Spring 2025:
Monday: 1:30 - 3:00
Wednesday: 10:00 - 11:00
Thursday: 10:30 - 12:30
Or by appointment
Presidential Teaching Excellence Award Winner
Bio
Mario joined the KSSPE faculty in the fall of 2017. He is passionate about creating a caring climate in the classroom and loves to promote thoughtful conversation along with a little bit of joy and laughter. A proud alumnus of Dr. Mary Fry’s Sport Psychology Lab at the University of Kansas, Mario has created a measure to explore shame levels in athletes and hopes to do more with the instrument in future research. His ultimate goal is to instill a sense of compassion and empathy in all coaches, no matter what level. In addition to teaching and research, Mario is the Kinesiology Coordinator and co-chairs Brockport’s Presidential Campus Climate Committee. When not working at the school, he enjoys being a good husband and dad to his two kids, and has been known to tear it up on the Mario Kart raceways.
Education
PhD, The University of Kansas
M.A., Northeastern University
B.A., Ithaca College
Areas of Specialty
Sport & Exercise Psychology
Kinesiology
Sport Sociology
Coaching Leadership
Courses Taught
PES 300 Introduction to Kinesiology
PES 430 Sport & Exercise Psychology
PES 441 Sport Sociology
PES 396 Women in Sport
Research Interests
Achievement Goal Perspective Theory in Sport
Self-Conscious Emotions in Athletes
Academic Advisement Award (2023)
Presidential Teaching Excellence Award (2019)
Little Fenway Hall of Fame (2007)
Fontana, M.S. (2025) The Caring-est Coach: How Fostering a Caring Climate Led to a National Championship for a Collegiate Gymnastics Team. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, & Dance.
Fontana, M.S., & Feeney, J. (2025). Exploring a Caring and Task-Involving Culture in a Gymnastics Setting. Strategies.
Beasley, V. L., Lauer, S. D., Pell, E., & Fontana, M. S. (2025). Understanding hikers’ injury-risk behavior: Self-categorization processes and self-presentational tactics. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 49, 100850-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2024.100850
Fry, M. D. and Fontana, M. (2022). Did You Hear the One About the Hilarious Professor? Yeah, Me Neither: Incorporating Humor in Sport Psychology to Enhance Motivation and Relieve Stress. In K. Vaidya (Ed.) Teach Psychology With a Sense of Humor (pp. 240-252). Curious Academic Publishing.
Fontana, M. S., Fry, M. D., and Moore, E. W. G. (2022). Exploring the Relationship Between Athletes’ Perceptions of the Their Team Motivational Climate and Their Sport Shame. The Sport Psychologist, 36(4).
Fontana, M. S. and Fry, M. D. (2017) Exploring Compassion, Self-Compassion, Shame, and Pride in a Perceived Motivational Climate. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise, 21(2).
Fontana, M. S. and Fry, M. D. (2017) Creating and Validating the Shame in Sport Questionnaire. Journal of Sport Behavior, 40(3)
Fontana, M. S., Bass, J. R. and Fry, M. D. (2015). From Smith Center to Coney Island: Examining the Coaching Climate in the United States Sporting Culture. Journal of Contemporary Athletics, 9(4).
