Forged Youth | Legacy Within
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.
Episodes
120 episodes
Ep. 66 - Why Your Thoughts Are Not Facts on the Playing Field with Lindsey Wilson
Most athletes train their bodies and leave their minds to chance. In this episode of Forged Youth, mental performance coach and former professional athlete Lindsey Wilson explains how simple, repeatable mindset skills can help athletes...
Ep. 65 - Hard Things Make Better Athletes and Stronger People
Ryan Hofer on mental toughness, trust, and building stronger athletesMariel Anderson sits down with Ryan Hofer, coach of the TWU volleyball program and a deeply relationship-driven leader, to talk about what really shapes athletes beyond...
Ep. 64 - The Mental Trick Athletes Use to Stop Future Panic with Mariel and Jordan
The biggest performance killer is the worry spiral that steals your focus before the game even starts. Mariel Anderson and Jordan Owens break down why your brain is built to predict danger, how to stop future fear from controlling you and the s...
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Ep. 63 - How Speed Climbers Use Visualization to Win with Ben Jennings
The advice you hear about winning is missing the part that actually matters: how to stay relentless without losing your joy. Speed climber Ben Jennings breaks down the mindset, routines, and identity shifts that help him compete at the top leve...
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Ep 62 - When to Step In, When to Step Back and How to Help Your Athlete Grow
How do you support a youth athlete without becoming their coach, manager, problem-solver, and protector all at once?Former professional hockey coach Alex Stein joins Mariel Anderson for a powerful conversation about sports pare...
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Ep. 61 - The Communication Rule That Keeps a Team Alive with Beattie Pudolsky
What does it take to become an Olympian and still feel like the same person the next day? Beattie Podulsky opens up about the reality behind Olympic luge - from the heartbreak of a race that went sideways, to the mental reset that got her back ...
Ep. 60 - 'I Turned 39 by Telling the Story I Usually Avoid' with Mariel Anderson
Pain, grief, identity, motherhood, and leadership all collide in this deeply personal 39th-birthday episode from Mariel. If you have ever wondered how one person can survive chronic illness, rebuild after heartbreak, and still keep growing, thi...
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Ep 59 - What’s Next? Mitch Creek on Curiosity, Consistency & Becoming a Pro
What happens when you finally reach the goal everyone told you was impossible… and find yourself asking, “What’s next?”NBA and international pro Mitch Creek joins Mariel for a raw, wide-ranging conversation about what it ac...
Ep. 58 - Visualizing Success: How Top Athletes Recreate Their Races in Their Minds with Zach Hammer
Most of us underestimate the mental game behind peak performance... until we hear how Olympian speed climber Zach Hammer balances obsession with joy, failure with progress, and precision with purpose.Zach's journey from a young kid in Au...
Ep. 57 - How You're Sabotaging Your Mind and Body with Mariel and Jordan
Master the mental game: How to stay resilient, focused, and positive when life flips upside down. Plus practical tools you can use today. In this week's Q&A, Mariel and Jordan answer anonymous questions from real athletes...
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Ep. 56 - How Mental Fitness Supports you in Life’s Biggest Challenges with Richie Sharratt
Richie Sharratt is a former military man who defied incredible odds, and he joined us this week to share how he turned life’s harshest setbacks into powerful tools for growth, inspiring you to do the same.Mental fitness is a concept root...
Ep. 55 - The Triple-A Technique for Calm, Clarity, and Resilience with Spencer Delisle
Most athletes spend hours perfecting their physical skills, but what if the real game-changer is learning how to master your inner world? Spencer Delisle, a visionary in emotional regulation and mental resilience, joins Mariel Anderson to revea...
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Ep. 54 - Tiny Habits: How Small Changes Build Big Results with Mariel and Jordan
Sometimes, the biggest breakthrough starts with the tiniest step. In this episode of Forged Youth, Mariel sits down with Jordan to talk about how tiny, deliberate actions can lead to monumental growth in sport, and in life. Whether ...
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Ep. 53 - Effortless Effort: Why Less Power But Smarter Moves Win with World-Class Wrestler, Jasmit Singh Phulka
Confidence is built through your mindset, your habits, and the stories you tell yourself every day. Jasmit Singh Phulka, a world-class wrestler and a man who’s defied every expectation, drops the truth about how mental toughness, patience, and ...
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Ep. 52 - The Proper Running Form That Prevents Injury Fuels Performance with Chris Ryan
In this episode, Chris Ryan breaks down how movement, efficiency, and mindset shape performance far beyond the finish line. Whether you're a young athlete, parent, or coach, you'll discover why understanding the power of form, emot...
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Ep. 51 - How Athletes Are Sabotaging Their Own Potential: Q&A with Mariel and Jordan on Accountability
Is your greatest challenge in sport actually the story you’re telling yourself?There are so many athletes and teams that fall into the trap of pointing fingers and losing sight of responsibility. Jordan and Mariel unpack how a...
Ep 50. - Earn Your Opportunity w/ Former FIFA World Cup Captain & Competitor, Jay DeMerit
What does it really take to go from a small-town kid with big dreams to competing on soccer's biggest stages?In this episode, former professional soccer player and World Cup veteran Jay DeMerit shares the remarkable journey that t...
Ep. 49 - Rewriting the Rules of Masculinity and Leadership with CFL All-Star Nathan Rourke
Athletes will spend hours chasing improvement, overlooking the one thing that sets the great apart: mindset. Still living his dream as a professional quarterback, Nathan Rourke knows this story firsthand and shares it with us this week on...
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Ep. 48 - What Teen Athletes Need to Know About Nutrition & Mindset with Coach Elliot Allen
What if the thing holding your athlete back is what they're eating, how they're sleeping, and who they're spending time with?In this episode, Mariel sits down with Coach Elliot Allen, sports performance coach, former college football pla...
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Ep. 47 - Neurodivergent Athletes & Why the Youth Sports System Is Broken with Dan Mickle
What does it actually take to perform at your best without burning out, breaking down, or trying to squeeze yourself into a system that was never built for you?In this episode, Mariel sits down with Dan Mickle, Mental Performance Coach, ...
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Ep. 46 - Breathe, Visualize, Compete: An Olympian's Playbook for Young Athletes
What happens when a Swiss national champion swimmer finally gets access to the mental tools that could have changed? That's exactly the question David Karasek sits with, and it's the reason he now dedicates his life to giving young athletes wha...
Ep. 45 - Learn to Crash: The Coaching Philosophy That Changes Everything with Robert Fegg
What does it take to coach athletes hurtling down an icy track at 140+ km/h and build the mental toughness to match? This week, Mariel sits down with Robert Fegg, Head Coach of the Canadian National Luge Team, for a conversation that goes far b...
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Ep. 44 - Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: The Science of Athletic Plateaus and High-Performance Training with Luke Couture
What does it take to go from a multi-sport kid in New Brunswick to representing Canada on the international badminton stage, and then channeling everything you learned into helping the next generation of athletes perform at their highest level?...
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Ep. 43 - The Mindset That Built an NFL Career with Jedidiah Collins
Jedidiah Collins spent seven seasons in the NFL, but not before being cut 13 times.In this episode, Jed breaks down what it really takes to stay in the game when everything is telling you you shouldn’t be there. From building a performan...
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Ep. 42 - Why Athletes Have the Advantage: Turning Athletic Skill Into Opportunity with Rae Irelan
What if the skills that make you great in your sport are the exact same ones that unlock success in life and business?In this episode, we sit down with Rae Irelan, transformational business strategist, speaker, and former professi...
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