The Fearless Warrior Podcast

096: Playing Your Best Under Pressure with Leah Jurgens

• Amanda Schaefer

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This week's episode features our June mentorship call with Leah Jurgens, a retired collegiate softball player.  She is near and dear to my heart because I had the privilege of personally coaching her as a pitching coach and travel ball coach! She shared her journey as a collegiate athlete and how her experience translates into life skills outside of the sport. 

Episode Highlights:

• The mental shift from high school to college athletics
• Embracing failure as part of softball
• Finding your "why" and using it as motivation
• Viewing practice as an opportunity rather than an obligation

Connect with Leah:

IG: @leahjurgens

X: @leahjurgens_




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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the fearless warrior podcast, a place for athletes, coaches and parents who know the value of a strong mindset. I'm your host, coach AB, a mental performance coach on a mission, former softball coach, wife and mom of three. Each episode, we will dive deep into all things mental performance, mindset tools and how to rewire the brain for success. So if your goal is to gain the mental edge and learn the secrets of mental performance, mindset tools and how to rewire the brain for success, so if your goal is to gain the mental edge and learn the secrets of mental performance, you're in the right place. Let's tune in to today's episode.

Speaker 2:

All right, we're ready to roll. Tonight's mentorship call is someone that is not only a college athlete and retired and had an amazing career, but is someone I personally got to coach as a pitching coach, as a travel coach and just watching Leah play her career, hold her head a high, finish, strong, all the adversity that you face I'm so honored to get to interview you tonight, even though these are normally Coach Kara's spiel. So Leah Juergens is a former collegiate athlete. She finished out her career at the University of Nebraska Kearney, which is a Division II school here in Nebraska. She was a three-time MIAA academic honor roll student, so she was amazing in the classroom. She ranked sixth in school history for put outs and has a career fielding percentage of 984 as an infielder, which, for a little bit of context, as a coach, we have a drill called nine eighties and the goal is to be above nine 80 fielding percentage. So that's an amazing one. And then her junior year she was awarded the CSC academic all district and she is here with us tonight and you guys get to ask her questions.

Speaker 2:

So before we do that, leah, welcome to the mentorship call. Thanks for having me. I'm excited. Okay, so give us the update. Where in the world is Leah? You graduated with your degree. Give us the update post-graduation you graduated with your degree.

Speaker 3:

Like, give us, give us the update post-graduation? Uh, yeah, so I graduated in May with um, majored in business administration with an emphasis in accounting, and then a minor in entrepreneurship as well. Um, my lease in Kearney right now is through August, so I'm still kicking it here. Um, nothing crazy, I'll move back to Lincoln After that. I already have a full-time job lined up in Lincoln at KPMG to be a tax associate, so I'm pretty psyched for that. But that doesn't start until January. So right now I'm studying for my certified public accountant exams and I actually have my first one on Monday. So little nerves with that, but I'm excited. And I play um slow pitch softball now since I am retired, so I'm still involved in the sport.

Speaker 1:

She's been hurted that did not take long Leah.

Speaker 2:

You can still play 23 and under they can like you can rake. They play like old lady league fast pitch. Really didn't know that was a thing in.

Speaker 3:

Nebraska? Yes, I've never heard of that.

Speaker 2:

I'm missing out then okay, I'll text you after this. So this is really cool, you guys. You guys are all going through mental training. You typed in the chat where you're from, what positions you played um selfishly. You guys always know that I'm gonna ask these athletes to share their stories. I'll kick it off with the first question. Leah, I mean, I've also gotten to coach you as a mental performance coach on and off, and so I would love for you to share what has your mentality enabled you to do what behind the scenes? What mental skills have you really leaned on? You know, obviously you had a successful career, so pull back the window on your mindset.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I would say I never. Really well, I wouldn't say never, but I didn't necessarily struggle with the mental health aspect with softball. Until I got to college, opportunities slimmed down a little, became a little bit more opinionated and there were other factors that played into it. You're around a new group of girls and it was just really hard for me to adjust to, especially after my junior year I was kind of struggling a little, accepting the fact that I need to control what I can. So I met with Coach AB and we talked about how our thoughts lead to our feelings and then that leads to our actions. So really just honing in on being able to control what you can.

