Rowing in Color

Manny Valentin: Stress Points and Athletic Performance for Rowers of Color Through the Lens of Sports Psychology

September 24, 2020 Season 1 Episode 32
Rowing in Color
Manny Valentin: Stress Points and Athletic Performance for Rowers of Color Through the Lens of Sports Psychology
Show Notes

#032 - Manny Valentin is the Head Boys’ Rowing Coach at Saratoga Rowing Association and identifies as an American with Puerto Rican lineage.

In this episode, we talked about:

  • How he identifies [1:22]
  • Books Manny recommends for fellow Americans with Puerto Rican heritage [7:48]
  • How Manny got into rowing [9:24] 
  • Advice for younger coaches [14:45]
  • What was it like to be the only coach of color in various spaces [18:20]
  • The role anxiety plays in sports psychology as it relates to non-white athletes in predominantly white  spaces [20:40]
  • Manny’s philosophy on athletic performance and sports psychology as it relates to triggers and racial events of 2020 [24:15]
  • Onee way Manny prepares his rowers for peak athletic performance [28:30]
  • His approach to increase diversity in our sport [31:05]
  • Discussing “you can’t be what you can’t see” through the lens of sports psychology [38:36]

… and much more.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

  • The War Against All Puerto Ricans, by Nelson Denis
  • Fantasy Island, by Ed Morales
  • New York Young Lords and the Struggle for Liberation, by Darrel Wanzer-Serrano


To get in touch with Manny, please reach him on Instagram @coach.valentin



We hope that the conversation in this podcast helps us all in the rowing world -- no matter your race -- to unify the rowing sport through diversity.

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