It’s amazing how quickly a year goes by! It feels like just yesterday that I wrote my initial newsletter column as president of the society, outlining my initiatives for the year. So much has happened since that time, yet there is so much left to accomplish! It has been such a pleasure to work alongside our Executive, Cornerstone and Membership Committee members: Bradley Hack; Vince Granito; Jamie Shapiro; Shane Murphy; Mitch Abrams; Sari Shepphird; Julie Vieselmeyer; Ryan Sappington; Marina Galante; Brandonn Harris; Jessica Bartley; Ken Chew; Kimberlee Bethany Bonura; and Hillary Cauthen. I am grateful for your dedication, energy and contributions to the work of the society and our field.
During the past year, we continued to focus our efforts on advancing the practice of sport psychology. Since 2003, the APA has recognized sport psychology as a proficiency area within psychology, defined by a core set of knowledge and skills. Every seven years, APA proficiencies expire and must be petitioned to be renewed. It is with great pleasure that we can announce that the proficiency in sport psychology was once again approved by the APA Council of Representatives at our convention in San Francisco this August. I want to express my gratitude to Bradley Hack for his direction and leadership in creating our petition, and to Vince Granito, Mitch Abrams, Sari Shepphird, and Erica Beachy for their contributions. Additionally, under the direction of Past President Trent Petrie, we continued writing the professional practice guidelines in sport psychology, and plan to submit them to APA for approval in the upcoming year. Lastly, to support psychologists wishing to develop proficiency in the practice of sport psychology, we made the decision to submit an application to become an APA-approved continuing education (CE) provider. For several years, our student representatives have taken the lead in organizing training webinars around areas of interest to our members. It is our goal to be able to offer CE credit to those who participate.
This year we also focused our efforts on diversity, inclusion and social justice in sport. A presidential statement in support of athletes choosing to use their platforms for social change was sent to other division presidents and to the APA Council of Representatives. This statement included resources available to psychologists and the public on how to best support athlete activists and was the impetus for developing a section on our website dedicated these issues. Additionally, the society’s efforts were highlighted in the February 2018 issue of the APA Monitor and became a primary theme of our convention programmingopens in new window in San Francisco. It is my hope that individually and collectively within our organization and field, we continually challenge ourselves to self-reflect and take responsibility for being a part of ending unjust policies and practices, that we are intentional about creating communities of psychological health, diversity, and inclusion, and that we ensure that our teaching, research and practice reflects and attends to the diverse experiences and intersecting identities of athletes, incorporating social context, and issues of power and privilege.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve the society. It is truly an honor and privilege.