Speaker 3:

The other thing that I really came to realize my senior year is that softball is a sport of failure. It is okay to fail. In those first three years when I was playing in college, that was really hard for me to accept. I'm a perfectionist, I don't like failing, but unfortunately I chose to play softball, so that's part of the game. So just not looking at failure as something negative, but taking a step back, taking the time that I need to process it and being like how can I improve from this? What can I learn from the failure instead of sulking on it and feeling bad for myself. How can I come back better from me failing right now, and what can I take from it?

Speaker 2:

And I also want to let everybody know that you're speaking with experience as a multi-sport athlete. So when you say like I have to be okay with failure, I mean you were also an amazing basketball player, and didn't you do? Did you do track as well in high school?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I well, I did soccer for two and a half years because of COVID my junior year and then I did track my senior year and then, yeah, I really enjoyed playing basketball. I did club basketball growing up too, and then we won state my junior year there as well in basketball too yeah state champ in softball and state champ in basketball.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so can you pull back the curtain? Before we hit record on this call, we were going down memory lane. I think that they're the high school versus club is changing. I don't know if you guys are feeling that and, abby, I don't know what it's like in Canada, but talk about your high school situation. Your high school did not have softball, so that was a decision that you made. Can you talk us through that decision and literally like the, the, the following decisions that, like what did you have to do to make it work, cause your family, like, made some really big sacrifices?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, my, my family is awesome. I love them. I would not be here, I would not have played four years in college, if it wasn't for my family and the sacrifices that they made. So I went to high school at Lincoln Lutheran, a small school, not very big. There were like 30 kids in my grade. We didn't have a softball team. But my freshman year they co-opped with Crete, who was a school. They probably had 140 kids in a grade, so they were a little bigger. We were able to co-op with them, so that means that I was able to play with them.

Speaker 3:

I was the only girl from Lincoln Lutheran that was playing for them, so my parents would have to get me from school and drive me 45 minutes to Crete every single day so that I could go practice with that high school team. And then so my freshman and sophomore year that's how it was. My sophomore year I could drive, so that was easier on them. Thank goodness. They were probably like thank the Lord that we don't need a driver every day. But and then?

Speaker 3:

So after my sophomore year I was like well, I might as well just transfer, like so then I'm more involved with the girls, more involved in the community, in the school and not just only with them.

Speaker 3:

For three months during high school season I was like I can build a better bond with them, like I said, be more involved in the community, um, and I just really enjoyed the environment they had going on there. So I ended up just transferring um. That was a really hard decision though, because obviously I had to leave some of my friends at my old school. But I knew that in order for me to really dial in on my softball career, being able to be at practice right from the start was huge for me and to be involved. Like I couldn't go to morning practices when I was at Lincoln Lutheran because it would involve me driving to Crete two times a day, so I would miss out on those practices and I would show up to practice late every day, like 15 or 20 minutes, because those guys would start right after school. So I had to make that decision about I want to become better at softball, I want to be involved in these things.

Speaker 2:

So I needed to transfer schools and it ended up working out well for me, so I'm glad I did it yeah, definitely some sacrifices shout out to the Juergens fan yeah and really Leah, like you think about the mental skills behind that of like knowing your why, like if you were just playing softball just because it was fun, do I push you guys in the program? If you guys tell me that your why is because it's fun, I push back. Because what happens when it's not fun? It's not always fun driving 45 minutes, it's not always fun getting up early. And so what was you know what was the end goal, what was your why? Like what carried you through those hard moments?

Speaker 3:

Well, obviously, it's always been a goal to play four years of college softball, so I'm making myself better so that I could get recruited to the school that I wanted to go to. Also, just always, my family like everyone always wants to make their family proud, so I just always wanted to be the best player that I could be, the best teammate that I could be, so my family would see that and be like, okay, we're doing the right thing, like she's doing good. I think my teammates too. Like I said, I wanted to be around them more. Like I wanted to have a bigger impact on them as a teammate, I wanted to support them more. So I wanted essentially to be around them more.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and cherry on top state champ and then getting all the goals that you set out to set. So enough going down memory lane and cherry on top state champ and then getting all the goals that you set out to set. So, yeah, enough, enough going down memory lane. I'm sure you'll share more of your story, Girls. What, what questions do you have for Leah, as somebody who has now finished her career and you know?

