Introducing Coach Marissa Garofano: Our Newest Addition to Prototypes Team

Our vision at Prototype is to not only help people live longer, better and more full filling lives, but to help people reach their full potential. As we continue to innovate on our approach to coaching, it's motivating to us to help not only our adult members but also our youth members/athletes become the best versions of themselves When most people hear performance training, they think of physical training getting faster, stronger more agile, but the mental side of training is often overlooked or not considered to be an important part of youth developing youth athelets. We see an ever growing need to help our youth members. The world is moving faster than ever, more information and false information at the tip of our fingers, studies showing kids have less meaningful relationships and social connections now more than ever, more kids suffering from mental health challenges (anxiety, depression, etc), physical activity has become less of a priority in schools, kids staring at a screen longer and more than ever before. This is a hard problem and why we have started to implement weekly lessons on the mental side with our youth athletes. The main focus will remain building stronger athletes but through the physical training, we will be incorporating lessons to build better/stronger kids/people. This will be the first email I will be sending you to update you on what we have been working on in our youth programs. This week's topic is Expectations vs Reality, many times we have had certain expectations going into a challenge or problem. This week we asked the kids for some examples when their expectations didn't meet reality. Some of the examples the kids have brought up were "Going into games and thinking your team is way better no way we can lose." "Or the opposite thinking there is no chance we win this game the other team is so good." "Thinking you know the material going into a test, so do not study as hard and then to realize you didn't know as much as you thought and get a bad grade" These are all good examples of when your expectations don't actually meet the reality of the challenge. What we discussed is first building better awareness if a challenge is “Hard mode” or “Normal mode” Easy Mode: Could do it in my sleep Normal Mode: Something I do regularly in my everyday life Hard Mode: I need to prepare (use my training) and think creatively We really like this framework, you can think selecting a difficulty mode in a video game, something the kids relate to. It helps you accept and acknowledge the challenge or problem you face. If you approach a Hard mode problem thinking you are playing in Normal mode a lot can go wrong. This is where have better awareness on where your expectation meet reality can payoff. If we approach a Hard mode challenge thinking it will be normal we won’t be prepared and can be caught off guard and this can shut us down or cause us to be less creative in our approach, thinking we can just do what we have done in the past and it will work out just fine. The opposite can be the case if we approach everything like its Hard mode when in reality its Normal mode it can cause us to waste a lot of energy when all we need to do is take some action and get into it. We will continue to update you on the lessons we are sharing with our youth athletes weekly. In the meantime Im curious on your thoughts?

Welcome to the first installment of our Long-Term Athletic Development (LTAD) program blog series! Each week, we’ll delve into different topics designed to help our young athletes grow not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Our goal is to cultivate well-rounded individuals who excel both on and off the field. This week, we’re focusing on a concept that’s vital to every athlete’s journey: embracing failure. The Role of Failure in Growth Failure is often seen as something negative, something to be avoided at all costs. However, failure is an essential part of the process of getting better. It’s through our failures that we learn the most valuable lessons and make the most significant strides toward our goals. When we push ourselves, we inevitably encounter setbacks. These moments can be frustrating and disheartening, but they are also opportunities for growth. By facing and overcoming failures, we build resilience, improve our skills, and gain a deeper understanding of our strengths and weaknesses. Unconscious Avoidance of Failure Sometimes, without even realizing it, we avoid situations where we might fail. This unconscious avoidance can freeze us in our tracks, preventing us from pushing our hardest and achieving our full potential. It’s crucial to become aware of these tendencies and actively challenge ourselves to step out of our comfort zones. Avoiding failure might feel safe in the short term, but it limits our growth and hinders our progress. By recognizing when we’re holding back due to fear of failure, we can take steps to confront these fears and embrace the challenges that come our way. The Speed of Recovery: A Trainable Skill How quickly we recover from failure and try again is a trainable skill. This week, we will be working with our athletes to develop this crucial ability. Not only will we place them in environments where they might fail, but we will also guide them through the process of quickly reflecting on their experience and trying again. Rapid recovery from failure involves: Immediate Reflection: Quickly understanding what went wrong. Best to share with someone – this builds self-awareness Actionable Adjustments: Making small, changes to improve. We do not want to try the same thing over and over but also don’t always need to start from scratch Resuming Effort: Getting back into the task (the hardest part). By practicing these steps, our athletes will learn to bounce back faster, maintain their momentum, and build the resilience needed to handle challenges more effectively. Learning from Failure In youth sports and even in school, there is often a significant emphasis on success and achievement. While striving for excellence is important, this focus can condition young athletes to fear failure and avoid taking risks. This avoidance can stunt their growth and limit their potential. Consider these quotes from our athletes: “I remember when the mental side of soccer got to me. The fear of failing froze me up on the field. I just wanted to stop playing.” “There was a game where we were so much better than the other team, and we lost. We didn’t know how to handle it. It’s really hard to bounce back when you were expected to win and lost.” “One of my teams hasn’t won a game in 3 years. It’s tough. We don’t know how to win.” These experiences highlight how the fear of failure and high expectations can paralyze young athletes, causing them to avoid risks and miss out on opportunities for growth. This can be especially prevalent in school, where the pressure to achieve high grades and meet expectations can lead students to avoid challenging subjects or activities where they might not excel immediately. The Journey Ahead As we kick off this blog series, remember that the road to excellence is paved with challenges and failures. By embracing these moments and learning from them, our young athletes will develop the resilience, discipline, and mental toughness needed to achieve their full potential. We look forward to sharing more insights with you in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for next week’s topic. Until then, let’s embrace the journey, learn from our failures, and celebrate the small victories along the way. Steve Cimino