St. John Bosco is focusing on the present

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St. John Bosco lost to Servite, 31-13, last week, but there’s nothing to be done about it now, so you can bet the Braves have put that game firmly in their rear-view mirrors.

Just like sports psycholgist Ken Ravizza and his Cal State Fullerton masters-program students have taught them to do. (That’s Ravizza pictured at right).

‘His big thing really is taking things one game at a time,’ Coach Kiki Mendoza said. ‘Whatever happened the last game, the last play, forget about it, and just focus on what’s happening right now.’

The Braves are one of many high school sports teams to have tried to capitalize on the use of sports psychologists, visualization techniques and the like in recent years with an eye toward improving athletic performance, game results and players’ well-being.

But they might be among the most long-term and consistent regular users of such mental and emotional training in the Southland.

The Braves were first exposed to Ravizza and his techniques by St. John Bosco defensive line Coach Paul Diaz four years ago., Ravizza, a Fullerton kinesiology professor, worked regularly with the Titans’ College World Series championship teams of 1984 and 2004 and has been a consultant to the Angels.

This season, Matt Niapas, one of Ravikzza’s masters-program students, is working with the Braves.
He holds weekly meetings with the team to discuss motivational methods and performance-enhancement issues. He is a regular at the Braves’ games, and is expected to be on hand tonight when St. John Bosco plays Santa Margarita in a regular-season Trinity League finale at Tesoro.

‘Just the fact that they’re present,and giving attention to the kids is good,’ Mendoza said.

The Braves (3-5, 1-2) have needed the extra atteniton and plenty of TLC this season -- and not just to shore up their sub-.500 record.

One player, Blake Browning, suffered a life-threatening spinal injury during a summer football workout session and is still hospitalized but undergoing rehabilatation for his injuries. Two other players have had to deal with the shootings of family members, one of whom died.

‘We’re dealing with a lot more than just football, and this kind of thing helps, not only in football, but in dealing with life, too,’ Mendoza said. ‘I know I need it, probably more than anybody.’

-- Lauren Peterson

-- Image from hhd.fullerton.edu