Daniel Gould, Ph.D.  Dan is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. A sport psychology specialist Dan has studied stress, burnout and motivation in young athletes, how high school coaches teach life skills to their players, talent development in children, and the role that parents play in youth sports. He is best known for his efforts to link sport science research to practice and practice to research and work as a coaching educator.

Larry Lauer, Ph.D. Larry is the Director of Coaching Education and Development for the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. He has an undergraduate degree in psychology from Clarion University, and masters and doctoral degrees in exercise and sport science from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Larry is an active sport psychology consultant and researcher extensively studying violence and aggression in youth sport and best methods for teaching young athletes to manage their emotions in competition. He has also examined the role of parents in junior tennis success and ways to teach mental skills to young athletes. Larry has directed youth ice hockey programs and coached youth baseball. He is an Advanced Level USA Hockey coach.

Darcie Zubek, B.S. Darcie is the secretary for the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology from Michigan State. In addition to her administrative duties, as a working mom Darcie provides a practical grounding to the work of the Institute.

  

Marty Ewing, Ph.D.  Marty has been a faculty member with the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports since 1983. A sport psychology specialist, Marty has studied achievement motivation in young athletes, parental issues in
children's sports and ways to better provide sports experiences for underserved populations. An active sport psychology consultant and coaching educator, Marty has worked with countless numbers of young athletes and their coaches.

John Powell, Ph.D. Dr Powell is the Director of Graduate Studies in Sports Medicine for the Department of Kinesiology and is a clinical athletic trainer at Michigan State University.  His responsibilities include coordination and the development of programs for the graduate athletic training education curriculum, injury prevention research and clinical supervisor for MSU wrestling and swimming. Dr. Powell has been an athletic trainer for thirty-five years and served as Research Chairman for the National Athletic Trainers' Association from 1977 to 1992. He also serves as a consultant for sports injury prevention and safety for the National Football League, the National Hockey League, the Big Ten Conference and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Dr. Powell's research efforts focus on the epidemiology of sports injuries and injury prevention at all levels of competition. He was awarded the 2000 William G. Clancy Jr. Medal for Distinguished Athletic Training Research and named a National Athletic Trainers' Association Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer for 2005.

Crystal Branta, Ph.D. Crystal has devoted her career to understanding how children and youth acquire and perform motor skills. Her research centers on the influence that physical growth and biological maturation have on the motor performance of children and youth from preschool through the adolescent years. Crystal has taught and coached in public schools and in youth sports settings in a variety of sports. She was involved in the original Youth Sports Studies that helped pave the way for the development of the Institute.

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