Dr. George Selleck
As an author, retired psychologist, founder, educator, motivational speaker, special advisor, counselor, coach, and athlete, George A. Selleck, Ph.D., M.Div., MA, has dedicated his life to inspiring young people to achieve greatness through sports and fitness.
His love for sports began as a young teen playing basketball in Compton, California. His success there led him to a collegiate career where he earned Hall of Fame Honors from Stanford University and the Pac 12 Conference as well as the distinguished title of All-American Athlete. Legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden once described Selleck as “one of those rare individuals who is as a good person as he was an athlete.” Though he was later drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors, Selleck chose instead to earn his master's degree from Stanford in educational psychology and later both a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Southern California and a degree in theology from Princeton.
As a counseling psychologist with more than 35 years of professional expertise, Dr. Selleck successfully integrated his knowledge of human behavior and experience as an accomplished athlete to become a national sports workshop specialist and recognized author in the field of sports education. In 1997, Selleck started Sports for Life, an organization to teach kids to take winning less seriously and was subsequently named by the Institute for International Sport as one of the 100 most influential sports educators. In 2011, Selleck founded the A-Games, later renamed Lead2Play, “an innovative, fun, inclusive, school-based health and fitness program” with the goal of improving students’ academic performance, leadership, life skills, and behavior.
Dr. Selleck also shares his experiences and knowledge through numerous books including The Student-Athlete’s Recruiting Handbook, How to Play the Game of Your Life: A Guide to Success in Sports and Life, Court Sense: The Invisible Edge in Basketball and Life, From the Bleachers With Love: Advice to Parents With Kids in Sports, Successful Sports Officiating, Beyond the Bleachers: The Art of Parenting Today’s Athletes, Raising a Good Sport in an IN-YOUR-FACE World and Coach Sense: Coaching to Make a Difference. His upcoming Kian and Me: Gifts from a Grandson, set to release in November 2021, is part musing memoir and part grandparenting guidebook in which Dr. Selleck pens letters to his almost-two-year-old grandson, sharing the many insights and gifts Kian has given him as an infant and now a toddler.
Selleck has remained steadfast in his belief in the power of young people, a conviction evident in Lead2Play’s stated commitment to getting kids playing and moving and to put youth in authentic positions of leadership where they can improve play for their peers or younger kids. At the forefront of his work is his mantra, “Ask the children.”
Dr. Selleck currently lives in Northern California with his wife, Barbara.
