Editor’s note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here.

When Doug Baldwin first met the sports psychologist who would have a profound impact on his life, he was skeptical about working with him.

“Skeptical is kind of a nice way of putting it,” Baldwin said. “I was against it.”

It was 2011, and Baldwin had just joined the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted rookie. The draft snub fed his intensity and insecurities. For years, he had used the feeling that he wasn’t good enough to prove that he was. That combination had helped him reach the pros, going from an unheralded two-star prospect out of high school to Stanford’s leading receiver as a senior. When he made a mistake, he dwelt on it and used it to knock his self-worth, prompting him to work even harder.

Only later, as he learned how to frame and consider his internal thoughts, did he truly understand the personal costs of that mindset.

So when Baldwin met Dr. Michael Gervais, a sports psychologist that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had brought in to work with players, he wasn’t sold. Baldwin believed the way he had always carried himself was what made him a successful football player. And when Gervais walked in with his fluffy hair, polished style and frequent smile, Baldwin thought he looked like a Tom Cruise clone.

A teammate in Seattle, running back Marshawn Lynch, had a name for people like Gervais: “shrink dudes.”

Yet when Gervais explained the intent of his work — to unlock the best versions of players through training their minds — and the goals it could help them achieve, Baldwin decided to give him a shot.

If this is what he says it is, Baldwin thought, then why not just try it?

For Gervais, that initial meeting came as he was returning to the sports world after his first attempt to work with athletes a decade earlier had frustrated him.

He had earned a Ph.D in sports psychology with the belief that all athletes could benefit from his work. But he became deflated when he felt like some of his athletes didn’t fully believe in the correlation between mental skills training and performance, and even more so when they didn’t match his investment.

So instead, he spent time at Microsoft, helping high-performers develop mental skills and playing a crucial role in the Red Bull Stratos project, where he counseled Felix Baumgartner before his record-setting skydive from 128,000 feet.

In 2011, Gervais had dinner with Carroll before his second season as the Seahawks’ head coach. Carroll explained that he was looking to instill a culture built around training players’ minds as much as their bodies, and he assured Gervais it would be different from his previous experiences. So Gervais decided to give pro sports another chance.

The first time Gervais worked with Baldwin was during a group session about basic breathing exercises. He started the session with box breathing. Baldwin and his teammates inhaled for five seconds, paused at the top for five seconds, exhaled for five seconds, then paused at the bottom for five seconds before breathing in again.

Next, they switched to down-regulation breathing: inhaling for eight seconds, pausing, exhaling for 16 seconds, then pausing again.

Before the session finished, Gervais asked the group to participate in a “gratitude meditation.”

“It’s completely attuning to one thing you’re grateful for,” Gervais said.

Afterward, as Gervais exchanged goodbyes with players, Baldwin slowly made his way to the front of the room. Gervais wasn’t sure what Baldwin was going to say. When they were face to face, Baldwin just stood there, grinning and nodding his head up and down.

“OK,” Baldwin finally said. “Yep. OK.”

Gervais didn’t have to say anything back.

“I knew and he knew what that stood for,” Gervais said. “OK, I just went somewhere. I just felt something.”

Baldwin was never the biggest or fastest receiver, but he was always one of the most prepared players on the Seahawks. (Abbie Parr / Getty Images)

Baldwin’s work with Gervais came at a time when athletes across sports started to more publicly consider their mental health and how it influenced their performance. Baldwin felt the stigma against showing signs of vulnerability. However, the revolution has continued and has changed how athletes discuss their struggles, with many more publicly acknowledging the ways they are seeking help.

“Being able to do that opened up a whole different realm for me,” Baldwin said.

The first breath-work session had been a “gate opener,” the first time that he felt like he could control his intense emotions.

“My body had never felt that type of stillness and that type of relaxation,” he said.

Still, Baldwin’s skepticism didn’t vanish overnight. Gervais chipped away at it by painting a picture. As thoughts came into his mind, Gervais suggested viewing them as clouds: Just like a cloud, the thought is here right now, but it’s simply passing through the sky. Just because a thought existed didn’t mean Baldwin needed to have judgment of it. It’s not a bad thought or a good thought. It’s just a thought. And it floats by just as a cloud does.

