September 23, 2022 • 30 mins
This week on Beyond the Megaphone: Cassidy and Nathan welcome Miata Walker, a current doctoral student studying Sports Psychology, onto the show to take a deep dive into mental health in athletics. Miata shares a bit about her cheerleading career as a former IU Cheerleader, and how she got interested in her field of study and her new coaching job. The three share stories of when negative self-talk and insecurity have gotten the best of them and explain some of the things they have done to overcome them. Listen to all and more in this week's episode of Beyond the Megaphone.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Beyond the megaphone is a production of I heart radio
and the college athletes network. Miyata Walker, Miata, how are you? Hi, guys, good,
how are you? Thank you so much for being on
(00:20):
our show. Thank you for having me. It's so excited.
We've been looking forward to this one ever since we
got our topic list. Oh really, now, you don't have
to corrupt me. No, I do, I definitely do. Know.
You were definitely one of the one of the first
people that we were like, we need to have her on. Oh, thanks,
guys here. Yeah, for the next twenty nine minutes, we're
(00:42):
just gonna gas you up the whole time. Oh my goodness, well,
you can make it thirty if okay, we'll go over. Okay, Um, no,
but we're so excited to have me on our show. Today.
We're going to talk about the mental side of cheerleading. Okay,
not only the mental side cheerleading, but just athletics in general. Um,
this is something that has kind of been something that's
(01:03):
gotten much more popular, Um, to talk about, something that
people are much more comfortable with talking about, much more, Um,
comfortable with sharing their experiences. But there's still definitely a
long way to go and we want to be just
one of knows, just another voice of Um positivity and
um support for everybody going through anything, Um, whether it's
(01:25):
in or outside of their sport. And so, Um, we
have me out of here because she's a current PhD student. Um.
What are you studying? So I'm currently in counseling psychology
and sports psychology and I'll be a second year in
the PhD program at Indiana University go hoosiers. So we've
(01:46):
had me out on and we're gonna ask her a
bunch of questions. But before I just want to know
who is MIATA. Can you give us a little rundown
about who you are? Yeah, so originally from St Charles, Missouri, Um,
just a suburban area outside of St Louis. Um, and
I've been in Indiana for quite some time now actually. Um.
(02:06):
So I won't disclose how many years ago. We're not
going to do that. But what did you think? You're
going to aid yourself on him. I think I already
kind of have at this point. Um. But I've been
in Indiana for quite some time, like I said, Um,
I did my undergraduate here and then I actually did
my masters at ball state, Um, and then now I'm
(02:29):
back for more. The WHO's your life through and through, right,
and so a PhD program and just absolutely loving every
minute of it. Um, it's been great and Bloomington has
been great. UNCY was great. Don't get me wrong, I
mean funzy is. It has its ups and downs, right,
just like any town, but Um, you know, it's it's
something that I've definitely haven't seen myself looking back to
(02:52):
Missouri for quite some time. So awesome. So the reason,
another reason we wanted to have you on the show
is because, as you were, once in our own shoes. Um.
So you are currently one of the coaches here at
Indian University. Oh my goodness, it's still so weird to
say because it is fresh and you know it's brand new. Um,
(03:12):
could you take us through maybe, UM, your cheer career,
maybe just wherever you started and Um, how it kind
of led you to I you? Um, we'll talk about
some of the successes she's had. It a you, Um,
and then how you kind of transitioned into that coaching role. Yeah. So, Um,
I would say my cheer career started around Eighth Grade, Um,
(03:33):
and summer before, and I essentially was not any way,
shape or form, ready for cheerleading. Um, I actually did
flag football with my brother beforehand. YEA turn of events,
I went to one of his basketball games in the
winter and mimicked the cheerleaders. I was like, well, made
(03:54):
me get out there. Sean how it's done and I'm like, okay,
I'm not shy, but you know, Um, I get out
there on the sideline kind of next to them. They
were out on the court doing a halftime performance and
I was just like doing, doing things. And after their
performance the coach walks up to my mom was like
and my dad and was like, Um, she's kind of good,
(04:16):
like you should really consider I mean she kind of
kept up and I'm like Oh, thank you. And so
she's like you should get her in a cheerleaning and
that's how we signed up. My mom was like, if
you're interested, if you want to do that, then let's
go for it. I'm like, gonna have good two days
later I realized a lot of my friends also cheered,
(04:37):
so I was like, yeah, let's actually try out, let's
do it. Let's get me in tumbling, glasses, something, anything.
So that's how it started. Um, and then I ended
up cheering in high school. Um, at France, south north,
and so did high school and also did all star
and competitive cheerleaning as well. Um, just a plug for
spiritedly cheerleaning. It's not around anymore. It's not your St Louis.
(04:59):
So my friends know that. Um, that's where I cheered. Um,
and that was all the way through high school and
then moved to Indiana. So at first I was not
going to cheer in College. I was going to throw
in the towel. My body was like listen, we have
to stop flipping over, this is not okay. I'm sure
(05:22):
you can. I'm like, I know. My knees were like, okay,
screaming for help, literally bloody murder. They were like, excuse me,
we we can't do this anymore. I don't know what
you're trying to do. You're going to have any replacements
in about two years if you continue. And so I
wasn't going to do it. But one of my teammates
(05:43):
actually said, Hey, I know you're looking for all girl
programs if you do cheer in College. Um, Indiana, how's
a good one? I'm like, Indiana interesting with their corn. Okay,
I mean, Hey, she she didn't really give it too
much else, but Um, I was like okay, well, you know,
I'll take you up on that. Maybe, I don't know really. No,
(06:04):
you know, just trying to be nice, because I was
actually looking at everywhere else, like Houston, Texas, right, Um,
Ohio state, Um, Arizona, I exactly. Um, sorry, I just
can't do it. Let go big ten Um. So I
wasn't really looking into Indiana. And then the day before
(06:26):
she came for the clinic, clinics that we do, right.
She she was like, oh well, I'm going tomorrow, like again,
if you want to go, that's fine. I like, do
you still have room? So I actually jumped in the
car the day before and we came to Bloomington, Indiana,
and I've never been here before. So I was like, okay, well,
I see corn, but thankfully I saw a little bit more.
(06:48):
But Um, that's so crazy. So you almost weren't even
a hoosier. No, no, but the clinic went well. Everything
went well and I was like okay, I'm gonna apply
and if we get in, I'm gonna try with the team.
