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Through the Lens of Athletics: A Mental Approach to Sports

 

Join Latin’s Director of Athletics, Kirsten Richter, to learn about the mental approach to sports and how students can take these skills from basketball court to Wall Street.

TRANSCRIPT

I think athletics is such a powerful learning environment. It has the feeling of high stakes. Individuals can learn so much about themselves while also learning how to interact with their teammates.It feels high stakes. We want to win. We really want to achieve competitive excellence. But when we fall a little bit short of that, we can redouble our efforts and learn from that and get even better. A lot of times in sports will say we got to be resilient or be gritty. 100% agree. But how do we actually do that? We want the students who have learned these skills in this setting where we can take time and get better and learn and grow. And now we want that student to be able to take this forward with them when it is high stakes, high risk. Brain surgery, Wall Street trader, you name it. But they've developed this and they can use this to the benefit of their career and the benefit of those around them.

My name is Kirsten Richter, and I am the director of athletics here at Latin. The bulk of my professional background is in higher ed. I was fortunate to coach college basketball for 17-18 years. For seven years, I was an assistant at two different institutions. I spent ten years as a head coach and I got to do a lot of different administrative things and take on different administrative responsibilities, both in athletics and broader across campus, including some leadership development work.

I think athletics is such a powerful learning environment. It has the feeling of high stakes. Individuals can learn so much about themselves while also learning how to interact with their teammates. I could rattle off a whole list of things I think you can learn through competitive sports, but resiliency communication skills, giving and receiving feedback, the way in which you interact with someone, verbally, body language. There are so many nuances to it. And I think really what makes it special and unique is that it has the feeling of high stakes but with relatively low risk. So you get to practice all these skills and make mistakes and learn and do better and fail, really without too much on the line. So it feels high stakes. We want to win, we really want to achieve competitive excellence. But when we fall a little short of that, we can redouble our efforts and learn from that and get even better.

So I just think there's so much learning that can come from athletics participation. I think a big building block to the mental approach to sports, and that really fuels all that. Learning through sport is the approach outcome response cycle. So we all control how we approach a task. We don't always control the outcome, but then we always control how we respond to that outcome.

We want to win, we really want to achieve competitive excellence. But when we fall a little short of that, we can redouble our efforts and learn from that and get even better.So when you think about it through the lens of athletics, we want to think about it sort of in the smallest pieces. So not how I approach the game. Win, lose, how do I respond to winning or losing much smaller? So within a game, that cycle is happening dozens and dozens of times. So they start feeding each other. So how I approach something, the outcome doesn't go my way. Okay, now how am I going to respond? Because that's going to feed into the next approach to the next thing.

So in more tangible terms, a simple example is like a foul shot. So there's a thing called a foul shot routine. So everybody is the same thing before foul shot. That's controlling the approach outcome doesn't always go in, right? So in a big moment that's going to sting. But then what's the response? And then that feeds the next approach. So you can sort of play this out and see how this happens over and over and over. And then how a student can control that really then starts to affect their performance in a positive or negative way. And then think beyond that. I'm doing this for myself and my individual tasks. But now think about those around me. So how my approach and my response? If I'm doing that well, that's going to affect the approach and the response of the people around me.

So you start to see the team dynamics and how that's at play. And it's just a powerful concept because it can affect so much change. And I think that's important because a lot of times in sports will say how we got to be resilient or be gritty. 100% agree. But how do we actually do that, being resilient? How? So I think this is a great building block to that because this is how we can be resilient and how we can be gritty and how we can persevere. This mental approach I think has so many applications outside athletics.

So I think some of my proudest moments as a coach when I saw students really grow and learn in that mental approach, whether it was I can think of a student who sort of grew tremendously over four years and found her voice and gained confidence.Think about a student in an academic setting, the approach, how I'm studying for an exam or how I'm preparing to write a paper. The outcome. Maybe I fall a little short of my goal in that test or I didn't sort of nail that paper. How do I respond? Same concept, even smaller. Like within a class setting. I go to the board. I think I have this math problem figured out. I didn't quite get it. This happened to me all the time in high school, right? Okay, so now how do I respond? Am I embarrassed? How am I going to feel about doing the next problem? Right? There are so many applications of that. And then as students enter college and then the workforce, this certainly has applications professionally, professional, day to day setting, meetings, interactions with colleagues can go on and on. But you can see how this sort of building block of the approach outcome, response cycle can easily be put into effect in those settings as well.

