Rick Albrecht, Ph.D

Professor, Grand Valley State Univ., NCACE past president

Dr. Rick Albrecht holds a B.S. in psychology, an M.A. in counseling psychology, a second M.A. in sport psychology, and a Ph.D. in sport psychology from Michigan State University. As a professor and the Coordinator of the Sport Leadership program in the Movement Science Department at Grand Valley State University he regularly teaches courses in sport psychology and coaching. Dr. Albrecht previously wrote a weekly coaching column for The Grand Rapids Press called “Kids Stuff” and is finishing his first book entitled “Lies Your Coaches Told You… And You Keep Telling Yourself and Others.”

As an alumnus of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University, Rick presented hundreds of coaching workshops and clinics throughout the country and has worked extensively within the USA Hockey coaching education program.

His expertise in coaching education has been recognized nationally and is evident by the fact that in 2006 he was appointed to the five-member task force responsible for establishing the current National Standards for Sport Coaches. He currently serves as the Past-President of the National Council for the Accreditation of Coaching Education (NCACE) and sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Coaching Education.

In addition to publishing numerous scholarly articles in medicine, psychology, and coaching, he has been honored with several national research and teaching awards, including the prestigious “Doctoral Dissertation of the Year Award” by the American Psychological Association.