Coach Mark Rauterkus announces the launch of the new book's arrival: “Public Policy Playbook for Pittsburgh Aquatics & Recreation – Yinzer Edition.
Co-author is Ron Usher.
Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide, episode #115 hits current events and then a view into the first book of 2026, Mental Skills for Young Athletes and how that can fit into your sports programs and teams. See the reveal on how to get a free PDF, and let's discuss key strategies to improve city recreation, arts, and youth mental health.
You’ll also hear Mayor Corey O’Connor weigh in on new rec‑center partnerships and community initiatives, just before the book gets handed to him.
Mayor is in full agreement. Time will tell.
Overview of the Playbook: 10 pillars, strategic principles, meta plays, and actionable “plays.” How to download the free PDF via CREWLAB (crewlab.io) and purchase the printed copy at SWIMISCA.com. Mayor Corey O’Connor’s plans for expanding rec‑center hours, school‑facility partnerships, and arts programming. The three‑tier mental‑resilience action plan for youth athletes, based on Dr. John Hoog’s research. Next steps: community involvement, feedback opportunities, and upcoming expansions of city sports camps and cultural events.
“The ball’s in your court—action is the kicker that will transform our rec centers into life‑saving community hubs.
Heavy Or Not #115: Action Is the Kicker
Sometimes a podcast episode captures an idea. Sometimes it captures a moment.
Episode #115 of Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide catches one of those moments when a project moves from writing and planning into the real world.
A box arrives with the first printed copies of Coach Mark’s Public Policy Playbook for Pittsburgh Aquatics and Recreation, Yinzer Edition. After a summer of writing, revisiting decades of experiences with Pittsburgh sports, recreation, schools and aquatics, the book is finally something I can hold in my hands.
The first copies contain more than 200 pages of ideas, experiences, strategies and plays. This is the Alpha Edition, written with Ron Usher, and it is designed to keep growing. The book begins with The Community Aquatics Directive, moves into strategic principles, expands into the larger Meta Plays, and then gets down to the individual plays communities can actually put into motion.
The words on the back cover sum up the intention: Action is the kicker.
Taking the Playbook to a Neighborhood Meeting and Delivering it to the Mayor
A book about public policy has limited value when it stays on my bookshelf.
Later that same day, I went to a South Side community meeting where Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor was speaking. The conversation turned toward young people, recreation centers, schools and the shortage of useful places where teenagers can spend time, especially during evenings and other hours when organized activities become harder to find.
Mayor O’Connor talked about expanding recreation-center hours and finding better ways for Pittsburgh Public Schools and city government to work together. He pointed to school buildings and other public facilities that could host sports, recreation, cultural activities and community programming rather than sitting underused.
That is exactly the territory covered throughout the Playbook.
Public buildings are assets. Pools are assets. Gymnasiums are assets. Coaches, teachers, recreation leaders, artists, volunteers and neighborhood organizations are assets. The real challenge is connecting those assets and filling the calendar with worthwhile opportunities for people.
The hardware already exists in many communities. Programming is the software that brings the hardware to life.
Coach to Coach
When the meeting ended, I handed Mayor O’Connor one of the first copies of the book.
I approached him coach to coach.
There are frustrations behind this Playbook. Pittsburgh has young people who deserve richer sports and recreation experiences. There are facilities that can work harder for our neighborhoods. There are relationships between schools, city government and community organizations that can become much stronger.
There are also plenty of ideas ready to go.
One of the largest Meta Plays in the book calls for an Athletic Reform Task Force that brings people together to study the present system and create a stronger future for school and community sports. Another calls for year-round opportunities and All-City sports camps that can begin serving young people during the summer and continue developing them throughout the year.
Those ideas are now in the mayor's hands.
The ball really is in his court.
From Public Policy to the Daily Work of Coaching
The second portion of Episode #115 brings the conversation back to the pool deck and another responsibility coaches carry: helping young athletes develop the mental skills needed to handle sport, school, expectations and everyday life.
The episode explores a three-tier mental resilience framework tied to the mental-skills materials developed by Dr. John Hogg.
The basic concept is useful because coaches work with athletes who arrive with very different levels of need. Some practices belong throughout the entire team environment. Other situations require focused support for an individual athlete. Still others belong with qualified health professionals.
The coach's job is strengthened when those distinctions are understood before a crisis occurs.
Build Healthy Habits Into the Team
The first tier begins with the entire team.
Sleep habits, goal setting, emotional regulation and thoughtful use of digital media can become part of the training environment in the same way that warm-ups, technique work and conditioning become part of practice.
Young athletes already learn that recovery influences performance. Mental preparation can receive that same deliberate attention.
A coach can use the sleep, goal-setting and mental-skills exercises in Dr. Hogg's materials as regular developmental tools rather than introducing them only when an athlete struggles.
That creates a healthier baseline for everybody.
The purpose is bigger than producing faster times. We are teaching young people how to regulate themselves, understand their habits, manage pressure and develop routines they can carry far beyond competitive swimming.
