Presence Over Pressure: Leading with Confidence in Chaos

Jon Giesbrecht, the Director of Mental Performance and Player Development for the Vancouver Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), has a unique perspective on leadership, coaching, and life—shaped by his journey in basketball.

Driven by a purpose to help athletes and coaches master their mental game through mindfulness, Giesbrecht embraces a mission beyond the scoreboard.

"Before, my motivation was all over the place," he shared. "I’d think, ‘I’m just waiting on the NBA to tell me I’m good enough so I can coach there, make the money, and do all the things.’ But then, “Coach” George Raveling’s voice (Daily Coach co-founder) kept coming back to me: ‘It’s about serving people.’ He’d always talk about servant leadership and one day, it just clicked. The classic quote, ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,’ rings true for me. Today, serving people is what fuels me—it’s my driving force."

The Daily Coach spoke with Giesbrecht about how mindfulness and emotional regulation elevate performance in basketball, leadership, and life.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Jon, we're grateful for you doing this. Tell us about your childhood and some key lessons from it.

My upbringing was rooted in spirituality. Although I didn’t fully grasp these concepts during my playing days, revisiting them later helped me see how they connect to basketball as a powerful tool for transformation. Shifting my focus from “What can the game do for me?” to “How can I serve the game, how can I serve the players?” opened up incredible opportunities and reinforced the importance of vulnerability and perspective.

Another defining experience was growing up with a speech impediment and learning disabilities. Anxiety and low self-esteem amplified my struggles, but I learned that staying centered and regulating my emotions helped me find my voice. Those experiences, while painful, were necessary. They helped me build resilience and a deeper understanding of others, and for that, I’m incredibly grateful. These lessons now help me guide athletes to unlock their high-performance mindset, turning struggles into superpowers.

How did your love for basketball develop from such an early age, and how have you channeled that passion into the mental performance side of the game?

I started coaching at 14, realizing pretty early that the NBA wasn’t going to call—turns out, being 5’9” with a vertical leap that barely cleared a phone book wasn’t exactly a scout’s dream. I embraced the reality but held onto my love for the game. I was a solid high school player, with some saying I could have played lower-level college ball, which was nice to hear. But what I truly loved was running practices—experimenting and testing ideas from coaching clinic DVDs. I’d try them out the next day in practice, seeing if they worked.

Coaching at various levels—high school, university, pro teams, and even hanging around the national team—I noticed something missing. Players often hear phrases like “play present” or “trust the process,” but without meaning, they lack understanding to manage stress and focus. Over the years, more now than ever, I’ve seen how distractions and external messaging pull athletes away from who they truly are, making it hard to stay present and focused.

Helping basketball players connect the dots to skillfully manage stress, slow down, and refocus has become my passion. When athletes can feel their emotions, stay present, and truly focus, this is their competitive edge in today’s game.

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Building on that, what are some effective strategies individuals can use to stay present and grounded in the moment?

It starts with tuning into the body. Before you can regulate your emotions or reactions, read them—really feel into them and understand what’s happening internally without trying to fix out of reactivity. For example, if you’re feeling jittery before a game or presentation, ask yourself: What does my body really need? Maybe it’s moving slower than I was, or maybe I need to discharge some of this energy through some movement or breathing. But whatever I decide to do, I’m going to do it from my center and notice the subtle physiological changes that are happening. Like my heart rate speeding up or slowing down, or as I breathe deeper into the lower parts of my lungs, feeling my shoulders, jaw and face muscles ease up. That’s a win and it means you’re on your way.

The goal isn’t to get rid of ‘bad’ feelings, which is a common misconception among athletes and leaders using meditation or visualization. Instead, it’s about becoming aware of them. When you acknowledge your emotions and patiently sit with them, they naturally come and go. In my view, that’s what meditation is—it’s recognizing when you’ve gone away from your center, and then you make your way back home, without judgement. And you can start doing this just by breathing in and out.

What inspired you to create the Play Free, Free Your Mind journal as a tool for athletes and coaches to overcome overthinking and enhance their performance?

The Play Free, Free Your Mind journal was a five-year journey to create a tool that helps athletes and coaches by giving them a straightforward system. Initially, it was bulky and overwhelming, but over time, I streamlined it to focus on what really matters. The framework of the journal consistently focuses on gratitude, small wins, and steps forward― training your brain to build resilience and strength. From a neuropsychology perspective, this approach reduces vulnerability to anxiety and stress.

The inspiration came from my own journey of suffering—years of not having the tools I needed—and then from seeing athletes and coaches struggle in similar ways. I realized that you can end suffering if you face your pain head-on instead of avoiding or numbing it. This journal provides a simple system to help athletes and coaches confront what they might usually shy away from.

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How do you help athletes transition between being on the bench to performing on the court?

When you sub into the game, it’s about activating—being assertive, taking the shot, making the extra pass, or quickly refocusing after a mistake. Athletes need a high-performance mindset on the court, but they also need to know how to regulate when they sub out. Subbing out isn’t about shrinking or disengaging; it’s a chance to stay big—open-hearted, connected with coaches and teammates, and grounded.

At the end of the bench, it’s an opportunity to let go, move energy, and reset. I often compare this to a cheetah in the wild: after a hunt, the impala trembles and breathes deeply to discharge energy and survive. Athletes need similar tools—whether it’s jumping, shaking, or deep breathing—to release tension from mistakes, turnovers, or criticism. Otherwise, they play stiff and carry that energy back into the game and the next moment.

We meet athletes where they’re at, starting with practical, physical actions on the court. Once they grasp these basics, we introduce pregame tools like meditation, visualization, and affirmations. I’ve found that starting with these mental exercises alone makes it hard for athletes to connect the dots. That’s why I emphasize sweating it out together on the court—building from the physical to the mental for optimal performance.

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How do you break the stigma around mental performance and help athletes embrace it?

Talking about mental performance with athletes can be challenging because there’s often a stigma attached to it—like having certain thoughts or feelings means something is wrong with you or that you're unworthy. I avoid framing it as “mental health” and instead refer to it as “mental fitness.” Language matters, and using relatable terms makes it more accessible. Even “mindfulness” can sound abstract or “woo-woo” to some, so I simplify it by referencing legends like Phil Jackson, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant—showing that this is what the greats did.

Conversations often start with basketball, but over time, you can peel back layers and address deeper, more uncomfortable topics, like pain and vulnerability. For example, some athletes resist journaling, even though therapists and psychologists recommend it. Journaling forces them to confront and release what they’ve been holding onto, which can be tough. Progress takes time, and I can’t force anyone—they have to decide to come up for air on their own. The best I can do is hold space, serve, work on myself and encourage others to do the same.

Reflecting on your journey to date, what wisdom or advice would you share with your younger self?

If I could give advice to my younger self, it would be: don’t try to do it all yourself. For a long time, I thought I needed to reinvent the wheel or be the guy who figured everything out alone—that was ego-driven. But looking back, the greats didn’t do it by themselves. They had a team of people pushing and challenging them to improve every day.

In the last few years, I’ve embraced this mindset. I’ve hired coaches, worked with business mentors, and even brought on a video editor to sharpen how I present material. I’ve realized the value of committing to growth over a sustained period—three months, six months, a year—without getting caught up in comparing myself to others. That’s the real game: focusing on your own growth while being grateful for the people and resources that help along the way.

Q&A Resources

Jon Giesbrecht ―  Journal: Play Free, Free Your Mind | Instagram | X | LinkedIn

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