Got In. It's like, okay, I'm gonna go to troy
outs and if we make it, we're gonna go here.
If we don't. WE'RE gonna go to University of Arizona,
which I've never even laid eyes on. The weather, I heard,
(07:09):
was nice. So you know. So I've heard, um, but
everything worked out in my favor and here we are.
So that's the start of the cheer career and I
came and never looked back, like I said, Um and
did four and a half years, Um with school, but
five years with the program. And Yeah, the rest is
the kind of history. So so while you were here,
(07:31):
I think you had a little bit of success in
the program. Is that? Is that accurate? No, no, no,
that's not accurate. Okay, so give some contexts. The three
of the six titles that Um I you cheer holds
is Um majorly in part to Miyata, um so, honest,
teammates and her teammates. Yes, it was a group effort.
(07:54):
I didn't sign up for golf. Now, just kidding even
that collective effort. But but um so, which years did
you Um win? Yeah, so I was fortunate enough to
be a part of the two thousand fourteen, sixteen and
two thousand seventeen championships under you cheerleading. It's crazy. Still
(08:14):
got the rings. I do they're just not on. So
they're in a nice box, they're kept safe. It's right.
You can visualize them. Um, what would you say it
was like your favorite moment? I'm sure it was probably
in one of those three experiences. Um, what was probably
your favorite moment from your time at you as a cheerleader?
(08:35):
I would say. Okay, so two thousand fifteen, we got
second place by point zero, one five to the University
of Alabama. Great Program, but we had a chip on
our shoulders. As soon as we got off that plane,
we're like, let's get in the gym, let's work, let's
get back to to Indiana Cheer liding and to see
(08:59):
the team come together, the cohesion that came out of that,
the camaraderie that came around just the goal, the objective,
and not even that outside of cheerleading. Everyone grew closer
together and that was so, so cool to see and
be a part of. Um, and that turned over just
a new environment, a good team dynamic, a new leaf
(09:21):
for you cheer and after that, like, granted, my first
year was great, so I'm not, you know, Um, minimizing
that experience, but any time, and I use a good time,
absolutely so I've learned. Hence why, again, I'm still here.
But just seeing that, I don't know, that Camaraderie and
(09:41):
that just nature of with being with thirty six females.
It's kind of hard at times. That was really, really
cool and that really just made my heart set on
fire for all my teammates and everything like that. That's awesome.
And then next year was you guys want right, we did,
we did. We got the title back, brought it back home. Yeah,
(10:04):
I love that. Um. So you said you hit. So
you had five years in the program Um, you went around,
bounce around to get another degree. You're getting like degree
number fifteen now here. Um, just kidding already myself. So
can you talk a little bit about maybe what looks like?
What what's next for Umata? Yeah, so first off, if
(10:31):
you know just just for today, it can change tomorrow.
It's okay. Yeah, that's a loaded question. Um, I would
say with the degree in the pathway that I've kind
of done, I want my end all big pie in
the sky goal would be to be a sports psychologist
for a collegiate department and Um start there essentially and
(10:54):
then move into a private practice um or professional sports whatever.
That looks like, but also want to have a private
practice for eating disorder specialists and specialized in eating Um,
alongside of doing therapy and s work, techology works. So
this guy. Yeah, let me know when you're taking clients. Okay,
(11:17):
yesterday more so. I mean I'm taking practical hours, so
it's all relative. Right, we might be a conflict of interest,
but you're not wrong. We're going to get into some
of the, uh, the nitty and gritty of the mental
side of cheer. When we come back. We're gonna talk
you through a little bit about cheer specific Um, mental
(11:38):
things that go on, whether it be mental blocks, Um,
what we like to call roadblocks, Um, a lot of
different things involving trust, confidence, insecurity, Um, and all those
will now stretch into the other aspects of all of athletics. Um.
We want to make sure that, um, the stuff we
say is not just for cheer, it's about anything involving athletics.
(11:58):
So when we when we come back, get into some
more of that. I mean, I was just gonna take
us through some of her amazing insights that she's learned
and as well as Castie and I. So you are
listening to beyond the megaphone. I'm Nathan and I'm cassidy
and this is the college athletes network. Welcome back to
(12:30):
beyond the megaphone on the college athletes network. This is Nathan,
I'm cassidy and I'Mata. Subscribe to our podcast, so you
never missed another episode. Okay, so we've gotten the story
of MIANTA. Okay, everything is there. We're ready to roll.
Can you walk us through, Um, your definition or your
(12:52):
idea of a mental block? Yeah, so, when I think
about a mental block, Um, it's an inability to perform
a skill or task that was once deemed as automatic.
So if I give you an example, Um, in gymnastics
or cheer living. Um, if I had a standing Tuck,
I could throw it ten out of ten times, eyes closed, Um,
(13:14):
and then something happens where maybe I stop in the
middle of the Skille, don't fully complete the skill or not.
Now I'm not even throwing it, and that's where the
mental block setting it does would you say that it's
normal or more frequent to come off of an injury,
or could this happen even if you land the skill?
(13:35):
This can be there's a leather of reasons as to
why the root of the cause is happening. Um. So
from performance anxiety to fear of the injury or re injury,
as you were mentioning Um or perfect perfectionism, pressures to
perform those kind of things. Oh, interesting. So it would
be like if I can't get it perfect, I'm just
(13:56):
not gonna do it right. Yeah, okay, yeah, interesting. Mean
and external factors, Um, from parents, coaches, right, depending on
if you're not liking their coaching style or they're really
hard on you. Right. Those are the pressures that I'm
talking about. There's plenty of that's just one example. There's
plenty of other pressures. But pressures do you place on yourself?
Yourself Talk? So, yeah, there's a lot of different things
(14:20):
that could come up for you as to why that
mental block could be occurring. So then, off of mental blocks,
can you um kind of describe the differences, at least
what you've seen, between mental blocks and just negative self talk, insecurity, Um,
maybe an unhealthy um feeling of perfectionism? Yeah, so with
mental blocks you're essentially not performing the skill. I'm not
(14:43):
doing it Um and I'm not actually physically going Um.
For the other things that you're mentioning, with the insecurities.
Maybe I'm performing the skill but I have negative self
talk about it, or it's not as good as I
wanted to be and that perfectionism sets in, or it's
not a pretty scale um comparatively to your other teammates
um or, say, it's not up to part your for
(15:06):
your standards and your expectations or your coaches standards and expectations.