And I think, again, going back to the learning environment, that's why this is such a special learning environment because as students can practice this in that setting and then 20 years from now be so well versed at it that they can take it into their professional setting. And really too, you can perform at a high level because of their ability to do this. When you're learning this in athletic setting, again, it feels high stakes, relatively low risk. So you really have the opportunity to build this and grow this skill and it translates into the workplace. So picture of student 20 years down the line now in brain surgery, super high stakes, super high risk, right? So we want the students who have learned these skills in this setting where we can take time and get better and learn and grow. And now we want that student to be able to take this forward with them when it is high stakes, high risk, brain surgery, wall street trader, you name it, but they've developed this and they can use this to the benefit of their career and the benefit of those around them.

A coach can have a profound role in teaching the mental approach to sports to students. Certainly coaches are adapted teaching sports specific skills to their students, but to really maximize students' ability to perform those skills, we want to have that parallel track of that mental approach.

So I think some of my proudest moments as a coach when I saw students really grow and learn in that mental approach, whether it was I can think of a student who sort of grew tremendously over four years and found her voice and gained confidence. And a lot of that was because of the mental approach that she developed. I can think of another student who is always confidence was not her, she was not lacking confidence, right? But it was her ability to sort of navigate team dynamics and communicate with teammates that had to grow in nuance. And she was able to do that tremendously by her senior year in the way that she knew how to sort of respond to some things one way, how to respond to something else a little bit differently, how she approach something with one teammate would be different from how she approached something with another teammate. And so much of that is just the mental approach to team dynamics in sport. And now they're young adults and they can take that with them into their professional careers. 

  • Athletics
  • Features
  • Podcast
Through the Lens of Athletics: A Mental Approach to Sports

 

Join Latin’s Director of Athletics, Kirsten Richter, to learn about the mental approach to sports and how students can take these skills from basketball court to Wall Street.

TRANSCRIPT

I think athletics is such a powerful learning environment. It has the feeling of high stakes. Individuals can learn so much about themselves while also learning how to interact with their teammates.It feels high stakes. We want to win. We really want to achieve competitive excellence. But when we fall a little bit short of that, we can redouble our efforts and learn from that and get even better. A lot of times in sports will say we got to be resilient or be gritty. 100% agree. But how do we actually do that? We want the students who have learned these skills in this setting where we can take time and get better and learn and grow. And now we want that student to be able to take this forward with them when it is high stakes, high risk. Brain surgery, Wall Street trader, you name it. But they've developed this and they can use this to the benefit of their career and the benefit of those around them.

My name is Kirsten Richter, and I am the director of athletics here at Latin. The bulk of my professional background is in higher ed. I was fortunate to coach college basketball for 17-18 years. For seven years, I was an assistant at two different institutions. I spent ten years as a head coach and I got to do a lot of different administrative things and take on different administrative responsibilities, both in athletics and broader across campus, including some leadership development work.

I think athletics is such a powerful learning environment. It has the feeling of high stakes. Individuals can learn so much about themselves while also learning how to interact with their teammates. I could rattle off a whole list of things I think you can learn through competitive sports, but resiliency communication skills, giving and receiving feedback, the way in which you interact with someone, verbally, body language. There are so many nuances to it. And I think really what makes it special and unique is that it has the feeling of high stakes but with relatively low risk. So you get to practice all these skills and make mistakes and learn and do better and fail, really without too much on the line. So it feels high stakes. We want to win, we really want to achieve competitive excellence. But when we fall a little short of that, we can redouble our efforts and learn from that and get even better.

So I just think there's so much learning that can come from athletics participation. I think a big building block to the mental approach to sports, and that really fuels all that. Learning through sport is the approach outcome response cycle. So we all control how we approach a task. We don't always control the outcome, but then we always control how we respond to that outcome.

We want to win, we really want to achieve competitive excellence. But when we fall a little short of that, we can redouble our efforts and learn from that and get even better.So when you think about it through the lens of athletics, we want to think about it sort of in the smallest pieces. So not how I approach the game. Win, lose, how do I respond to winning or losing much smaller? So within a game, that cycle is happening dozens and dozens of times. So they start feeding each other. So how I approach something, the outcome doesn't go my way. Okay, now how am I going to respond? Because that's going to feed into the next approach to the next thing.

