Today on the Basketball Manitoba Podcast, we have Jon Giesbrecht, a coach who’s built a career around player development, the mental game, and helping athletes play free.

He started coaching at 15 when he stepped in to coach his younger brother’s team, and he hasn’t stopped since then. 

He’s coached many of those same players to a JV provincial championship and an undefeated Grade 12 season at John Taylor Collegiate, where he was the co-coach of the program, with many players going on to play university basketball.

He has coached at the provincial team level, winning a gold medal as an assistant with the U17 boys team. He’s also worked with Canada Basketball as a video coordinator for the Canadian Junior Men’s National Team. 

He’s coached at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba, including two seasons as a full-time assistant coach with the University of Regina women’s program. 

He moved on from the college level and went on to coach prep in Italy as the director of mental performance.

The last two seasons, he was with the Vancouver Bandits as Director of Mental Skills & Performance. 

He also runs a private practice called “Play Free”, where he teaches athletes how to handle pressure, regulate emotions, and perform when it matters.