Speaker 4:

on the other side of retirement, what do?

Speaker 3:

you got for for Leah. You got one fire away. What's your favorite animal? I am a dog person. I don't know if you can see, but that's a painting of one of my dogs back home at my parents house. His name's Ace. He's four or five. Get him mixed up a little. We have another little one, but I got that when he was a baby, so I love my dogs back home, chloe why did you start softball?

Speaker 3:

why did that is a loaded question. I like it though. I like it, um, I would. I mean, I don't even know if I remember when I started playing softball, because it was t-ball I was really little. Um, I was involved in a lot of sports then, but I guess, if you want to go into the question of why did I stick with it, I like the fact that softball is like an individual sport, like with your guys' hitting offensively, that's more like personable, like that's you and your skill, but then also when you go on defense, you get that team aspect of it too. So it's like the best of both worlds. You got to make sure that you're the best version of yourself, but then also that you're pushing your teammates on defense to be better. So you guys can all be successful. And I like being outside. Being outside is nice too.

Speaker 2:

Can you talk a little bit about I don't think this is talked about often enough of you're in college Every year. Your coach's job is to recruit a whole new grade, basically, and so I'm sure that there's you know there's a lot of nuances of like. Okay, not only do I have to build trust with these new people, but some of them might be competing for my spot. That's kind of a. That's something that's not talked about often enough. How did you navigate it? What were your thoughts around it and how did you kind of keep your blinders on? As someone who does tend, I can relate to that of like. It's very easy to fall into the comparison and the perfectionism trap.

Speaker 3:

Well, that's kind of something that I talked to you about last summer too. I was like I don't feel like anyone has confidence in me, like everyone's always getting put up my position, like I don't know what's going on. And just after having that conversation with you and then, kind of going into my senior year, my, I mean, I was like if I'm going to switch my mindset, it needs to be now. If I'm going to be better, it needs to be now, cause this is my last nine months of softball. So more of switching it as thinking it, if someone's coming in and they're they play the same position as you, use it as a motivator.

Speaker 3:

Like I get the opportunity to push myself to out-compete this person. Like you get the opportunity to be better and to prove that you are better, instead of looking at and like sulking and being like, oh dang it. Someone else is at my position. Because now that I'm coming into the adulting world, I'll tell you guys too, you don't get stuff handed to you in life either. I wish it was that easy. I really wish I could tell you guys it was that easy, but you got to work for a lot of things, so you might as well start with your position in softball.

Speaker 2:

That is a gold wisdom nugget, if you can learn that.

Speaker 3:

How old are you? 22?. Yeah, I turned 23 in less than a month.

Speaker 2:

I'm getting old. Yeah, we got July birthdays in the house. And like, if you can learn that life lesson now at 22, 23, and you guys can learn that now. I mean, I wrote that down. That's an amazing, like you can figure that out.

Speaker 3:

Well, I just think one. I was listening to a podcast earlier. Just about how, like, how relatable softball is to life. Like how I was talking earlier about failures. Like life isn't perfect either. We're not perfect. The only one who's perfect is our Lord and savior. So like we're going to make mistakes in life too, just like how we fail in softball. And it's about how you respond and how you learn from it chef's kiss Leah Leah, dropping some nuggets.

Speaker 2:

Katie, you have another question, fire away what's the name of your softball team?

Speaker 3:

so I just retired from playing for the University of Nebraska at Kearney and we are the Antelopes, or you can call us the Lopers too, but if you say the Lopers, not everyone knows that that's supposed to be an Antelope. So that's what it is.

Speaker 2:

I think I even forget that I'm like oh, it's a Loper, yeah, yeah, what you got.

Speaker 4:

Abby, what position did you play?

