If your daughter wants to play at the next level, this is the video she needs to see. 🎯 Grab the tools she needs → trainhergame.com/mom

Most athletes spend years training their bodies for college scouts. But the coaches doing the recruiting are quietly screening for something else entirely.

After 14 years as a head volleyball coach, I watched talented athletes get removed from recruiting lists - not because of skill gaps, but because of what happened between the plays.

👋🏼 I'm Coach Bre, a mental performance coach for girl athletes, Co-Founder of The Elite Competitor, and a head volleyball coach and 4-time state champion.

In this episode, I'm breaking down 5 things college coaches look for beyond talent:
✅ How she responds after mistakes (and what coaches are really watching)
✅ What her body language says when things aren't going her way
✅ How she treats her teammates under pressure
✅ How she interacts with her parents and coaches at events
✅ Whether she performs when the moment gets big - or plays it safe

Every single one of these is trainable. I'm also breaking down the Snapback Routine - the simple reset system athletes use to bounce back faster than their sport requires.

If she has the talent, let's make sure the rest of her game matches it.

⏱️ Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction
00:32 Why Mental Skills Matter in Recruiting
02:12 #1: Response to Adversity
03:15 The Snapback Routine
04:35 Free Training Callout
05:19 #2: Body Language
06:40 #3: How You Treat Teammates
08:28 #4: How You Treat Your Parents
09:43 #5: Performing Under Pressure
12:29 Recap & Final Thoughts

Drop a comment below and let me know which of the 5 hits home👇

📩 Want to connect? Email us at [email protected]

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg

🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes ⬇️  Raising Elite Competitors YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RaisingEliteCompetitors   

 P.S. A few stats worth knowing:  
⚡️ Mental skills are among the top factors coaches cite in recruiting decisions, alongside physical skills and coachability. (Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology)
⚡️ 85% of college coaches say they would not recruit an athlete who displayed poor body language or sportsmanship, regardless of talent level. (NFHS)
⚡️ Athletes who use mental skills training show a 43% improvement in competitive performance consistency under pressure. (Association for Applied Sport Psychology)

The Raising Elite Competitors YouTube channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most.    

#girlssports #mentalperformance #sportsparenting #girlathlete #youthsports

Elise went from "stuck in a box" after every mistake to bouncing back in a championship game. Here's how she did it ➡️ https://trainhergame.com/mom

She's 11. Competitive soccer player. And in her own words, she was "stuck in a box" - trapped in her mistakes mid-game, spiraling after every error, losing herself in the what-ifs.

Then her whole family joined The Elite Mental Game together.💛 
What changed? Everything.

In this episode, Coach Saylor sits down with our March Athlete of the Month to talk about what the mental game actually looks like from the inside - as an athlete, and as a family. Here's what you'll hear:

✅ How Elise used the Snapback Routine to turn around a championship game at halftime
✅ The exact moment her parents went from "are you okay?" to knowing exactly what to say
✅ What it means to go from spiraling after mistakes to trusting your skills under pressure
✅ Why her family finally felt "on the same page", and what made that shift happen

The part that gets me every time? She's 11 years old and she already knows something most adults never learn: you're in control of the game, not your mistakes.

💬 Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction & Welcome
01:43 Meet Elise – Background & Sport
03:12 Why Elise Joined the Mental Game Program
04:23 The Snapback Routine & Mental Tools
05:24 Championship Game Comeback Story
07:05 Family Support & The Mental Game
11:24 Goals, Advice & Closing

🎙️ This one is for every mom watching from the bleachers wondering what else she can do to help.

Athlete of the month episodes are hosted by REC Coach Saylor, a mental performance coach for girl athletes. I empower girl athletes with tools to build confidence and manage pressure so they can compete freely and passionately. New AOTM episodes every month!