So then all of these doubts get set in and
put in place and these insecurities come to play and
that's really taking a toll in your performance and hindering
your performance a little bit, I feel like. I mean
it's got to be almost all of high level athletes
(15:29):
experienced something like this. Absolutely, absolutely, and there's different terms
too for different sports in terms of what happened, is
happening like, have you heard of the Yips? I've actually. Okay,
so for the hitting, so you have slumping, you have choking,
you have yips, you have mental blocks. Right, what are
all these different things? And a lot of people think that, okay, well,
(15:51):
they're all synonymous and they're not. For example, we just
talked about with metal blocks, I'm not throwing a skill,
I'm not doing it. But with the yips. In baseball.
I can swing that all day long. I might miss
ten out of ten times when I'm swinging it right,
I'm still doing the motion of the skill or the task.
That's that hand. That's the difference there. So just kind
(16:11):
of depends to on what sport you're talking about and
how that looks in a sport, how it shuts up. Interesting.
It's so funny or like, Um, we always said you
have to get the monkey off your back. For Baseball,
that was the UH, the big thing. If you were
in a hitting slump, it was called he's got a
monkey on his back, you know. So you kind of
(16:32):
have these like Um nicknames for it too. That was
just because growing up in baseball, I recognized that one immediately.
So that's super funny. Um. Well, my dad was a coach,
so he would usually use that. Yeah, he's say, he's say, listen,
he just gotta get that monkey off your back, okay,
and so I think he was kind of trying to
(16:53):
make it like kid version, you know, and and it
would make you'd make us laugh, you know, because, like
you know, it's funny thing to say and I think
that it kind of like really momentarily kind of like uh,
you know, laughing, having a good time. I'm out here
because I enjoy it. I don't need to be perfect.
I'm out here because I enjoy it, you know. And
it's like that split second of I'm just having a
(17:13):
good time out here with my friends and for me,
with my friends and my dad, you know. So, so
it seems like that expression was trying to like shift
your mindset or reframe what you were thinking momentarily, just
to see if we can get hit and refocus. Yeah,
very cool, okay, monkey off your back. Yeah, so there's
a new one Um in terms of perfectionism. That, I think,
(17:38):
something that runs rampant through cheerleading and all sports. But
that's the athlete game right. It's it's the the hunt
for perfection, you know. So cast like in your experience
through cheer, maybe in high school all star or even
in IU, have you had those experiences of I just
(17:59):
has to be perfect or I'm just not going to stop.
Every single day I do cheer, anything I do. I
mean you saw it. What yesterday when I was trying
to do the fight song, I recorded that probably like
ten times and still I was just like this is
not good enough, like I think it's just growing up
in the environment. So I grew up gymnastics, so growing
(18:19):
up around, you know, girls who are you're competing by
yourself and you get your score immediately and just like
growing up with thinking, well, I have to do this
perfect or I'm not going to get the good score
that and everybody's going to see that. It's gonna be
on display and I'm gonna have to, you know, show
my friends that too. They're going to see that. And
then coming to cheer, it was a big difference because
of the team atmosphere. So if one person messed up,
(18:42):
your whole team messes up. It's not just you anymore.
You have to be I looked at it. Started it
out with I have to be perfect for my team.
So I think that mindset carrying it on through, you know,
high school cheer and then I'll start cheer and then
in college cheer too. Um, especially in college. I mean,
(19:04):
I'm hard on myself every single day with cheer. I
just want to be I want to hold myself to
a higher standard so I'm not, you know, letting my
team down. I don't want to be like the one
that's holding everyone back from, you know, like having to
move on from the school song or like having to
Redo this again, stuff like that. And I know deep
down inside that I can do said skills. It's just
(19:27):
in my mind it's never perfect enough, and I think
that's like us. It's a really bad loop to be
in Um mentally for, you know, like twenty year old
girl in College Um. But you know, definitely having different
support systems Um have helped that a lot, you know,
with the positive affirmations, talking to the coaches and getting
(19:50):
their input on how I'm doing and like what my
performance looks like to them, like, since I don't see
that myself, getting that input from them helps a lot, um,
to to know that they are seeing how hard I
am working um and that my other friends see that too. So, yeah,
quick pause. Will you tap your market a couple of times? Okay,
(20:11):
let's make sure cut three, two. Yeah, so you brought
up a point to about numbers and trying to really
beat your numbers and to stay in that range. And
that's a big name of the game for a lot
of sports. Right, you're seeing your numbers. You're trying to
(20:32):
either shave off time of your swimming, right, or I
want to run faster, or I have to be the
best at any of my numbers, right from butterfield goal percentage,
everything better, batting average. It's all over the place, and
I think that that's where the perfectionism tries to get
set in, right, or get set in, I should say,
(20:52):
switch stems from exactly the numbers. Absolutely. And then, on
top of that, you were mentioning to feeling pressure, Um,
from maybe your teammates. Right, I don't want to make
us do the school song again. I don't want to
make us have to do something again because of me. Right.
And so there's this internal thing that's happening that's making
you place pressure on yourself even more and have to
(21:14):
have a certain expectation for yourself. And that's hard when
it's like a whole team thing too, because deep down
inside you're like, oh my gosh, is it me, like
am I holding them back? Like what am I doing wrong? Like,
for me, I always think like when the comments coaches
are making, like direct comments to a program, and if
I'm like in that team, I'm like, oh my gosh,
am I the One doing that wrong? Like you're internalizing it, yes,
(21:37):
like taking it to hard. We're talking, they're talking to
the team people. I did that too, and I do
that all the time. So, yeah, you want to talk
about numbers, Um, creating negative self. Talk Baseball. It's that
number on the scale, you know. Um. So for me, Um,
(21:59):
like we've talked earlier in this season, Um, I did
not start college as an athlete. Right. I had two
years off of all athletics. So pretty much in turn,
I had very little to know, Um, motivation to stay
in shape, you know, and you you just kind of
start down that, that path, and it's just so easy
(22:20):
to stay and then once you notice it, it's too late,
you know what I mean. Or early in that moment
you're like, oh well, now I've I've ruined whatever, like
I like my physique has gone my I'm out of shape,
you know, things like that. And that was the biggest
struggle for me my first year back into sports in cheer. Um,
I was just so, so down on myself and like
(22:40):
I'm surrounded by these guys who are who just look
like chiseled Greek gods, you know what I mean, like,
and this is not a dig on them, this is
just like I was just so jealous, you know what
I mean of that? Physique and and of that, of
feeling like an athlete. I didn't feel like an athlete.