Speaker 3:

I played first base all four years and I dabbled a little with out places you could put me. You don't see left-handers playing middle infield or third base, so it was either first base or outfield and I used to pitch. Like coach AB said, she used to give me some lessons but I didn't stick that one out.

Speaker 2:

That's okay. You were also one of my first ever pitching lesson clients, so we were all in it together. You, I mean talk about your approach at the plate I. One thing I loved coaching you is do you remember your, does anyone through college, did anyone, or your mom, still call you Leah, boom, boom um, actually, whenever I see Claire Carl, she'll still throw that one out there.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, um call. When Lindsay was on the team she would a little because she got that. I don't even know how, because they never played for you, but somehow it translated to like Lindsay and Kylie and when they played on the team, thick yeah, why do you think I'm coach AB coach like AB sticks.

Speaker 2:

So talk about your approach as a hitter, because you hit from the left side, but you were not a slapper right, or were you a slapper?

Speaker 3:

Never slapped.

Speaker 2:

Never a slapper. I'm like, I'm not that old, we didn't play that long. Talk about your approach, because watching you power hit from the left side, I mean you you definitely were a threat, and every team that you play, I mean. I coached high school against you when you transferred to Crete too, and it's just one of those things that you knew where the ball was going and you had the ability to not only hit for power, but you were really great at placing and, again, not something a lot of people talk about, but, like Coach Carr, had some great strategy. Can you talk about your hitting approach?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I have always enjoyed hitting. Putting in work to hitting T-work may seem overrated, but I promise it'll help you out in the long run Especially so.

Speaker 3:

Obviously, college ball ball you face better pitchers. The mi double a for us was, um, arguably like the best conference in d2, so we faced some pretty good pitching um. So my batting average was struggling a little the first three years. Um, it got better a little each year. But then this year, like I said, my senior year, senior year I was like I got to figure something out.

Speaker 3:

So I actually read this book called Max Out Mindset. Have you heard of that book? It's a good book. So, and one of the things that I took from it is when you're like in the batter's box, you are like continuously telling yourself in your head like I'm the best, I'm the best, are like continuously telling yourself in your head like I'm the best, I'm the best, like just reminding yourself of the confidence that you have. Um, that helped me a lot this year. Just the mental approach, uh, physically, I would say, just knowing what the best pitch is for you to hit and seeking it out every time, um, learning from the batters before you and even after you throughout the game, uh, just keeping notes in your head oh, she threw this to me last at bat, or she's throwing the other lefty on my team all inside, so I'll probably see inside too, just making sure that you're constantly engaged in the game and taking those mental notes so that when it is your time for your at bat, you're ready to capitalize on the pitches that you do see.

Speaker 2:

Love it. What's your favorite pitch to hit?

Speaker 3:

Well, down the middle, obviously, Besides down the middle, I was an oppo person, so anything outside.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I vividly remember calling it was when it was you. You played with Morgan Molly in high school. Right, were you guys the same grade?

Speaker 3:

um, so she was a grade above me, so I played softball with her for three years and then basketball with her for only one, because we didn't co-op for basketball, so not until I transferred, but yeah yeah, I vividly remember telling our pitchers do not throw these three hitters anything remotely on the plate.

Speaker 2:

And you and Morgan I don't know if it was back-to-back home runs, but it was definitely home runs in the same game and I kid you not, we talked about the colors of the plate. Do you remember the colors? Yeah, it was like green, black, like purple, unicorn. It was like four inches off the plate and you're crushing those pitches. So good memories.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that was my pride.

Speaker 2:

Because we race. Yeah, that was my problem, because we could, we could tell so many stories.

Speaker 4:

Uh, I think Chloe had a question, then we'll go Katie again. Who did you look up to whenever you were little?

Speaker 3:

oh so when I was pitching, I was big on Jenny Finch. Um, I even had a book by her or about her, I don't remember, but I was a big Jenny Finch fan.

Speaker 2:

Do you guys know who?

Speaker 3:

that is Okay, I was going to say that would have been a while ago because that was when I was little. So yeah, but yeah, she was always fun to watch. She's a good competitor. I have a lot of respect for Jordi Ball. Seeing the success that she's had through high school and just hearing some of the things that she's said, A lot of knowledge up in her little brain. And then I just like watching softball. I like to see some good competition. It doesn't matter who's playing or the players, but I just like to see some good athletes.