📌 Free Tools & Next Steps
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg 

🔔 Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes ⬇️ Raising Elite Competitors YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RaisingEliteCompetitors

P.S. A few stats worth saving if you've ever wondered whether the mental game really matters that much:

➡️ 75-90% of athletic performance at the competitive level is mental - not physical (Association for Applied Sport Psychology)
➡️ Only 9% of youth athletes receive any formal mental skills training - despite the mental game being the biggest factor in performance (Mental Health America / Sport & Exercise Science research)
➡️ Girls who feel supported by their parents in sport report higher confidence and stay in the game longer (Aspen Institute Project Play, 2022)

The Raising Elite Competitors YouTube channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most.

#mentalperformance #girlathlete #sportsparenting #athleteofthemonth

70% of girls quit sports by age 13. This is the story of one who didn't and why it matters. Grab our free training for sports parents 👉 https://trainhergame.com/mom

Coach Saylor is our head athlete coach inside The Elite Mental Game. She played volleyball and track and field at the collegiate level. She's coached thousands of girl athletes.

She's also someone who cried after games in middle school, faked her confidence for years, burned out during COVID, and quietly fought depression while being everyone else's rock on the team.

In this episode, I sit down with Coach Saylor to hear the full story - the one behind the coach your daughter might already know and trust.💛 

👋🏼 I'm Coach Bre, a mental performance coach for girl athletes, Co-Founder of The Elite Competitor, and a head volleyball coach and 4-time state champion.

Here's what you'll hear in this episode:
✅ Why the most reliable, levelheaded player on the team was falling apart inside
✅ What burnout actually looks and feels like from the inside (not the coaching manual version)
✅ The moment a coach said "How could you be struggling?" - and what that cost
✅ The two words Saylor's dad said before every game that changed how she played
✅ What she wishes someone had said to her when she was losing her love for the sport
✅ What she'd say directly to the mom whose daughter is burning out right now

This one is for the athletes who look fine but aren't. And for the moms watching from the bleachers, wondering what's really going on inside their daughter's head.

⏱️ Key Moments
00:01 Introducing Coach Saylor
01:49 Saylor's Athletic Background
02:35 Pressure, Perfectionism & Faking Confidence
04:52 Burnout in College
08:22 Getting Help & Being Heard
10:58 Why Saylor Became a Mental Performance Coach
15:10 Choosing to Stay & Lessons from Sport
19:42 What Athletes Are Carrying
22:24 Advice for Athletes & Sports Moms

Drop a comment below with the moment from this conversation that hit closest to home for you 👇

📩 Want to connect? Email us at [email protected]

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg

🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes ⬇️

P.S. A few stats worth knowing:  
⚡️ Nearly 35% of elite youth athletes experience burnout symptoms - with overtraining and no recovery time as the primary drivers (Goodger et al., Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology)  
⚡️ Girls drop out of sports at 6x the rate of boys by age 14, with lack of confidence and emotional burnout cited as leading causes (Women's Sports Foundation)
⚡️ When girls over-identify with sport as their primary identity, they are significantly more likely to experience depression and anxiety when performance dips (Brewer et al., Journal of Applied Sport Psychology)

The Raising Elite Competitors  channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most.    

#girlssports #mentalperformance #sportsparenting #girlathlete #youthsports

We're coming to Cleveland! 🎟️ Tickets are under $100 for a parent-athlete pair. Grab yours at uscoaches.org - spots are almost gone.

Coach Bre sits down with Mary Herrick, a 40+ year tennis teaching professional and member of the RSPA (Racquet Sports Professionals Association), to talk about an upcoming live in-person event in Cleveland, Ohio on May 9th: From Pressure to Power.

