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“I just wanted to reach out and say thank you for your help this season. I know your lessons directly impacted our ability to turn our season around by focusing on staying in the moment. Additionally, the practices you taught us have helped me in my everyday life by staying focused and grounded. Thank you again and good luck as you continue with your coaching!”
– Matt D. Middlebury, College Student Athlete
I didn’t set out to build a philosophy about leadership and performance.
I just loved to play.
As a kid, I played every sport I could. I was curious. Competitive. Hungry to see what would happen if I tried. That curiosity eventually carried me to collegiate All-American honors in lacrosse and, years later, into the Franklin & Marshall College Athletic Hall of Fame. But what shaped me far more than awards were the coaches and teachers who believed in me — especially my father, a lifelong educator and coach, who taught me that learning never ends and that people perform at their best when they feel seen, prepared, and trusted.
I became a coach because I loved helping people grow.
Over 22 years, my teams won eight league titles and, in my final eleven seasons, more than 90% of their games. From the outside, that looks like success. From the inside, I learned something deeper: talent matters, preparation matters — but what often determines outcomes is how people respond in the moments after things go wrong. The turnover. The missed shot. The emotional spike. The ten seconds that follow.
That realization led me to mindfulness.
What began as performance training eventually became something more personal. After my wife passed away at age 49, mindfulness became a lifeline — a way to steady my nervous system, to sit with grief, and to remain present with my children and my life. What started as a coping mechanism became a daily practice and, eventually, a calling.
I trained in Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE), completed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and earned certification as a mindfulness and meditation teacher through the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program led by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Along the way, I continued studying leadership and organizational behavior, searching for a way to integrate performance, presence, and purpose.
That integration became the foundation of my work — and ultimately, my book.
In December 2025, I published The Why of Sports: Finding Meaning, Presence and Purpose in the Game and Beyond. The book reflects decades in locker rooms, classrooms, and quiet meditation spaces. It explores a simple but powerful idea: when we reconnect with our “why,” train the inner game, commit to the craft, and carry those lessons into the world, performance becomes more sustainable — and more meaningful.
Today, through Integrative Coaching, I work with athletes, teams, corporate leaders, and individuals who want more than results. They want clarity under pressure. Emotional regulation in the heat of competition. Purpose that lasts beyond the scoreboard.
At heart, I am still a coach.
I believe life is a team sport. I believe presence can be trained. And I believe that change — real, lasting change — happens through practice.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to connect.
Let’s start with a conversation. Email me: pete@peterbidstrup.com