Asaf, thank you for taking the time today. Before we delve into the depth of things, can you please tell us about your journey?

AB: My interest in psychology started after I endured a shoulder injury during my military service in 2007. Three years later, I registered for a B.A. in psychology at Reichman University, Israel. My curiosity about how successful teams operate led me to attain an M.A. in Social Psychology, specializing in decision-making. I have fulfilled my biggest dream by studying for a Ph.D. in the sport and exercise psychology program at Florida State University (FSU) under the supervision of Prof. Gershon Tenenbaum. I returned to live in Israel following my Doctoral graduation in 2020. Driven by a scientist-practitioner approach, I conduct research alongside providing mental performance services to professional teams and athletes. I lecture in the sole Sport Psychology M.A. Program in Israel at the College of Management Academic Studies and in the M.B.A. program at Ono Academic College.

Can you please tell us about your experience as an international student and how it influenced your current work with athletes and students?

AB: As a Ph.D. student in the sport psychology program at FSU, I felt fortunate to be involved in research, teaching, and applied work. These diverse experiences shaped my professional philosophy and my future career. For instance, I serve as the head of the sport psychology department at the elite youth football academy of Maccabi Petah-Tikva F.C., which brings players to Israel’s youth national teams and senior adult leagues in Israel and Europe. I provide consultation to the U19, U17, and U16 teams and supervise three psychologists who work with other teams in the club. I’m in charge of coaches’ development and research processes in the club. I view my multidisciplinary background at FSU as a resource that makes my sport psychology service more versatile.

When considering expatriation and repatriation, Quartiroli and colleagues (2021) highlighted the importance of reflecting upon a practitioner’s own cultural background and its impact on one’s work. How has your cultural background affected your transnational experiences?

AB: I felt conflicting emotions in the first two years in the U.S. I spoke relatively fluent English before arriving at FSU, but I sometimes felt misunderstood and struggled to deliver all my ideas during the first classes in the program. However, the benefits of studying abroad were immense. I was eager to learn about the sporting culture in Florida and worked in rowing and golf, which are unpopular sports in my home country. Exchanging ideas with colleagues from different countries was stimulating, and I learned about new consultation techniques in the U.S. For example, I studied the methods of Motivational Interviewing and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This knowledge subsequently has been delivered by me to more than 2,000 coaches and students in Israel.

While these are worrying times for everyone in the Middle East, how has the situation affected athletes in general and athletic performance specifically? Could you tell us about your experiences of Sport Psychology work in times of such distress?

AB: The war started on October 7, and it was a shocking event that influenced everyone in Israel. Among many other fields, sports activities were completely shut down for a few weeks in Israel. However, the citizens requested the government to enable sports leagues to continue playing in order to help them deal with the distress. My football club renewed the practices at the end of October. Many coaches were called to the military reserve, including myself. Even so, I continued to work with some of my teams and athletes. Unfortunately, I observed a behavioral regression in the well-being and performance among some of the youth players in the club (U9 to U13) due to the influence of the extreme circumstances on that age group.

There are Arab players on almost every team in the football club, and we (i.e., the coaching staff) were worried about any possible racist reactions. Relying on the Self-determination theory, I recommended that all players have the autonomy of whether to come to practices or not during the first two weeks following the comeback. The other club psychologists expanded this philosophy and spoke with athletes, coaches, and parents on acceptance and team unity. The club players showed maturity in this respect and welcomed everyone. The club won the national championships in U19 and U16 at the end of this season, and the team managers believe that how we handled this situation during the war helped us achieve the championships.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our international sport psychology community at AASP?

AB: We live in a time when we can accumulate sport psychology knowledge from different sources, such as podcasts, online journals, and even Netflix. For instance, I delivered a workshop on the theory of the Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) and incorporated some clips from the new TV show about Manchester City. I believe that being open-minded to combining entertainment media with peer-reviewed research can assist in integrating the field of sport psychology into every culture.

Reference:
Quartiroli, A., Vosloo, J., Anderson, S. N., Ditter, J., & Keeley, M. (2021). The transnational experience of sport psychology practitioners from training to practice. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 54, 101903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.101903