Speaker 4:

Katie what you got. What was your favorite pitch to throw when you were a pitcher?

Speaker 3:

Oh. I didn't pitch long enough to learn that many. I think I only had a fastball changeup in my riseball. It's not that good, so my changeup. I can still throw a pretty good changeup, so probably the changeup.

Speaker 2:

That was a great question. What else Go for it?

Speaker 4:

What's your favorite color?

Speaker 3:

My favorite color is blue, which also happens to be my school colors, which is convenient, so I have a lot of blue stuff to match my favorite color.

Speaker 4:

Abby what you got. Do you have any like tips? Like a pitcher that's like you maybe weren't expecting to face? Like they're just really good and you're like almost not feeling confident that you're gonna do well against them she kind of cut out a little at the beginning.

Speaker 3:

Did you catch the beginning?

Speaker 2:

yeah, it sounds like, if you're facing a tough pitcher that you weren't expecting to face, what's your approach, right, abby?

Speaker 3:

yeah, okay, sorry um, that's kind of a tough one because it I mean, it's kind of like what I said before, like if you don't have a scouting report before the game, or I mean, if you look at club ball too, you never know. You don't get scouting reports for club ball, um, just taking notes from your teammates and their at-bats. And when they're done with their at-bats and they come back in the dugout, be like hey, what did you see? Like how's she throwing? Um. One thing that I especially look out for is are they consistently throwing first pitch strikes? Um, that's huge. I think that is a big advantage if you can figure that out early in the game and attack early in the count. So that's a big thing too that I at least look for in every single pitcher. Otherwise, just your approach shouldn't change much. You still know what you want to hit. So just figuring out what she's going to throw you, what she has thrown you in your at-bat before this one, and just making sure that you're ready for it mentally and physically.

Speaker 2:

Leah, where did you hit in college like number-wise? Because you were always the top of the lineup, middle of the lineup, hitter.

Speaker 3:

Where did you hit in college, like number wise, because you were always the top of the lineup, middle of the lineup hitter. Where did you hit in college? So I, my first three years I was like five or six, but then this year my coach did something different where I was actually ninth. So even though I had the second best, the second best batting average on the conference team, I was kind of just like a second leadoff hitter in a sense, like just if I was consistently getting on base and that was that meant the top of the lineup was up next, which I didn't mind at all because, like I said then, I get to hear from eight of my teammates where the pitcher's pitching and I get to watch her for two innings. So I actually really enjoyed it. It was hard to get used to at the beginning and it kind of like hit me in this part a little because I was like oh nine hole.

Speaker 4:

But, then reframing my mindset.

Speaker 2:

What. There's a strategy to it, right Of like, how important is it to flip over the lineup and, statistically, the amount of times the nine hole hitter is a lead off in an inning? I don't know what the stats are, but there's, I mean it felt like a lot.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yes, yeah, in an inning. I don't know what the stats are, but there's, I mean it felt like a lot. Yeah, yes, yeah, and I think about too. There's also so much stigma around where we hit, where we field. I mean for sure you guys's age of like oh, I'm just in the outfield but the more that we can kind of explain behind the scenes. The other thing I wanted to explain to you guys I'd love that you guys have so many questions. We'll keep rolling with those.

Speaker 2:

Do you guys know about scouting reports? Some of you guys have probably never experienced it. A scouting report at the college level is where the other team gathers as much information. Even at the high school level we did scouting reports where basically other coaches are passing around as much information as possible through game changer, through stats, through film about so, like. For example, we would get scouting reports on Leah when we face each other in high school, of like, do not throw these Chica an outside pitch because she's gonna crush it right. And so then, with that information, leah knows, hey, if this team has a scouting report on me, I'm probably not gonna see my favorite pitches. So she's going to have to take advantage of that first pitch strike.

