Bravery is a mental skill. More specifically, we consider bravery to be the best system of fear management. 

Being mentally tough is not about not having fear, or suffering through the fear you have - it's managing fear, stress, overwhelm, pressure, success, mistakes, depression, anxiety.

Building your mental toughness requires honesty with self, first and foremost. It is scary to face the truth. And if it's scary AND essential, bravery is a key factor in the building foundation for all mental strength training.

The best thing you can do is recognize fear - in your kids and in yourself.

Making sure your kids know what YOU are scared of allows them to witness you taking brave action.

Often, as adults, we shelter kids from our feelings of fear. While you want to be age appropriate, getting your kids involved in how you manage and face your fears models 1) that fear is normal and manageable, and 2) that deploying bravery is valuable.

Your kids don't get to see you be brave unless they know that you are scared. When they see bravery in you, they can imagine it for themselves.

The best thing to say to a kid is: "I see you being brave."

This acknowledges their fear AND emphasizes the action they are taking in face of it.

We are data people and so we rely on this to gauge impact. 

But, we aren't just interested in quantitative analysis. We also collect qualitative data and observational data and braid all three to tell the story of what changes, if any, are occurring.

Some things we will be looking for IN the data:

• Quantitative: Levels of reported JOY remain high (81% of kids felt more joyful after our 45-minute Brave warm-up on 11/2)
• Qualitative: What kids are curious about and their willingness to share (anonymously) on their Brave Cards will help us determine coping mechanisms
• Observational: How eager kids are to try new things at practice that require risk-taking

A lot of the data/information we are getting in the first year of this partnership will determine how we bespoke the experience ongoing for Pittsburgh Premier.

That may include ancillary mental skills sessions, leadership training, etc. For now, the priority is to fortify Premier players from the inside out insomuch as they are boldly pursuing big goals with purpose and joy.

In this first year, we are baking Brave training inside existing practices so there is no LESS lacrosse happening.

Throughout three practices over the course of the first year, Brave will ease into running a full practice for Pittsburgh Premier that 1) creates an environment where risk and mistakes are valuable, 2) simulates high-stakes pressure of competition/recruiting, and 3) generates individual drive to push edges of comfort zone in pursuit of improvement.

10,000 foot view:

November: Brave Warm-Up
This includes warming kids up physically, emotionally, and mentally for fast-paced thinking and doing during first 45 minutes of practice (plyometrics to shuttle drills).

February: Brave Competition
Starts with review of Brave Warm-up, adds on more sophisticated levels of standard shuttle drills that add mental load (not physical load), and continues through 50/50 ball competition. 60 minutes.

May/June: Brave Pressure
Brave will run a full practice to get players ready to scrimmage in a high-stakes environment where failure is definite, offering eager kids the chance to practice accountability and quick recovery, honesty and resilience, bravery and risk. 90 minutes.