[Athlete Tip] How to Stand Out to Coaches This Summer

Trying to make varsity next season? Want coaches to actually notice you this summer?

In this episode, I’m breaking down what high-performing athletes are really doing in the off-season to level up, based on what I’ve seen work as a 4x state championship coach. And no, it’s not just about showing up to practice. Hint: it’s more than just showing up to practice.

We’re breaking down 4 simple but powerful ways you can stand out this summer (without burning out).

Plus, a quick story about a softball player who gained confidence, leveled up her game, and got noticed, all from doing one thing differently.

Here’s what you’ll get:

💯 Why showing up consistently is more powerful than being the best
💬 What real leadership looks like (even if you’re quiet)
🧠 How to stop spiraling after a mistake and stay focused
🥗 Why eating and sleeping well is your responsibility—not your mom’s
📝 A fun bonus quiz to figure out your athlete style

This episode is your off-season game plan. Let’s get to work. 👊

Take the Competitor Quiz: elitecompetitor.com/athlete

Episode Highlights: 

[00:00:00] A fresh start. Summer’s here, and if you’re hoping to make varsity or move up next season, this is your shot. These tips come from a high school volleyball coach who’s led her team to four state titles.

[00:01:27] Quick shoutout. Shoutout to Cindy, a softball player in our program who started mental training and quickly got noticed by coaches. Confidence really changes the game.

[00:02:39] Tip 1: Show up. If you want to stand out, start with consistency. Be at workouts, practices, and camps. Coaches notice who’s all in.

[00:03:38] Tip 2: Lead your way. Leadership isn’t about being loud. It’s about setting the tone—working hard, helping teammates, and showing up with good energy.

[00:05:39] Tip 3: Train your mind. Want to bounce back fast and handle pressure? That starts with mental training: routines, breathwork, and mindset work.

[00:07:41] Tip 4: Fuel like an athlete. Take care of your body with consistent meals, hydration, and good sleep. And if your parents are still waking you up or reminding you to eat… it’s time to step up.

[00:10:23] Quick recap. Be consistent. Lead by example. Train your mindset. Take care of your body.

[00:10:58] Want to go deeper? Take the competitor quiz at elitecompetitor.com/athlete to learn your style and how to train smarter.

[00:11:52] You got this. Use the summer to get better, stand out, and become the athlete you want to be.

Next Steps:

• Join our FREE Training for Sports Moms - How to Strengthen Your Athlete Daughter's Mental Game so She Believes in Herself as Much as You Do
• Visit our podcast website for more great episodes

Thank you in advance for joining us on our mission and leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, athletes off season ishere, and if you're looking to
make a higher team next year orto be a starter, summer is your
opportunity to stand out tocoaches.
In this episode, I'm gonna betalking about three to four
things that you could be doingthis summer to make an impact,
to stand out to coaches so thatyou're doing the things that
they are looking for.
This.
Summer, if I haven't met you,I'm Coach Bree.

(00:20):
I am a mental performance coachfor girl athletes.
I'm also a former collegevolleyball player.
I have been a head volleyballcoach for the past 14 years and
have won four statechampionships as a coach.
So you also get a little insidelook into what I look for In my
team, I coach a very high levelteam, like I said, coming off of
four consecutive statechampionships.
So what I'm looking for inplayers who are trying to make
varsity.

(00:40):
What I'm looking for thissummer, like what are they
doing?
What are they not doing?
All of that.
So you get a little behind thescenes look at that.
So I'm gonna get into it, butbefore I do, I wanna give a
shout out to an athlete in ourcommunity.
This athlete is doing ourprogram.
The elite mental game.
This is our signature mentaltraining program for girl
athletes to develop their mentalstrength and confidence.
It really is the program that islike the simplest way to give
you a competitive edge.

(01:02):
So all athletes are trainingphysically, right?
They're doing the things,they're going into practices,
they're putting in the works butthe athletes that really stand
out from others are doing morethan that.
They're also mentally tough.
They know how to come back frommistakes fast.
They know how to handlepressure.
And so the athletes in ourprogram.
Get it.
They are all giving themselvesthe competitive advantage over
their teammates and over theiropponents.
And this athlete, her name isCindy, she said I had a softball

(01:25):
clinic last night.
I did really well and the highschool coaches invited me to
come to the high school softballopen gym, and it was pretty
awesome.
I realized how much I missedsoftball from last season, and
part of the reason I did so wellwas because of these trainings.
She's talking about the elitemental game.
I envisioned it and I did it.
Thank you so much.
And Cindy's not doing like.
You know, hours and hours ofmental training in our program.

