Beyond Sport

by Koren Wetmore

Spring 2004

Talk with Traci Statler and you’ll leave the conversation believing anything is possible, because, from Statler’s viewpoint, it is.

Gifted with a natural exuberance, she draws upon her academic training and life experience to share with athletes and non-athletes alike the keys to reaching their potential. And she’s quick to credit those who helped her reach hers.

Trained by top experts in sports psychology, the New York City native has coached collegiate and Olympic athletes and challenged perceived gender barriers within her field. As an assistant professor of kinesiology at Cal State San Bernardino, she instructs students in the psychology of sports performance and serves as a consultant for CSUSB’s men’s baseball, women’s softball and women’s water polo teams.

“What I do really transcends sport,” she says. “The assistance I provide is for anybody who wants to improve his or her performance — whatever that is.”

It’s a skill Statler may not have acquired had she followed her original career path. In the early 1980s, her interest focused on reporting sports performances, not enhancing them. About three-quarters through University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill’s journalism program, however, she discovered little or no opportunities for women in broadcast sports. Not willing to be “a weather girl in Iowa,” Statler decided to carry a double major.

She found her second pursuit through a sports psychology class she had enrolled in while a member of North Carolina’s ski team. In June 1990, she graduated with bachelor degrees in psychology and journalism. Following advice she often gives her students, Statler next discussed her goals with her professors. It was her sports psychology professor, Richard Coop, who encouraged Statler to attend Cal State Fullerton to work with Ken Ravizza, a leader in the sports psychology field. In Ravizza she found her first mentor, one who would sharpen not only her skills but also her resolve. When Ravizza learned Statler wanted to work with baseball teams, he expressed concern over whether an all-male team would accept guidance from a female. He allowed Statler to test the waters by assigning her to a junior college baseball team as part of her master’s program at Fullerton. Statler excelled in the position and the team requested she return the following season, this time as a paid consultant.

“Ken strongly tried to convince me away from baseball. He believed I could do the work. He just wasn’t sure I would be accepted and I appreciated his honesty,” Statler says. “His reservations helped me work through all the ‘what ifs.’ Now about 75 percent of the people I work with are men.” Statler faced a similar challenge while pursuing her doctorate at the University of Utah, where she trained under the expert eye of Keith Henschen, her second and most influential mentor, she says. Under Henschen, Statler worked with members of the U.S. Olympic Speed Skating Team and U.S.A. Track and Field, but her greatest challenge was working with the university’s football team.

“Walking in and working with an all-male team can be hard for a female, but Traci commanded their respect,” says Henschen, professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Utah. “It’s not that she’s hard or anything, but they knew she meant business and they knew she was good.”

It was an experience that earned Statler the nickname “Sergeant” for her ability to maintain a strong stance under the most difficult drills. It was a strength she drew upon as she balanced her academic program with work as an events coordinator at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City and later as an instructor.

That fortitude combined with her journalism background has now led to a book, “Sports Psychology for Track and Field,” to be published sometime this year. Statler served as an editor for the project and also co-authored two chapters: one on race walking, the other on sports psychology for collegiate track and field. Her achievements, challenges and training proved perfect background for her position at Cal State San Bernardino, says kinesiology chair Terry Rizzo. “In her line of research — sports psychology — she’s bridged the gap between our academic program and athletics program. It allows our students who are non-athletes to experience vicariously through working with her,” Rizzo says. “Traci makes this field come alive. She doesn’t just research it and teach it, she actually does it.”

Her performance expertise also helps the college athlete adjust to the rigors of university life. “They’ve been used to being a big fish surrounded by small fish in high school. They get to college and suddenly everybody’s a big fish,” Statler says. “I see the same stress at the Olympic level. It’s about meeting a high level of performance all the time — and that’s exhausting.”

Statler’s guidance helps alleviate much of that stress and provides the tools athletes need to excel, says Tom Finwall, head coach for CSUSB’s women’s water polo team. “Instead of looking at a challenge as stressful or tense, she’s helped the athletes see it as an opportunity to overcome that challenge,” he says. “We now have a better attitude and a more positive approach to the game.”

Much of what she teaches athletes can translate to any student, she says. Tools include mental exercises such as visualization and time management skills that help address common issues of confidence, stress and performance anxiety. Tips she offers students include: n Focus your energy on what’s happening here and now, because that’s what you can control.

• Use time management, setting realistic expectations for tasks (“Don’t schedule two hours to write a 10-page term paper”) and get the big stuff done first.
  
• Develop a relationship with someone who can help you.

It’s that last tip that can be so critical, a tip she learned with Richard Coop, Ken Ravizza and Keith Henschen. Armed with the attitude that makes anything seem possible, Statler suggests that professors are among the people who ensure that anything is, indeed, possible for students.

“If you’re struggling, don’t keep it to yourself,” Statler says. “Talk with your professors. We care about our students.” And, she adds, no matter what major you’re pursuing, know there is someone in the kinesiology department ready to help.

(Koren Wetmore is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications such as Inland Empire Magazine and Real Woman.)