Printed out powerpoints and personality checksheets covered the tables of the Extended Educational Experiences (EEE) room Friday during A lunch, as tennis coach Ben Loeb spoke to students about sports psychology and perfectionism.
Loeb’s presentation was the first of a sports science guest speaker series created by sophomore Ryan Choe.
“I wanted to bring the guest speaker series to RBHS because it was something I was interested in,” Choe said. “I decided to bring in Mr. Loeb because he teaches and knows a lot about sports psychology, not to mention he is the [most accomplished] coach in Missouri.”
Choe hopes students curious about sport-related fields, such as sport psychology, medicine and newscasting, can attend these presentations and learn from experts. In his presentation, Loeb brought his personal experience to his speech, and provided perfectionism self-evaluation sheets to his audience.
“Over time I have noticed my own failings, and I wanted to help other people to not get in their own way,” said Loeb, who is  writing a book on sports psychology, which he hopes to have published by the end of the year. “By reframing the way you talk to yourself to be more positive, you can accomplish a lot. The perfectionism worksheet will be a part of my book. I hope to incorporate several exercises in my book to help athletes achieve the most that they can.”
EEE teacher Gwen Struchtemeyer plans to implement Loeb’s self-evaluation program into her advisory classes. Struchtemeyer describes perfectionism as a “negative mindset” that can hold people back.
“I enjoyed [Loeb’s] focus on helping us all achieve best performance,” Struchtemeyer said. “I hope to use his self evaluation sheet in my advisory because my students suffer from perfectionism, and I want to guide them to a more positive mindset.”
Struchtemeyer is not alone in her goal of helping students overcome personal limitations. Choe hopes by continuing the speaker series, he will inspire students to find their passion.
 
“I want to help students set and achieve their goals in sport-related fields,” Choe said. “That is the main purpose of my speaker series, and if I can help even one student, that would be amazing.”