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Icebox Athlete President Spencer Wood is honored with an invitation to be a featured speaker at the 2010 NCAA Final Four
In April, 2008, Spencer Wood, President of Icebox Athlete and one of the premier sports performance consultants in the nation, made his third NCAA Division 1 Final Four appearance for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association of America and delivered two seminars on
mental skills and toughness training to some of the country’s finest coaches.
Over 300 coaches gathered in Tampa, Florida at the 2008 NCAA Women’s Division 1 Final Four to hear Spencer speak on performance consistency, big game preparation, mistake management and clutch performance.
Spencer has already accepted an invitation from the WBCA to return to speak at the 2010 NCAA Final Four to be held in San Antonio, Texas.
Icebox & Spencer Wood; a difference maker at the University of Illinois
The following article is an excerpt from the Central Illinois’ #1 news source, the Illinois Herald & Review and an article written by H&R’s Executive Sports Editor, Mark Tupper…
CHAMPAIGN - It was already turning into a frustrating basketball season, the kind that can make an Illini head coach grow grumpy and old.
No, not men's coach Bruce Weber.
We're talking about first-year Illini women's coach Jolette Law.
It was January and Law, who arrived in May after 12 years as an assistant at Rutgers, was running headlong into the first-year blues. She was trying to revitalize the Illini program, and that meant instituting changes. Changes in practice habits. Changes in game styles. Changes in expectations.
Players were resisting, and the team was falling into the habit of losing close games.
The Illini women's team was at a crossroads, and now, as Illinois prepares to play Marquette in its second Women's NIT game tonight in Milwaukee, Law can look back at two influences that turned the season around.
One was a relationship she sought with Illini football coach Ron Zook.
The other was an outsider she brought in to speak about mental skills. A planned three-hour session turned into an eight-hour confessional in which players and coaches alike agreed it was finally time ``to throw out the garbage,'' Law said Tuesday.
One of the first things Law did when taking over the program was to encourage her players to support other athletic teams on campus. They attended football and volleyball games. Law talked with Weber, and the women supported the men's basketball team.
But because Zook had come in and faced similar challenges, and because she saw Zook making substantial progress with the Illini football team, she struck up a special relationship with him.
They talked. They swapped text messages. They pledged mutual support.
``He's the one I patterned my program after,'' Law said. ``He's been my mentor all year. I've picked his brain and I can only hope to get the women's basketball program going in that direction.''
One of their conversations was about changing the culture within a sports program. Zook had to do it with the football program, altering expectations, beliefs and work habits. And, of course, he upgraded with better athletes.
When Law encountered resistance within her program, she called Zook for advice.
``I was just trying to change the culture and get the ladies to believe we could win,'' Law said. ``I was trying to get them used to my practices, which are very intense. There's a lot of running, conditioning and drill work, and they weren't used to that. In the beginning, they resisted.
``Coach Zook told me to keep doing what you do. Remain who you are. It's a process. Do not change who you are. If they want to do it the right way, they will change. That's a decision I made early on, and I found out a lot about some of our ladies.''
She found out that not everyone would buy into her plan. Danyel Crutcher, a senior power forward and the team's No. 2 scorer, was among those fighting the changes. She left the team before a Jan. 27 loss at Purdue - Illinois' sixth loss in seven games.
Coincidentally, Law had hired Spencer Wood, who runs a company called Icebox, which specializes in mental skills training and psychology techniques for athletes.
Wood arrived to meet with the Illini team, and the meeting stretched for eight hours, during which, ``we didn't talk about mental skills. We talked about what was happening internally,'' Law said.
``We had a heart-to-heart, a very deep meeting. Once the meeting was over, we decided to take the garbage out and start over new. And from that point on, we started to bond and be one ... the total team.''
The next day, the Illini upset 19th-ranked Ohio State. It started the team toward establishing better habits, and the Illini go into tonight's game having won five of their last six, including an NIT victory over Drake on Monday.