Speaker 2:

So as you guys get older, don't let scouting reports intimidate you, because I think that's another frustration, especially for the girls that are getting recruited to play in college or you're currently in college. Don't get discouraged If you feel like you're not seeing your pitches because of these scouting reports. It just gives you an even better advantage to a make your weaknesses stronger or B. When you do get that pitch, make the most of that opportunity. That's like very, very high, high level stuff. But again, you played at a high level. We'll go katie and then chloe again. Do you have anything to add on that leah about?

Speaker 3:

like no, I was just no, that was well said. I was just gonna say I didn't even realize, just because I've been with scouting reports for eight years, that at your guys's age that wasn't like we didn't do that. Or, like I said, with club ball, you don't, because you just show up and play yeah, I think club ball even has more information now because game changer does video now.

Speaker 2:

I mean, back when I coached you guys, we didn't game film, but now there's game film, interesting with everything what you got, katie you remember what was your favorite pitcher to hit off of?

Speaker 4:

Wow?

Speaker 3:

That like oh, that's a tough one or what kind of pitching. I would say like around, at least for college, around like 63, 65 miles per hour, and then if they had curveballs and like draw balls, Wait, wouldn't curveballs curve into? You Screwball, screwball. I consistently get that messed up after all my years of softball.

Speaker 2:

Well, as a lefty, I was like, oh, that's interesting.

Speaker 3:

I would always have to ask the catcher on our team, because coach would be like, okay, this pitcher is heavy curveball. And I would look at him and I would be like, does that go in or out on me? I can never keep it straight.

Speaker 2:

So good, chloe, we'll end with you, unless Abby has another one.

Speaker 4:

What's your final question, Miss Chloe? What?

Speaker 3:

kept you going on days that were tough. That's a really good question, I would say, just reminding myself of my why, like we talked about earlier, like even though today's tough, and looking at, like, each practice, each game, even if I'm not feeling it that day, but more as like an opportunity. It's not like, oh, I have to go to practice. It's no, I get to go to practice today. Um, cause another thing that I kind of realized in college too um, just being around, more injuries, uh, that are career ending, um, that not everyone gets the opportunity to go out there and play. You know, like we had a pitcher this year. She was just running the bases at practice, tore ACL. That was her last practice ever, it was her last year, and so, just being like it's my opportunity, I get to come out here and play. I have a healthy body, I'm blessed with teammates and my family, and so I get to come out here and play. I have a healthy body, I'm blessed with teammates and my family, and so I get to come out here and play the game that I love.

Speaker 3:

So days do get hard, you do get tired, especially as you get older, but you just got to find a way to be positive about it. Having being close with your teammates helps too, like and being vulnerable and honest with them, like being like hey, I'm not really feeling it today, like I may need a little extra support today, and having those kind of people in your life and being able to communicate that with your coach too, if you need to, if it comes to that point, helps tremendously as well, just so that you don't have to do it alone. So if you're not feeling it that day, or it's been a rough week or you got family stuff going on, just knowing that you don't have to do it alone. So if you're not feeling it that day, or it's been a rough week, or you got family stuff going on, just knowing that you have those people in your corner to push you that day and make sure that you'll make it out all right.

Speaker 2:

Oh, Leah, I want to give you a hug when?

Speaker 1:

you get back to work, don't have a coffee date. This was amazing.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for sharing your story and I think sometimes what, what just energetically comes out in these questions. You guys asked amazing questions tonight. You, you are getting to learn from people who have been in your shoes, but you also get to use Leah's experiences to and all of these things. So if you guys can even just take one thing from tonight's call, you're already ahead of the game from you know where Leah was and where I was in college. I do believe college is like the best softball years, so thanks for sharing it with us. Leah yeah, of course, thanks for having me. I'm so proud of you. And where is the best place to follow you? Are you?

Speaker 3:

on Instagram. Are you on Twitter? Um, I'm more active on Instagram. I do have a Twitter as well.

Speaker 2:

I don't really post on it, that much no no, I don't need to drop my TikTok amazing. Well, yeah, thank you for your time tonight. We're gonna log off and hop off warriors. We'll see you on our next. Uh, warrior call and we'll see you next time.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, leah yeah, it was nice to meet you guys. Have a good night.

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