I was at that point. I was an athlete, but
I didn't feel like it right, because I looked in
the mirror and I was like this is not what
(23:00):
an athlete looks like. And so, you know, the only time.
And so fast forward two years. I've lost thirty five pounds.
So something happened right. And so what changed? Right? It's
it's not until you switch your perspective. You have to
think like here's what has gone wrong for so long
(23:22):
or whatever, like I haven't done this wrong, I haven't
been as good as I can be in this area.
Is it's why don't I just try and do one
thing right today? Right, you know. And so it's like
you don't have to switch everything at once. You've settled
into a way of life. You need to adjust it, sure,
but that comes with time and it's a process, you know.
(23:43):
And so when we come back we're actually gonna talk
a little bit more about all of the things that
all of us have done to overcome these negative self talk,
this perfectionism, Um, mental blocks, when they come and they go, Um,
the things that you can do and the things that
people listening back home can do to get themselves out
of these ruts, to get that monkey off their back. Um. So, Um,
(24:05):
you're listening to beyond the megaphone. I'm Nathan, I'm cassidy
and this is the college athletes network. Welcome back to
beyond the megaphone. On the college athletes network. I'm Nathan
(24:27):
and subscribe to our podcasts. You never miss another episode. Okay,
so we've gone through a little bit about, Um, what
the mental side of athletes of athletics looks like. Now
let's turn the page, let's get onto the positive side.
What can we do to overcome these things? What have
we done, Um, and some of our tips and tricks
(24:49):
on how to get out of a rhet and get
those monkeys off our backs. Right. So I think for me,
like I was talking about before the break, Um, the
biggest thing was just flipping the script, turning it on
its head and talking about Oh, I'm so terrible, I'll
never be able to blank right, or all, I'm so
out of shape, I'll never be able to be able
to blank right. We want to turn that around and
(25:11):
say today I'm going to try and get this much
better and it might just be one it might just
be one extra rep it might just be one extra
minute on the treadmill. Right, these small progressions is where
actual progress is made. You know, it's not something that's
done overnight. It's not something that you can just flip
a switch and and um, everything's okay again, right. Um.
(25:33):
So being able to be okay with the progress and
actually enjoying the progress, right, enjoying the journey to get
to where you want to be, because I think that's
what really builds something sustainable. Right, that's where you actually
find who you are, more so than in any other sport.
It's that journey, it's that progress. Um. So I think
(25:53):
that was the biggest thing I learned. UH, just turning
it on his head and saying, regardless of where I was,
here's where I want to go. Yeah, you know. Um. So, yeah,
I don't know, cassy. What do you what about you?
What do you think is something that you've learned? Um,
something I've learned about myself as I've dealt with a
lot of being a perfectionist and having to pick myself
(26:15):
up out of those situations. Um, one thing I've learned
that's helped me is I guess flipping the script in
a sense, um, except in more from like a negative standpoint,
turning it to a positive standpoint. I thrive off of
people telling me I can't do something, when people tell
me I don't know if you're up for that, I
(26:36):
don't know if you can do this, I don't know
if you can do that, those type of things, I
I love that, I actually do, because then I'm able
to think, well, I'm going to watched me. I actually
literally remember gymnastics. I was like working on a flyaway.
I worked on it for months. My coaches were like
you're never going to get this skill. I got it
(26:57):
and then the next day I quit and moved to cheer.
I was I wanted that skill, I wanted that skills
so bad. So I never let myself take those negative
comments and spiral off the negativity of it, but more
taken into a positive perspective and think, well, they don't
think I can and I don't want them to think
I can't do that. So that's one thing I do
(27:18):
am for this upcoming season. I decided, since this is
going to be a big change for me, Um, going
from coed to all girl. I'm no I'm going to
put a lot of pressure on myself to want to
be the best Um, but I know I can't do that,
or else it's gonna be really bad for my mental health.
So I am going to make a list of five things,
whether it be after a practice or Um, you know,
(27:41):
outside stunting, working on my tumbling, whatever. Uh, five things
that I did, think I did well, and five positive
things that came out of that practice. So I'M gonna
be checking in on that too. I'm gonna need you
to Oh, and that's awesome and I think that that too,
from self talk to words of affirmation, reflection, journaling or
(28:05):
great tactics and techniques to get on the right track
right and to kind of overcome those rights, those monkey
on your backs things, right situations. Some other things that
came up when I was listening to both of you, guys, Um,
that came up for me. We're thinking about, I was
thinking about with Um, reframing that mentality and really taking
(28:27):
a step back. So whether that's taking a step back
from the Skilling, going to a drill that might help
or going into Um, a different skill that's still maybe
given that same motion, um just using tree learning or
gymnastics as an example, Um, going from a back touch
to a back canswering. So I'm still doing that backwards
motion and the back canswering is comfortable right now. I'm
(28:48):
I'm not having a mental block on that specific skill,
but really taking a step back and allowing yourself to
feel your body do those things again. Um. And I think,
speaking of feeling again, and also imagery and visualization, have
you guys heard of imagery visualization? So allowing yourself to
visualize the skill when you were successful at it and
(29:11):
allowing yourself to see, hey, I've done it, or watching
film right, watching film again, like I've seen my successful attempts,
or not attempts, because they were successes right, Um, and
having that be played in your mind before you go
into the space and then maybe sitting with the space.
I love doing that. That's like one of my biggest things.
Like before I hit a stunt, it's not I hope
(29:34):
I hit this skill right, it's I got this, I've
hit this before, right, or even if I haven't, sometimes
I'll be like I can hit this right. It's it's whatever.
Like you go into this environment you're you're about to
go and in your mind you're like, oh, I really
hope I hit the skill. I hope I do this right. Hope. No, no, no,
shoulders back just up. You got this right. There's you've
(29:55):
got to change that mentality, change that narrative, change your
body language even and it does wonders for you. Yeah,
I know that self efficacy, piece of feeling like I
have the belief that I can do this is huge
and I think that that's something that will take people
very far in all of their skills. Absolutely, Mianda, thanks
(30:15):
so much for being on. This has been so much fun. Thanks.
Thank you, guys, for having me have some time so well.
Thank you guys so much and, as always, thanks for
listening to beyond the megaphone on the college athletes network.
