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Forged Youth: Legacy Within
What if the conversations you needed most as a teen athlete were finally being had, openly, honestly, and with purpose?
Forged Youth: Legacy Within is the podcast that equips youth athletes (ages 12–24), their parents, and coaches with the mental tools, emotional resilience, and life insight to rise above the noise and grow into strong, intentional human beings.
Each episode features real, raw conversations with professional athletes, CEOs, and cultural leaders sharing what they wish they knew when they were younger. We unpack topics like mental grit, overcoming adversity, identity beyond sport, and building a life of purpose, even when things fall apart.
Hosted by former elite athlete and mental health advocate Mariel Nichole Anderson, this podcast is your companion through the messy middle of chasing big dreams, and becoming someone even bigger in the process.
Because you weren’t born to just survive sport. You were made to be forged by it.
84 Episodes
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Send a text What if the most important part of practice isn’t the drill… but the first 10 minutes? In this episode, Mariel sits down with Rett Larson, an elite international strength and conditioning coach and the creator of the No Zombies training philosophy. Together, they challenge one of the most unquestioned traditions in youth and high-performance sport: the way athletes warm up. Rett shares why traditional warm-ups often create boredom, disengagement, and burnout, and how replaci...
Send a text “Being hard on yourself” is worn like a badge of honour in youth sports, but what if it’s actually hurting performance? In this episode, Mariel Anderson and Jordan Owens unpack a powerful and often misunderstood topic for sports parents... especially hockey parents: The difference between healthy self-reflection… and destructive self-talk. Inspired by a conversation around Olympic coach Shawnee Harle’s “unpopular opinion,” they explore why many parents and coaches mistakenly prais...
Send us a text What if the biggest thing holding young athletes back isn’t effort, talent, or motivation, but where their attention lives? In this episode, Mariel sits down with Nathan Last, founder of Mental Grit, to unpack the mental skills that create better athletes and stronger humans. Nate shares how discovering sports psychology completely changed the trajectory of his life, and why presence is the foundation of mental toughness. In this conversation, you’ll learn: Why most goal-settin...
Send us a text Visualization is one of the most misunderstood and underused tools in youth sports. In this episode, Jordan Owens and Mariel Anderson break down what visualization actually is, why vision boards are just the starting point, and how elite athletes use mental reps to build confidence, consistency, and game-day readiness. You’ll learn: Why your brain can’t tell the difference between imagination and realityThe 3 S’s of Visualization: Skills, Senses, and StrugglesHow detailed visua...
Send us a text In this episode, we sit down with former professional tennis player James McGee for a conversation about life inside elite sport and what comes after it. James shares his journey from growing up in Dublin as Ireland’s top junior player, to competing for over a decade on the ATP Tour and appearing in 14 Grand Slam events. Beyond the milestones, he speaks honestly about the less visible realities of professional tennis: long stretches away from home, financial pressure, injury, a...
Send us a text What does it really mean to support athletes as whole humans? In this episode, we’re joined by Will Lee, Registered Clinical Counsellor and Mental Performance Consultant, for a deep and grounded conversation about mental health, identity, culture, and performance. Together, we explore what often goes unseen in sport: the emotional load athletes carry, the pressure to perform, and the long-term impact of how mental health is addressed (or ignored). Will brings a rare blend of cl...
Send us a text What do you do when your athlete feels set up to fail? In this episode, Jordan and Mariel unpack a real post from a hockey mom whose 9-year-old son is stuck on a struggling team and use it as a powerful entry point into one of the most important mindset tools in sport: controllables. Together, they break down the five controllables every athlete (and parent) can focus on when outcomes, coaches, team dynamics, or politics feel out of reach: effort, attitude, self-talk, preparati...
Send us a text What happens when the thing you’ve built your identity around suddenly feels uncertain or is taken away altogether? In this episode, Olympian Andrea Wieland joins the conversation to speak honestly about the psychological side of competitive sport that athletes rarely get prepared for: getting cut, feeling overlooked, questioning your worth, and learning how to keep going when confidence takes a hit. Andrea shares her lived experience navigating high-pressure environments, setb...
Send us a text From the outside, Adrien Plavsic had everything young athletes dream of: a long NHL career, Olympic success, and years competing at the highest levels of professional hockey. But internally, his experience was very different. In this episode, Adrien opens up about what it was really like to live in constant survival mode while performing at an elite level. He shares how fear quietly drove his training, games, and even recovery, keeping his nervous system stuck on high alert. De...