So in more tangible terms, a simple example is like a foul shot. So there's a thing called a foul shot routine. So everybody is the same thing before foul shot. That's controlling the approach outcome doesn't always go in, right? So in a big moment that's going to sting. But then what's the response? And then that feeds the next approach. So you can sort of play this out and see how this happens over and over and over. And then how a student can control that really then starts to affect their performance in a positive or negative way. And then think beyond that. I'm doing this for myself and my individual tasks. But now think about those around me. So how my approach and my response? If I'm doing that well, that's going to affect the approach and the response of the people around me.

So you start to see the team dynamics and how that's at play. And it's just a powerful concept because it can affect so much change. And I think that's important because a lot of times in sports will say how we got to be resilient or be gritty. 100% agree. But how do we actually do that, being resilient? How? So I think this is a great building block to that because this is how we can be resilient and how we can be gritty and how we can persevere. This mental approach I think has so many applications outside athletics.

So I think some of my proudest moments as a coach when I saw students really grow and learn in that mental approach, whether it was I can think of a student who sort of grew tremendously over four years and found her voice and gained confidence.Think about a student in an academic setting, the approach, how I'm studying for an exam or how I'm preparing to write a paper. The outcome. Maybe I fall a little short of my goal in that test or I didn't sort of nail that paper. How do I respond? Same concept, even smaller. Like within a class setting. I go to the board. I think I have this math problem figured out. I didn't quite get it. This happened to me all the time in high school, right? Okay, so now how do I respond? Am I embarrassed? How am I going to feel about doing the next problem? Right? There are so many applications of that. And then as students enter college and then the workforce, this certainly has applications professionally, professional, day to day setting, meetings, interactions with colleagues can go on and on. But you can see how this sort of building block of the approach outcome, response cycle can easily be put into effect in those settings as well.

And I think, again, going back to the learning environment, that's why this is such a special learning environment because as students can practice this in that setting and then 20 years from now be so well versed at it that they can take it into their professional setting. And really too, you can perform at a high level because of their ability to do this. When you're learning this in athletic setting, again, it feels high stakes, relatively low risk. So you really have the opportunity to build this and grow this skill and it translates into the workplace. So picture of student 20 years down the line now in brain surgery, super high stakes, super high risk, right? So we want the students who have learned these skills in this setting where we can take time and get better and learn and grow. And now we want that student to be able to take this forward with them when it is high stakes, high risk, brain surgery, wall street trader, you name it, but they've developed this and they can use this to the benefit of their career and the benefit of those around them.

A coach can have a profound role in teaching the mental approach to sports to students. Certainly coaches are adapted teaching sports specific skills to their students, but to really maximize students' ability to perform those skills, we want to have that parallel track of that mental approach.

So I think some of my proudest moments as a coach when I saw students really grow and learn in that mental approach, whether it was I can think of a student who sort of grew tremendously over four years and found her voice and gained confidence. And a lot of that was because of the mental approach that she developed. I can think of another student who is always confidence was not her, she was not lacking confidence, right? But it was her ability to sort of navigate team dynamics and communicate with teammates that had to grow in nuance. And she was able to do that tremendously by her senior year in the way that she knew how to sort of respond to some things one way, how to respond to something else a little bit differently, how she approach something with one teammate would be different from how she approached something with another teammate. And so much of that is just the mental approach to team dynamics in sport. And now they're young adults and they can take that with them into their professional careers. 

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Roman Rockstar: Joey Letchinger '11
Roman Rockstar: Joey Letchinger '11

Our latest Roman Rockstar is Joey Letchinger ‘11, Executive Vice President at JDL Development.

Joey spent 10 years working in restaurants and food and beverage at prestigious establishments such as Graham Elliot and L20 in Chicago, and Restaurant DANIEL, Maialino, and Del Posto in New York. During this time, he simultaneously ran a wine brokerage and became a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Joey is a Latin “Lifer,” having grown up at Latin from JK through senior year. He views his time in the Upper School as the most impactful period of his life. It was the first time he had the freedom to explore interests beyond the core curriculum, guided by teachers who encouraged not just curiosity, but real depth of discovery.

It was at Upper School that Joey solidified his passions, curating his own independent studies centered on food, cooking, food science, and even food in literature. Through these explorations, Joey learned how to use independence to pursue passion in a focused and productive way, an approach he has carried into his professional life.

It was this drive that enabled him to make a successful career switch, as he returned to Chicago and joined the family business, JDL Development. Here he has helped develop One Chicago, North Union, and other major projects.

Joey describes his time at Latin as curious, supported, and formative. He credits Jeff Windus as one of his favorite and most influential teachers and fondly remembers the “Reindeer Games” as his favorite tradition.

We look forward to following Joey's continued success!

