SafeStart can help athletes reduce the number of errors they make during play and avoid injuries while training and competing.

Just ask the Carleton University Ravens men’s basketball team, which won their fifth consecutive national CIS championship in March 2015.

Raven’s guard Anthony Pate said, “I would definitely recommend (SafeStart) to any athlete going forward…it’s just a positive thing that gets you to think about being safe and being able to take that second to think about what you’re doing, being able to look forward, keep your eyes on task, mind on task.”

SafeStart was introduced to the team a few years ago. Athletes can reach a higher level of achievement through SafeStart by recognizing patterns in performance and the human factors that are holding them back. It blends sports psychology with proven injury-reducing techniques to improve overall performance of team sports.

Victor Raso, guard for the Ravens, said it was very easy to relate the concepts of SafeStart to basketball. “Every time we talk about (SafeStart) you would naturally go to something that happened on the court.”

In 13 years, the Carleton University Ravens have won 11 national championships. They are always looking for ways to maintain their success and SafeStart is one way they’re remaining competitive by staying healthy, fighting distraction, and learning to think quicker and make better decisions.