Please subscribe to our podcast. You never missed another episode.
(30:37):
One more time. I'm Nathan, I'm cassidy and I'm Yatta.
Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again soon.
Beyond the megaphone has been a presentation of my heart
radio and the college athletes network.
Beyond the megaphone is a production of I heart radio
and the college athletes network. Miyata Walker, Miata, how are you? Hi, guys, good,
how are you? Thank you so much for being on
(00:20):
our show. Thank you for having me. It's so excited.
We've been looking forward to this one ever since we
got our topic list. Oh really, now, you don't have
to corrupt me. No, I do, I definitely do. Know.
You were definitely one of the one of the first
people that we were like, we need to have her on. Oh, thanks,
guys here. Yeah, for the next twenty nine minutes, we're
(00:42):
just gonna gas you up the whole time. Oh my goodness, well,
you can make it thirty if okay, we'll go over. Okay, Um, no,
but we're so excited to have me on our show. Today.
We're going to talk about the mental side of cheerleading. Okay,
not only the mental side cheerleading, but just athletics in general. Um,
this is something that has kind of been something that's
(01:03):
gotten much more popular, Um, to talk about, something that
people are much more comfortable with talking about, much more, Um,
comfortable with sharing their experiences. But there's still definitely a
long way to go and we want to be just
one of knows, just another voice of Um positivity and
um support for everybody going through anything, Um, whether it's
(01:25):
in or outside of their sport. And so, Um, we
have me out of here because she's a current PhD student. Um.
What are you studying? So I'm currently in counseling psychology
and sports psychology and I'll be a second year in
the PhD program at Indiana University go hoosiers. So we've
(01:46):
had me out on and we're gonna ask her a
bunch of questions. But before I just want to know
who is MIATA. Can you give us a little rundown
about who you are? Yeah, so originally from St Charles, Missouri, Um,
just a suburban area outside of St Louis. Um, and
I've been in Indiana for quite some time now actually. Um.
(02:06):
So I won't disclose how many years ago. We're not
going to do that. But what did you think? You're
going to aid yourself on him. I think I already
kind of have at this point. Um. But I've been
in Indiana for quite some time, like I said, Um,
I did my undergraduate here and then I actually did
my masters at ball state, Um, and then now I'm
(02:29):
back for more. The WHO's your life through and through, right,
and so a PhD program and just absolutely loving every
minute of it. Um, it's been great and Bloomington has
been great. UNCY was great. Don't get me wrong, I
mean funzy is. It has its ups and downs, right,
just like any town, but Um, you know, it's it's
something that I've definitely haven't seen myself looking back to
(02:52):
Missouri for quite some time. So awesome. So the reason,
another reason we wanted to have you on the show
is because, as you were, once in our own shoes. Um.
So you are currently one of the coaches here at
Indian University. Oh my goodness, it's still so weird to
say because it is fresh and you know it's brand new. Um,
(03:12):
could you take us through maybe, UM, your cheer career,
maybe just wherever you started and Um, how it kind
of led you to I you? Um, we'll talk about
some of the successes she's had. It a you, Um,
and then how you kind of transitioned into that coaching role. Yeah. So, Um,
I would say my cheer career started around Eighth Grade, Um,
(03:33):
and summer before, and I essentially was not any way,
shape or form, ready for cheerleading. Um, I actually did
flag football with my brother beforehand. YEA turn of events,
I went to one of his basketball games in the
winter and mimicked the cheerleaders. I was like, well, made
(03:54):
me get out there. Sean how it's done and I'm like, okay,
I'm not shy, but you know, Um, I get out
there on the sideline kind of next to them. They
were out on the court doing a halftime performance and
I was just like doing, doing things. And after their
performance the coach walks up to my mom was like
and my dad and was like, Um, she's kind of good,
(04:16):
like you should really consider I mean she kind of
kept up and I'm like Oh, thank you. And so
she's like you should get her in a cheerleaning and
that's how we signed up. My mom was like, if
you're interested, if you want to do that, then let's
go for it. I'm like, gonna have good two days
later I realized a lot of my friends also cheered,
(04:37):
so I was like, yeah, let's actually try out, let's
do it. Let's get me in tumbling, glasses, something, anything.
So that's how it started. Um, and then I ended
up cheering in high school. Um, at France, south north,
and so did high school and also did all star
and competitive cheerleaning as well. Um, just a plug for
spiritedly cheerleaning. It's not around anymore. It's not your St Louis.
(04:59):
So my friends know that. Um, that's where I cheered. Um,
and that was all the way through high school and
then moved to Indiana. So at first I was not
going to cheer in College. I was going to throw
in the towel. My body was like listen, we have
to stop flipping over, this is not okay. I'm sure
(05:22):
you can. I'm like, I know. My knees were like, okay,
screaming for help, literally bloody murder. They were like, excuse me,
we we can't do this anymore. I don't know what
you're trying to do. You're going to have any replacements
in about two years if you continue. And so I
wasn't going to do it. But one of my teammates
(05:43):
actually said, Hey, I know you're looking for all girl
programs if you do cheer in College. Um, Indiana, how's
a good one? I'm like, Indiana interesting with their corn. Okay,
I mean, Hey, she she didn't really give it too
much else, but Um, I was like okay, well, you know,
I'll take you up on that. Maybe, I don't know really. No,
(06:04):
you know, just trying to be nice, because I was
actually looking at everywhere else, like Houston, Texas, right, Um,
Ohio state, Um, Arizona, I exactly. Um, sorry, I just
can't do it. Let go big ten Um. So I
wasn't really looking into Indiana. And then the day before
(06:26):
she came for the clinic, clinics that we do, right.
She she was like, oh well, I'm going tomorrow, like again,
if you want to go, that's fine. I like, do
you still have room? So I actually jumped in the
car the day before and we came to Bloomington, Indiana,
and I've never been here before. So I was like, okay, well,
I see corn, but thankfully I saw a little bit more.
(06:48):
But Um, that's so crazy. So you almost weren't even
a hoosier. No, no, but the clinic went well. Everything
went well and I was like okay, I'm gonna apply
and if we get in, I'm gonna try with the team.
Got In. It's like, okay, I'm gonna go to troy
outs and if we make it, we're gonna go here.
If we don't. WE'RE gonna go to University of Arizona,
which I've never even laid eyes on. The weather, I heard,
(07:09):
was nice. So you know. So I've heard, um, but
everything worked out in my favor and here we are.