He also connected with Baldwin on a personal level. It wasn’t unusual for their check-ins to turn into hours-long conversations, or for shared meals in the lunchroom to extend into a long walk-and-talk session to practice.

“It was basically counseling sessions,” Baldwin said. “It was about finding a deeper understanding of myself and what I’m capable of.”

Gervais helped Baldwin understand his intense emotions and energy with an analogy: “It’s like you’re trying to dictate which way a herd of mustangs is going. You’re not going to be able to do that. What you can try to do is try to guide them in the general direction that you want to go.”

Baldwin gained a deeper understanding of himself and his thought processes. Conversations with Gervais helped Baldwin connect many aspects of his mindset to the difficulties of his childhood and his insecurities, which gave him the awareness to make adjustments. By getting to the source and working to improve his thoughts, he began to see his relationships and life off the field improve as well.

Baldwin began breath work twice a day, and the physical and mental benefits surprised him. He could stay calm under pressure moments on the football field, but he also felt more peaceful and relaxed in his regular life.

Gervais helped him establish a pre-performance routine, a pregame routine and a pre-snap routine. Most importantly, from Gervais’ perspective, each part of every routine put Baldwin in control. Baldwin could not control scoring touchdowns, for example, but he could control the way he caught the ball or moved his feet.

This, Gervais explained, allowed Baldwin to “put himself in the best position to be himself.”

The purpose was to master how to stay calm under stress, generate confidence, envision performance excellence, let go of mistakes and be a better teammate.

“Thoughts drive actions,” Gervais said. “Thoughts impact emotions. Thoughts and emotions together impact behavior. And thoughts, emotions and behavior stacked up is what creates performance.”

Baldwin incorporated visualization into his routine. He would imagine himself making specific plays to convince his mind that the moment had already happened — another way to give himself a sense of control.

Baldwin’s insecurity-fueled drive didn’t disappear. He was always one of the Seahawks’ most prepared players. He studied film for hours and prioritized going into games, confident that he had done everything to give himself the best chance to be successful.

Still …

“No matter how hard you prepare,” Baldwin said, “there’s always something that comes up that you weren’t prepared for or makes you question your preparation.”

That’s where the work with Gervais kicked in.

During a big playoff game, Baldwin’s heart pounded so rapidly that he began to feel anxious.

“Just get grounded,” he told himself. “Get grounded.”

As he pressed his thumbs to each of his fingertips, he continued to take deep breaths, reminding himself of where he was and the techniques he had learned from Gervais.

“I’m in control of my body, I’m connected to it,” he recited.

Then the game started and Baldwin began to feel like himself. His training with Gervais didn’t always yield immediate results.

In 2016, when the Seahawks played the Green Bay Packers, Baldwin struggled. Nothing he tried was successful. He couldn’t bring himself to be balanced and grounded. But he didn’t give up.

“It’s consistency and discipline with it, but then also persevering through those times where it may feel like it’s not working,” he said. That paid off in a major way that year, when he had the most catches and most receiving yards of his career and made his first Pro Bowl.

“It’s somewhat similar to a muscle,” Baldwin said. “You have to work it out in order to strengthen it, and there are going to be times where it fails because that’s the only way that it grows and gets stronger.”

After big games that season, he sat on the sideline and thought: Damn. He didn’t feel tired; everything felt effortless.

As his work with Gervais continued, Baldwin noticed changes off the field. He felt more confident and reliable as a friend, husband, brother and son.

Baldwin retired at 30 after the 2018 season. He wanted to ensure that the adverse side effects of his many years playing football did not interfere with his kids and family. He and his wife, Tara, have three daughters, and he feeds his competitive side with pickup basketball games.

Without football, he finds himself occasionally tempted to fall back into old habits because deep down they still feel safer to him, and more familiar. But he still relies on the blueprint Gervais gave him years ago to catch himself.

On his phone, he has one of Gervais’ guided meditation recordings. When he wakes up some mornings, he does breathing exercises and visualizes how his day is going to go — the same tools he used to catch passes and score touchdowns.

“And that’s been profound in my life,” Baldwin said.