  • Alumni
Roman Rockstar: Connor Kaniewski '17
Roman Rockstar: Connor Kaniewski '17

Connor Kaniewski '17 is an associate at Wellington Management on the Private Placement team. After attending Latin School, he received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Wake Forest University. 

Thanks to the impact of teachers like Mr. McArthur, Mr. Kendrick, and Ms. Ross, Connor had a multifaceted experience at Latin that went beyond academics. He says that Latin laid the groundwork for intellectual development, social maturity, personal growth, and practical life skills. All of this was beneficial for his time at both Wake Forest University and the early stages of his professional career. 

When asked to describe Latin in three words, Connor replied, "growth, friendship, and academic challenges." His favorite memory is a tie between winning the state championship with the boys' soccer team and creating an MLB season prediction statistical model for his senior project. 

While at Latin, Connor participated in Roman-2-Roman, varsity soccer, varsity tennis, Roman Ambassadors, yearbook, VIDI, and Model UN. He also received the Kelly McKinnell Award for Excellence in Photography, an accolade presented to a graduating senior who shows a deep passion and talent for photography in honor of the late Kelly McKinnell '95.

As an alumnus, Connor remains highly engaged with the Latin community. He connected with senior alumni through personalized phone calls during the pandemic and has served as the chair of the Alumni Board Giving Committee since 2021. 

  • Alumni
Latin Athletics Fall Season Team Recaps
Latin Athletics Fall Season Team Recaps

Congratulations to our student-athletes on a wonderful fall season. Romans started the school year strong and completed the season with many remarkable individual and team accomplishments that reflected their hard work and dedication. Below are some of the highlights from the season.

Boys and Girls Cross Country
Showcasing their commitment and integrity, the boys and girls cross country teams overcame obstacles early on to finish the season strong. Both teams took second at conference and regionals, and rose to the occasion at sectionals to qualify for state. At the state meets, the girls team finished 16th and the boys finished 23rd. Francesca M. placed 17th overall and earned All-State honors for a second straight year and Nico R. broke the school record for boys cross country.

Boys Golf
Boys golf had a huge year. They won the ISL title for the first time since 2022 behind a strong performance by Jack Z., who finished four strokes off the course record at Cog Hill #1. Jack, Thomas A., John R., and James G. all advanced to sectionals. Jack then advanced to state where he finished 16th and earned All-State honors. Jack was even or under par in almost every match that the team played this season. This group showed up every week, stayed consistent, and earned every part of this historic run!

Girls Golf
Girls golf wrapped up their season at IHSA sectionals with three qualifiers—Senior Caitlin C., junior Fia B., and freshman Caroline R.. The team finished the regular season 2-11 in duals and placed third at the ISL tournament. Caitlin and fellow two-time captain Gillian H. led the group all year. They will graduate this fall along with senior Ava N., each leaving an impact on the program. The girls golf team continued to build consistency and competitiveness throughout the season.

Field Hockey
Field hockey had a strong year. They finished 13-6-1, won the ISL, secured the fifth seed in the state, and stacked big conference wins along the way. Our Romans had a versatile season, taking the top-ranked field hockey team in the state into an overtime thriller, hosting a meaningful Play Without Limits memorial and charity game with Lake Forest High School, winning their Homecoming game by five goals, and even hosting out-of-state team St. Ignatius California for a match. The team scored 71 goals this season and goalie Joey F. made 106 saves.

Boys Soccer
Boys soccer finished 10-10-2 overall, hitting double digit wins again and going 4-3-1 in the ISL. They picked up exciting wins against Parker that included a 1-0 road win and a 4-1 win at home. The team also posted a winning record against 3A opponents at 2-1-1. Charlie D. led the team with 13 goals and Diego F. led the team with six assists. The group scored 44 goals and had 20 assists across 22 games. These Romans could compete with anyone and showed it across the schedule.

Girls Swimming
Girls swimming had a strong and memorable season. They finished eighth at the Shepard Invite and stacked big dual meet wins including Homecoming over Trinity, a Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night win over Eisenhower, and a Senior Night win over Thornton. At the ISL championship, the team finished third and earned 15 medals. Greta T. won the ISL title in the 100 fly and finished runner up in the 200 free. The 200 free relay of Dylan K., Clare S., Channing G., and Greta T. also finished second. The girls then finished fifth at sectionals and medaled again in both the 200 free and 400 free relays. Almost every swim was a PR, which speaks to how much they improved over the course of the season.

