Unstoppable Athlete - Mental Resilience for Teen Athletes

This conversation unpacks the tension between confidence and performance in youth sports, highlighting how many athletes wait for success to feel confident, when in reality confidence must come first to enable strong play. Through reflections on volleyball and hockey experiences, the coaches explore how mindset, team culture, and coaching decisions (especially around playing time and competition) shape both individual development and team outcomes. They also surface a deeper truth: sport is a microcosm of life—where confidence, resilience, and self-belief are learned through experience, reinforced by environment, and tested under pressure.

Top 3 Takeaways

In this episode, Sara and Michelle unpack one of the toughest parts of youth girls volleyball: balancing playing time, confidence, fairness, and team success. Drawing on real tournament experiences, they explore why coaching decisions are rarely simple, how athletes earn roles through practice, and why coming off the bench can feel so emotionally difficult for girls. The conversation also highlights the value of consistency, adaptability, and team-first thinking, reminding both parents and players that growth does not always look flashy. This is a thoughtful, honest episode for volleyball families trying to better understand the dynamics behind court time, confidence...

The drive home after a game is one of the most powerful moments in your athlete’s week. Emotions are high. Identity feels fragile. And what you say — even casually — can either build resilience or quietly chip away at confidence. When parents criticize coaches, compare teammates, or overanalyze performance, girls often internalize it as pressure or inadequacy. But when we shift the conversation toward ownership, team celebration, and personal growth, the car ride becomes a confidence-building ritual. The goal isn’t to ignore mistakes. It’s to create a culture where athletes can celebrate others without feeling diminished, acknowledge their own...

Sara’s long time friend, and former teammate, Kim is the mom of Sadie and shares about the experience of allowing her daughter to figure it out through her challenges. 

Key learnings of doing your due diligence, but also to allow them to figure it out while continuing an ongoing conversation of what is in your childs control. The family moto of maintaining - PMA -positive mental attitude was essential. 

As a former college volleyball player herself, Kim also reminded Sadie she could control her attitude and her serve. Mom’...

Sara has a chat with Sadie about a pretty bumpy first two years playing US college volleyball. When a coach turns “bad” how to do you stick it out or decide to change plans. 

Learning who you are without volleyball. And staying optimistic to move schools and bring your lessons from the challenge to your teammates as this new team struggles to find a few wins.

Sadie maintained grateful for the struggle as she knew she could keep a positive outlook and reinforced that she can handle hard things. Her m...

As a parent we can rush to protective mode, but can we get curious first?

Asking our athletes questions to help them self-reflect.

Michelle and Sara also di...

Sara and Michelle turn their camera on while they debrief from the past weekend. A few themes came up around team dynamics and the potential appearance of mean girl behaviour. What can parents and coaches do about it and what can an athlete recognize as her own responsibility in team relationships?

Attitude and Energy are what you are in control of. 

Connecting with teammates doesn’t mean you need to be besties with everyone but it does mean leading with kindness and respect. 
Team culture of playing for each other and maki...

Sara has a question for Michelle about when players choose to quit playing. What can we do as coaches, and what part can the athletes take responsibility for?

Top 3 Take Aways

Michelle shares her key takeaways from the Empower Her Sport Summit she attended in Calgary, Canada this past weekend. https://www.empowerhersportsummit.com/

Visit www.skool.com/unstoppable2026 to join our community, watch the Parent Intro Video, join a workshop or have your athlete on our waitlist for upcoming Unstoppable Athlete Program offerings. 

Develop the habit of goal setting. 

Start by writing them down. This will give you a map of where you want to go and also helps you keep your intention and motivations clear. You will build confidence as your stick to your plan, and can also notice when you might need some problem solving to get you back on track.

Start with performance goals - This is what you want to achieve, include both sport, school, relationships…

Then move to process goals - there are the efforts, habits and behaviours you...

Habit of goal setting. 
Process vs performance goals.
Bounce back - the skill of recovering from a setback.
For perfectionism - focus on effort and know that change comes from stretching the edges, not staying safe in the middle. Fail fast so you can learn more and go further

Top 3 Take Aways

Celebrating the journey and not just the final result. Sara and Michelle riff on the podcast and their volleyball seasons both club and high school. 

Highlights include - shining your light, focusing on the things we can control
 - redefining success - instead of winning we made it about trying new things and the success was in being brave and making the attempt to try something new (not the result!)

Our goals and intentions for the upcoming year. Doing more athlete interviews and improving our consistency (especially when life gets busy and th...

#17 -  Importance of Self Talk - winning the mental game -

Our call to action for athletes - DON’T IGNORE THIS CONVERSATION! You have to do the mental work. Learn about self talk, recognize when what you tell yourself is not helping, RESET, and choose a different story. Become accountable to yourself and also to your teammates. If you notice them being hard on themselves, invite them to reset. "I can do this." Or "I don’t have this, YET." Do the mental preparation, visualize how you would like it to go. Then practice that. 

