John Stawinski, ATC, MA, CSCS, ITAT
John has been a Certified Athletic Trainer for over 30 years. He is licensed by the State of Vermont and Certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association to provide rehabilitative services to active individuals.
He has worked at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid and has since been invited to travel internationally with Olympic teams. John has worked with Division I athletes in the Athletic Medicine Department at the University of Vermont for 12 years, and has been affiliated with the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers hockey teams. John started Injury to Excellence/Fit2Excel in 2009 in hopes of inspiring athletes to, “Do the Most to Be their Best”! He runs a practice specializing in rehabilitation of active/athletic individuals and has become a specialist in ACL rehabilitation and recovery for high school and college athletes. He blends his sport medicine training with his strength and conditioning expertise to help the athlete be stronger, faster, and more durable then before their injury. He shares this specialty with his wife, Sheila, who trains injured athletes in the psychology of injury and mental rehabilitation in her Sport Psychology practice. John is also the medical provider for the Vermont Lumberjacks including game coverage and all rehabilitative services for the players. He talent and expertise is well known throughout the community and consistently goes above and beyond as a coach and sports medicine specialist for his athletes and patients.
John enjoys many outdoor activities, including kayak racing, power hiking and skiing. Most of all, he enjoys watching his three children participate in sports and dance.
- B.S. Northeastern University – Exercise Science/ Athletic Training
- M.A. San Diego State University – Exercise Science/Biomechanics
- ATC, 1991
- CSCS, 2001
- ITAT, 2014
Sheila C. Stawinski, MA, CSCS
Sheila received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Exercise Science in 1990 and her Master’s degree in Sport Psychology in 1993. Sheila has more than 25 years of experience in mental skills training with Olympic, National, Collegiate, and High School athletes. Her career began in Lake Placid, NY where she trained athletes from the Olympic Training Center, the National Sports Academy (NSA), the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), and Northwood School.
Since 1996, Sheila has served as the Sport Psychology Consultant at the University of Vermont where her focus is on mental skills training and leadership development for individual athletes, teams and coaches. Sheila’s private practice at Fit2Excel focuses on the development and application of individual mental skills training for athletes of all sports and ages, coaching education, psychological support for parents and sport/leadership consultation for athletic directors and high school administrators.
Her specialties include: Psychological Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete, Motivation Training, Goal Setting, Concentration Training, Visualization, Self Talk & Self Confidence, Sport Personality, Athletic Identity, Performance Anxiety, Athletic Burnout, Group & Team Dynamics, Communication, Athletic Leadership, Coach/Athlete Relationship, Parent/Athlete Relationship, Hazing and Bullying Prevention and Intervention. Currently, Sheila is a consultant for the D1 Cornell University Wrestling Team providing mental skills training to individual athletes and the team.
Sheila has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sport Psychology (AASP) for 25 years and has presented her work on the psychology of Injured athletes numerous times. She is also a member of the American Psychological Association Division 47 – Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology. Sheila has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (CSCS) from the National Strength and Conditioning Associaton since 2011. She enjoys blending her fitness coaching and her sport psychology skills together to develop the most well rounded high school and collegiate athlete.
Locally, Sheila provides Athletic and Sport Psychology team training to many middle and high school teams and has more than 20 years of experience in Athletic Leadership. She serves as the leadership director for varsity sport captains at South Burlington High school, Essex High School, Mount Mansfield Union High School, Milton High School, BFA Saint Albans, and Essex Middle School. As a collegiate cross country and track athlete Sheila also had the privilege of being a high school cross country and track coach for 15 years. Sheila and her husband John, live in Essex, with their three children where they love spending time together and enjoy being active as a family!
Additional staff at Fit2Excel
Sandy Burkhart – Class Instructor