Elise Devlin is a writer for Peak. She last wrote about the best ways to coach youth sports. Follow Peak here.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Otto Greule Jr / Getty Images)

The American Heart Association and the Houston Texans provided Hands-Only CPR education to youth sports coaches to improve emergency outcomes

HOUSTON, JUNE 5, 2025 — The American Heart Association and Houston Texans gathered nearly 100 youth sports coaches from the Texans Showcase League, Spring Branch Memorial Sports Association for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training on May 31 at the Houston Methodist Training Center. According to American Heart Association data, nearly 9 out of 10 people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die, in part because they do not receive immediate CPR more than half of the time.

 The American Heart Association reports that as many as 23,000 people under the age of 18 experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every year, with nearly 40% being sports related. It is a leading cause of death for student-athletes. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.

The training is part of the Texans’ commitment to improve bystander CPR and support the American Heart Association’s work to double the survival rates of cardiac arrest by 2030, the goal of Nation of Lifesavers™ movement. Each participating coach also received a CPR Anytime Kit to continue the CPR education with other coaches, parents and volunteers extending the education surrounding the youth sports teams. CPR, especially if performed immediately, could double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.

“We are delighted to work with the Houston Texans to help improve emergency outcomes by ensuring youth sports coaches know the lifesaving skill of CPR and AED use,” said Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “Each year, hundreds of thousands of cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals, and immediate CPR can double or even triple a person’s chance of survival. That’s why we are committed to ensuring more people are trained, confident, and ready to act as a lifesaver in a cardiac emergency.”

The American Heart Association is the worldwide leader in resuscitation science, education and training, and publishes the official scientific guidelines for CPR. With nearly 3 out of 4 cardiac arrests outside of the hospital occurring in homes, knowing how to perform CPR is critically important. With more people ready to perform CPR, the chance for a positive recovery increase for the community.

Compression-only CPR, known as Hands-Only CPR, can be equally effective as traditional CPR in the first few minutes of emergency response and is a skill everyone can learn. It is as simple as calling 911 if you see a teen or adult suddenly collapse and then push hard and fast in the center of the chest.

In 2023, the NFL launched The Smart Heart Sports Coalition in collaboration with founding members including the NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, NCAA, the American Heart Association and others. The coalition aims to advocate for all 50 states to adopt evidence-based policies to help prevent fatal outcomes from cardiac arrest among high school students.

Additional Resources:

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About the American Heart Association 

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. The organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1. 

For Media Inquiries:

American Heart Association: Linzy Cotaya; linzy.cotaya@heart.org

Houton Texans: Lindsey Fox; Lindsey.Fox@HoustonTexans.com, 346-646-2599

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and stroke.org

PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Junior Babe Ruth baseball League in Port Angeles is off to a shining start this season thanks to a unique fundraising initiative and the support of local beverage distributor Peninsula Bottling Company.

Youth athletes recently traded their bats and gloves for brushes and hoses, taking on the task of washing Peninsula Bottling’s fleet of semi-trailers, an effort that netted them a significant donation from the beverage company.

The partnership highlights a creative approach to youth sports fundraising and underscores Peninsula Bottling’s commitment to the community. By offering their elbow grease to clean the large vehicles, the Junior Babe Ruth players not only earned funds for their league but also gained valuable experience in teamwork and community engagement.

“First of all, I want to thank [Peninsula Bottling owner] Harry Hinds for the generous opportunity to help our Olympic Junior Babe Ruth baseball league earn money. I’m very proud of our Local 155 team and the great job they did. It was a valuable lesson in giving back to the community and working together toward a common goal. In addition, thank you Coach Tyler Wickersham, Riley Shea and John Underwood,” Local 155 coach Mike Mudd.

“Supporting the youth in our community is incredibly important to us,” Hinds said. “The Junior Babe Ruth team approached us with a fantastic idea, and we were more than happy to contribute. It’s great to see these young athletes take the initiative and work together to achieve their goals.”

Father’s Day event

PORT ANGELES — The YMCA of Port Angeles invites families to celebrate Father’s Day in active, joyful style with a free community Father’s Day Field Day on June 16, at the YMCA at 302 S. Francis St. in Port Angeles.

Dads and kids can team up for classic games like basketball, pickleball, cornhole and three-legged races. After the games, families are encouraged to head across the street to Erickson Park for more fun and a “bring your own” picnic.