So that's the start of the cheer career and I
came and never looked back, like I said, Um and
did four and a half years, Um with school, but
five years with the program. And Yeah, the rest is
the kind of history. So so while you were here,
(07:31):
I think you had a little bit of success in
the program. Is that? Is that accurate? No, no, no,
that's not accurate. Okay, so give some contexts. The three
of the six titles that Um I you cheer holds
is Um majorly in part to Miyata, um so, honest,
teammates and her teammates. Yes, it was a group effort.
(07:54):
I didn't sign up for golf. Now, just kidding even
that collective effort. But but um so, which years did
you Um win? Yeah, so I was fortunate enough to
be a part of the two thousand fourteen, sixteen and
two thousand seventeen championships under you cheerleading. It's crazy. Still
(08:14):
got the rings. I do they're just not on. So
they're in a nice box, they're kept safe. It's right.
You can visualize them. Um, what would you say it
was like your favorite moment? I'm sure it was probably
in one of those three experiences. Um, what was probably
your favorite moment from your time at you as a cheerleader?
(08:35):
I would say. Okay, so two thousand fifteen, we got
second place by point zero, one five to the University
of Alabama. Great Program, but we had a chip on
our shoulders. As soon as we got off that plane,
we're like, let's get in the gym, let's work, let's
get back to to Indiana Cheer liding and to see
(08:59):
the team come together, the cohesion that came out of that,
the camaraderie that came around just the goal, the objective,
and not even that outside of cheerleading. Everyone grew closer
together and that was so, so cool to see and
be a part of. Um, and that turned over just
a new environment, a good team dynamic, a new leaf
(09:21):
for you cheer and after that, like, granted, my first
year was great, so I'm not, you know, Um, minimizing
that experience, but any time, and I use a good time,
absolutely so I've learned. Hence why, again, I'm still here.
But just seeing that, I don't know, that Camaraderie and
(09:41):
that just nature of with being with thirty six females.
It's kind of hard at times. That was really, really
cool and that really just made my heart set on
fire for all my teammates and everything like that. That's awesome.
And then next year was you guys want right, we did,
we did. We got the title back, brought it back home. Yeah,
(10:04):
I love that. Um. So you said you hit. So
you had five years in the program Um, you went around,
bounce around to get another degree. You're getting like degree
number fifteen now here. Um, just kidding already myself. So
can you talk a little bit about maybe what looks like?
What what's next for Umata? Yeah, so first off, if
(10:31):
you know just just for today, it can change tomorrow.
It's okay. Yeah, that's a loaded question. Um, I would
say with the degree in the pathway that I've kind
of done, I want my end all big pie in
the sky goal would be to be a sports psychologist
for a collegiate department and Um start there essentially and
(10:54):
then move into a private practice um or professional sports whatever.
That looks like, but also want to have a private
practice for eating disorder specialists and specialized in eating Um,
alongside of doing therapy and s work, techology works. So
this guy. Yeah, let me know when you're taking clients. Okay,
(11:17):
yesterday more so. I mean I'm taking practical hours, so
it's all relative. Right, we might be a conflict of interest,
but you're not wrong. We're going to get into some
of the, uh, the nitty and gritty of the mental
side of cheer. When we come back. We're gonna talk
you through a little bit about cheer specific Um, mental
(11:38):
things that go on, whether it be mental blocks, Um,
what we like to call roadblocks, Um, a lot of
different things involving trust, confidence, insecurity, Um, and all those
will now stretch into the other aspects of all of athletics. Um.
We want to make sure that, um, the stuff we
say is not just for cheer, it's about anything involving athletics.
(11:58):
So when we when we come back, get into some
more of that. I mean, I was just gonna take
us through some of her amazing insights that she's learned
and as well as Castie and I. So you are
listening to beyond the megaphone. I'm Nathan and I'm cassidy
and this is the college athletes network. Welcome back to
(12:30):
beyond the megaphone on the college athletes network. This is Nathan,
I'm cassidy and I'Mata. Subscribe to our podcast, so you
never missed another episode. Okay, so we've gotten the story
of MIANTA. Okay, everything is there. We're ready to roll.
Can you walk us through, Um, your definition or your
(12:52):
idea of a mental block? Yeah, so, when I think
about a mental block, Um, it's an inability to perform
a skill or task that was once deemed as automatic.
So if I give you an example, Um, in gymnastics
or cheer living. Um, if I had a standing Tuck,
I could throw it ten out of ten times, eyes closed, Um,
(13:14):
and then something happens where maybe I stop in the
middle of the Skille, don't fully complete the skill or not.
Now I'm not even throwing it, and that's where the
mental block setting it does would you say that it's
normal or more frequent to come off of an injury,
or could this happen even if you land the skill?
(13:35):
This can be there's a leather of reasons as to
why the root of the cause is happening. Um. So
from performance anxiety to fear of the injury or re injury,
as you were mentioning Um or perfect perfectionism, pressures to
perform those kind of things. Oh, interesting. So it would
be like if I can't get it perfect, I'm just
(13:56):
not gonna do it right. Yeah, okay, yeah, interesting. Mean
and external factors, Um, from parents, coaches, right, depending on
if you're not liking their coaching style or they're really
hard on you. Right. Those are the pressures that I'm
talking about. There's plenty of that's just one example. There's
plenty of other pressures. But pressures do you place on yourself?
Yourself Talk? So, yeah, there's a lot of different things
(14:20):
that could come up for you as to why that
mental block could be occurring. So then, off of mental blocks,
can you um kind of describe the differences, at least
what you've seen, between mental blocks and just negative self talk, insecurity, Um,
maybe an unhealthy um feeling of perfectionism? Yeah, so with
mental blocks you're essentially not performing the skill. I'm not
(14:43):
doing it Um and I'm not actually physically going Um.
For the other things that you're mentioning, with the insecurities.
Maybe I'm performing the skill but I have negative self
talk about it, or it's not as good as I
wanted to be and that perfectionism sets in, or it's
not a pretty scale um comparatively to your other teammates
um or, say, it's not up to part your for
(15:06):
your standards and your expectations or your coaches standards and expectations.