Zook even came to speak to the women's team, and Law said the players were impressed that a coach who had taken the Illini to the Rose Bowl would have interest in them.
``He told them I knew what I was talking about, and if they'd let their coaches take them, it can be done. They embraced what he said and listened. It's always good to hear it from someone else,'' Law said.
On Tuesday, as Zook spoke to the media about the start of spring football practice, Law dropped by to talk about her team's game against Marquette.
``She should have been up here first,'' Zook said. ``She's the winner.''
Law said there's a lot of winning that must take place before the public rediscovers Illini women's basketball again.
``When I'm at Wal-Mart or at church, I tell people, `Please come and support our program.' But you have to win. Everyone loves a winner.''
The fans are returning to Memorial Stadium because Ron Zook has given them a winner.
Perhaps Law is just beginning to enjoy a similar turnaround.
Icebox Athlete President Spencer Wood speaks at the 2006 NCAA Final Four
Spencer Wood, one of the leading sports performance trainers in the U.S., was recently a featured speaker at the 2006 NCAA Final four in Boston addressing “Mental Skills & Toughness Training for the 21st Century Athlete.” Wood added to many of the existing mental skills & toughness training principles that he presented at the 2005 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.
The NCAA Final Four and WBCA had prepared 500 seats for the presentation and were forced to turn away coaches at the door after squeezing over 600 coaches into the auditorium.
“The response, attendance and feedback was tremendous, and I think this further underscores the incredible need and opportunity for mental skills and toughness training. Coaches and athletes have always understood the importance of mental skills, but now with increasing specialization and competition in sports, many are finally doing something about it. The 21stCentury athlete wants to train and develop in an environment where he or she can get the best in both physical AND mental training.”
Drive to the NCAA National Championship Game!
Icebox Mental Skills answers the call for Legendary Coach C. Vivian Stringer and her talented Rutgers University Women’s basketball program
Earlier on in the season, an extremely tough loss at home to the tune of 30 points at the hands of arch rival UConn, had an extremely talented but young Rutgers team searching for answers. The Rutgers dream team of women’s basketball coaches led by legendary coach C. Vivian Stringer were quick to act, fine tuning skills execution and game strategy, bolstering the leadership skills of many of the young players, and bringing in Icebox Athlete President Spencer Wood – one of the nation’s leading practitioners for mental skills and toughness training – to provide a workshop on clutch performance, mental toughness, leadership and big game preparation. Following the workshop, each player also began to utilize the icebox mental skills and toughness training system daily program.
Without a single senior on the roster, Rutgers courageously rebounded to win their first ever Big East tournament championship, and took their momentum into the NCAA championship tournament. Quickly becoming the Cinderella of the tournament, Rutger’s swarming defense, quickness and clutch performance propelled the team into the Final Four and onto the National Championship against Tennessee. Coach Stringer, who is the third-winningest women's basketball coach in NCAA Division I history with 777 victories and is the only coach in women’s basketball to take three different schools to the Final Four, recently commented on the incredible season:
“Who would have thought it, that's the way you would start. Who would believe that we're here from where we have been. We're still kind of pinching ourselves. In North Carolina… amazing. I couldn't be more proud or happier for this group of young women who have worked so hard. I bet they are going to remember what it means to work hard, to believe that things were going to come together in time and it's just a great time that it did come together…This has been a most rewarding year. I know I've said to you before that we were struggling at the beginning and we are here now because of where we started from.”
Where does this rank on your list of considerable personal achievements, considering you've been in the game for over three decade?
“ This has to be right there at the top, if not the top. I say that because I have never worked with a group of young people that have had to come from such a great distance. In effect, this was a completely depleted team that we had to mold from scratch.”
From everyone at Icebox Athlete, congratulations to all of the hardworking coaches, athletes and entire staff of the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball program, and best of success for the 2007-2008 season!