🎤 Event Panelists Include:
Katie Marquardt - Two-time Winter Olympian, World Champion, US Speed Skating Hall of Fame 
Cassie Sant - Division I basketball, played pro in Italy and Australia, Cleveland Cavaliers 
Breanne McLaughlin - Two-time Olympian, 3,809 career saves, first woman to coach men's D1 hockey 
Dobie Moser (Moderator) - Notre Dame "Play Like a Champion" co-director, US Olympic Committee

This event is built for girl athletes AND their parents. The morning is a hands-on workshop covering mental skills for managing pressure, mistake recovery, and the post-game car ride conversation that most families are getting wrong. The afternoon features a powerhouse panel of women who played at the highest levels and have real stories to share about navigating pressure, doubt, and what it actually takes to stay in the game.

✅ Why the car ride home matters more than most parents realize
✅ What girl athletes need mentally that their coaches aren't teaching
✅ How Coach Bre quit volleyball at 18 despite college offers - and what she learned
✅ What a 40-year tennis coach has observed about kids who make it vs. kids who don't
✅ Why this event goes beyond sports
 
🕓 Key Moments:
00:00 Workshop Promo
01:54 Meet Coach Mary Herrick
03:50 Why Kids Quit Sports
06:57 Coach Bre's Story: Quitting Under Pressure
08:56 The Event Vision
10:08 The Car Ride Home
11:53 Handling Pressure & Competition
13:07 Mental Skills & The Event Day
15:19 The Panelists
19:37 The Impact & Call to Action
 
🎟️ Tickets are under $100 for a parent-athlete pair. Grab yours at uscoaches.org - spots are almost gone.
 
📌 Resources & Tools
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg
 
🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes ⬇️  Raising Elite Competitors YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RaisingEliteCompetitors    
 
P.S.: Girls who participate in sports are 7% more likely to graduate college and show higher civic engagement rates (Women's Sports Foundation, Her Life Depends On It III, 2016)
 
The Raising Elite Competitors YouTube channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most.      
 
#girlssports #mentalperformance #sportsparenting #girlathlete #youthsports
 

💛 She looks up at you more than you think. And what she sees is shaping her confidence → https://trainhergame.com/mom

Colleen was the mom on the sidelines with her hands in the air, head down, eyes rolling every time things went wrong for her daughter Lily on the court. 

She had no idea Lily was looking up at her over 100 times every single tournament weekend. And every one of those reactions was adding pressure to an athlete who was already drowning in it.

Lily was losing her love for volleyball. She dreaded practice. And nothing Colleen said at home was helping.

So Colleen made a decision to change what she was bringing to those sidelines. She learned when to speak and when to stay quiet. She asked Lily what she actually needed instead of assuming. And she started showing up differently.

Two weeks later, Lily was smiling at practice again. Her husband noticed without being told. And by the end of the season, Lily's coaches voted her team captain.

This is their story.

What You'll Learn:
✅ How your sideline reactions are affecting your daughter's performance without you realizing it
✅ Why you might be saying the right things at the wrong times
✅ The one question that completely changed how Lily communicates with her mom
✅ What it looks like when a struggling athlete starts to find herself again

🙋‍♀️ Hi, I'm Coach Bre, a certified Mental Performance Coach and former collegiate athlete with 14 years of coaching experience, including 4 state championships. I'm also the co-founder of The Elite Competitor and host of the Raising Elite Competitors podcast, where I help sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game so they can perform their best when it matters most. 

🎙️ Colleen is a sports mom from Georgia whose daughter Lily, 14, plays club and high school volleyball. She joined a live panel during The What To Say Challenge just weeks after joining The Elite Mental Game - and her honesty will stop you in your tracks.

🕓 Key Moments:
00:00 Lily's Story: Introduction
02:01 Meet Colleen and Lily
02:50 A Season Full of Obstacles
04:56 Three Setters and a First-Time Coach
06:29 Exhausting Every Option
09:27 Getting Lily Bought Into the Program
12:00 Two Weeks In: Smiling at Practice Again
16:44 The Sideline Wake-Up Call
24:22 Lily Advocates for Herself and Earns Team Captain
31:18 Key Takeaways for Sports Parents

💬 Moms - comment below: How many times do you think your daughter looks at you during a game or practice? Drop your guess below.

