the last 13 years, I have been fortunate to serve as the Director ofUNT's Center for Sport Psychology, which is an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty that represent the parent disciplines (exercise science, psychology) of our field. Through these experiences, I have seen how we can bridge artificial gaps that exist within our field so we can work together to provide interdisciplinary training and conduct integrative research.

If elected president, I would continue to work to expand and improve existing programs within the division, such as our journal and updating and expanding the proficiency in sport psychology. Both of these will require considerable work and attention to ensure their initial and continued success. I see the Giveaway-athon, which was started by Dr. Judy Van Raalte, as an excellent example of how we, as sport psychologists, can contribute to the communities we visit and I would work to add to the wonderful programming that has been done throughout the years.

My major focus, though, would be to work closely with the Education Committee on issues related to the current sport psychology training opportunities that are available within clinical and counseling psychology programs, because these programs represent key avenues for increasing our connection with the discipline ofpsychology and encouraging more involvement in our field from future psychologists. I also want to focus on how we, as a division, can continue to bring more currently practicing psychologist under our umbrella and provide them with the additional training and experiences that will make their work more effective. Finally, I want to see how our division can take a leading role in the development of position statements, such as on creating a body-healthy sport environment, which could then be published in our journal.