Icebox Athlete President Spencer Wood speaks at the 2005 NCAA Final Four
Icebox Athlete President Spencer Wood recently addressed 800 coaches at this year’s Coaches Roundtable at the Women’s Final Four in Indianapolis, Indiana. Speaking on Mental Skills & Toughness Training for the 21st Century Athlete, Wood delivered an overview of the skills necessary to compete at the highest level of any sport. He commented;
“High levels of physical skill and explosive power are now ubiquitous among most elite athletes, mental skills and toughness traits are not nearly as common. Contrary to traditional thought, these skills, namely Composure, Concentration, Confidence and Commitment can be trained as effectively as any physical skill…with a systemic approach to mental skills and toughness training rapid performance improvements are possible for every athlete and every team at every level.”
The Coaches Roundtable followed the Russell Athletic National Coach of the Year Awards Ceremony with presentations to NCAA Division I, II, & III coaches, in addition to a Victory Club award presentation to Rutgers University legendary coach C. Vivian Stringer
2008 Soccer Convention (NSCAA)
Icebox at the NSCAA Conference - Baltimore, 2008. Icebox President Spencer Wood presented at this years NSCAA Conference - Soccer's Premier US Event for coaches.
Spencer presented to a capacity crowd on Explosive Speed, Agility & Quickness for the 21st Century Player. The NSCAA Conference attracted over 7,100 coaches.
Icebox Mental Skills & Toughness Training used campus wide for all 54 sports teams . . .
"After reviewing the Icebox Mental Skills and Toughness Training System I knew that we had to get this into the hands of all of our athletes. We currently have 54 sports teams, and the icebox staff have been incredible in leveraging our technology to make sure we accomplish our goals and give our kids the best chance of performing at their very best. Kids these days learn with laptops and portable audio players and the icebox system is flexible enough for these learning styles. Finally, the icebox athlete company worked within our budget, which is always a good thing! I could not be more pleased. The icebox mental skills training system and the icebox athlete company are head and shoulders above anything else available. I strongly recommend icebox...it is the ultimate training tool for any athlete."
Greg Reid
Athletic Director
St. Andrew's College
icebox Athlete President, Spencer Wood, speaks at Nike Michigan High School Coach of the Year Awards
Company President Spencer Wood was recently asked to be a guest speaker at the Nike sponsored 52nd annual Michigan High School Coaches Association Football Coach of the Year Awards & Conference in MIchigan. He spoke to a standing room only conference room on the topic of Mental Skills & Toughness Training for Football Programs & Players. 1100 coaches attended the conference.
Mr. Wood is also scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the North Carolina Athletic Excellence Camp at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Team USA's Competitive Cheer Clinic in Texas, and the Steamboat Soccer Academy - Colorado’s Premier Soccer Academy - on the topics of Speed, Agility & Quickness and Winning Mental Skills & Toughness Training, later this summer.
British Olympic Bobsleigh Team
"I ensure that our athletes train hard to increase strength and speed. They are also involved in bobsleigh push training which helps them at the start. What can give us an additional advantage train the mind. The athletes have found that the icebox has enhanced their concentration levels prior to competition. Thanks Icebox."
"Our athletes have been using the icebox now for 3 months. This month they won the World Bobsleigh Push Championships in Leipzig Germany. This was due to the years of training put in by both athletes but also they had the advantage of using icebox which undoubtedly helped them remain focused."
". . . This meant that Nicola and Jackie could not relax and had to give it their best effort so as not to be beat. Both girls were extremely focused and even more determined to win than the ROM team had looked. The girls started and exploded out of the block, both girls were running in sync and worked all the way to the end, where they loaded without fault. Everyone waited for the time to come up....... it was a 5.62 the fastest time of the day!" (exerpt from BBA website)
Peter Gunn
Ice Coach and Team Manager
British Women's Bobsleigh Team
Baseball Player Derek Wilson
This review comes by way of some Canadian news press quotes on icebox athlete Derek Wilson, a veteran professional baseball player in Canada after his best start in 15 years. Derek began to use icebox prior to the start of this season.