T...

Michelle surprises Sara with a prompt about playing time philosophy which leads into a conversation about the different strategies coaches may take. They also touch on all the ways coaches are considering different perspectives and maybe where both parents and coaches can become aware that their beliefs colour their reality.

Top 3 Takeaways

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Check out our upcoming dates at www.unstoppableathlete.ca

Parent Workshop and 12 week Unstoppable Athlete workshop waitlist open now!

Is not keeping score or giving MVP awards actually a good thing?

Are we allowing our girls to change, learn how to embody their competitive fire. Can we teach them to find their people who inspire and support excellence within them? You can be competitive and kind at the same time.

Top 3 Takeaways

Check out our upcoming dates at www.unstoppableathlete.ca

Parent Workshop and 12 week Unstoppable Athlete workshop waitlist open now!

Michelle and Sara know what its like to watch athletes underperform, end up in tears and struggle to let go of perfectionist tendencies. Learn what this may mean and where you can go to learn how to support your athlete.

Top 3 Takeaways

1. Parents can embody a growth mindset

2. Emotional regulation happens when we can regulate our nervous systems and physiology

3. Embrace failures as opportunities, notice when...

Sara and Michelle talk about a recent volleyball tournament their team was in and how the attitude of the players translates into playing opportunities.

Are you stuck in past mistakes? Is your attitude a detriment to the team?
Can you learn the skills to move on? Self awareness is a key to being able to say “next”, and control the things you can control, your attitude and energy.  Know your role and learn how to be the go to player that the coach will look to off the bench, be the best at it!

Top...

How athletes need to take ownership for what they are learning from coaches or programs. Where does your fire from within come from and how does it motivate you to move towards your goals? Learning skills to take you to the next level and being motivated to apply them on a consistent basis will define your results.

Top 3 Take Aways

Check out www.unstoppableathlete.ca for our 12 week athlete mental...

Sara and Michelle really dig in to the topic of when future aspirations might be a detriment to your team and your experience in the present. 

Top 3 Take Aways

Chec...

#10 - Athlete Interview with Mona. Track athlete, pilates instructor and counsellor

Key Takeaways

Check out our Unstoppable Athlete 8 week program for you or your team! www.unstoppableathlete.ca

Recognize the perfectionist trap and reframe the inner dialogue. We are here to learn, not to be perfect or be the same as others, we are all on our own path. Keep it in perspective, it’s a game and it is supposed to be fun. Utilize strategies: pre-performance plan, post-game reflection and journal with a focus on gratitude. 

After last week, Sara is taking a break but before leaving Michelle guides her on a few of the important questions behind why we coach.

Key Takeaways: 1. Seeing challenges as working for you

2.Coach for the relationships, with players, other coaches and the community

3. Growth and Life lessons from sport.

Check out our Unstoppable Athlete 8 week program for your team! www.unstoppableathlete.ca
Sara shares about needing to listen to her own advice. Allowing life and expectations to build up, she is humbled that she was unable to show up as the coach she desires to be this past weekend. The conversation with Michelle and reflections around the process start to open big possibilities for showing up better for herself and her players in the future. 
Key takeaways: 1. Start with Gratitude and its amazing how many things pop up to be thankful for
2. Communication in relationship...

Balance isn’t perfect. Prioritize the BIG 3: sleep, school, training. Prepare: what supports do you need, can you schedule school work so you are doing little bits everyday, pre-plan meals and more.

Mindset shift required! What can I learn from this challenge? When coping with illness and injury its helpful to celebrate the small wins and what you can do. Then build resilience: work on your bounce back plan, who can help support you, keep in perspective what this bump may bring, and focus on the opportunity to work on the mental skills needed in your sport. 

Versatility matters. Can you be the best you you can be? AND be whatever the team needs. Learning multiple positions makes you more adaptable and more desirable for future teams. Being open to opportunities can bring big payoffs. And you never know what lessons (or other gifts) can come from failure. You may meet your best friend being a role player on the bench.

How you can change your mindset to see challenges as opportunities for growth. I’m still learning, I’m not there yet. Look for opportunities, even when things don’t seem to go the way you thought. Be the best you, you can be. Every team doesn’t need all the same type of player, what is your superpower and how can you use that to be indispensable for your team.

We know it can be tough. Sara and Michelle chat about the ups and downs of playing sport, what they learned as “try hards” and also why sometimes the lesson learned from the struggle is the one that benefits you as you move on in life. Just know you are not alone! We have been there and want to help you navigate with a bit more kindness in your self talk.

Hey girls! Are you a volleyball player who sometimes can't quite perform like you hope? Do you feel anxious under pressure? Are you having trouble balancing training, school, work and friends?

We've got you! Lets talk about the challenges and strategies you can learn from experienced coaches, athletes facing similar challenges, and ex-pros who have learned a thing or two they can't wait to share with you. Sara and Michelle are looking forward to being in the conversation.