📌 Resources & Tools
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg

🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 

P.S.: Athletes report watching their parents an average of once per minute during competition - and a parent's nonverbal reactions directly affect their stress levels and performance. (Journal of Applied Sport Psychology)

The Raising Elite Competitors YouTube channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most.      

#girlssports #mentalperformance #sportsparenting #girlathlete #youthsports

Athletes: Your brain finds evidence for whatever you tell it. Take the quiz to find your competitor style, then watch your personalized playlist → https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy

The words you say to yourself during practice aren't just thoughts. They're instructions your brain follows - and "this is too hard" is sending your brain straight to the exit.

👋🏼 I'm Coach Bre, a Certified Mental Performance Coach and former 4x state championship volleyball coach with 14 years of experience. I help girl athletes ages 11-18 build unshakeable confidence and develop the mental skills that create a competitive advantage. At The Elite Competitor, we believe your mental game is what separates good athletes from great ones.

In this episode, I'm breaking down:
✅ Why "this is too hard" quietly tanks your performance
✅ The science behind why your brain builds a case against you
✅ The 3-word swap that keeps your brain working FOR you
✅ How athlete Laura used mental tools to win a championship

This is the mental rep most athletes skip. The ones who don't? They're the ones who get better faster.

🕓 Key Moments:
00:00 Intro & Community Shoutout 
01:02 The Problem: "This Is Too Hard" 
01:36 Coach Brie's Story 
02:30 The Science: Reticular Activating System 
04:12 The Swap: "I'm Figuring It Out" 
05:45 Your Challenge & Call to Action

💬 Athletes - comment below: try this at your next practice then let me know how it goes 👇

💡 MENTAL TRAINING RESOURCES FOR ATHLETES:
🔗 Free Training: trainhergame.com
🔗 The Elite Mental Game Program: elitecompetitor.com/emg
🔗 Instagram: @raising.elite.competitors
🔗 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (for athletes!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
📩 Questions? Email us: [email protected]

🔔 Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes.

P.S. If you're curious about the science behind this - here's what the research shows:
⚡️ Athletes who use positive self-talk improve performance by up to 23% compared to athletes using negative self-talk (Hatzigeorgiadis et al., Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2011)
⚡️ Athletes with a growth mindset are 34% more likely to persist through challenging tasks than those with a fixed mindset (Dweck, Stanford University)
⚡️ 80-85% of elite athletes use intentional self-talk as a performance strategy - yet most young athletes are never taught how (Association for Applied Sport Psychology)

The Raising Elite Competitors channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping girl athletes and their sports moms strengthen the mental game so she can perform her best when it matters most.

#girlathlete #athletemindset #mentaltraining

Six brain facts unpacked. Learn how to help her use her brain to her advantage. Free training for sports moms 👉 https://trainhergame.com/mom 

When she freezes, spirals after one mistake, or mentally checks out under pressure, most people call it a confidence problem. It's not. It's six specific, documented brain functions that nobody ever taught her how to work with.

🙋‍♀️ Hi, I'm Coach Bre, a certified Mental Performance Coach and former collegiate athlete with 14 years of coaching experience, including 4 state championships. I'm also the co-founder of The Elite Competitor and host of the Raising Elite Competitors podcast, where I help sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game so they can perform their best when it matters most. 

In this episode, I'm breaking down the real neuroscience behind what's happening in her mind during competition and exactly what you can say and do to help.

Including:
✅ Why visualization before competition is actual training time
✅ The one-word swap that Harvard research says improves performance
✅ How her mistake response in practice is wiring her response in games
✅ Why she replays the one bad play and ignores five great ones
✅ The daily habit that rewires her brain to scan for progress

You are not helpless watching her struggle. You have more influence over her mental game than most parents realize - and this video shows you exactly how to use it.

