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The dialogue between athlete and sports psychologist is usually pretty straightforward: Don’t get caught up by what’s coming or what’s gone before; just keep your head cool and in the moment.

When it comes to Rugby Canada’s Carolyn McEwen, that dialogue could easily get turned on its head: she’s a sports psychology teacher at UBC, you see.

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“When I am here, I’m present as an athlete,” McEwen said Monday over the phone from the team’s Women’s Rugby World Cup base in Ireland, where Canada opens against Hong Kong on Wednesday (9 a.m. PT, TSN1).

It’s all about keeping perspective. She could easily chip in with her expertise — but that’s not why she’s there. She’s there to play.

Besides, McEwen knows from her own research that keeping it simple is best.

“Knowing what I know, sometimes when we overthink … things don’t actually happen.”

McEwen completed a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., before moving west to UBC half a decade ago. She earned her PhD from UBC in 2016 and remains an instructor in the school of kinesiology.