Alpha Delta Gamma Reunion 2009

John Murray  

Pledged Fall of '79, Graduated '83.

After Loyola I spent most of the 1980s coaching tennis worldwide, first at a private club outside of Munich, Germany, and later in Texas, Hawaii, Florida, Austria, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. I learned German, spending 5 seasons at the top rated tennis camp in Europe, Hotel Stanglwirt, nestled within the Wilden Kaiser mountain range near Kitzbuel, Austria.

Seeing the critical importance of the mental game in tennis, sports and all areas of life, and itching to become a sports psychologist, I returned to the states in 1990 and earned two masters degrees and a Ph.D. at the University of Florida (studying the Gator's first football national championship for my doctoral dissertation). I specialized in both sports psychology and clinical psychology and completed the only APA approved internship at the time that had a formal rotation in applied sports psychology at Washington State University. Later I did a post-doctoral fellowship at Florida international University to earn the hours needed to become a Florida licensed psychologist in 1999. I authored the book "Smart Tennis: How to Play and Win the Mental Game" in 1999 and began writing columns for Tennis Magazine and giving presentations all over the world. Every summer I conduct sports psychology workshops on the weekend before Wimbledon in London. I've enjoyed many rewarding experiences including coaching ATP Tour veteran Vince Spadea for a month in Australia in 2007 including a win over top 20 player Igor Andreev, and working with Team USA's top judo fighter at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. I currently own a private clinical and sports psychology practice in Palm Beach, Florida, design graduate online psychology courses for EDMC, and teach psychology as an adjunct professor at Argosy University in Sarasota. 

In 2002, I developed a system that standardizes scoring in football with one statistic and includes mental factors too called the Mental Performance Index (MPI). It was featured in a fun ESPN The Magazine article that mentioned my affiliation with ADG at Loyola. I also produced and hosted a sports psychology talk radio show from Miami in 2003 and have appeared on hundreds of local and national radio and tv shows including ABC Good Morning America, FOX News with Neil Cavuto and John Gibson, MSNBC with Alison Stewart, and NPR Radio. I enjoy contributing each year to hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles to spread the good word about this new and exciting field of sports psychology that many are still not fully aware of.    

    in 1997 I married Charlotte, a professional ballerina, speech pathologist, and Presidential Scholar of the Arts, and brother Dean Barcenas served as my best man. We have a gorgeous 5 year old daughter named Caroline who has daddy wrapped around her finger. In my spare time I love to travel, play tennis, and play with the computer and websites.

The ADG reunion was much better than anticipated, and Charlie Arazoza and his family were gracious hosts. I hope we do this again within 3-5 years and that is why I took on Charlie's challenge to throw some of my writing and website experience toward bringing us back together. Those who did not attend this reunion missed something rare and special, and we'll chase you down, put you in burlap, and make you re-live Hell Night if you don't attend the next one! 

I'll be posting updates at www.ADGBrothers.com and the newsletter will be published annually.

Your Faithful Publisher
John F. "Chip" Murray, Ph.D.
139 North County Road Suite 18C
Palm Beach, FL  33480
Tel: 561-596-9898
Fax: 561-805-8662
www.JohnFMurray.com
www.ADGBrothers.com