April 9, 2010

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

Registration Form in PDF Format

Western Washington University's Center for Performance Excellence will offer its annual Peak Performance class, a five-session course from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday nights from April 13 through May 11 in Academic Instructional Center West 210 on the WWU campus.

The course is intended for everyone from interested in enhancing personal or professional performance.

The class costs $50, which includes presentations, a playbook of educational materials, lectures and handouts for each class session.

Students will learn how to achieve in sports, the workplace and their personal lives through mental skills utilized and developed by elite athletic performers.

The course is presented by WWU's Center for Performance Excellence (CPE) and taught by CPE founder and director Ralph Vernacchia. Vernacchia directs the undergraduate and graduate programs in sport psychology at Western.

Vernacchia, one of the nation's leading experts in applied sport psychology, has been at Western since 1973. His outlook on excellence is drawn from the life experiences of community members, as well as his work with Olympic athletes, sport-psychology professionals, coaches, and community leaders.

Vernacchia has traveled with national track and field teams to several world championships, including the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. His book, "Inner Strength: The Mental Dynamics of Athletic Performance," was published by Warde Publishers (July 2003) and is for sport psychology professionals, coaches and athletes who desire to enhance athletic performance through mental skills training.

Parking for the course is free in Western's "C" lots at the south end of campus. For more information, including the course registration form, please visit the CPE Web site, www.wwu.edu/cpe/home.htm, or contact Ralph Vernacchia at (360) 650-3514 or Ralph.Vernacchia@wwu.edu.