Fred Wells
Role: President/Founder
Connection to Sports: played football, baseball, squash and hockey. Has been coaching youth sports in Delta for 43 years
Best sports advice I’ve ever received: Boys have to PLAY good to feel good. Girls have to FEEL good to play good.
Favourite personal sports moment: Taylin McGill playing in a Rep A league game with her sister Kheya for the Delta Heat 99 vs Lightning 98.
Book I recommend: In Pursuit of Excellence. How to win in sports and life through mental training. By Terry Orlick. PHD
Why 140 Sports is important to me: Both of my Daughters and many of the most talented, popular athletes I have had the honor to coach have battled with Anxiety and Depression. A wise man would always tell me. “Sports is just a tool we use to teach kids about life.”
Dave Rally
Role: Vice President
Connection to sports: Played baseball, hockey, tennis, squash (and am handy with a snooker queue). Has coached girls fastpitch for 14 years, first in Richmond and then in Delta for the past 13 years, from Learn to Play to Senior Women.
Best sports advice I’ve ever received: If your players are looking for scholarships, tell them to study hard in school.
Favourite personal sports moment: (I could write a book…) 2nd round of the Provincial Championship playoffs in 2017, playing our big rivals who had eliminated us the year before. Watching 12 young women collectively decide they were going to win and then watching them do it. Four home runs including a grand slam, and my daughter’s first ever dinger, in the first two innings to put it away. Pure individual and collective determination. Pure magic.
Book I recommend: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari - cause we all need perspective on who and why we are.
Why 140 Sports is important to me: Players have to deal teammates, opponents and persons in charge and the outcomes of this are tremendously varied. I have personally witnessed how team sports can be a terrifically positive or in some circumstances a very negative experience for players, particularly children. At its best and with the right guidance, team sports can assist players to learn self- confidence, team spirit, focus, comradery, patience, resilience, self-respect and respect for others. The mentors at 140 Sports are drawn from those who have had success and have learned that successful competition and a winning attitude come from a positive approach to player development. They know that building a player’s confidence, overcoming obstacles and making skills development fun are the keys to building a successful player, with a positive mindset. In youth sports, coaches and mentors are developing not only young athletes but also young minds. The people at 140 Sports are dedicated to assisting young players to overcome obstacles such as anxiety, stress or depression with a focused and positive approach to skills development.
Tammy Hansen
Role: Treasurer
Connection to sports: While my family and I have been in involved in many sports, softball is the one we all have a connection to. I have coached Learn to Play and U10 but eventually graduated to scorekeeper and spectator for my children. My husband, our oldest daughter and I continue to play slow-pitch together in the summer while our youngest daughter is currently playing U19 Fastpitch and plans to continue on at a university level. You will often find us enjoying our family dinners at the ball diamond.
Best sports advice I've ever received: Without sounding too cliché, I love the statement “there is no “I” in team.” A team can consist of many players, but in the case of individual sport that team can be player and coach. Respect and support each other and when you fail you will learn from your mistakes together and come back stronger.
Favourite personal sports moment: too many to list, there have been so many great moments that they help me forget the challenging and tough ones. Sports have helped my family become the healthy and happy unit we are today.
Book I recommend: Taming the Worry Dragons, for any parents who has a young child suffering from any form of anxiety it’s a must read.
Why 140 Sports is important to me: I have seen firsthand the affects anxiety has on people and how it can limit your potential if you let it take control. Every one of us has anxiety from time to time. It is not something you can cure, but is it a condition you can learn to identify and with proper coping skills put it to rest. If we can spread the word and get coaches and parents on board, I believe we can avoid some of the physical and mental consequences anxiety has on our youth.
Madison Wells
Role: Director of Marketing and Communications
Connection to sports: I grew up playing soccer and fastpitch. I have been involved in coaching and mentoring programs in Delta since the age of 12.
Best sports advice I've ever received: Before every major game my dad would tell me “soak it all in kid”
Favourite personal sports moment: My favourite moment was also probably one of the hardest moments we face as athletes, and that is the final whistle of your final game. My last youth soccer game was played at an international tournament in Sweden alongside a lifelong teammate and best friend. After that final whistle we stood at center field reflecting on our journey through sport together, and every memory and lesson it has brought us, was the most powerful and emotional experience of my athletic career.
Book I recommend: It’s Not About the Bra: Play Hard, Play Fair, and Put the Fun Back Into Competitive Sports by Brandi Chastain
Why 140 Sports is important to me: Through sports I have learnt countless valuable lessons. Yet when I see the number of youth in sport impacted by mental health struggles, I feel like as coaches we are missing a very important teaching moment. 140 Sports provides the platform to educate not only players, but coaches and parents alike.
Lisa Brown-Rooke
Role: Director
Connection to sports: played a number of sports growing up. I have umpired for the last 15 years and started coaching in 2017.