💬 Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction
01:13 Brain Fact #1: Visualization
02:42 Brain Fact #2: Anxiety vs. Excitement
04:24 Brain Fact #3: Your Brain Believes What You Repeat
05:53 Brain Fact #4: Practice Wires Your Response
07:53 Brain Fact #5: Negativity Bias
09:45 Brain Fact #6: The Brain Is Trainable
11:24 Recap & Next Steps

💬 Moms - comment below: which of these 6 brain facts surprised you most? 

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg

🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 

P.S. A few stats worth knowing:  
⚡️ Athletes who told themselves "I'm excited" instead of "I'm nervous" performed measurably better under pressure - not calmer, actually better. (Harvard Business School, Alison Wood Brooks)
⚡️ Mental rehearsal activates the same neural pathways as physical practice. Two minutes of visualization before competition is not downtime. It's training. (Cleveland Clinic)
⚡️ 70% of youth athletes quit organized sports by age 13, with pressure and lack of enjoyment cited as top reasons. The mental game is not optional. (Aspen Institute Project Play, 2019)

The Raising Elite Competitors is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most.    

#girlssports #mentalperformance #sportsparenting #girlathlete #youthsports

I shared this with coaches recently, and the response was so strong I had to bring it to you moms too. Start here 👉 https://trainhergame.com/mom

She's got the skills. The drive. But the moment pressure hits, it all falls apart. And "just be more confident" hasn't helped once.

👋🏼 Hi, I'm Coach Bre, a mental performance coach for girl athletes, Co-Founder of The Elite Competitor, and a head volleyball coach and 4-time state champion.

Confidence isn't a pep talk. It's a skill. And in this episode, I'm sharing the three tools I've used with my own athletes for 7 years to actually build it.

You'll learn:
→ Why "shake it off" makes mistakes worse, not better
→ How body language directly affects how confident your daughter feels
→ The 5-minute daily routine that rewires her brain before practice

These are the same tools behind four consecutive state championships. They work. And you can start supporting her with them today.

⏱️ Key Moments
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Why "Be Confident" Doesn't Work
01:52 Tool #1: The Snapback Routine
03:49 Tool #2: Body Language
05:08 Tool #3: Daily Mindset Routine
05:22 The 3-2-1 Brave Method
07:17 Visualization & Neuroscience
07:30 Wrap Up & Next Steps 

📩 Want to connect? Email us at [email protected]

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg

🔔 Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 

P.S. A few stats worth knowing:
⚡️ Fewer than 10% of high school athletes receive any formal mental skills training, yet research shows it significantly improves confidence and resilience. (Association for Applied Sport Psychology)
⚡️ Mental imagery activates the same neural pathways as physical practice - meaning visualization is literally practice for the brain. (Driskell, Copper & Moran, Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology)
⚡️ Athletes who regulate emotions quickly after errors consistently outperform those who ruminate, regardless of raw skill level. (Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, University of Chicago) 

The Raising Elite Competitors YouTube channel is hosted by The Elite Competitor and is dedicated to helping sports moms strengthen their daughter's mental game and confidence in order to help her perform her best when it matters most. 

 #mentalperformance #girlathlete #sportsparenting

She had a full ride. And still walked away. If your daughter is questioning whether to keep going, this conversation is worth every minute.

Lyrik Fryer is the co-founder of Work Play Branding, a multimillion dollar media company whose clients have appeared in Target, Times Square, and Oprah's Favorite Things.  Before all of that, she was a Division I soccer player at Florida International University, navigating perfectionism, recruitment pressure, and two ACL tears before making one of the hardest decisions of her athletic career.

👋🏼 I'm Coach Bre, a mental performance coach for girl athletes, Co-Founder of The Elite Competitor, and a head volleyball coach and 4-time state champion. In this episode, Lyrik gets honest about what it felt like to play under pressure, what her mom did that gave her the security to trust herself, and what she wishes someone had said to her at 14.

