Teaching Sport Psychology to High School Student-Athletes: The Psychological UNIFORM and the Game Plan Format

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to share a sport psychology program (the Psychological UNIFORM) and its unique teaching system (the Game Plan Format) designed specifically for high school (HS) student-athletes. The Game Plan Format uses sport terms (Warm-up, Conditioning, Films, etc.) and includes a multi-method approach (interactive lectures, in-class assignments, films, homework, physical activities, and journaling) to help participants make connections between the sport context and using sport psychology skills. Empirical and anecdotal data support the effectiveness of the Psychological UNIFORM and the Game Plan Format (Gilbert et al., 2008; Gilbert, Gilbert, Loney, Wahl, & Michel, 2006).

KEYWORDS:

• sport psychology intervention
• high school student-athletes

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the Head Football Coach, Athletic Director, the Coaching Staff and the football student-athletes at the participating school, as well as all of the graduate students on the UNIFORM team. Thank you also to Wade Gilbert for providing valuable comments regarding an earlier draft of this manuscript.