By Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist Published Oct 29, 2014 at 3:22 PM

Professional and amateur athletes know that they have to work out and get their bodies in shape to compete in any sort of physical event. However, to find a greater level of success, the mind has to be trained as well.

Welcome to "Stadium of Mind," a Kickstarter crowdfunded effort to make a feature film in Wisconsin.

"What we’d like to do is tell the next ‘Rudy’ or ‘Miracle’ in Wisconsin," said Jeremy Richter, CEO of Richter Studios and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

"I’ve been pursuing a dream for several years now to create a sports film that centers around imagination. And because of the emergence of crowdfunding, we have a great opportunity to make this dream come true."

The film will share the story of Dave McLaren, who, despite a number of obstacles, won a NCAA National Championship in the shot put back in the early '90s with the use of his mind and imagination.

"Stadium of Mind" is a play on "state of mind," and stems from the imagery McLaren used of a sold-out, stadium-filled crowd cheering him on. In reality, the average track and field crowd is never crowded, but that didn’t stop his desire for success.

Dr. Jack Curtis works with college and professional athletes on visual imagery, and how it can boost an athlete’s performance. Curtis worked with Paul Molitor when he went on the record-setting hitting streak with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Later Curtis and Mark Guthrie, now the head coach at Central Michigan University, worked with Olympic decathlete hopeful and college football receiver Bill Schroeder. He’d go on to use visual imagery when he played with the Green Bay Packers.

"It would just take moments," he said about using visual imagery when he was in the NFL. "I’d do it at different fields, indoor and outdoor, and at the Hudson Center. I’d relax and focus on what I had to do each day."

The film, if successfully funded on Kickstarter, would use McLaren’s experience to tell a story, but inside the film would be segments that would talk about the different way the mind can be used to better one’s performance.

The beautiful thing is that the lessons learned can go beyond the sports film genre in the application of everyday life. The ways of using the imagination and seeing success before heading into a business meeting, or into a family discussion or any situation can pay dividends when the time comes to be in any certain situation. What is gone is the fear, the anxiety and the worry of the unknown, because the situation becomes familiar by being played inside the mind beforehand. 

Find out more about the "Stadium of Mind" Kickstarter effort here.

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Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist

Media is bombarding us everywhere.

Instead of sheltering his brain from the onslaught, Steve embraces the news stories, entertainment, billboards, blogs, talk shows and everything in between.

The former writer, editor and producer in TV, radio, Web and newspapers, will be talking about what media does in our community and how it shapes who we are and what we do.