(01:45):
She is watching very shortvideos from me.
She's commenting in the portal.
I'm coaching her back and she'spicking up these skills that
allow her to play how she wantsto play.
They allow her to show up as theathlete she wants to be, and she
got noticed.
High school coaches were like,Hey, come to the open gym like
we are hand selecting you to behere.
So congratulations, Sydney.
That's pretty awesome.
Alright, first thing.
That I'm looking for as a coach,and I know other coaches are

(02:07):
looking for as well, is to stayconsistent.
In your training, you likelyhave summer training, summer
workouts, summer camps, summerthings show up to them.
I don't know how much more I canmake that clear.
Like you can be doing your ownthing on the side and like
training physically in otherways, that's great, but show up
to the team things.
This is not just for you to getstronger physically, but it's

(02:28):
also for your coach tofamiliarize themselves with you.
The more that you can buildrapport, not just with the
coach, but with your otherteammates, that you can
demonstrate your leadership, themore familiar they are with you.
It also shows that you'recommitted, you're committed to
being there.
You're gonna do what it takes ifyou're skipping workouts.
And obviously you have vacationsand you have other things that
you're doing, and that is adifferent story.
You should definitely do thosethings, but as much as possible,

(02:50):
be at the things that your coachschedules, that shows that
you're committed to the team andyou're committed to the process.
Number two, be a leader.
Show coaches that you can leadby example.
And honestly, one of the easiestways that you can be a leader is
to show up.
Like that is the lowest liftthing.
No matter what time the workoutsare, how inconvenient it is
because you're not gettingenough sleep.
Like go to bed earlier, get thesleep that you need so you can

(03:11):
show up and be a leader at theseworkouts.
That you don't have to be theloudest on the team to be a
leader.
You don't have to be the mostpopular.
You can lead with whateverpersonality type you have.
Being a leader is.
Introducing yourself to newplayers.
It is making sure that you comea little bit early, stay a
little bit late, ask how you canhelp set up, take initiative,
raise your hand forvolunteering.
Like all of those are leadershipqualities that you don't have to

(03:33):
be extroverted to do.
If you are extroverted, thenlean into that, like be the one
who is doing the breaks, who isencouraging people, who's high
fiving like.
Lead by example, by how hard youwork as well.
That's the easiest thing you cando as well, is show up and work
hard like those two things go areally, really long way.
Okay, so number one, show up.
Be at the things.

(03:54):
If your coach is schedulingworkouts or practices.
Be there.
Okay.
Number two, be a leader.
Doesn't matter if you're notextroverted or the loudest
person.
Find ways where you can lead byexample, by working hard, by
connecting with other players.
Don't just stick to your comfortzone, like, you know, get outta
your comfort zone.
Introduce yourself to othercoaches and players and
encourage people like that Goesa long way because, I'll say

(04:14):
this a few times in thisepisode.
Coaches, yes, look for talentand look for skill, but they can
coach that.
They can coach it pretty easily.
That's the whole point of beinga coach.
But the things like your workethic, your leadership, your
ability to stay consistent andbe dependable to hustle when
you're there, are you likerunning with a sense of urgency?
Are you, water breaks?
Are you, you're running, ifyou're coming into practice, are

(04:35):
you jogging?
Like all of those things likethat comes from you.
I, as a coach should not have tocoach that in you.
You need to do that yourself.
And so make sure that you aredoing.
Those things.
Okay, number three.
All right.
Number one was show up.
Number two, be a leader.
Number three, develop somemental toughness.
Okay.
I was talking about at thebeginning with our program, the

(04:56):
elite mental game.
So we have a really simple waythat you can do that.
But when I talk about mentaltoughness, what I mean is how
fast does it take you to getover a mistake?
When you make a mistake, are youlike spiraling, beating yourself
up, saying bad things aboutyourself, and then like you
hesitate and make.
More mistakes after?
Or do you have a way to bounceback?
Everyone in our program, theelite mental game, all the
athletes have something called asnapback routine.

(05:16):
It's a combination of a breath,a reset word, a reset signal.
It takes like two seconds and itallows them to bounce back from
mistakes so that they're notspiraling.
Coaches do not care that youmake mistakes.
They care how you respond, andif you don't have a way to
respond in a positive way thatmakes you better, then you're
gonna get passed up by athleteswho are responding faster.
Okay, so that's a really quickway to develop mental toughness

(05:36):
is have a way to respond tomistakes fast, have a way to
deal with nerves, pressure,because if you get too nervous
before games, before practices,you're not gonna play your best.
And so you have to have somesort of pregame routine to kind
of calm those nerves to kind ofget you to where you wanna play.
We teach visualization in ourprogram.
That was, what Cindy was talkingabout.
She was like, I envisioned itand it happened.
So that is like another.
Skill that you can develop thatactually like piles on top of

(05:59):
your physical training to helpyou be a better athlete.
Like just simple, 32nd oneminute visualizations of you
doing the skill correctly, ofyou playing how you wanna play
and showing up how you wannashow up.
So like developing this mentaltoughness, like pushing through
when things get hard, talking toyourself in a productive,
positive way instead of beatingyourself up when things get
hard.

