Priming the Oilers: sport psychologist John Dunn is one of the team

When the Edmonton Oilers take to the ice ? fast, confident, focused, determined - they?re reacting to years of rigorous training to help them bring their best performance to every game. Now they?re lo

10 March 2008

When the Edmonton Oilers take to the ice ? fast, confident, focused, determined - they?re reacting to years of rigorous training to help them bring their best performance to every game.

Now they?re looking to increase their effectiveness as athletes even more, taking on a new member of the team ? one who admittedly can?t skate half as well, but who certainly brings mental skills aplenty.

Sport psychologist, Dr. John Dunn, a professor in sport psychology in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, was recruited by Kevin Lowe, general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, at the start of the 2007/08 NHL season to work with the team.

Dunn, a former high-performance athlete and Golden Bears soccer captain, is already well known for his work with high performance athletes: he?s been with Canada?s biathlon team since 1996 when he cut his teeth working with CISM (Conseil International du Sport Militaire) the Canadian military?s competitive sports organization, recruited by former student and Armed Forces biathlon head coach, Roger Archembault. ?As it happened,? he says, ?there were a number of Olympic athletes on the team.?

That marked the beginning ?of my first opportunity to do applied sport psychology at the elite level,? says Dunn. Since then he?s worked with the successful Golden Bears hockey program, been recruited by one of the top five men?s curling teams in the world and by Canada?s men?s Alpine team (men?s downhill, giant slalom and slalom team events) to help equip athletes with the mental skills they need to reach their performance potential. Dunn will accompany both Alpine and biathlon teams to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler BC.

?This is a great professional opportunity to work with professional players,? says Dunn of his role with the Oilers. He?s not the first faculty member to become part of the Oilers organization. Oilers regularly attend the Exercise Physiology Laboratory to work with exercise physiologists Dr. Gordon Bell and Alex Game; Rob Daum, former Golden Bears ice hockey coach is now an assistant coach to the team, and revered assistant coach Bill Moores, who, alongside Clare Drake, thrust Golden Bears hockey into the limelight as Canada?s university team to beat, remains one of the most influential men in hockey.

Dunn says it?ll take time to be effective with the team. ?Step one in any organization is to try and create a relationship of trust and rapport,? he says. ?It?s about (the Oilers) feeling comfortable with me.? Initially it?s a time of testing by both players and coaches. ?Players want to know how I function within the organization: am I going to keep things confidential; will I respect their privacy and needs; where my allegiances lie.?

?Coaches want to see if I?m going to get along with the players and respect their confidential issues too. I?ve got to play my way onto the team,? says Dunn, who is around the dressing room at Rexall Place on game days, at practices and after, making himself available to players, building the relationship of trust one interaction at a time, both at the rink and in less formal settings. He?s invited players to his home for a meal, or he hangs out with players for a beer in the pub. ?People are far more relaxed if they can get to know you better and they can do that best if they?re away from the formal setting of the dressing room and the organization. Ninety percent of what we talk about has nothing to do with sport and sport psychology but it?s that 10 percent of the time when the athlete wants to engage you on performance enhancement issues that becomes your window of opportunity to make a contribution.?

?I have told the Oilers that my first loyalty is to the players, not to the coaching staff or management of the organization,? says Dunn. ?Why? Because if my first loyalty is to the organisation the players aren?t going to let me get close to them or trust me or to develop the level of trust that?s required. Hopefully that will develop over time and that the coaches will have confidence in me too.?

Honesty and integrity are the cornerstones to building trust, he?s learned, and reinforcing the importance of accountability and responsibility to athletes: that they are ultimately the architects of their game or race. ?I make athletes look in the mirror,? says Dunn. ?That means they have to look at their own levels of commitment and dedication ? and professionalism.?

While building relationships ranks high, Dunn emphasizes in the end performance is all about preparation. ?Elite or professional athletes are under tremendous pressure when they compete,? says Dunn, whose ?7 p?s? ? Prior Planning and Preparation Prevent Piss Poor Performance? - is something every one of his athletes has heard many times. ?In biathlon we say, ?you plan your race and race your plan.? Failure to plan is a plan for failure. The moment the biathlete comes into the range or the puck drops, if you?re not prepared??

Every interaction with the athletes counts but Dunn already has an immensely busy schedule, traveling internationally with the biathlon and Alpine teams and there?s simply no time to go on the road with the Oilers as well - something he?d sorely like to do.

?My primary responsibilities are to the students at the University and to my research,? he explains. ?So it?s becoming a very difficult balancing act to try and do all of those things. I?m maxed out now,? he says, ?and something?s going to have to give somewhere along the line.?

He?s looking at his options for now but, he says, what he?s doing with these high-performance teams is the quintessence of taking research out of the lab and putting it into practice ? one of the University?s mandates. But Dunn would like to see the University of Alberta value this type of service more. ?I don?t think we give it enough credence,? says Dunn. ?The research that I do, maybe if I?m lucky 1000 people in the world will ever even read it, but when I get the chance to work with our athletes or with the military or anybody in a performance setting and then they are performing in front of millions of people then millions of people have the opportunity to either enjoy it or be entertained by it.?

Concerns aside, Dunn says this is the most exciting and rewarding time of his professional life. His eyes light up when he describes that magical moment when an athlete achieves his or her goal. ?When you see an athlete (at the end of a game or race) and you know they?ve had a great performance - that doesn?t always mean standing on the podium, but it can be achieving a personal best, or an athlete comes through under pressure - to know you?ve played a very small part in that success ? nothing comes close. The icing on the cake is when an athlete thanks you and says you made a difference.?

Though his job is to help build champions, Dunn says there?s a reward that transcends the medals. ?I had the honour of being part of two national championship winning Golden Bears hockey teams (1999 and 2000),? he says. ?While the experience of working with these teams and winning these championships is something I will never forget, I cherish the friendships I made with many of the players more than the championship medals that now hang from my office wall.?