Here's what you'll hear:
✅ Why athletes feel the weight of parent expectations even when nothing is said
✅ What her mom did that gave her the confidence to walk away on her own terms
✅ How two ACL tears shifted her identity before she ever made the call to leave
✅ What great coaches get right that most coaches completely miss
✅ The one thing she'd tell every athlete stuck inside the pressure bubble

Key takeaways for sports moms:
→ Your unconditional support is one of the biggest competitive advantages your daughter has
→Athletes often just need permission, not more pressure, to make the right decision
→ Perspective is the mental tool most athletes never get in high school
→ Great coaches make every player feel seen, not just the starters

⏱️ Key Moments
00:00 Introducing Lyrik
02:02 Growing Up in Soccer
03:38 The Pressure to Perform
07:06 Battling Perfectionism
12:03 Two ACL Tears
14:59 Deciding to Walk Away
23:44 What Moms and Coaches Should Know
30:02 What Sports Really Taught Her
33:06 Advice to Her 14-Year-Old Self
37:25 Final Thoughts & Where to Find Lyrik

📩 Want to connect? Email us at [email protected]

📌 Resources & Tools
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg 

🔔Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 

Nerves used to shut her down. Now she's taking first place. Grab the same training Baylor's mom did to help her → https://trainhergame.com/mom

Meet Baylor, our February Athlete of the Month inside the Elite Mental Game. She's 11 years old, figure skates and does rodeo, and she sat down with Coach Saylor to share exactly what shifted for her mentally and what her mom changed that made the biggest difference.

In this episode, you'll hear:
➡️ How Baylor went from blacking out with nerves to competing with confidence
➡️ The simple two-second reset she now uses before and during competitions
➡️ What her mom stopped doing after losses that changed everything
➡️ Why asking for help mid-competition is a sign of strength, not weakness
➡️ How she's applying the same mental tools to two completely different sports

This one is for the athlete AND the mom watching from the bleachers. 💛

The tools Baylor uses aren't complicated. They're the same ones we teach inside the Elite Mental Game, and watching an 11-year-old use them this effectively is a good reminder that it's never too early to build these skills.

💬 Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction
00:21 Meet Baylor
01:03 Baylor's Background & Sports
02:02 Passion for Figure Skating & Rodeo
03:02 Joining the Elite Mental Game
04:06 Mindset Tools: Affirmations & Snapback Routine
08:04 Competition Wins & Bouncing Back
13:40 Family Support & Future Goals

Athlete of the month episodes are hosted by REC Coach Saylor, a mental performance coach for girl athletes. I empower girl athletes with tools to build confidence and manage pressure so they can compete freely and passionately. New AOTM episodes every month! 

📌 Free Tools & Next Steps
🙌 What's Your Competitor Style Quiz (to send your athlete!): https://www.videoask.com/fnbmhduxy
💜 Conversation Guide w/ Scripts to Bring Up Mental Training: https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/sites/144031/downloads/66e16c-6886-4a62-b8db-c43a1ae18fbd_The_Elite_Mental_Game_Conversation_Starter.pdf%20
🎯 FREE Training for Sports Moms: https://trainhergame.com/mom
📺 YouTube Playlist for Athletes: https://www.youtube.com/@AthleteMentalEdge
🎓 The Elite Mental Game (our self-paced mental training program): https://elitecompetitor.com/emg 

🔔 Subscribe for more mental training tips for girl athletes 

P.S. - Stats worth knowing:
💛 Athletes who use structured pre-performance routines - including breathwork, cue words, and physical anchors - show significantly higher performance consistency under pressure compared to those without routines (Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Cotterill, 2010)
💛 Research from the University of Washington shows athletes whose parents focus on effort and controllable behaviors, rather than outcomes, report higher self-esteem, lower anxiety, and greater sport enjoyment (Smith & Smoll, University of Washington)
💛 Athletes who begin mental performance training before age 14 are significantly more likely to continue sport participation and report higher confidence levels in high school competition (Gould & Maynard, Journal of Sports Sciences, 2009)