Jarrett Mentink

Biography

Education: BA, University of Washington, 1993; MA, Washington State University, 1998; PhD, Washington State University, 2001. At SPU since 1995. Jarrett Mentink has been a part of Seattle Pacific University since 1995 in various capacities, starting as a men’s basketball coach. Before his present faculty position, Dr. Mentink was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Decatur High School and Tacoma Community College, and spent four years on the staff of men’s basketball coach Ken Bone at Seattle Pacific University. He was also the first men’s head basketball coach at Todd Beamer High School, where he was the 2006 South Puget Sound League Coach of the Year. Today as a member of SPU’s Health and Human Performance Department faculty, Dr. Mentink teaches introductory sports psychology concepts, coaching and training seminars, and administration of health/physical activity courses. Dr. Mentink is also an accomplished author and founded Kids in the Clouds, a book company that provides kids’ reading material on airplanes. He also produces children's books about sports stars, which share positive moral messages and benefit charities such as Seattle Children’s Hospital, Boys & Girls Clubs, and The Edgar and Holli Martinez Foundation. Those books include athletes such as Shaun Alexander, Ken Griffey Jr., Kasey Keller, and Felix Hernandez. In 2011, the Seattle Mariners hosted a King Felix Children’s Book Giveaway Night, giving 10,000 copies of The Rise of King Felix, Dr. Mentink’s book on Felix Hernandez, to young fans. Dr. Mentink also speaks at elementary schools in the Northwest, California, and Arizona, sharing an anti-bullying message that includes Christ’s “love thy neighbor as thyself” lesson.

Research Interest

Physical education