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ABOUT COACH TIM
MEET TIM
MAHONEY, M.S.
Mental Performance Consultant. Former College Lacrosse Captain. Evidence-Based Coach.
I help lacrosse players turn pressure into performance. Not with wannabe mindset guru talk, with the same research-backed mental skills that took me from a late bloomer who was afraid to make mistakes to a 5x captain, grad school researcher, and mental performance consultant trusted by over 2,000 athletes worldwide.
WHY I GET IT
I was a late bloomer. In high school, I had the physical tools but lacked the confidence to use them. I was afraid of making mistakes, so I played it safe, and had been having a pretty unremarkable playing career because of it.
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That's why it surprised me when I was named one of the captains of my high school's JV lacrosse team.
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My coach told me it was "because you care and you aren't afraid to work hard." Then he followed it with the best advice I've ever received: "I need you to make more mistakes and take more risks." The chance that he took on me was everything I needed.
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That completely shifted my mentality. And it's advice I still give athletes today.
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But my path wasn't straightforward. I didn't understand the recruiting landscape, put all my eggs in one basket for a school that didn't recruit me, and watched as other offers disappeared. By the time I realized what happened, I was without a home for the fall.
Because when I don't like doors one or two, I build door number three.
I enrolled in community college and started coaching. At 18, I was hired as the head JV coach at my own high school, where I coached for 2 years. I coached travel lacrosse for a top 30 nationally ranked club team. I ran player development for a local rec program. I started working with lacrosse players as a private trainer.
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And I noticed something: my guys were making technical improvements, but they kept hitting mental blocks I wasn't equipped to help them with. The confidence issues, the overthinking, the fear of failure- I saw it in them because I'd lived it myself. I just didn't have the tools yet.
SIX WEEKS THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
I eventually transferred to Northern Illinois University, where I played club lacrosse and was named captain. Everything was clicking. I was on track for a breakout season after fall ball.
Then we played Wisconsin.
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Six weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury taught me that every skill you build in the gym and on the field can disappear in a moment of uncertainty when your
entire identity as an athlete is put to the test.
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I wasn't ready for that test. Not even close.
I didn't handle it well. My grades started slipping. My social psychology professor pulled me aside because he was concerned I wouldn't pass his class. When I explained what was going on, he said something that changed my life:
"You should look into sport psychology. Not just to help yourself, but as a career."
The next day, I signed up for Intro to Applied Sport Psychology.
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The running joke is that sport psychology is the best thing that ever happened to me. I met my fiancée in that class. And after watching half the students pack up and leave during the professor's "this field is brutally competitive" speech, I knew it was for me.
So, I built door number three.
I got a 99.99% in that class. My professor still wouldn't round up and I bring it up every chance I get.
WHERE THEORY MEETS REALITY
I was recruited into NIU's graduate program for Sport & Exercise Psychology with full funding and a research assistantship with Project FLEX. This leading positive youth development program uses sport to help incarcerated youth reintegrate into society in an effort to reduce the probability that the youth are reincarcerated.
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That meant going into a maximum-security juvenile prison multiple days a week to play basketball, run group fitness sessions, and teach life skills. I started a basketball team made up of six young men who were all on good behavior within the prison and helped organize a league that included other juvenile facilities throughout Illinois. We traveled across the state in prison vans, competing against other incarcerated youth.
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It was in those sessions- teaching self-talk, visualization, and goal-setting to young men who trusted me to coach them that I developed real confidence as a mental performance consultant.
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Not on a lacrosse field. Inside an environment where if your answer to "are you nervous about going to the jail?" is no, you're lying.
WHY PARAGON EXISTS
Midway through my second year of grad school, I launched Paragon Mental Performance Consulting.
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As a grad student, I built partnerships with a Division 1 football program, worked with the #1 ranked singles pickleball player in the world, coached NESCAC lacrosse starters and captains, supported high school programs in Illinois and on the East Coast, and helped an overseas pro basketball player navigate an injury.
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But my goal was always lacrosse.
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In lacrosse, we're taught to "grow the game." I've always cared deeply about that. I wanted to be what I wish I had when I was a young player trying to navigate the pressure of big goals: a support system that could facilitate meaningful conversations, serve as a sounding board, and help players achieve their own breakthroughs through mental skills development.
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Since grad school, I've been extremely fortunate to have been trusted by over 2,000 athletes to be their mental performance coach. That list includes High School and Collegiate All-Americans, state championship teams, D1/UFL/NFL quarterbacks, MLB pitchers, Olympic cyclists, MMA fighters, BJJ world games competitors, and
special operators.
But my passion is with lacrosse. That's where I started.
And I owe the game so much.
EDUCATION & RESEARCH
MASTER OF SCIENCE
SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY
Northern Illinois University
Graduate Research Assistant, Project FLEX; a positive youth development program using sport to support incarcerated youth. Presented research at national and international academic conferences.
Bachelor of Arts
PSYCHOLOGY
Northern Illinois University
AREAS OF RESEARCH
Coaching styles and athlete development
Team cohesion and communication
Sport-related concussions and return-to-play psychology
Leadership development in competitive athletics
Why credentials matter:
You wouldn't hire a strength coach who learned from YouTube. You shouldn't hire a mental performance coach who only learned from Instagram or attended a team meeting with a mental performance coach in college.
HOW I COACH
Evidence-based, not trendy.
Every technique I use is grounded in peer-reviewed sport psychology research. Not whatever went viral this week. This means that I'll always have multiple concepts we can explore in a session to give you more tools and can pivot on a dime to explore a concept related to a question you have.
Specific to you and your sport, not generic.
An attackman's mental challenges differ from those of an attacker, and a midfielder's or a goalie's. A recruited player's pressure is different from a walk-on's. I customize every plan to your situation.
Practical, not wishful thinking.
My personal goal for each athlete & team I work with: that you execute this skill under game pressure. We practice mental skills the same way you practice stick skills: with repetition, feedback, and increasing difficulty to match your situation.
Accessible, not exclusive.
Elite mental performance training shouldn't only be available to pro athletes and Olympians. That's why I proudly offer 2-3 scholarships per year to deserving student-athletes. I maintain flexible pricing and work with athletes at every level. Please do not hesitiate to ask about payment options.
Partnership, not prescription.
I'm not here to "fix" you. You're not broken. You're a high-performing athlete ready for the next step. I bring the science, experience, and accountability. You bring the commitment. Together, we build your mental game and enhance your mental performance in and outside of athletics.
THE RESULTS
ATHLETES COACHED
2,000+
COLLEGE
COMMITS (2024-2025)
53
D1 COMMITS
(2024-2025)
36
NATIONAL
CHAMPIONS
12
COUNTRIES
9
From middle school players building confidence to pros managing contract pressure. High school & collegiate All-Americans, collegiate national champions, NFL quarterbacks, Olympic cyclists, and world-ranked competitors. The athletes I work with don't just feel better, they perform better, and dominate their competition.