Growing up, I was just an average player, not the best, not the worst, but always had the drive and passion to be more than average. By 7th or 8th grade, I hit a wall. I wasn’t improving no matter what I did and started being unfairly hard on myself. I was stuck in my head, lost all confidence, and lost love for the game. I noticed that it started affecting everything in my life. I didn’t want todo anything anymore, especially get on the field. It started impacting friendships and relationships as well.  My mom, who’s a psychologist, suggested I try sports psychology. Honestly, I thought it was a waste of time. She had to “force” me to my first meeting. Now when I heard this I really thought it was stupid to talk to somebody who you don’t even know about your personal life and was a waste of time. After a few sessions with Dave, it got easier to open up, even though progress didn’t come right away. Eventually Dave introduced me to Eddie—someone who currently plays at the level I dream of. Eddie started joining Dave and I in sessions and he became a huge role model for me as a soccer player. Over time, things started to change. I started seeing growth and saw that Dave was right. It’s a process, not a race. My confidence came back, and I began to see results in soccer and in my personal life. I have already accomplished a lot in my career including being the youngest USL 2 Player in the country, had a trial down in Mexico, as well as multiple other opportunities in front of me. I’m now playing for an MLS Next 2 team feeling stronger and more confident than ever. Looking back, I’m so grateful my mom pushed me to that first session with Dave. It’s been 3 years already and I continue to see growth and improvement in myself and my skills. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Dave and Eddie. The progress wasn’t instant, but it was real, and every tough day was part of it.If you’re struggling like I was, take the leap and give it time. It’s worth it.

I just wanted to write this letter to you and appreciate all of you coming in and talking to multiple classes especially ours, 4th period. I think sports psychology is something I'd want to enter in the future. If you didn't know already I will play beach volleyball at the University of Tennessee at Martin. I've been playing volleyball since I was in 5th grade and I have had my struggles physically and mentally. Something I connected with was the mental part, I Never have been injured to the point where I was out for a whole season or even more than a month knock on wood. But something that I've struggled with and is somewhat reoccurring is my mental part of the game. I go to a volleyball club called Team One and there we work on meditation, Visualization, And different types of goal setting. In the past, I used to be really into it and I saw the growth in my game though this past senior year I pushed it aside and I can tell how it has affected my game and the growth of my mind and my body.

I just wanted to give you the most appreciation that I could for rekindling the thoughts of how important the mental game is in any sport, especially beach volleyball. There are so many distractions as you said in class, So many flaws and so many opportunities for failure. As well as sometimes not having the most supportive coach. For me, I feel like that was the biggest struggle these last two or three years. It has been very helpful with a strict and disciplined coach but somewhere deep down I need almost words of affirmation to keep my mind centered and at ease. I know how tough it can be for athletes to struggle mentally on and off the court. I feel like having you all come in and express your struggles and your own experiences brought light to me and how I want to shed light on helpful ways that will encourage athletes to think more about their mental game. I just wanted to say thank you again for coming in and showing not just the athletes in the room but everyone that the mind is such an important part of anything we do in life.