Parents: Help Your Athletes Compete the Way They Practice
Most kids have the physical skills. What holds them back is the mental part, which can be fear of failure, perfectionism, losing confidence after one mistake, crumbling under pressure they can’t explain.
For more than 40 years, Dr. Patrick Cohn, Ph.D. and his team of mental performance coaches have helped athletes at every level fix that. From Olympic competitors and PGA Tour professionals to youth athletes who just want to enjoy their sport again, the approach is the same: identify the mental barriers, build the skills to overcome them, and teach the people around the athlete, especially parents, how to help rather than hurt.
Kids’ Sports Psychology brings that same system directly to families, in a format designed for young athletes and the parents who want to support them.
Patrick Cohn
Dr. Patrick J. Cohn is the founder and president of Peak Performance Sports, LLC and one of the world’s most recognized mental performance coaches for youth and elite athletes.
He earned his Ph.D. in Applied Sports Psychology from the University of Virginia under Dr. Bob Rotella who is one of the most celebrated sport psychologists in history and his Master’s degree from California State University, Fullerton under Dr. Ken Ravizza. Over 40+ years he has worked with Olympic athletes, NFL teams, PGA Tour professionals, and thousands of youth and high school athletes across 35+ sports.
Dr. Cohn is the creator of:
- The Athlete’s Mental Edge Framework — the mental training system used across all coaching programs and workbooks
- The Young Athlete’s Mental Aptitude Assessment (YAMAP) — a personalized assessment used to identify each athlete’s specific mental game strengths and barriers
- The Mental Game Coaching Professional (MGCP) Certification — a training program for coaches and sports psychology professionals worldwide
Every mental performance coach on the Kids’ Sports Psychology team is personally trained by Dr. Cohn and certified under the MGCP system.
Lisa Cohn
Lisa Cohn is an award-winning writer and co-founder of Kids’ Sports Psychology. She is Patrick’s sister and co-created The Ultimate Sports Parent program — a resource designed to help parents support young athletes without adding pressure.
Lisa brings the parent’s perspective to everything the site produces. Her writing focuses on the emotional and communication side of youth sports: what to say after a bad game, how to stay supportive without hovering, and how parents can be a source of calm rather than stress.
Her work has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Huffington Post, Mothering, Yahoo! Parenting, and Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, among others.
What Makes Kids’ Sports Psychology Different
We work with the whole family, not just the athlete.
Mental coaching for kids only works when parents are aligned. Every program includes a parent component so you know what to say and what not to say before and after competition.
We use a proven, personalized system.
Every athlete starts with the YAMAP assessment so coaching targets the right problems from day one, not a generic program.
Our coaches are trained by Dr. Cohn directly.
Every coach on our team holds the MGCP certification and is matched to your child based on sport, age, and specific mental game challenges.
We are not doing therapy.
We teach performance skills such as confidence routines, focus techniques, pressure management specifically designed for competition. If a child needs clinical support, we’ll tell you honestly and help you find it.
We have 40+ years of results.
From youth athletes who stopped enjoying their sport to Division I competitors who needed an edge, the same framework has worked across 35+ sports worldwide.
Sport Psychology Coaches for Young Athletes
About Jaclyn Ellis, M.S., MGCP
Jaclyn earned her Master’s degree from Illinois State University. She is a certified Mental Game Coaching Professional trained directly by Dr. Cohn. A competitive athlete herself in soccer, volleyball, and tennis, she connects quickly with young athletes who feel like no one truly understands the pressure they’re under. She has coached youth and elite athletes across multiple sports and has specialized experience with cognitive performance tools including NeuroTracker and Eye Matrix.
About Lane Schwarz, M.S., MGCP
Lane holds a Master of Science in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he carried a perfect 4.0 GPA. He is completing his Certified Mental Performance Coach (CMPC) designation through AASP. Lane’s calm, conversational style is especially effective with athletes who are skeptical or resistant to mental coaching at first. He is a certified mental coach with Peak Performance Sports.
About Carolyne Lawley, M.S., MGCP
Carolyne earned her Master’s in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of North Texas. She played collegiate basketball and professional basketball in Europe for two years after college, and has coached both basketball and track at the youth and high school levels. She is completing the CMPC designation through AASP. She is a certified mental coach with Peak Performance Sports.
Young athletes who develop mental skills don’t just perform better–they handle pressure, setbacks, and self-doubt in ways that stay with them long after their playing days end. The confidence to bounce back from a bad game, the focus to compete under pressure, the ability to manage expectations without shutting down aren’t just sports skills. They’re life skills. That’s what we teach, and it’s why parents tell us the coaching changes their child far beyond the sport.
The fastest way to find out if we’re the right fit for your family is a free 15-minute conversation with one of our coaches.
Ready to Help Your Athlete Compete With Confidence?
The mental game is often the difference between athletes who performs their best under pressure and ones who holds back. Book a free 15-minute introductory session today with one of our coaches. Tell us your child’s sport to book now, and we’ll also send you the programs…
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You can schedule your free session today!
888-742-7225 | 407-909-1700