Mitch Lyons, founder and President of GetPsychedSports.org,Inc., was a lawyer who left a 26-year private practice to devote his entire energies to making the time spent in sports by our children more meaningful. To accomplish this, he formed the non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, GetPsychedSports.org,Inc., which has partnered with the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Partners in Prevention, to try to change the model of youth sports from the current verbal model of mixed, confusing messages to a written one, based in science, where structured lessons are learned and practiced regularly.

Mr. Lyons is not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but a coach with 23 years of experience. Together with Dr. Grayson Kimball, Doctorate in Physical Education from Springfield College and AAASP-certified sport psychology consultant, Mr. Lyons has made the GetPsychedSports.org Curriculum & Text, Players' Edition a combination of the science of sport psychology and the professional experience knowledge of a veteran coach. The written curriculum was then reviewed and approved by Dr. Louis Kruger, Director of the School Psychology Program at Northeastern University. Mr. Lyons neither practices psychology in any form nor has he ever had individual clients, but refers people to licensed and certified psychiatrists, psychologists, and sport psychology consultants, if requested.

Mr. Lyons' brings his extensive years of practically integrating mental skills training into his coaching. He first became involved as a coach and as organizer of youth sports programs in Newton, Massachusetts when his daughter was in second grade. A proud father of two children, both of whom participated in sports from grade school through high school, Coach Lyons has simultaneously served as an assistant coach for both the Newton South High School varsity girls' basketball team and an AAU boys' basketball program for six years. The AAU team was in the Massachusetts State Finals for five years straight, winning the tournament three out of five years. He then became an Assistant Coach on the Lasell College Men's Basketball Team for three years. Two out of his three years at Lasell College, the team earned Division Three NCAA seeds in the National Tournament. Currently, he has signed on for the 2005-2006 season with the Newton South High School boys basketball team.

Prior to launching GetPsychedSports.org, Inc. in September 2001, Lyons was a litigating attorney beginning in 1974 for Levitz, Lyons, and Kesselman, P.C., Stoughton, Mass. Lyons earned his law degree at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, Calif., where he graduated Cum Laude with a Juris Doctorate in 1973. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Adelphi University, Garden City, N.Y., in 1969.

Mr. Lyons is a public speaker and contributing writer for Athletic Management, Coaching Management, Recreation Management and the NCAA News as well as published op-ed writer for numerous newspapers.

Dr. Grayson Kimball

Dr. Grayson Kimball, D.P.E., is an AAASP-certified sport psychology consultant and has been working with Getpsychedsports.org (GPS) as a sport psychology educational consultant since January 2003. Recently, he has been named Educational Director for GetPsychedSports.org, Inc. After researching the psychological characteristics of high school athletes for his doctoral dissertation at Springfield College, Dr. Kimball joined GPS to take advantage of an ideal opportunity to pursue his interest in this field. Dr. Kimball believes that the unique and cutting edge curriculum offered by GPS introduces the principles of sport psychology in a manner that will maximize the quality of the sport experience for high school student athletes.

Dr. Kimball has facilitated numerous workshops on performance enhancement topics including mental toughness training, imagery/visualization, motivation, self-confidence, goal setting, self-talk, and stress-management techniques. Dr. Kimball has served as a consultant to a diverse group of professional, collegiate, high school, and recreational athletes. A veteran of three marathons, Dr. Kimball has also consulted with a number of novice and experienced marathon runners and triathletes.

Dr. Kimball received his BA from the University of Hartford and Masters of Science Degree and Doctorate of Physical Education (Sport Psychology concentration) from Springfield College. He is also a member of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology and is an AAASP-certified sport psychology consultant.

Aside from working with GetPsychedSports.org, Dr. Kimball has a private consulting practice in Boston and is available for individual consulting. He may be reached via email at GTK18@aol.com or by phone at (617)-731-9431.