January 7, 2021

Official Ontario Blue Jays News Release

The Ontario Blue Jays are excited to announce the addition of Ronan Byrne as the organization’s Mental Skills Coach.

"Over the past four weeks, Ronan has gone above and beyond for our players providing tools that are not only helping them get through this COVID-19 lockdown, but also giving them the appropriate steps to help achieve future success both on and off the field,” said Corey Eckstein, the Ontario Blue Jays’ director of player development and personnel.

“It made perfect sense for us to continue our relationship with Ronan and have him available to our players on an as needed basis. Ronan will be a big part of our IMG Spring Training in the coming years. It will be a great way for him to connect with our players on a personal level prior to our seasons starting as well as help us with orientated team building exercises."

Byrne’s philosophy is that to be successful you have to focus on effort and building habits, not on quick or instant results. That mental toughness, self-discipline, and motivation can be developed and learned. That positive and successful habits, and self-discipline lead to self-worth and confidence. He challenges and inspires clients to step out of their comfort zone and face their fears through action and accountability.

Byrne works with the Correctional Service of Canada. As a programs officer, he delivers interventions and counselling to federal offenders that are in crisis and a high risk to reoffend. In this capacity, he has developed extensive skills in motivational interviewing and counselling. He is currently the Pacific Region’s expert in Motivational interviewing.

Byrne graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in Psychology, specializing in human performance and social psychology. His passion for psychology drives him to continue to research and understand human nature and strategies and techniques to influence and motivate clients to reach their goals. He is currently a master’s Candidate in clinical counselling and psychology at the University of Seattle, with a focus on mental toughness and resiliency.

“Working with Ronan for the past four weeks has been absolutely incredible. Having a man like him jump on board with OBJ this past month and being able to share his expertise and knowledge not only benefits the way I look at the game of baseball but the way I look at life,” said OBJ Catcher and Connors State College commit Luca Boscarino.

“I’ve never enjoyed working with someone as much as I did with Ronan. With him being as open as he was he really made me feel comfortable to open up myself and share things I’ve never shared before. Ronan’s impact will last with me a lifetime as I now truly understand what it takes to be the best version of yourself no matter what you are doing or trying to be. What an absolute pleasure it has been to jump on these zoom calls with him as he made my Saturday mornings my favourite time of the week and always made me excited for the next Saturday. Thank you Ronan, I cant wait to work with you again!”

Byrne lives in the Fraser Valley with his family. He is an accomplished athlete. Having played at the professional level in Rugby Union, is a five-time Ironman Triathlete, Spartan competitor, marathon runner, former combat diver and avid body building competitor.