Recognizing When an Athlete Needs More Support
The next level involves athletes who begin showing signs that something has changed.
Perhaps enthusiasm fades. Attendance becomes inconsistent. Fatigue seems persistent. Performance stalls while frustration climbs. An athlete begins withdrawing from teammates or carrying unusually heavy pressure around practices and competition.
A coach sees athletes frequently and often notices those changes early.
That observation creates an opportunity for conversation, mentoring and appropriate mental-skills work. Stress-management exercises, goal adjustments and connections with trusted teammates can help restore perspective and belonging.
This level also has a clear boundary. Coaches are coaches. Serious mental-health concerns require trained professionals.
Knowing when to move beyond coaching is itself part of responsible coaching.
Returning to the Team
The highest level of the framework deals with athletes who are already receiving professional care or returning to the team after a significant mental-health episode.
A return to practice is more than permission to walk back onto the pool deck.
The athlete is returning to teammates, expectations, stopwatches, comparisons, training demands and competitive pressure. Coaches can help make that transition gradual and constructive by working within the guidance supplied by the athlete's medical and mental-health professionals.
Training can be adjusted. Pressure can be reduced. Routines can be rebuilt.
Most importantly, the athlete can rediscover participation without tying personal worth to the numbers appearing on a stopwatch.
Swimming is something an athlete does. It does not define the total value of the person doing it.
The Same Principle at Every Level
The two parts of Episode #115 may seem very different.
One takes place at a Pittsburgh community meeting with a newly printed public-policy book. The other examines mental resilience and the daily relationship between coaches and athletes.
They actually share the same principle.
Build systems before they are desperately needed.
Communities benefit from plans for their pools, schools, recreation centers and sports programs. Coaches benefit from plans for sleep, stress, emotional development, referral resources and an athlete's return to training.
Preparation creates options. Relationships create pathways. Programs turn ideas into experiences.
And eventually somebody has to act.
That is why the line on the back of the new Playbook keeps coming back:
Action is the kicker.
Heavy Or Not, The OG Swim Guide continues the conversation about coaching, aquatics, sports, community programs and the people who make them work.
Books and additional resources featured in this episode are available through SwimISCA.com.
I would use “Action Is the Kicker” as the main headline on Substack too. It connects the book handoff, the mayor conversation and the coaching section without making the article feel like two unrelated transcripts stitched together.
Heavy Or Not #115 captures the birth of a new book, a handoff to Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor, and a bigger conversation about what our kids need from sports, recreation and coaching.
Action is the kicker.
#HeavyOrNot #Aquatics #Pittsburgh
2.
The first copies arrived.
Coach Mark’s Public Policy Playbook for Pittsburgh Aquatics and Recreation is now in print.
One of those first copies went directly into the hands of Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor.
Heavy Or Not #115 tells the story.
#Pittsburgh #HeavyOrNot
3.
Pools, gyms, schools, rec centers and coaches are already community assets.
The challenge is connecting them, programming them and giving young people places to belong.
Heavy Or Not #115 gets into that work.
#Aquatics #YouthSports #HeavyOrNot
4.
Pittsburgh has school buildings, recreation centers, pools, coaches and community organizations.
Put them together.
Fill the calendar.
Give kids more places to play, train, learn and belong.
That conversation is front and center in Heavy Or Not #115.
#Pittsburgh #YouthSports
5.
I handed Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor one of the first copies of my new Public Policy Playbook.
The message on the back cover says it all:
Action is the kicker.
Heavy Or Not #115 captures the handoff and the conversation that followed.
#HeavyOrNot #Pittsburgh
6.
Pittsburgh needs stronger year-round sports opportunities for its kids.
All-City sports camps. Better use of schools and recreation facilities. Stronger partnerships. More programming.
The ideas are on the table.
Heavy Or Not #115.
#YouthSports #Pittsburgh #Aquatics
7.
Coaching mental skills deserves the same deliberate attention we give starts, turns, conditioning and technique.
Sleep. Goal setting. Stress management. Emotional regulation. Knowing when an athlete needs professional help.
Heavy Or Not #115 goes there too.
#Swimming #Coaching
8.
Good coaches notice changes.
Fatigue. Missed practices. Withdrawal. Frustration. Pressure. A sudden drop in enthusiasm.
Heavy Or Not #115 looks at how coaches can respond with structure, support and a clear understanding of where coaching ends and professional care begins.
#Coaching
9.
A swimmer is more than the time on the scoreboard.
Athletes returning from difficult periods need a pathway back into training that rebuilds routine, confidence and connection.
Heavy Or Not #115 explores that responsibility for coaches.
#Swimming #MentalSkills #HeavyOrNot
10.
Heavy Or Not #115 moves from City Hall to the pool deck.
Public policy. Recreation. Youth sports. Mental skills. Coaching. Community.
Different settings. Same lesson:
Build the system. Develop the people. Then act.
Action is the kicker.
#HeavyOrNot #Aquatics