Robert Price, CEO at Elite Minds LLC, has worked with hundreds of athletes in a diverse variety of sports to set goals, problem solve and create lifelong success strategies.
Price began working with Richmond Hill runner Julia Wilson before track season during her sophomore year. After relocating from Redondo Beach, California, to Richmond Hill following her freshman year of high school, Wilson experienced some culture shock that impacted her cross country season during her sophomore year in the fall of 2021.
A fiercely competitive athlete who came from an elite running program in California, Wilson was unsatisfied with her results after moving to Georgia and turned to Elite Minds to help her prepare for track season in Spring 2022. The results were nearly immediate as Wilson began recording Personal Record runs throughout the track season and shaving nearly a minute off of her previous lowest time.
The crescendo came at the Georgia High School Association Class AAAAAA state track meet, where Wilson finished 8th in the 3,200-meter race with a time of 11:40.76 to earn a place on the podium for the meet. She also finished 14th in the 1,600-meter run at the state meet with a time of 5:34.18.
“(Wilson) had some mental blocks to overcome to improve her times and achieve personal records during races,” said Price, who also works with Richmond Hill’s Garrison Gilbert, a member of the boys’ cross country and track teams. “We are working on helping her anxiety and developing strategies to reduce extra stress so she can perform at and beyond her potential. She’s something special, and as she gets a little bit better and a little bit better, she will be a big time athlete.”
Price worked with Wilson to establish goals prior to a race and then evaluate performance following a race. They worked together to determine what plan needed to be in place to achieve a personal best time, and then they discussed what could be learned from each race after it was over to be able to strengthen the strategy for the next race.
“I had a way better track season than cross country because (Price) helped me prepare and set a plan going into a race,” Wilson said. “Before I would just go to a race and see how I could do, but we talked about what I was feeling and what I was thinking during the race. I’m planning to work with (Price) next cross country season to help me be a better leader for the team and helps us be more bonded for the state meet.”
Price, who played football at the University of Pittsburgh and holds Masters degrees from both the University of Maryland Johns Hopkins University, founded Elite Minds in 2000 and has since worked with a wide range of athletes that includes collegiate and professional kickers, amateur tennis players, golfers of all levels, basketball players, gymnasts, hockey players, lacrosse players, soccer players, ice skaters, field hockey players and track and field athletes.
Elite Minds is a mental performance coaching and consulting service that works with athletes to help them reach and exceed their potential on and off the field. Through proven mental skill techniques, athletes are led to more consistent performances even in the face of adversity.
Price has received training in Mindfulness Meditation at the University of Miami under Dr. Amishi Jha and achieved a Level III Master Resilience Trainer from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a certified therapist using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) certified by EMDRIA and a licensed clinical professional counselor in the state of Maryland and Georgia.
Visit the Elite Minds website to learn more about Elite Minds LLC and Robert Price or schedule a consultation.