“This event is about strengthening family bonds and bringing our community together,” says Cort Mao, event coordinator at the YMCA of Port Angeles. “We want dads and kids to leave with smiles, a little sweat, and stories to tell.”

The event from noon to 2 p.m. is free and open to the community, but registration is required. To register, people can go online at www.tinyurl.com/FathersDayPA.

High belt testing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — On Saturday and Sunday, White Crane Martial Arts Grandmaster Robert Nicholls of Port Angeles conducted high belt testing and instruction seminars at the Mountain Region headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The host of the event, Grandmaster Sterling Chase and Grandmaster Harris of Las Vegas, Nev., tested eight black belt candidates, with several black belts improving their level and one master, Ashon Britton, testing for seventh dan, becoming a certified Grandmaster. Also testing were a group of adaptive students who train despite various disabilities.

Peninsula Daily News

Members of the Local 155 Junior Babe Ruth team helped raised money for the team by washing a fleet of trucks belonging to Peninsula Bottling Company in Port Angeles.

Two proposed ballot initiatives targeting transgender youth are one step closer to a spot on the 2026 ballot.

A three-member panel of Colorado officials known as the Title Board approved the petitions Wednesday. After completing another technical procedure, proponents can begin gathering signatures in a bid to be on the ballot.

One initiative would require K-12 and colleges to restrict participation on school sports teams to the participant’s sex, “as determined by certain aspects of their biological reproductive system.” The other proposes banning gender affirming surgery for transgender people under the age of 18.

Similar measures were rejected for the ballot last year because the board ruled they were too broad, violating the single-subject rule, which must be clearly expressed in its title.

Under the first measure, Initiative 70, “Male and Female Participation in School Sports,” K-12 schools and colleges must designate sports teams as male, female or co-ed and only allow students to compete on a team of their “designated sex” that is listed at the time of the student’s birth.

It would effectively prevent transgender students from competing on teams that align with their gender identity. Second, it bans anyone or any organization from filing a complaint, opening an investigation, or “taking other adverse action” against a school for maintaining separate sports for females. Finally, it gives the Commissioner of Education the authority to enforce the initiative at K-12 schools.

The measure is proposed by Rich Guggenheim, legislative director of the Colorado chapter of Gays Against Groomers and Republican strategist Michele Austin.

The initiative’s legislative declaration states that the biological differences between males and females are “immutable” and “manifest prior to birth.” It argues that sex-specific sports teams reduce the risk of physical injury to female athletes, promote equality between the sexes and provide opportunities for female athletes to compete against their female peers rather than against male athletes.

Objections

On Wednesday, the board considered arguments from attorney Mark Grueskin, representing a registered elector, that the measure be rejected because it takes on more than a single subject, such as mandating sex-segregated sports teams, but also giving unlimited enforcement power to the Commissioner of Education.

He argued the measure contains “multiple hidden elements” and is problematic because there is no basis for determining an athlete’s sex.

“We know there are certain school districts and certain schools that are simply more conservative and certain districts that are more liberal,” said Grueskin. “There are going to be differences in terms of how this is applied and how it affects individual athletes … This will allow specific schools to do whatever they want without an appeal, without consequence, and without review.”

Attorney Scott Gesler, arguing for the proponents, said it’s not unusual that schools will have different procedures and different forms of proof.

“There is a law, this is a law,” he said. “It contains straightforward definitions and schools are required to follow the law.”

Opponents also argued the definitions of “male” and “female” are ambiguous and not readily understandable to most voters. The measure describes a female as “a person whose biological reproductive system is organized around the production of ova,” and a male is “a person whose biological reproductive system is organized around the production of sperm.”

Some Title Board members struggled over vagueness of the definitions, which one termed “anachronistic” and worried about “invasive, intrusive” examinations for a person presenting as female to determine whether their biological reproductive system is organized around the production of ova.

Gessler argued that a person’s sex could be determined through a cheek swab and DNA testing.

“So, you could swab a child’s mouth to determine whether they can if they appear to be female and they could produce eggs,” he said, adding that the question is not whether they can produce eggs but whether their reproductive system is “organized around the production of that.”

