What to Expect

Next Play Basketball is hosting a workshop for middle school and high school athletes and their parents that addresses a major gap in youth sports development: families often invest heavily in skill training, strength work, teams, travel, and private instruction, but give far less intentional attention to the mind, emotional habits, and character skills that shape performance and the overall sports experience .

What it is

This workshop is a practical session for athletes and parents focused on the mental and character side of development. It is designed to help families understand how confidence, self-talk, emotional control, resilience, coachability, identity, and parent communication influence performance, enjoyment, and long-term growth in sports.

Rather than treating mental performance as something only elite athletes need, the workshop presents it as a trainable part of development for every player. The goal is to give athletes and parents simple language, shared expectations, and practical tools they can use before games, after mistakes, during adversity, and in everyday conversations at home.

Who it is for

  • Athletes who want to handle hard better and to develop solutions for dealing with pressure, mistakes, and confidence swings better.

  • Parents who want to support performance without increasing stress.

  • Programs that want to develop stronger culture, healthier communication, and more resilient competitors.

How it benefits athletes and families

Young athletes benefit from more than physical participation alone; sports settings can influence self-confidence, resilience, stress, and emotional well-being depending on the environment around the athlete. This workshop helps athletes and parents build that environment more intentionally by focusing on habits that improve both performance and experience.

Key benefits include:

  • Better response to mistakes and adversity through routines, reset habits, and a next-play mindset.

  • Healthier confidence built on preparation, growth, and self-belief rather than constant outcome validation.

  • Reduced pressure from unrealistic expectations, which can contribute to anxiety, burnout, and loss of enjoyment.

  • Stronger parent-athlete communication, especially around games, disappointment, and the car ride home.

  • Greater alignment between performance goals and character goals such as accountability, resilience, discipline, and coachability.

Why Next Play Basketball

This workshop is built by a coach who has spent decades working with athletes, families, and teams, not just in theory but in real program settings. Nate Livesay started as a college basketball coach before spending nearly two decades in high school athletics racking up more than 200 wins as a head coach, serving as an assistant coach on championship teams and contributing to the development of more than 60 players who advanced to compete as collegiate and professional athletes in multiple sports.  As the owner/operator of Next Play Basketball he has dedicated himself to studying what really drives winning and what elite athletes and programs do differently than everyone else.  Success leaves fingerprints and Coach Livesay has been studying them for years.

Coach Livesay has also been researching elite coaches for an upcoming book project What Matters in Coaching.  The workshop is  shaped by a philosophy developed over years of leading programs and studying the deeper work of coaching and his certification as a Mental Skills Performance Coach. That philosophy centers on building athletes who are Tough, Connected, and Relentless.  Players who develop a next play mentality and are able to show real toughness by handling hard better.

Beyond wins and systems, the deeper credibility is relational. The work behind Next Play Basketball is grounded in the belief better people become better players and that sports are at their best when they develop both performance and character.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ or reach out anytime. If you’re feeling ready, go ahead and apply.

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  • No. The workshop focuses on mental performance skills and character skills that apply across sports, teams and competitive environments.

  • No. This is not a clinical service. This is a practical workshop that focuses on mental performance concepts and character development. We focus on usable tools, shared language and better habits for athletes, teams and parents.

  • Parents strongly influence the environment young athletes experience. Research and practitioner guidance consistently point to parent expectations, communication, and emotional responses as major factors in confidence, anxiety, resilience, and enjoyment in youth sports.

  • No. This is for developing athletes, high achievers, role players, starters, bench players, and teams as a whole. Any athlete who deals with nerves, frustration, pressure, inconsistency, identity struggles, or confidence swings can benefit from intentional mental and character development.  It is for any athlete who understands that taking their game to the next level requires both physical and mental training.

  • Families will leave with a clearer understanding of how the mental and emotional side of sports affects performance, along with practical strategies they can use immediately. Depending on the final format, takeaways may include discussion prompts, response tools, communication guidelines, and simple routines for competition and recovery.