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
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 scoreboard
- How journali...
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...
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 pushed h...
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...
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 skateboardin...
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 while staying...
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. Early morning prac...
What if the path to your dream isn’t straight? What if it zigzags through setbacks, detours, risks, and reinvention?
In this episode, we sit down with Ben Boudreau, a former professional hockey player and coach, to unpack what it really means to chase a dream for nearly two decades.
Born into a hockey family, Ben grew up around the rink. But his journey wasn’t a typical “blue-chip prospect” story. He went undrafted. H...
What does it take to build a career and a life that lasts?
Longevity. Identity. Resilience.
In this special episode promoting the Building Resilience On & Off the Field event on March 5th, we sit down with CFL legend Sean Millington to talk about what sustains performance and what sustains a person.
Known as “The Diesel,” Sean built a 13-year professional career through power, consistency, and grit. But behind the ...
What does it take to last 13 years in professional football?
Consistency. Preparation. Leadership.
In this special episode promoting the Building Resilience On & Off the Field event on March 5th, we sit down with former CFL veteran Angus Reid to talk about what truly builds lasting success.
Angus spent 13 seasons anchoring the offensive line for the BC Lions - one of the most demanding and least glamorous positions...
What separates talented athletes from consistent performers? Psychological skill.
In this episode of the Forged Youth Podcast, we sit down with performance psychologist Chris Bodman, founder of LMNTARY Performance, to unpack what it truly means to develop the athlete’s mind.
Even the most physically capable athletes fail when they lack the mental tools to handle pressure, identity, emotion, and expectation.
In this con...
What if youth sports weren’t just about wins and losses, but about building resilient, confident young people?
In this special episode, Mariel sits down with Bill Loewen of the Chilliwack Giants to talk about why March 5th is about far more than football.
The Chilliwack Giants have been developing youth athletes in the Fraser Valley for over 25 years, offering spring flag football for ages 5 and up, fall tackle progra...
“Being hard on yourself” is worn like a badge of honour in youth sports, but what if it’s actually hurting performance?
In this episode, Mariel Anderson and Jordan Owens unpack a powerful and often misunderstood topic for sports parents... especially hockey parents:
The difference between healthy self-reflection… and destructive self-talk.
Inspired by a conversation around Olympic coach Shawnee Harle’s “unpopular opini...
What if the most important part of practice isn’t the drill…
but the first 10 minutes?
In this episode, Mariel sits down with Rett Larson, an elite international strength and conditioning coach and the creator of the No Zombies training philosophy.
Together, they challenge one of the most unquestioned traditions in youth and high-performance sport: the way athletes warm up.
Rett shares why traditional warm-ups oft...
What if the biggest thing holding young athletes back isn’t effort, talent, or motivation, but where their attention lives?
In this episode, Mariel sits down with Nathan Last, founder of Mental Grit, to unpack the mental skills that create better athletes and stronger humans.
Nate shares how discovering sports psychology completely changed the trajectory of his life, and why presence is the foundation of mental toughn...
Visualization is one of the most misunderstood and underused tools in youth sports.
In this episode, Jordan Owens and Mariel Anderson break down what visualization actually is, why vision boards are just the starting point, and how elite athletes use mental reps to build confidence, consistency, and game-day readiness.
You’ll learn:
- Why your brain can’t tell the difference between imagination and reality
- The 3 S’s o...
In this episode, we sit down with former professional tennis player James McGee for a conversation about life inside elite sport and what comes after it.
James shares his journey from growing up in Dublin as Ireland’s top junior player, to competing for over a decade on the ATP Tour and appearing in 14 Grand Slam events. Beyond the milestones, he speaks honestly about the less visible realities of professional tennis...
What does it really mean to support athletes as whole humans?
In this episode, we’re joined by Will Lee, Registered Clinical Counsellor and Mental Performance Consultant, for a deep and grounded conversation about mental health, identity, culture, and performance. Together, we explore what often goes unseen in sport: the emotional load athletes carry, the pressure to perform, and the long-term impact of how mental he...
What do you do when your athlete feels set up to fail?
In this episode, Jordan and Mariel unpack a real post from a hockey mom whose 9-year-old son is stuck on a struggling team and use it as a powerful entry point into one of the most important mindset tools in sport: controllables.
Together, they break down the five controllables every athlete (and parent) can focus on when outcomes, coaches, team dynamics, or polit...
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