Girls Tennis
Girls tennis had a dominant run from start to finish. The team won conference and sectionals and finished ninth at state. Nicola K. finished fourth in the state singles draw, winning multiple rounds 6-0, 6-0. Sahana A. and Mary H. also had a strong performance this season, finishing in the Top 32 of the state doubles draw. The girls played through long days, tough draws and quick turnarounds, showing true grit through it all.

Girls Volleyball
Girls volleyball finished 24-14 and picked up a long list of major wins this fall. The team won the Christian Heritage Tournament, went undefeated to win the ISL, and captured a regional championship. The ISL named senior Gisele J. Athlete of the Year and the team had four players awarded with All-Conference titles. This group competed hard every week and continued to level up their play as the season went on.

The following student-athletes earned individual accolades for their performances this season.

Independent School League Athlete of the Year Award

  • Gisele J. - Volleyball
  • Joey F. - Field Hockey (Goalie)
  • Abby K. - Field Hockey (Defensive)
  • Caroline G. - Field Hockey (Offensive)
  • Francesca M. - Cross Country
  • Nico R. - Cross Country
  • Jack Z. - Golf

Illinois High School Association All-State Award

  • Jack Z. - Golf
  • Francesca M. - Cross Country
  • Nicola K. - Tennis
  • Athletics
Latin Athletics Feature: Nico R.
Latin Athletics Feature: Nico R.

 

How did you get into cross country? When did you join an XC team?
When I was in fourth or fifth grade, my family spent the Fourth of July at my aunt and uncle’s. My dad signed us up for a 5K, and I ended up finishing first in my age group. I still have the United States keychain I won that day. 

I joined my first cross country team, the Chicago Rabbits, in middle school.

What do you enjoy about running?
Most people think of cross country as an individual sport, but there’s such a sense of team, especially here at Latin. You really get to know your teammates and form friendships.

What is your favorite part about being on a team at Latin?
My teammates. I also really like the approach and energy coach Daly brings to running.

Do you have a pre- or post-meet ritual?
On meet days, I always have eggs for breakfast, an LMNT electrolyte mix, and energy gels to make sure I’m properly fueled for the run.

I also always ride  the bus to and from meets because it’s such an important part of team bonding, and I like the energy I’m surrounded by afterward.

What are you involved with at Latin outside of cross country?
I was thinking about doing The Forum this year.

What is something that running has taught you?
Running cross country has taught me how to better cope with pressure and handle stressful situations in all areas of my life, including schoolwork.

How has your role as a runner and teammate evolved over the past year?
I came to Latin as a freshman not knowing too many people. However, the seniors on the cross country team were very welcoming. I admired their leadership in rallying the team together during practices and meets. 

Now that those seniors have graduated, I’ve stepped into more of a leadership role this year by welcoming the freshmen and leading the team as a runner.

Who has contributed to your running journey? Who would you thank & why?
The seniors from last year - Ben, Danny, Jack - really pushed me to become a better runner. I really believe that if I was at a different school and on a different team, I wouldn’t be as far along as I am right now. 

I also credit our coaches. Coach Daly always provides great energy and support, and Coach Spivey designs amazing workouts and running plans to help us improve.

Who inspires you?
My dad who is always helping me and hyping me up before races.

I also appreciate the advice and support I get from my friend Miles.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not running?

I enjoy playing other sports with my friends–basketball, whiffle ball, football, anything really. Aside from sports, I like to play video games. It helps me keep in touch with friends from my middle school.

What is a solid piece of advice that you’ve gotten from a coach or teammate?

Before every meet, our coaches tell us, “run the first mile with your head, second mile with your legs, third mile with your heart.” That’s really stuck with me.

What is a piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to run at the Varsity level?

Do your best in practice, push yourself, and don’t ever think that you’re at your limit.

You’ve had an impressive second year on the cross country squad, coming in first at the ISL and Regional meets and third at Sectionals!…what are your individual and team goals for State this weekend?

This weekend, I would like to break the school record of 14:59.19…I think I can do it.

Coach Daly, you’ve coached Nico for two years now. What do you enjoy about having Nico in Latin’s cross country program?

Nico came to Latin as a new freshman and made an immediate positive impact on the US cross country team. While only a sophomore, he leads by example every day at practice and competitions. 

Nico has the right balance of keeping things light and fun while working hard and pushing himself to be his best. When it's time to be serious, Nico works hard to compete at a high level and be the best he can be as an athlete. He shows up to every practice, which really helps, too.

 

  • Athletics