Inspirational speaker Mac Bledsoe invited Washington State student-athletes to “Exercise the Athlete in your Head” Wednesday night at the CUB Auditorium on the WSU campus.
Bledsoe, the father of Cougar quarterback great Drew Bledsoe, is the first speaker in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Speaker Series.
“One of our new initiatives for SAAC is our speaker series,” said women's track and field student-athlete and SAAC representative Kelsie Taylor. “The emphasis is by the athletes for the athletes.
“We want to make this an annual event,” added Taylor. “Mac is the perfect person to kick off our annual speaker series.”
Director of Athletics Bill Moos was in attendance to hear Bledsoe's message.
“I thought it was exceptionally good and very fitting,” said Moos. “As we are advancing our program, our student-athletes are getting bigger, stronger, and faster, but so much of competition is how you feel about yourself and your ability to compete.
“You got to believe within yourself that you can win the battles, that you are better prepared in all aspects,” added Moos, “and your approach going through the tunnel, I use a football analogy, is am I going to survive today or am I going to attack? He touched on all that and I think it hit our student-athletes very well.”
Bledsoe challenged the student-athletes that while they practice with the team and get physically fit and stronger, have they exercised their brain?
“I wanted to share with them my path to discovering the role of the mind and its giant influence on human performance,” explained Bledsoe.
To accomplish this, Bledsoe shared a story with the student-athletes about when he was a student-athlete at the University of Washington.
A newcomer on campus, Bledsoe had just purchased his textbooks and happened to walk past a movie theater that was playing “Tokyo Olympiad.” With some time to kill, Bledsoe watched the movie and experienced a life-changing moment when he learned about Billy Mills.
Bledsoe saw Mills set a world record in the 10,000 meters, and his reaction after running it.
“At the finish I saw he had a big grin on his face,” said Bledsoe. “What captivated me was he ran this race faster than any human had run, and almost a full minute faster than he had ever run it.”
“I said to myself I got to find out what is going on inside that young guy's head," Bledsoe continued. "Because if I can find that out it might have an impact on my ability to compete as an athlete,”
Bledsoe believes he has figured out what was going on. And he explained it is not a secret.
While he said some describe it as goal-setting, self-actualizing behavior, or self-image psychology, Bledsoe summed it up to the student-athletes with this succinct statement:
“The ideas in your head will rule your world.”
About the SAAC:
The purpose of SAAC is to provide communication between student-athletes and administration, raising the awareness of important topics including administrative policy and decisions, NCAA legislation, compliance, student-athlete welfare and community service opportunities. SAAC members strive to strengthen the relationship between student-athletes, athletic administration and the university. Each member is provided with a supportive open-forum atmosphere to voice student-athlete and team concerns. SAAC provides opportunities of leadership within athletic teams and facilitates cooperation between student-athletes, the athletic administration and the community to enhance the overall student-athlete experience at Washington State University.
Go Cougs!
Jason Krump, WSU Athletics