About Blake
Blake grew up in the small Alberta town of Rocky Mountain House and lived for sport. Three Provincial championships in hockey, baseball considerations in the US, a single digit handicap in golf and growing up in a football family, Blake’s roots are in sport.
His love for the game of football would lead him to the University of Calgary and ultimately to the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.
On the surface Blake checked all the boxes of a successful athlete. Confident, strong and resilient. Underneath this mask, however, Blake was struggling with mental illness. His athletic career would end in 2005, after being released by the Stamps. Like many athletes, the transition away from being “Blake Machan the athlete” was a very difficult period. He fell into a deeper depression, and continued to leverage the poor coping skills that he had developed.
After a panic attack at work in 2013, and a trip to the emergency room, Blake came face to face with his mental illness and started to dig into healing.
Now holding the titles of father, coach, community volunteer and employee, Blake’s journey has propelled his desire to help others. That fuel is the “why” behind Thrive Sport Project and the Anchored Performance program.
“As a former head coach of the Cochrane Lions Bantam football team, I can tell you that bringing Thrive Sports Project into our organization was one of the best decisions I made all season. Blake Machan made such a positive impact on our players, coaching staff, and community.
Our players gained life skills and knowledge to help them overcome incredible adversity during the pandemic, and this was right when they needed it most.
Some of our players were suffering from panic attacks at practice and during games. Blake was able to teach me and our other coaches, how to help them, by regulating their breathing, taking in their surroundings, and reminding themselves that they could overcome their insecurities and fears.
In the end, our players said it was the best season they had ever experienced, and I have no doubt that the Thrive Sports Project played a significant role in that.
If you want you want to give your players an extra competitive edge, and to learn how to be a better coach, then hire Blake!”
- Mike Dangerfield
About Thrive.
Thrive Sport Project started in 2017, with a focus on challenging the status quo in youth sport. TSP has presented to various sport associations, coaches and parent groups, providing a fresh perspective into the holistic development of athletes.
Over time, TSP’s work has pivoted towards athletes, individually and within teams. Blake has mentored athletes across a wide spectrum of levels and sports. His story has also reached into schools across the province, through in-classroom presentations, and region wide workshops.
Anchored Performance is the accumulation of TSP’s work. It pulls together multiple modalities of learning, formal and in-formal practices, and leverages stories from across the sporting world . By partnering these stories with research based mental fitness skills, TSP delivers a message of resilience, efficacy, and hope.