Student Spotlight Addison Dobson

Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, her life was almost always viewed through a lens of sport. Her father, David, served as the cross country coach at Centerville High School for 22 years (before becoming the head cross country coach at the University of Dayton in 2022), and sports were fully integrated into her life. Practice, competition, and the camaraderie of sports were part of the daily routine, as familiar and expected as going to school.

She soon found her way into the sport as a competitive distance runner and, with her father’s experience, had a keen understanding of the importance of the mental aspects of performance that would shape her academic and career ambitions. But it was a program called  Players Box at her church that really opened her eyes to the field of sport and performance psychology – even if she needed a little nudge to get started.

Players Box is a program designed to help elementary, middle school and high school students handle the pressures of arts, academics, and athletics. Their motto, "bringing play to pressure," emphasizes their mission to help young people perform better by understanding themselves. The program's name reflects its core philosophy, captured in the acronym PLAY: Personality type, Learning style, Ability level, and the "Yes factor."

"My mom forced me to go my freshman year of high school,” Dobson admits. “I did not want to go. I told her I didn’t need to go and it wouldn’t be helpful. She knew how competitive of a person I was and so she insisted that I go.”

Each session would begin with a large group lesson, followed by smaller table discussions where students could dig deeper into applying these concepts to their own lives. Dobson's initial reluctance quickly transformed into engagement, and by her junior and senior years, she was leading those discussion tables herself.

Her involvement with Players Box deepened significantly after high school when, after Dobson decided to take a gap year, the program's director approached her about working with the organization as they expanded their reach. During the year, she gained invaluable experience in the field developing curriculum, managing social media, and working directly with various teams and organizations.

While Dobson maximized her gap year, she still intended on going to college. The oldest of seven children, Morgantown was about as far as she wanted to be from her family. However, WVU was one of only a handful of schools in the country offering sports, exercise and performance psychology as an undergraduate major and it immediately felt right during her campus visit.

“I visited on move-in day, and it was cold and rainy, and I remember my tour guide saying, ‘If you like West Virginia on a day like today, this is where you need to come.’ I’m an outdoor person and I loved the mountains and I just thought, ‘I love this place so much.’”

Despite being at the place she wanted to be in the program she wanted, something still was missing: being part of a team.

"During my gap year, I was still running, I was still training, but I truly missed the feeling of being on a team," she says.

Once on campus, Dobson discovered that WVU had a rowing team that welcomed walk-ons, including athletes with no prior rowing experience. The opportunity to be a part of the team and compete far outweighed any trepidation she had about never having rowed before in her life.

"I kind of had the ‘What do I have to lose?’ mindset," she explains. "The worst thing that could happen would be that I didn’t make the team, and I was okay with that.”

That eager and fearless attitude paid off. Not only did she make the team, but she worked her way up from the novice squad to competing at the  Big 12 Championships. The transition wasn't always smooth – learning to work in perfect synchronization with teammates presented a stark contrast to her background in cross country.

“Both are endurance sports, but being in a boat, everybody has to be moving as one,” she says. “You are reliant on so many other people, whereas cross country, it's just you running. That was a very big challenge of learning how to work together with people and literally move as one to be able to move a boat effectively."

Now a junior academically but only in her fourth semester at WVU, Dobson has found that her athletic experience provides a perfect laboratory for her studies in sport, exercise and performance psychology. She often finds herself applying concepts from class directly to her training.

“I'll catch myself and be like, 'Oh, I'm negative self-talking right now,’” she says. "It's a weird feeling because my entire life is sports psych.”

Her dedication—both in the classroom and on the water—has put her in position to take advantage of the opportunities that come her way. In December, she was selected as WVU’s female representative for the Big 12 Career Tour, traveling to Texas for four days of networking, panels, and professional development.

Looking ahead, Dobson has clear goals: pursuing her Certified Mental Performance Consultant certification and a Ph.D. in sports psychology, with ambitions to work at either the collegiate or professional level. Her time at WVU has reinforced that path, providing experiences and connections that have broadened her perspective on where the field can take her.

“I’ve had the chance to meet people, get involved with research, and see what’s actually out there in this field,” she says. “I knew I wanted to do this, but WVU has given me more opportunities than I expected.”

Addison Dobson has embraced every challenge and opportunity that has come her way. And with time still left at WVU, she remains eager to keep learning, growing, and seeing where the next opportunity takes her.