"Hard is good. When you're going through the hard stuff, that's when you know you are growing." 

As adults, we have all our life experiences to understand the context of this quote, but what about our young female athletes? How do we help them handle the pressure of sports?

Today, we're joined by one of our sports moms, Ashley. Ashley is a certified soccer mom with her twin daughters both playing soccer. 

Here is Ashley's sports mom's journey and her insights into teaching her female athletes how to handle pressure and be consistently confident.

How's your and your daughters' sports journey?

My twin daughters, Ava and Addison just turned 11 years old. They will be starting sixth grade, and they both play competitive soccer on the same team. My girls started soccer when they were young, and they've been consistent with this sport ever since. 

Sports became such an important part of their lives, on and off the field. I've noticed them grow into confident young ladies through sports. And they've learned how to deal with some difficult things at a very young age. 

Why did you decide to work on their mental game?

One of the main reasons why we wanted to join ECP was to give them a solid foundation and more of the tools they might need to handle pressure. I want them to have the skills in advance and the ability to deal with it, not just in sports, but also in school and their other relationships.

As a mom of female athletes, it's a helpful thing to be more proactive and to look and notice what's going on. Are they having a difficult time handling the pressure of sports?

Just like a goalkeeper, our female athletes will go through a tremendous amount of pressure as they grow older. It's going to be hard if they have never been trained in how to handle pressure if they don't have an idea what it feels like, and are clueless about what to do in those situations. 

So, provide opportunities for them to work on their mental game. It will give them the right skills to become more self-aware and acquire a process to navigate through their way of thinking. You can start young and prepare them to face difficulties before they start to inhabit limiting beliefs. Working on their mental game will help them be more confident, thoughtful, and focused on the process rather than the outcome. 

Work with your daughter through this. It will be great if you also have the right skills to be there for them and encourage them. 

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Helpful Links:

• Visit our podcast website for more on this episode
• Join our FREE training for Sports Moms - How To Strengthen Your Athlete Daughter’s Mental Game So She Believes In Herself As Much As You Do

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