Best sports advice I've ever received: be fair, approachable and willing to listen to all the players, even the ones that you are not coaching. Everyone needs to be heard
Favourite personal sports moment: Working with youth during the winter clinics and seeing them grow not only in the sport but also in their Life Skills
Book I recommend: Double Goal Coaching by Jim Thompson
Why 140 Sports is important to me: Being a Master Practitioner in Clinical Counsellor, I believe that sports is a way to assist the youth with Life Skills for on and off the ball field. I have had the pleasure of working with a number of ball players who have shared with me that they wished there was a program like this when they were younger.
Our Coaches
Megan Hendrickson
Role: Athlete Mentor
Connection to sports: I currently play softball, but I have played volleyball, soccer, basketball, and swimming in the past. I’ve been coaching in delta for 5 years.
Best sports advice I've ever received: Leave it all on the field and play for each other.
Favourite personal sports moment: pitching in our final game and winning gold in 16U Nationals on our home field.
Book I recommend: Chop Wood Carry Water: How to Fall in Love with the Process of Becoming Great by Joshua Medcalf
Why 140 Sports is important to me: going through high school was a really stressful time for me. Trying to keep up my grades, play competitive sports and have a social life put a lot of weight on my shoulders. I want to give back to the community and help others have an easier transition in life and manage their busy lives. I only wish this program was built when I was younger, but instead I get to be a part of it.
Olivia Malesku
Role: Athlete Mentor
Connection to sports: played on the Delta Heat 01, also basketball.
Best sports advice I’ve ever received: “there may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do” -Derek Jeter
Favourite personal sports moment: winning the Canadian nationals in 2017 after having
to go the back foot route to the finals.
Book I recommend: Mind gym: an athlete’s guide to inner excellence by Gary Mack
Why 140 Sports is important to me: There is so much pressure out on young female athletes to get scholarships and keep their grades up. I want to share my experience with young athletes to help them deal with the stress and anxiety they will be experiencing.
Hanna Hansen
Role: Athlete Mentor
Connection to sports: Softball, volleyball, and basketball, track and field and have coached in the community for 5 years.
Best sports advice I've ever received: Don’t let your worries/fears of the unknown, stop you from trying something new
Favourite personal sports moment: after putting in many years of hard work and seeing it pay off by winning both provincials and national in 2017 and being softball BC team of the year.
Book I recommend “Taming the worry dragons” is an amazing book filled with ways to cope with anxiety.
Why 140 Sports is important to me: I grew up with the support of many coaches whenever I needed it. They helped me over come any obstacles I encountered. Being a kid who struggled with anxiety, I want to help kids to cope with their anxiety because I know how hard it can be. Playing sports really helped me get through my fears by offering me many experiences. I want to help and guide kids through the stress and anxiety that comes with sports and school to help them achieve their goals.
Nicole Salas
Role: Athlete mentor
Connections to sports: Softball, volleyball and basketball.
Best sports advice I’ve ever received: If you think you can you can and if you think you can’t you can’t. You have to believe in yourself before anything.
Favourite personal sports moment: At U19 provincials losing to Devils 00 in extra innings, then coming through the back door to make it to the finals.
Book I recommend: Mindset by Carol S, Dweck; this book gives you a different outlook on yourself and mindset on how to believe in yourself.
Why 140 Sports is important to me: 140 Sports is important to me because while growing up playing sports, I struggled mentally with pressures and had challenges along the way that were all new to me. If only I had known what I did now then it would have been very beneficial. That’s why I want to be able to give back to youth and help them understand what I didn’t at their age.
Sydney Cervi
Role: Athlete mentor
Connections to sports: played soccer, and volleyball for many years and have recently started playing squash and Gaelic football.
Best sports advice I’ve ever received: If someone on the opposing team is playing dirty or treating you poorly, do not sink to their level, instead play your best and win the game to show them you and your team does not need to play dirty to win.
Favourite personal sports moment: When my soccer team won the USA cup in 2013.
Book I Recommend:
Why 140 Sports is Important to me: Mental health and sport performance are completely intertwined. 140 provides the tools that allow youth to recognize needing support from others is OKAY. 140 Sports allows a space for vulnerability which, in turn, creates a stronger athlete. being a part of this for youth comes as a great importance to me.
Julianne Jones
Role: Senior mentor
Connection to sport: basketball, volleyball, coach and referee for South Delta Basketball Association
Best sports advice I’ve ever received:
Favourite personal sports moment: Getting the opportunity to travel to Hawaii to play basketball in a different scene with my team!
Book I recommend: the power of understanding yourself by Dave Mitchell
Why 140 Sports is important to me: 140 sports is important to me because as one who has found value in playing sports for years, I want to inspire others to use it as an outlet for their mental health. Working with people is something I have always loved, and being able to do that while encouraging and supporting others is something I find lots of value in.
Bradley Braich
Role: Role of 140 Sports Suicide Awareness Initiatives
Connection to Sports: Basketball player from age 5-18
Best sports advice you’ve ever received: Mental Preparation is just as important as physical preperation
Favourite sports moments: Breaking the school record for most points in a single game!
Book you Recommend: Brain Lock: Free yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Jeffrey M. Schwartz
Why is 140 sports important to me: I want to find ways to change the way we view mental illness and 140 Sports is helping me achieve that. The supportive team culture within 140 Sports has increased my passion of bettering the lives of those around me.