"Derek Wilson of the Moncton Mets (semi-professional baseball - Canada) is the player of the week batting 1.000 going 2 for 2 at the plate. Wilson scored once and drove in three runs while stealing one in the Mets 11-4 win over Tracadie."
"Derek Wilson is first in the league in batting with an average of 480, second in RBI's and HR's, second in ERA (0.46), first in strike-outs (43 in 29 innings), first in innings pitched and first in walks (only 2 walks in 30 innings)."
"FREDERICTON - The story line remains the same whenever Derek Wilson pitches. Complete game, just a handful of hits and another Moncton Mets win. The Moncton import did it again last night and the Mets are just a win away from moving on to the next round of the New Brunswick Senior Baseball League playoffs. In Fredericton, Wilson walked just two batters and beat his former team for the second time in the series. He tossed a complete game four-hitter in a 2-1 Moncton win in the opening game. "Who else would you rather have on the mound when you need a win?" Mets general manager Ralph Chambers asked. "Every time he goes out there he's so focused, he's in a groove and wants the ball, he's staring guys down and daring them to hit. When your that good for that long it really lifts his team. He's on our side this year and hopefully we can close it out on Friday."
icebox Athlete congratulates Derek Wilson on his best start in 15 years!
UK track stars run their best with icebox
MIND GAMES
by Joel Campbell
Novel mental training to cure athletes’ nerves
Mark Lewis-Francis recently admitted that he has been to see a sports psychologist in a bid to beat the nerves he suffers from before an important race.
He is one of a clutch of athletes looking into every aspect of their preparation for races as they strive to realise their ultimate dream of becoming the best in the world.
At 21, Lewis-Francis doesn’t have much experience of dealing with the pressure sprinters are under on the starting line in a major final. Linford Christie famously used tunnel vision in a ‘shut-out’ pose before races. This was his way of focusing and visualising that he would win every race he competed in.
EDGE
Icebox, a mental skills and toughness training system, is one of two products from US company Ultimate Athlete LLC.
Their products help sports stars get ‘that winning edge’ and they believe Lewis-Francis should have been receiving such help years ago. Robert Wood, head of Icebox UK, said he had seen athletes and other sports stars failing to practice basic techniques that would enable them to produce better performances more consistently.
Simple things such as ‘the four Cs’ – composure, confidence, commitment, and concentration – plus controlled breathing and visualising are all techniques taught by the Icebox programme.
Wood explained how his brother Spencer, an ex-England basketball player who moved to the US, set up the firm. “He’s a sports guru and wanted to look at why some athletes appear to be superhuman when the game is on the line, while other athletes perform inconsistently or are sometimes at their worst.
ELITE
“It would have been easy to only sell the package to elite athletes and in the US we already have an excellent client base across different disciplines, such as NBA, NHL, NFL, WBA, MLB and Team USA.
“But we feel it is important to teach the ethos of the programme to the biggest possible audience and the most beneficial recipients are at grass-roots level, and to provide athletes with lifetime-best performances. “In the UK we want to reach the next generation of sports stars. We believe the Icebox programme will not only help them develop in their chosen area of sport, it will transcend into all areas of life. It will benefit them forever.”
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Icebox Athlete 
Icebox & Spencer Wood; a difference maker at the University of Illinois - excerpt from the Central Illinois’ #1 news source, the Illinois Herald & Review and an article written by H&R’s Executive Sports Editor, Mark Tupper
Icebox Mental Skills answers the call for Legendary Coach C. Vivian Stringer and her talented Rutgers University Women’s basketball program
Icebox at the NSCAA Conference - Baltimore, 2008. Icebox President Spencer Wood presented at this years NSCAA Conference - Soccer's Premier US Event for coaches