Send us a text Getting cut is one of the rawest, most emotional moments in youth sports and for many families, tryout season feels more like heartbreak season. In this Q&A episode, Mariel and Jordan break down what really happens to an athlete’s confidence, identity, and motivation when they don’t make the team, and why a parent’s reaction in the first 10 minutes can shape everything that comes next. They share their own stories of being cut, the shame, the tears, and the turning points, ...
Send us a text Dr. Claire joins the podcast for a powerful conversation that every parent, coach, and athlete needs to hear. With a background in neuroscience, physiology, and youth mental health, she breaks down what’s actually happening inside the bodies and brains of young athletes and why so many are struggling with burnout, fatigue, chronic stress, and emotional overwhelm. Throughout the episode, Dr. Claire explains how sleep, screen exposure, stress hormones, and daily nervous system he...
Send us a text In this conversation, Daria Albers opens a window into what true high-level performance really requires. A world-class mental performance coach and former professional fighter, Daria works globally with UFC athletes, Special Operations Forces, and top-tier performers across sport and business. Her approach blends psychology, mindfulness, nervous system training, and embodied awareness into a style of coaching that is as grounded as it is transformative. Drawing from backgrounds...
Send us a text In this week's Q&A, Mariel and Jordan dig into one of the most confusing issues facing youth sports today: the blurry line between a firm, well-intentioned coach… and one who crosses into harmful territory. Throughout the episode, they dive into the pressures today’s coaches face, the rise of “old school” intensity, and the ways young athletes (especially girls) respond differently to certain coaching styles. Mariel reflects on growing up under a brutally demanding coach an...
Send us a text In this episode, Dr. Joel Kerr breaks down what young athletes actually need to thrive and the answers may surprise you. He calls on parents to step into the role of “recovery coach”: creating a safe emotional environment, supporting real nutrition, and protecting sleep, rather than critiquing performance or chasing stats. He explains how the student athlete exists in a triangle alongside the coach and the parent, where all three need aligned goals and values to support healthy...
Send us a text In this episode, Mariel sits down with Brett Devloo, a blind skateboarder, sponsored athlete, and living example of what grit really looks like. Brett lost his vision at 16. But instead of giving up the thing he loved most, he got back on his board and refused to stop skating. He shares how he learned to trust his body without his sight, why losing his vision actually removed his fear, and how having the right coach and community changed the course of his life. Brett opens up a...
Send us a text In this Q&A, Mariel and Jordan break down one of the most common moments in youth sport: when an athlete feels like they’re “too good” for the level they’re training at or feels stuck in an environment that doesn’t match their goals. They share why there’s no such thing as wasted practice time, and how the mindset an athlete brings to each session matters more than the environment itself. From using lower-level reps intentionally, to the power of deliberate practice, to tur...
Send a text In this episode, Mariel sits down with Andrew Marshall, a Certified Master Coach and 3rd-degree Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, to explore the mindset lessons that turn good athletes into exceptional humans. From his early years in baseball and football to finding his true calling in martial arts and coaching, Andrew shares how pain, injuries, and setbacks shaped his philosophy of growth. Together, they unpack the dangers of perfectionism, the balance between competitiveness and joy, and th...
Send us a text Professional horse trainer and coach Jim Greendyk joins Mariel this week to explore the mindset behind mastery in sport, work, and life. Jim draws from his experience in the world of high-level horsemanship to show how self-awareness, emotional control, and presence are the real foundations of great performance. Together, they unpack what it means to stay calm under pressure, why toughness without connection fails, and how athletes (and parents) can use mindfulness to build con...
Send us a text In this episode, Mariel and Jordan dive into one of the most debated topics in youth sports: should kids focus on one sport or play multiple? Pulling from real-life coaching and parenting experience, they unpack the balance between commitment and freedom, structure and fun. From learning how to teach accountability to knowing when it’s okay to miss practice, or even walk away from a sport, they explore what it really means to raise athletes who love the game and stay resilient....
Send us a text Before Forged Youth became a movement, it started as survival. In this raw, unfiltered, and deeply human episode, Mariel Anderson, founder, athlete, and mental resilience coach, shares her origin story for the first time without filters. Growing up as a top-tier volleyball player, Mariel was introduced early to the power of mental training: visualization, emotional regulation, and focus. But at just 15 years old, everything changed when she was assaulted at a tournament, an eve...
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