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
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 reveal the art of self-awareness, breathwork, and intuition as keys to unlocking peak performance.
In this episode, you'll discover how awareness and acceptance can help you m...
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 you're a young athlete feeling overwhelmed or a parent trying to support resilience, this conversation is packed with practical wisdom. You’ll discover how incremental improvem...
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 self-awareness shape performance, even when the odds are stacked against you.
If you’re tired of feeling pressure, overthinking your next move, or watching yo...
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, emotional resilience, and efficiency can actually make you faster, stronger, and less injury-prone. Chris shares vivid stories, from the importance of mastering the power step to the brillianc...
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 avoiding accountability limits your growth and how shifting your mindset to one of ownership can unlock resilience, leadership, and ultimately, the legacy you’re capable of forgi...
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 took him from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to the English football pyramid, the Premier League, international competition, and beyond.
But this conversation isn't really about soccer.
It's about embr...
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 Forged Youth Podcast.
Nathan opens up about his journey from Canadian high school football to NFL hopes, and then to CFL stardom. He shares how he learned to break down ...
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 player, and founder of Eight Six Speed & Athletics, for a conversation packed with practical, no-fluff tools for teen athletes and the parents who support them.
Elliot knows what it'...
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, Head Women's Volleyball Coach at York College of Pennsylvania, founder of Soul Performance Academy, and host of The MentalCast podcast, for a wide-ranging conversation that covers ev...
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 what he didn't have.
David is a former competitive swimmer, Swiss national record holder, and Olympian who spent the final four years of his career swimming for the University of ...
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 beyond sliding sports.
Robert shares why he believes we're rushing youth athletes toward results at the cost of their long-term development, and what he's learned from decades o...
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?
In this episode, Mariel sits down with strength and conditioning coach and former national badminton athlete Luke Couture to talk about the moments that define an athl...
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 performance identity (“Zilla”) to redefining failure as feedback, this conversation goes far beyond football.
We talk about:
- Why winning has nothing to do with the s...
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 professional dancer, to explore how discipline, identity, and creative thinking translate far beyond performance environments.
Rae shares how spending the first two decades of her life in dance shap...
What does it take to stop trying to fit in and start standing out? In this powerful episode, we sit down with two-time Paralympic gold medalist, world champion shot-putter, author, and speaker Greg Stewart for a conversation that goes far beyond sport.
Born without his left arm below the elbow and standing 7'2", Greg spent much of his life trying to shrink himself so others would feel comfortable. He chased belonging...
What happens when everything you’ve built your identity around suddenly gets taken away?
In this episode, we sit down with Dallas Soonias, a former Team Canada volleyball player turned filmmaker, to unpack the reality of chasing elite performance, breaking down physically and mentally, and rebuilding from the ground up.
Dallas shares how a career-altering injury forced him to confront more than just rehab and pu...
This week on Forged Youth's Q&A episode, Mariel and Jordan are responding to a real post from a hockey parent, and it opens up one of the most common conversations happening in youth sport right now: should my kid be playing on more than one team?
The short answer? It's complicated. And at 11 years old? Probably not.
In this episode, we dig into what's really driving the push for more ice time, mor...
What if one of the best environments for developing resilient athletes… had no structured practices, no yelling coaches, and no guaranteed success?
In this episode, we sit down with Hippie Mike to explore what decades in skateboarding culture can teach us about athlete development, mindset, and long-term growth.
Having taught thousands of athletes and helped shape some of today’s top pros, Mike shares why...
What actually builds confidence in athletes?
In this powerful conversation, Mariel sits down with Shawnee Harle, Olympian, sport psychology expert, and one of Canada’s most respected voices in athlete development, to unpack the truth about confidence, identity, and the pressures young athletes face today.
From Olympic teams to youth sport, Shawnee has spent decades helping athletes perform at their best wh...
How do you motivate your child to give their best in sport… without making them lose their love for it? That’s the question Mariel and Jordan tackle in this Q&A episode.
A parent of a swimmer asked how to motivate their child to swim as fast as they can while still enjoying the sport. It’s a challenge that nearly every sports parent eventually faces. Because at some point, the excitement fades....
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