KidsPost: Want to enjoy sports more this year? Your attitude may need a workout.

It’s a new year. So I decided to talk to someone who might help kids get more fun out of playing sports and perhaps play better in 2017.

Caroline Silby has been a sports psychologist — someone who studies how the brain relates to sports performance — for more than 20 years. She has worked with lots of teams and individual athletes, including kids as young as 10. Here is what she had to say.

KidsPost: What does a sports psychologist do?

Caroline Silby: I work with athletes when there is a gap between their abilities and their performances in games and meets. I also help them use their sports experiences to become happy, productive adults.

KP: How did you become a sports psychologist?

CS: I was a nationally ranked figure skater when I was growing up. But I had very inconsistent performances. I wondered if there was a way to train my mind [so I could] become a more consistent skater. My parents told me about sports psychology, so I studied it in college and graduate school.

KP: Whe