So then all of these doubts get set in and
put in place and these insecurities come to play and
that's really taking a toll in your performance and hindering
your performance a little bit, I feel like. I mean
it's got to be almost all of high level athletes
(15:29):
experienced something like this. Absolutely, absolutely, and there's different terms
too for different sports in terms of what happened, is
happening like, have you heard of the Yips? I've actually. Okay,
so for the hitting, so you have slumping, you have choking,
you have yips, you have mental blocks. Right, what are
all these different things? And a lot of people think that, okay, well,
(15:51):
they're all synonymous and they're not. For example, we just
talked about with metal blocks, I'm not throwing a skill,
I'm not doing it. But with the yips. In baseball.
I can swing that all day long. I might miss
ten out of ten times when I'm swinging it right,
I'm still doing the motion of the skill or the task.
That's that hand. That's the difference there. So just kind
(16:11):
of depends to on what sport you're talking about and
how that looks in a sport, how it shuts up. Interesting.
It's so funny or like, Um, we always said you
have to get the monkey off your back. For Baseball,
that was the UH, the big thing. If you were
in a hitting slump, it was called he's got a
monkey on his back, you know. So you kind of
(16:32):
have these like Um nicknames for it too. That was
just because growing up in baseball, I recognized that one immediately.
So that's super funny. Um. Well, my dad was a coach,
so he would usually use that. Yeah, he's say, he's say, listen,
he just gotta get that monkey off your back, okay,
and so I think he was kind of trying to
(16:53):
make it like kid version, you know, and and it
would make you'd make us laugh, you know, because, like
you know, it's funny thing to say and I think
that it kind of like really momentarily kind of like uh,
you know, laughing, having a good time. I'm out here
because I enjoy it. I don't need to be perfect.
I'm out here because I enjoy it, you know. And
it's like that split second of I'm just having a
(17:13):
good time out here with my friends and for me,
with my friends and my dad, you know. So, so
it seems like that expression was trying to like shift
your mindset or reframe what you were thinking momentarily, just
to see if we can get hit and refocus. Yeah,
very cool, okay, monkey off your back. Yeah, so there's
a new one Um in terms of perfectionism. That, I think,
(17:38):
something that runs rampant through cheerleading and all sports. But
that's the athlete game right. It's it's the the hunt
for perfection, you know. So cast like in your experience
through cheer, maybe in high school all star or even
in IU, have you had those experiences of I just
(17:59):
has to be perfect or I'm just not going to stop.
Every single day I do cheer, anything I do. I
mean you saw it. What yesterday when I was trying
to do the fight song, I recorded that probably like
ten times and still I was just like this is
not good enough, like I think it's just growing up
in the environment. So I grew up gymnastics, so growing
(18:19):
up around, you know, girls who are you're competing by
yourself and you get your score immediately and just like
growing up with thinking, well, I have to do this
perfect or I'm not going to get the good score
that and everybody's going to see that. It's gonna be
on display and I'm gonna have to, you know, show
my friends that too. They're going to see that. And
then coming to cheer, it was a big difference because
of the team atmosphere. So if one person messed up,
(18:42):
your whole team messes up. It's not just you anymore.
You have to be I looked at it. Started it
out with I have to be perfect for my team.
So I think that mindset carrying it on through, you know,
high school cheer and then I'll start cheer and then
in college cheer too. Um, especially in college. I mean,
(19:04):
I'm hard on myself every single day with cheer. I
just want to be I want to hold myself to
a higher standard so I'm not, you know, letting my
team down. I don't want to be like the one
that's holding everyone back from, you know, like having to
move on from the school song or like having to
Redo this again, stuff like that. And I know deep
down inside that I can do said skills. It's just
(19:27):
in my mind it's never perfect enough, and I think
that's like us. It's a really bad loop to be
in Um mentally for, you know, like twenty year old
girl in College Um. But you know, definitely having different
support systems Um have helped that a lot, you know,
with the positive affirmations, talking to the coaches and getting
(19:50):
their input on how I'm doing and like what my
performance looks like to them, like, since I don't see
that myself, getting that input from them helps a lot, um,
to to know that they are seeing how hard I
am working um and that my other friends see that too. So, yeah,
quick pause. Will you tap your market a couple of times? Okay,
(20:11):
let's make sure cut three, two. Yeah, so you brought
up a point to about numbers and trying to really
beat your numbers and to stay in that range. And
that's a big name of the game for a lot
of sports. Right, you're seeing your numbers. You're trying to
(20:32):
either shave off time of your swimming, right, or I
want to run faster, or I have to be the
best at any of my numbers, right from butterfield goal percentage,
everything better, batting average. It's all over the place, and
I think that that's where the perfectionism tries to get
set in, right, or get set in, I should say,
(20:52):
switch stems from exactly the numbers. Absolutely. And then, on
top of that, you were mentioning to feeling pressure, Um,
from maybe your teammates. Right, I don't want to make
us do the school song again. I don't want to
make us have to do something again because of me. Right.
And so there's this internal thing that's happening that's making
you place pressure on yourself even more and have to
(21:14):
have a certain expectation for yourself. And that's hard when
it's like a whole team thing too, because deep down
inside you're like, oh my gosh, is it me, like
am I holding them back? Like what am I doing wrong? Like,
for me, I always think like when the comments coaches
are making, like direct comments to a program, and if
I'm like in that team, I'm like, oh my gosh,
am I the One doing that wrong? Like you're internalizing it, yes,
(21:37):
like taking it to hard. We're talking, they're talking to
the team people. I did that too, and I do
that all the time. So, yeah, you want to talk
about numbers, Um, creating negative self. Talk Baseball. It's that
number on the scale, you know. Um. So for me, Um,
(21:59):
like we've talked earlier in this season, Um, I did
not start college as an athlete. Right. I had two
years off of all athletics. So pretty much in turn,
I had very little to know, Um, motivation to stay
in shape, you know, and you you just kind of
start down that, that path, and it's just so easy
(22:20):
to stay and then once you notice it, it's too late,
you know what I mean. Or early in that moment
you're like, oh well, now I've I've ruined whatever, like
I like my physique has gone my I'm out of shape,
you know, things like that. And that was the biggest
struggle for me my first year back into sports in cheer. Um,
I was just so, so down on myself and like
(22:40):
I'm surrounded by these guys who are who just look
like chiseled Greek gods, you know what I mean, like,
and this is not a dig on them, this is
just like I was just so jealous, you know what
I mean of that? Physique and and of that, of
feeling like an athlete. I didn't feel like an athlete.
