Leave Your Backpack at the Fence

Drink O'Clock

Drink O'Clock
Leave Your Backpack at the Fence
Apr 23, 2026 Season 2 Episode 72
Rob Valincius

What if the secret to building a state championship team wasn't drills or plays, but teaching kids to drop their mental garbage at the fence before practice? This week I sit down with Janet Dickey, head field hockey coach at Westbrook High in Connecticut, certified mindset coach, and founder of Victory Mindsets. Janet is entering her 36th season coaching the same small-town program she played for as a kid, and she's built one of the smallest schools in the state into a conference champion.

We get into the "blade 54 generation" of kids who want to be told exactly where to run, how a 2016 state title pushed her toward mindset coaching, and why she's stayed at the same school for three and a half decades while everyone else was leveling up and moving on. Plus, sibling rivalry as rocket fuel, raising problem solvers instead of rule followers, and why "I loved watching you play today" might be the most important thing a parent can say on the car ride home.

Find Janet at victorymindsets.com or on Instagram and LinkedIn.

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