What to call me: Margo/ Coach Margo
Who am I: I grew up playing every sport that was offered to me. During highschool, I was on the diving, tennis, basketball, and lacrosse teams. My main focus was on lacrosse which I continued to play at Tufts University while studying Cognitive and Brain Science. During my sophomore year, I had an injury that wouldn’t allow me to continue playing lacrosse. I wanted to stay active and still compete so I joined the Track and Field team as a thrower for my final two college years. During this sport transition, I was lucky to have worked with a mental performance coach and I knew this was what I wanted to do in my future. I am currently a graduate student at Adler University studying Sport and Human Performance Psychology. My passion for sports led me to coaching tennis and lacrosse at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School for two years. And now I am excited to work with high school athletes in the mental performance side of sport.
Why I’m Here: I believe that sport is universal. Whether it is a pick up game with your friends or a professional team, sport reaches everyone. Life lessons are taught and characters are built. Sports taught me a resiliency I did not know I had. Life comes with challenges and obstacles that can hinder everyday life and your sport performance. Transitioning from a team sport to an individual sport in college made me realize that being a successful athlete is not just about physical talents. As I was learning a new sport, my mind was what was holding me back. I was dwelling on the obstacles in my way and I was not performing the way I wanted to. Then I learned how to use my mind to enhance my performance instead of detracting from it and I was able to end my college athletic career with my best performance. Now I want to partner with athletes to help them become the best they can be and also assist them as they navigate their way through all of life’s challenges, no matter how big or small the obstacles are.
Best Way to Reach Me: mvandeveld@adler.edu for personal inquiries, Modmentalperformance@gmail.com for program inquiries.