I was at that point. I was an athlete, but
I didn't feel like it right, because I looked in
the mirror and I was like this is not what
(23:00):
an athlete looks like. And so, you know, the only time.
And so fast forward two years. I've lost thirty five pounds.
So something happened right. And so what changed? Right? It's
it's not until you switch your perspective. You have to
think like here's what has gone wrong for so long
(23:22):
or whatever, like I haven't done this wrong, I haven't
been as good as I can be in this area.
Is it's why don't I just try and do one
thing right today? Right, you know. And so it's like
you don't have to switch everything at once. You've settled
into a way of life. You need to adjust it, sure,
but that comes with time and it's a process, you know.
(23:43):
And so when we come back we're actually gonna talk
a little bit more about all of the things that
all of us have done to overcome these negative self talk,
this perfectionism, Um, mental blocks, when they come and they go, Um,
the things that you can do and the things that
people listening back home can do to get themselves out
of these ruts, to get that monkey off their back. Um. So, Um,
(24:05):
you're listening to beyond the megaphone. I'm Nathan, I'm cassidy
and this is the college athletes network. Welcome back to
beyond the megaphone. On the college athletes network. I'm Nathan
(24:27):
and subscribe to our podcasts. You never miss another episode. Okay,
so we've gone through a little bit about, Um, what
the mental side of athletes of athletics looks like. Now
let's turn the page, let's get onto the positive side.
What can we do to overcome these things? What have
we done, Um, and some of our tips and tricks
(24:49):
on how to get out of a rhet and get
those monkeys off our backs. Right. So I think for me,
like I was talking about before the break, Um, the
biggest thing was just flipping the script, turning it on
its head and talking about Oh, I'm so terrible, I'll
never be able to blank right, or all, I'm so
out of shape, I'll never be able to be able
to blank right. We want to turn that around and
(25:11):
say today I'm going to try and get this much
better and it might just be one it might just
be one extra rep it might just be one extra
minute on the treadmill. Right, these small progressions is where
actual progress is made. You know, it's not something that's
done overnight. It's not something that you can just flip
a switch and and um, everything's okay again, right. Um.
(25:33):
So being able to be okay with the progress and
actually enjoying the progress, right, enjoying the journey to get
to where you want to be, because I think that's
what really builds something sustainable. Right, that's where you actually
find who you are, more so than in any other sport.
It's that journey, it's that progress. Um. So I think
(25:53):
that was the biggest thing I learned. UH, just turning
it on his head and saying, regardless of where I was,
here's where I want to go. Yeah, you know. Um. So, yeah,
I don't know, cassy. What do you what about you?
What do you think is something that you've learned? Um,
something I've learned about myself as I've dealt with a
lot of being a perfectionist and having to pick myself
(26:15):
up out of those situations. Um, one thing I've learned
that's helped me is I guess flipping the script in
a sense, um, except in more from like a negative standpoint,
turning it to a positive standpoint. I thrive off of
people telling me I can't do something, when people tell
me I don't know if you're up for that, I
(26:36):
don't know if you can do this, I don't know
if you can do that, those type of things, I
I love that, I actually do, because then I'm able
to think, well, I'm going to watched me. I actually
literally remember gymnastics. I was like working on a flyaway.
I worked on it for months. My coaches were like
you're never going to get this skill. I got it
(26:57):
and then the next day I quit and moved to cheer.
I was I wanted that skill, I wanted that skills
so bad. So I never let myself take those negative
comments and spiral off the negativity of it, but more
taken into a positive perspective and think, well, they don't
think I can and I don't want them to think
I can't do that. So that's one thing I do
(27:18):
am for this upcoming season. I decided, since this is
going to be a big change for me, Um, going
from coed to all girl. I'm no I'm going to
put a lot of pressure on myself to want to
be the best Um, but I know I can't do that,
or else it's gonna be really bad for my mental health.
So I am going to make a list of five things,
whether it be after a practice or Um, you know,
(27:41):
outside stunting, working on my tumbling, whatever. Uh, five things
that I did, think I did well, and five positive
things that came out of that practice. So I'M gonna
be checking in on that too. I'm gonna need you
to Oh, and that's awesome and I think that that too,
from self talk to words of affirmation, reflection, journaling or
(28:05):
great tactics and techniques to get on the right track
right and to kind of overcome those rights, those monkey
on your backs things, right situations. Some other things that
came up when I was listening to both of you, guys, Um,
that came up for me. We're thinking about, I was
thinking about with Um, reframing that mentality and really taking
(28:27):
a step back. So whether that's taking a step back
from the Skilling, going to a drill that might help
or going into Um, a different skill that's still maybe
given that same motion, um just using tree learning or
gymnastics as an example, Um, going from a back touch
to a back canswering. So I'm still doing that backwards
motion and the back canswering is comfortable right now. I'm
(28:48):
I'm not having a mental block on that specific skill,
but really taking a step back and allowing yourself to
feel your body do those things again. Um. And I think,
speaking of feeling again, and also imagery and visualization, have
you guys heard of imagery visualization? So allowing yourself to
visualize the skill when you were successful at it and
(29:11):
allowing yourself to see, hey, I've done it, or watching
film right, watching film again, like I've seen my successful attempts,
or not attempts, because they were successes right, Um, and
having that be played in your mind before you go
into the space and then maybe sitting with the space.
I love doing that. That's like one of my biggest things.
Like before I hit a stunt, it's not I hope
(29:34):
I hit this skill right, it's I got this, I've
hit this before, right, or even if I haven't, sometimes
I'll be like I can hit this right. It's it's whatever.
Like you go into this environment you're you're about to
go and in your mind you're like, oh, I really
hope I hit the skill. I hope I do this right. Hope. No, no, no,
shoulders back just up. You got this right. There's you've
(29:55):
got to change that mentality, change that narrative, change your
body language even and it does wonders for you. Yeah,
I know that self efficacy, piece of feeling like I
have the belief that I can do this is huge
and I think that that's something that will take people
very far in all of their skills. Absolutely, Mianda, thanks
(30:15):
so much for being on. This has been so much fun. Thanks.
Thank you, guys, for having me have some time so well.
Thank you guys so much and, as always, thanks for
listening to beyond the megaphone on the college athletes network.
Please subscribe to our podcast. You never missed another episode.
(30:37):
One more time. I'm Nathan, I'm cassidy and I'm Yatta.
Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again soon.
Beyond the megaphone has been a presentation of my heart
radio and the college athletes network.
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