Athletes today are expected to perform under pressure, stay focused through distractions, and recover quickly from setbacks, often without being taught the skills to regulate stress and emotions along the way. This session offers teachers and coaches practical sports psychology tools grounded in science to help athletes build focus, resilience, and emotional control in both training and competition. Through breathwork, grounding techniques, and movement-based resets, participants will explore simple, effective strategies that can be integrated into warm-ups, practices, recovery, and high-pressure moments. A practical approach to helping athletes regulate, refocus, and perform at their best. Led by Candice Swee, RYT 500, Physical Education Teacher at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, MO.
Physical Education Teacher & Department Chair Health/PE, Columbia Public Schools
Hello! My name is Candice Swee. I teach Physical Education at Rock Bridge High School (Strength training & yoga and mindfulness). I grew up in Oregon, and love to visit in the summer time. I went to the University of Nebraska- Lincoln for my undergraduate degree which is in Athletic... Read More →
Friday November 13, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CST Lookout
Discover the excitement of 9 Square in the Air in this engaging, hands-on session! Learn how to teach the original game, explore creative variations, and discover new ways to keep students active, engaged, and having fun. Combining elements of volleyball and 4 Square, 9 Square in the Air is a fast-paced, inclusive activity that encourages teamwork, communication, and friendly competition. Throughout the session, you'll experience a variety of game progressions and adaptable activities that can be modified for different ages, abilities, and class sizes. You'll also see how the versatile 9 Square in the Air game structure can be used for much more than the traditional game, providing fresh ideas to increase participation and maximize movement in your physical education program. Whether you're new to 9 Square in the Air or looking for innovative ways to expand its use, you'll leave with practical strategies, engaging activities, and ready-to-use ideas that you can implement immediately in your classes. Come ready to play, collaborate, and have fun!
Jessica Kassel, registered dietitian and nutrition educator with the St. Louis District Dairy Council, will explore the basic nutrition needs of adolescent athletes and how including dairy in the athlete's eating plan can help with recovery and hydration. She will also discuss Dairy Up!, an SLDDC grant program that helps coaches provide dairy foods for athlete recovery after games and practices.
We don't expect athletes to master a physical skill without practice, so why do we expect them to automatically master focus and resilience? This session challenges the traditional, physical-only approach to training. Coaches will discover how to intentionally integrate the mental game into their current regimens, backed by real-world examples and actionable session blueprints used successfully with athletes.
While high school athletic administrators play a key role in developing young student-athletes, research has also noted concerns within organized youth sport settings such as increased emphasis on winning, increased costs, athlete mental health, and increased pressure on athletes to specialize. Such evolving concerns have also contributed to negative outcomes associated with growing demands of the athletic administrator position among which include elevated stress, burnout, and turnover rates of high school athletic and activity directors. Examining administrators’ perceptions of concerns within interscholastic sports provides valuable insights into general youth sport issues at large. This project examined the perceptions of Missouri high school athletic and activity directors regarding interscholastic sports, with a focus on their perceptions of current challenges, participation trends, and emerging concerns. Attendees will learn insights about noted athletic director concerns within Missouri interscholastic sports, and session time will be devoted to discussing solutions to noted issues.
Associate Professor, Program Director Physical Therapist Assistant Program, Missouri Western State University
Dr. Maureen Holtz is a licensed physical therapist with a clinical background in orthopedic physical therapy. She is currently an associate professor and the program director of the Physical Therapist Assistant program at Missouri Western State University. Her primary areas of interest... Read More →
Ever wonder how you can merge summer camp experience, coaching, and sport and exercise psychology into a teaching/coaching philosophy? One of Missouri State University's 2026 Teaching Excellence Award winners, Dr. Keith McShan, will share how his CARE Bears teaching/coaching philosophy enhances student/player learning and enjoyment. “CARE” stands for Coach-Athlete Relationship and Environments (i.e., caring and creating mastery experiences). The "Care Bears" all together draw inspiration from the television show The Care Bears, focusing on creating fun in sports/the classroom. The CARE Bears teaching/coaching philosophy values quality relationships, positive, fun, and mastery environments. Participants who attend this interactive session will leave with research-backed practices and practical tools that have been shown to engage, motivate, and excite students and athletes in and out of the classroom, helping them excel academically and athletically.
Dr. McShan joined as a faculty member at Missouri State University (MSU) in 2022. Before joining MSU, Dr. McShan was an active high school basketball and football coach in Canada. Dr. McShan has worked for organizations such as Football Canada, Duke University Men’s Basketball Camp... Read More →
Saturday November 14, 2026 2:15pm - 3:15pm CST HK Clubhouse
