S1E8: Tyler Whitmer: Helping athletes get reps in becoming better men

PsychSessions: Conversations about Teaching N' Stuff

Tyler Whitmer is an Assistant Athletic Director of Olympic Sports Performance at Boise State University. Tyler was a high school athlete who became intensely interested in sports performance when he had a unique opportunity to train at the Denver Broncos training center. As he transitioned to college, he discovered that he could have a career in this area and eventually accepted a graduate assistantship at the University of Kansas. Tyler discussed how his experiences at KU and at several small universities helped him grow as a person and coach. We discussed how athletics provides a range of experiences that can be both beneficial and potentially harmful for men, depending on the culture and what is modeled for men by coaches and mentors. Tyler mentioned a personal and professional shift that occurred for him during COVID that led him to develop a program called Get Reps. Get Reps is a group focused on helping male athletes consider what it means to be a good man and targeting some skills deficits that he has noticed in the athletes he works with. Finally, we discuss how helping men helps the entire community and some resources for those interested in the intersection between masculinities and athletics.