The challenge: motivating youth

Jason Payne has taught at the Yorkton Regional High School since 2002, but his involvement with youth and sports has expanded greatly beyond the boundaries of the school. 

His dedication to high school sports and youth sports in Yorkton is unquestioned, yet in 2018 he nearly hung up his whistle. “I was burnt out by the demands of coaching. Instead of quitting I focused on the holistic development of my athletes and building environments based on high-performance. It has made all the difference.” He pursued a Masters of Science degree in Sport and Performance Psychology in 2021, and a newsletter he now publishes about coaching youth is read by more than 1,700 world-wide.

We talked about motivating young athletes, and motivating young people in school. We talked about motivating young people to prepare for adult life.