Presentation at the 2020 Ali Center Athletes and Social Change Forum

1. MENTORING AND
MINDFULNESS
A COMPASSIONATE APPROACH TO FLOURISHING
THROUGH SPORT
© The True Athlete Project 2020. All Rights Reserved.

2. About Us
Laurence Halsted
• Two-time Olympian: London 2012 & Rio 2016
• Performance Director at Danish Fencing Federation
• Co-Director of Mentoring at The True Athlete Project
Sam Parfitt
• Founder & CEO of The True Athlete Project
• Former NCAA Div I tennis player & Coach
• Mindfulness Teacher at the Univ. of Edinburgh

3. About The True Athlete Project
• We re-imagine sport as a training ground for compassion, mindfulness, and
mental wellbeing.
• We re-imagine the idea of an athlete as someone who develops mind and body to
help others, and make the world a better place.
By…
Designing and delivering a range of innovative, mindfulness-based programmes for
all levels of sport

4. 1pm Our Journey to Today!
1.10pm The Role of Mindfulness in Sport-for-Change
1.20pm Global Mentoring Programme
1.30pm Q & A
Session Outline

5. The Joy of Sport?

6. “At St. Peter’s, every child is an
athlete.
Athletics becomes less about
battle-ball, and more about soul-
craft”
– Chattanooga Times Free Press
St. Peter’s School, Chattanooga

7. How do we connect athlete development and
sport for social change?
How do we design athlete development
programmes which unleash sport’s powerful
potential?
Ali Center Athletes & Social Change
Forum, 2014

8. “How do you survive those less-than-perfect situations when discipline isn’t enough?
When grittiness gets you through the workouts but can’t seem to get you through
the rest of the day? As a runner you’re highly in tune with your body, and you know
its highs and lows […] Learning the highs and lows of your mind is much harder”-
From Kate Fagan’s What Made Maddy Run?

9. “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings,
bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens.” – UC
Berkeley
The American Psychological Association list the following benefits of mindfulness:
• Improved mental and physical wellbeing
• Improved emotional regulation
• Improved academic attainment, focus, attention, and
working memory
• Increased resilience
• Reduced stress and reactivity to long-term stressors
• Enhanced compassion
• Lowered anxiety and depression
• Better immune system function and sleep quality
• Improved interpersonal relationships
• Improved emotional sensitivity and therapist-client
relationships
What Is and Isn’t Mindfulness?

11. “The benefits of mindfulness practice as applied to sports are almost
blindingly obvious. Focus, awareness, clarity of thought, and the ability
to stay in the present moment are basic skills for any great athlete – and meditator.”
- Soren Gordhamer
“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”
- Muhammad Ali

12. Constant
support
throughout
the year
Leads both
through a
pioneering,
holistic year
of training
Matches
Olympic,
Paralympic &
elite level athlete
mentors with
aspiring young
athlete mentees
Global in
scope &
across all
sports
About the Mentoring Programme

13. Five-Themed Curriculum
Nature &
Connectedness
Community &
Responsibility
Mindfulness
Identity
& Values
Performance

14. Souleyman Bah
Visually impaired sprinter, 19

15. Leo Harland Sendra
Basketball player, 18
Sophia Potter
Fencer, 19

16. TAP Mentoring Programmes
Global
Internal
Club/
Federation
Community

18. Global Mentoring Cohort 2021
Open for applications August 1st
Mentees: dedicated athletes of any level, aged 15-24
Mentors: Olympic, Paralympic or elite level athletes
Contact:
Laurence@thetrueathleteproject.org

20. Thank You!
Sam@thetrueathleteproject.org
Laurence@thetrueathleteproject.org