My Background

When I arrived at the University of North Alabama to attend school and play college softball, I was faced with many hardships.  I quickly learned that college softball is a whole different level, environment, and atmosphere.  It's just different, and it requires way more out of each girl than what was required in high school or travel ball.  College softball requires strength both physically and mentally.  You need grit, confidence, discipline, and especially resilience.  You have to be able to bounce back from the lows and the failures, or else you will not survive.  I was physically strong and I had the physical skills to succeed, but I struggled mentally at UNA.  After a few mistakes, I quickly lost my confidence and could not regain it.  I felt as if I had to be perfect, so I ended up putting more pressure on myself and making more mistakes.  I cracked under pressure, became extremely nervous and anxious, and lost control of my body in important moments.  One mistake would lead to another mistake until I spiraled into an all time low for my softball career.  With no resilience and a poor perspective on the situation, I stayed there stuck.  Each weekend I felt more and more disappointed and discouraged.  Eventually, I came to a point in my career where I faced a difficult decision: quit or move on.  I fell out of love with the sport, but I knew I couldn't quit on myself.  I decided to take control of my life and build myself up mentally little by little.  As I began my journey to building a strong mindset, I also decided to take a risk, transfer schools, and have a fresh start.  This was all very stressful for me, but I allowed the stress to grow me stronger.  

My journey began in a notebook.  Everyday I would write in this notebook about gratitude, the vision for my life and softball career, and positive self talk.  I would watch YouTube videos about mindset, listen to podcasts, read books, and pray.  I started with changing my attitude.  Building this positive attitude influenced the way I saw the situation, the way I felt about myself, and the results I started seeing.  Instead of letting the low and failure bring me down, I allowed it to build me up, make me stronger, and grow me.  I stayed positive through the hardships and became mentally tougher.  As I started feeling better about myself, my confidence started growing again.  I made a plan to take action and work on the areas I was struggling in, which also built my confidence more and more.  At the time, I was relying on my coaches for my confidence.  I decided to take charge of my own confidence and to stop relying on other people's thoughts and opinions of me.  I started believing in myself again!  At that point, I started becoming positive, confident, and resilient.  Next, I had to learn how to handle the pressure so I was prepared for my next opportunity, which I did not get until I arrived at my next school.  

After two years of softball at the University of North Alabama, I knew I had to make a change.  I took a risk, stepped outside my comfort zone, and entered the transfer portal.  After a few stressful months, I found my new home at Nova Southeastern University, where the coaches and I took a chance on each other.  With my new mindset, I got right to work to be the best I could possibly be for the NSU Sharks.  I pushed myself physically and mentally.  I learned how to prepare, relax, focus, and trust myself when I got an opportunity to prove myself.  When my opportunity came, I was ready.  I was able to perform my best under pressure.  Although the pressure never went away, I learned how to be comfortable with it and use it to bring out my best.  

Now, I had built myself a complete Champion Mindset.  My first year at Nova Southeastern University, I found unimaginable success.  I was the starting pitcher, hitting second in the lineup, and playing right field as well.  My first year, I helped lead my team to their first ever Regional Championship, Super Regional Championship, and their first appearance at the World Series.  I became All Conference, All Region, and an All American my first year.  In my two years at the University of North Alabama, I pitched about 20 innings total and had 5 at bats.  In my first year at Nova Southeastern University, I pitched over 200 innings and was starting in the lineup every game.  The only difference was my mentality.  I took control of my mindset instead of letting the game, circumstances, and environment control me.  Building a Champion Mindset has led me to great success on the field and even off the field too.  My senior year at Nova Southeastern University was also a success.  I managed to increase my batting average and lower my ERA.  I was also named All Conference, All Region, and an All American once again.  

I am very grateful for my experience, my success, and my new knowledge on the mental game of softball.  I now am on a mission to take softball players through the same process I went through to build a Champion Mindset.  Using my experience and knowledge, I can teach any girl how to become mentally strong and elevate their game.  I hope to prepare the youth of softball to take on the highest levels of softball so they do not have to endure the hardships I faced because I was not prepared.  I also hope to help the youth of softball stay in love with the game and continue to excel at it.