Hello, fellow SSEPP members! I am excited to be taking over the reins as your president for the next year. We have a super group of smart, dedicated and passionate professionals on the Executive Board and the standing Cornerstone, Program and Membership Committees. Let me just say from the get-go that if you have never participated in the division’s leadership, you are missing out! The camaraderie and collaboration are exhilarating and fulfilling, and I strongly urge you to participate with us as we try to move our field forward.
Please join me in welcoming our new board members: Doug Hankes, president-elect; Anthony Kontos, council representative, beginning January 2019; Brandonn Harris, junior member-at-large; Breigh Jones, junior student representative; and Dolores Christensen, junior program chair. We are grateful for their service to the division and our field, and we expect great things during their tenure! We want to express our admiration and appreciation to our outgoing board members: Vince Granito, past-president; Shane Murphy, council pepresentative; Ryan Sappington, senior student representative; and Brandonn Harris, senior program chair. Their contributions have been outstanding, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for the time, energy and expertise they have devoted to serve our profession. Thank you!
Advancing the Practice of Sport Psychology
We have had a very productive few years and we have a full slate of ambitious initiatives for the coming year.
The proficiency in sport psychology was successfully renewed this year! The Council of Representatives approved the petition at APA’s Annual Convention a few weeks ago. The Council’s review is not a rubber stamp of approval as four other petitions for proficiency renewal were voted down. Re-petitioning APA to recognize sport psychology as a unique area of practice and expertise occurs every seven years. Since our last successful re-petitioning in 2010, the criteria that must be met were revised and upgraded significantly by the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology (CRSPPP). I want to personally thank the members of the renewal committee for the many hours of time and energy that they dedicated to keep our proficiency alive: Vince Granito; Shane Murphy; Mitch Abrams; Sari Shepphird; and Eric Beachy. Please join me in thanking them for stepping up!
We have also moved forward with the Professional Practice Guidelines (PPG) that Courtney Albinson outlined in last year’s fall newsletter. Our PPG Development Committee continues to move forward with this project and are in the process of carefully revising the initial draft. We will continue to keep you updated on their progress.
In response to our membership survey, the society has decided to apply to become an APA-approved continuing education (CE) provider. Members expressed a desire to have more sport and performance psychology CE opportunities through Div. 47. Shane Murphy has agreed to guide this process and hopes to have the application ready for submission to APA by the new year.
Guiding a New Cohort of Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology Practitioners
In addition to moving the proficiency and the PPG forward, one of my presidential Initiatives was to provide more opportunities for professional connection and growth for our student members and early career professionals (ECP). We are in the process of designing a mentorship program that we hope will provide these opportunities, as well as to get more of our practicing members involved and engaged with the society by sharing their knowledge and experience with our new professionals. Please be on the lookout for a mentorship survey that the society will be sending out to practitioners in the coming weeks. We urge you to consider devoting some time to this program to help grow our field in a positive direction!
Upcoming Listserv Announcements
Please be on the lookout for listserv announcements regarding the mentorship survey, the call for Div. 47 fellows nominations, and the call for convention program proposals. The presidential themes for next year’s Convention in Chicago are: adolescent athletes: coaching development and excellence; and the latest in performance psychology techniques.
Finally, I would like to invite all of you to consider participating in the society in some way. We will be needing input and help on the many initiatives that we have begun. Please think about becoming a member of one of our committees, submitting a proposal for Convention or mentoring one of our young professionals. We look forward to working with you!