Title Board chair Theresa Conoly wanted to ensure the measure is clear to voters, which is “the benchmark of the single subject rule.”

A member of the public asked if the measure violates Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. Conoly responded that the Title Board doesn’t rule on matters of constitutionality.

The other measure, Initiative 71, “Prohibit Certain Surgeries on Minors,” was approved on a 2 to 1 vote. It would prohibit surgery altering a minor’s biological sex characteristics and prohibit any health care professional or other person from “knowingly performing, prescribing, administering, or providing any surgery or related medical care on a minor for the purpose of altering the minor’s biological sex characteristics.”

It would also ban state or federal funds, Medicaid reimbursement or insurance coverage from being used to pay for the prohibited medical interventions.

The board’s decisions can be appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.

TYLER, Texas (KETK) – A number of different nonprofits in the Tyler and Longview area are looking to continue benefiting from the Texas Rangers Baseball and Softball Grant.

Tyler’s Miracle League offers inclusive baseball for young athletes

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The Texas Rangers Foundation is committed to supporting the growth of baseball and softball by providing children with the opportunity to play in organized leagues. The foundation has been providing grants to nonprofit baseball and softball programs since 2012, donating over $1,125,000 to more than 150 organizations. Programs which previously received a grant were located in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arkansas.

The foundation has previously provided grants to several East Texas baseball and softball organizations, including the Tyler Miracle League, North Tyler Youth Baseball and Van Baseball and Softball.

Here’s what you need to know: Sahara dust is making its way to East Texas

Karin Morris, the Vice President of Community Impact for the Texas Rangers, spoke about how they have already seen an impact on children in East Texas after providing multiple grants in the Tyler and Longview areas. “We have seen those investments carry forth and get more kids playing baseball and softball,” Morris said.

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Organizations looking to apply for a grant have until June 27 at 6 p.m. To be eligible, organizations must provide baseball or softball to youths 18 years old or younger and must operate in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma or Texas.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.

COLLEGE SAVINGS — Brooke County fourth grader Kyler Tamburin was selected as the winner of West Virginia’s SMART529 “Fund the Future” sweepstakes. Wednesday morning, state Treasurer Larry Pack was in Wellsburg to recognize him and present him with a mockup of a $15,000 check. Taking part in the presentation were, from left, state Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Wellsburg, Pack, Kyler Tamburin, and his mother, Erica Tamburin. — Craig Howell

WELLSBURG — A Brooke County youth is getting a head start in saving for his college education, after being selected as the winner of a statewide sweepstakes offered through the West Virginia Treasurer’s Office.

Kyler Tamburin, who just completed his fourth-grade year at Brooke Intermediate North and will be attending Brooke Middle School in the fall, is the recipient of $15,000 through the SMART529 “Fund the Future” sweepstakes.

“I was really, really excited when I found out,” he said about learning he had won the sweepstakes, which had entries from more than 7,200 youth throughout West Virginia.

The money will be deposited into a SMART529 savings account, which will be available to Tamburin when he is ready to attend college.

West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack was in Wellsburg, Wednesday morning, to congratulate Tamburin and present him with a mock-up of a check in recognition of the award.

Tamburin, who noted his plans to eventually attend Penn State University to study engineering, as well as play football, said he is thinking about hanging the large check in his room.

Kyler’s mother, Erica Tamburin, said they were thankful and excited to be selected, explaining they learned of the contest through a social media post by one of the county’s school counselors.

“It was really simple to do,” she said of the application process.

Pack noted the SMART529 program was established many years ago by the West Virginia Legislature as a way to encourage families to save money to send their children to college. The program also offers an annual essay contest.

“Fund the Future” is in its second year, Pack noted, explaining the winner of the sweepstakes is selected through a random drawing.

“Thousands applied, and we basically pulled a name from a hat,” he said. “My office is happy to award Kyler and his family this money. As a father of six children, I know how important it is to save for higher education. My hope is our children will become the future leaders of our state. I would like to congratulate Kyler and applaud all of our West Virginia students who entered our sweepstakes this year.”

To be eligible for the sweepstakes, one has to be 17 years of age or younger, with the child and a parent or legal guardian residing in West Virginia. Only one entry per child is permitted, though multiple children in the same household may enter.