"The strong women in my family have taught me that women’s instincts and emotional intelligence can be extraordinary. Women coaches should use their instincts in working with athletes. What you feel and observe in an athlete can truly direct how you work with them. Use your emotional intelligence to connect with your athletes, helping them to find the right approach to training and racing." |
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Coach and Trainer Haley Downing attended George Fox University, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Performance. While at George Fox she played both soccer and basketball, and currently works with the George Fox soccer team as head strength and conditioning coach, and assistant soccer coach. As the strength and conditioning coach, she works directly with all team members, developing in-season and offseason strength and conditioning programs. She also works directly with the athletic trainer to connect coaches and athletes who are injured.
Haley is a personal trainer and group fitness instructor at OHSU and a personal trainer at Therapeutics Associates in Lake Oswego. Additionally she is a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, a USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, and a Functional Movement Screen and EXOS Certified Fitness Specialist. Haley owns her own business, Downey Performance Training and can be reached at haley@downeyperformancetraining.com and downeyperformancetraining.com |
"What do you want to accomplish with your XC team? This is the first question you should ask yourself. If you are the head coach, you should write down your goals for your team, and share and ask for input from your coaching staff. This will be a key as you begin to plan your season. Think of these goals as a road map. As you plan your season, these goals will be the map you follow as coaches and team." |
"When I was a competitive runner, I was impressed by the coaches who had a plan. They knew what workouts to give me exactly when I needed them. As I became more experienced as an athlete, and then as a young coach, I began to decipher the “magical” talent some coaches had. I saw that each year should be broken up into segments that addressed the type of training needed for cross country, indoor and outdoor track. I saw the focus and planning that went into each competitive season. And within each season, I understood how it was broken into phases that addressed the workouts needed to make me run my very fastest in the championship races. It was a series of building blocks. Each phase build upon the one before it, finally reaching the championship part of the season." |
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"There are a few things I suggest coaches implement in their interactions with athletes re: race anxiety: First and most basic - remind them that what they’re experiencing is completely normal. Even the world’s best deal with pre-race nerves or anxiety - I know this first hand because a pro runner once told me this at a major marathon!" |
"De-emphasizing results and setting some short-term, realistic goals is often helpful. I encourage athletes who are dealing with setbacks or lack of success to “be where their feet are” and work from there, not past results."
- Adrienne Langelier, Sport Psychology Consultant
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