PCA Trainer Spotlight – Dr. Angel Brutus
10.28.24
PCA spoke with PCA trainer Dr. Angel Brutus. In addition to being a PCA trainer, Dr. Brutus is President and Chief Executive Officer of Synergistic Solutions, a clinical, sport and performance consulting firm designed to curate professional development experiences for high performance professionals across multiple performance domains. She also serves as Lead Provider for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s psychological services unit with the department of sports medicine supporting the Team USA delegation.
PCA: Angel, how long have you been working with PCA?
Dr. Angel Brutus: I was exposed to PCA in 2011/2012 when I was serving as assistant athletic director for my church. One of my responsibilities was to contribute to the coaching education for our volunteer coaches for our youth athletes and I heard about PCA. At the time I was also studying in the field of sport and performance psychology and working on my doctorate, so marrying the two areas was just serendipitous. I fell in love with everything that I saw at PCA in terms of the curriculum, and I knew I wanted to get involved. I have enjoyed seeing the evolution of the organization along the way as I have also matriculated through my career.
PCA: You have been working with PCA for quite a while – what sort of evolution have you seen?
Dr. Angel Brutus: Over time I have seen an integration of other types of content that made sense, and that has been created to evolve with the times. For example, the implementation of PCA’s Sports Can Battle Racism really speaks to the continued evolution of the organization. And obviously with PCA’s merger with Coaching Corps and being intentional about fusing the seminal foundational elements and principles and philosophies of both organizations.
PCA: We have over 170 trainers with varied backgrounds. We are truly fortunate to have a person with your depth of knowledge and experience on our team.
Dr. Angel Brutus: I operate at the intersection of all things related to mental health, and also all things related to mental performance. Those two things go hand in hand with a lot of the work that I do, no matter who it is that I encounter or engage with. Weather as part of a sport ecosystem from administrators all the way to the athlete experience and everyone else in between. Even the ticket office. Everyone who’s a part of the ecosystem has a certain level of influence in terms of the ultimate experience for the athlete to be able to perform at their highest potential. And so, I’m a firm believer that the health of the organization has implications for the health of the athletes that we serve.
PCA: How has PCA impacted you?
Dr. Angel Brutus: PCA has been a pretty significant influence in so many of the ways I approach things, not just as a professional, but also as a sports parent. So, for me, it’s both personal and professional in terms of the alignment. When it comes to the mission, vision, and values that PCA holds, I talk a lot about the content that we cover in our coaching education workshops when I’m working with athletes in the Team USA movement. I do this with these elite athletes because some are going to transition out of the competition and matriculate into serving as coaches. Teaching them about PCA can help them to understand the lens of a coach, and how to get the best out of individuals when they are pushing them to their limits.
I also love the fact that PCA is very intentional about developing and establishing relationships at the community level. Outside of my professional and personal identity, I do have a strong sense of being a community citizen. And so with PCA, what gets me excited about being able to facilitate these conversations is it really does have a ripple effect, especially when you are working with individuals who are boots on the ground, and who do have the most significant impact on the community on a day to day basis.
PCA: Thanks so much for being a part of the PCA family!