(06:19):
Like that's all mental toughnessand coaches are looking for that
because.
Most coaches don't teach theseskills.
They don't have time or theydon't have the expertise to
teach it.
If your coach does fantastic,but most don't.
And so you need to develop thatyourself, okay?
You need to come in with thosemental training and mental
toughness skills.
If you want more on how to dothat more on our program, you
can send your parentsinformation, you can send this

(06:41):
podcast episode.
we have information [e-mail].
Okay?
So you got all of that.
All right.
That is number three.
Developmental toughness coachesare looking for that.
Number four, last one.
Take care of your body.
I know summer is fun and you'relike maybe doing things, you're
going on vacation.
Like I'm not saying you have toeat perfectly.
Okay.
That's actually the opposite ofwhat I'm saying.
But you need to fuel like anathlete and fueling, like an

(07:03):
athlete means that you arefueling with enough food and
you're eating at consistenttimes.
Okay?
So I recommend, and thenutritionist who would come into
our program, I also used toteach health for 12 years.
So, three meals a day, plus twoor three snacks if you are
practicing and training.
you need to eat all that food.
Okay?
making sure that you are eatinga healthy balance of carbs,
protein, fat, that you'rehydrating.
You've got some electrolytes inthere as well, that you're not

(07:25):
going to workouts or practiceson an empty stomach because
you're not gonna play as well.
And so.
You wanna think about your bodylike a car, you know, you would
not drive your car, withoutfirst putting gas into it.
And then you would also notdrive your car and put like, you
know, junky, like dirty, muddywater in it.
It's not gonna go anywhere.
You have got to put high qualitygasoline in your car because

(07:47):
your car is, your vehicle, yourcar, and your body is really the
thing that's going to allow youto.
Play well and play how you wannaplay.
Okay?
So as long as your body isstrong and capable, your mind is
strong and capable, you're doingthe physical work, like you're
going to improve a lot andyou're going to stand out.
Okay?
The other thing about this is ifyour parent is having to tell

(08:07):
you to eat healthy, if yourparent is telling you that you
have to wake up, they're theones like being your alarm to
wake you up.
Here is your wake up call.
You are never going to be theathlete that you wanna be.
If you are relying on mom anddad to wake you up, to tell you
to eat, to tell you like that.
You need to be eating, carbs,protein, fat, like all those
things.

(08:27):
You've got to take someinitiative, especially if you're
in high school.
So high school athletes, ifyou're listening to this.
It is your time to takeinitiative.
Okay.
Plan out some meals, ask yourparent for help.
Like, absolutely.
But, you know, mention like,Hey, I wanna plan a little bit
more for meals, better snacks,things like that.
So that I'm fueling, at a reallygood timing.
I'm fueling with appropriatefoods that are going to make me
feel good and strong and be ableto compete like.

(08:49):
This is your opportunity.
Get in the kitchen, startprepping some food.
Make sure you have stuff on handso that you're not just like not
eating all day or you're justhaving like, things that are not
actually going to fuel you.
You know, energy drinks rightbefore you play and just eating
nothing but like little candybefore you play.
You're never gonna be theathlete that you wanna be.
Okay?
So if they're having to nag youfor things, nag you to wake up,
nag you to do this and that, doyour mental training.

(09:11):
Do this.
It is time for you to step upand be the athlete that you
wanna be and take ownership ofthis.
Okay?
So that is my message to you.
Four things that you can bedoing okay this summer that's
gonna get you noticed bycoaches.
Number one, stay consistent withyour training.
So show up to the things thatthey're scheduling.
Number two, be a leader, howeverthat looks for you, but be a

(09:32):
leader.
Reach out, connect, encourage,like get there early, stay a
little late.
Ask how you can help.
All of that is really good.
Developmental toughness.
Okay.
A little mental toughness goes along way.
Develop a snapback routinevisualization techniques, set
goals this summer, like all ofthat we do inside the elite
mental game.
Another quick thing for EMG, theelite mental game is if you want
to take our little, I have alittle athlete quiz for you.

(09:55):
Okay.
This is your, what's yourcompetitor style quiz?
It's a really cool way to seelike.
And there's three basicallytypes of athletes that you can
show up as, you can be theself-motivated grinder, the
comeback player, or the pressureplayer.
And I take you through a littlesix question quiz and then you
get your results at the end andhow to optimize that.
So go to elitecompetitor.com/athlete and you
can check out that quiz and takeit.

(10:17):
You'll also learn a little bitabout our program as well if you
wanna use this summer to reallyoptimize that.
So I'll put that in the notes,elite competitor.com/athlete.
And the last one is, take careof your body.
Okay.
Fuel appropriately, make sureyou're eating enough, hydrating,
like all of that is gonna go along way, especially over the
summer when you're training alot and you know, it's
potentially hot and all of thosethings.

(10:39):
Alright, athletes, I hope thiswas helpful.
Go get after it.
Okay.
Summer is your chance to giveyourself an edge, and stand out
to coaches.
All right.
I'm Coach Bree, and I'll see youin the next athlete Tip episode
of the Raising Elite Competitorspodcast.