This week:

• 🏆 A Quote We Love

• 🎯 The Power of Small Wins

• 🎙️ Podcast Incoming – Get Your Questions In!

• 🥑 Nutrition myth

• 📖 One Great Book to Read

🏆 A Quote We Love

This week’s quote comes from the legendary rugby player Richie McCaw. As young athletes strive for excellence, it’s easy to get caught up in pressure, expectations, and the fear of failure. But this quote reminds us that success is rooted in attitude. The way we approach challenges, setbacks, and opportunities determines how far we go.

🎯 The Power of Small Wins

With the season kicking off here in the southern hemisphere, it’s easy to focus on big goals—winning championships, scoring goals, or making the starting lineup. But real progress comes from the accumulation of small wins.

Instead of focusing solely on the big picture, encourage your athlete (or yourself) to celebrate the little victories:

✅ Showing up and giving 100% in training

✅ Executing a skill that’s been difficult

 ✅ Encouraging a teammate

✅ Pushing through fatigue

Each small win builds momentum, confidence, and resilience. And when small wins stack up, big breakthroughs happen. 🚀

🎙️ Friendly reminder…. Podcast Time!

We are buzzing for our upcoming podcast with Zane Winslade from Flow Sport on Monday, 17 February!

Zane is a former professional athlete turned performance coach, specializing in mental skills for youth and elite athletes. He’ll be breaking down:

• 🏋️ How to develop mental toughness and resilience

• 👨‍👩‍👦 The role parents play in athletic success

• 🧠 Practical tools for handling pressure and setbacks

Got a question about mental skills, confidence, or handling performance anxiety? Hit REPLY and send us your questions! 📩

🥑 Nutrition Myths

This week’s myth bust comes from Angie Asche, a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist.

Here is one of Angie’s instagram posts….Exercise recovery is an important aspect of fitness and health – one that often gets overlooked. There are also plenty of myths about nutrition to optimize your recovery. Let’s bust them 💪🏽💪🏽 

I always emphasize the importance of recovery days with my clients, like proper rest, staying well hydrated and eating the right amounts of nutrient-dense foods, so they can work hard the next day and stay on track towards their goals.

Myth: You shouldn’t eat any fat after training🏋🏼‍♂️

A common misconception is to only prioritize quickly digestible carbohydrates and protein immediately post-workout, but incorporating a source of good fats, like @californiaalmonds, comes with many benefits. Fats help aid in absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and certain antioxidants (like vitamin E), help aid in satiety to keep you full and manage hunger and are essential for hormone production and regulation. In just one serving, almonds contain 13g of unsaturated fat and 1g of saturated fat.

Myth: You should limit fats/total calories on rest days 🍽️

While your body may not need as many calories on rest days compared to days you’re training, it’s still important to fuel your body adequately with sufficient protein, carbohydrates, AND fats. Eating sources of good fats, like @californiaalmonds, can help your body recover after a hard training day. Almonds may help with overall exercise recovery. They also provide 20% of your daily recommended magnesium needs per 1 oz. serving.

Myth: Fruits and Vegetables are the only foods that provide antioxidants for Recovery 🍓🥦

We LOVE fruits and vegetables here and are always encouraging our athletes to up their intakes. But there’s a common misconception that they are the only source of antioxidants, when in reality these can be found in SO many plant foods – including legumes, whole grains, seeds, and nuts. For example, almonds are an antioxidant powerhouse: one serving provides 50% of your daily recommended dose of vitamin E.

📖 Book of the Week

Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential by Carol S. Dweck 📚

About eight years ago my boss at the time gave this book to the leadership team to read and it completely changed the way I approached learning and growth.

This book is a must-read for any athlete, parent, or coach. Dweck’s research on growth mindset vs. fixed mindset explains why some athletes thrive under pressure while others struggle. She breaks down how shifting your mindset can unlock potential and build resilience.

One of the key lessons in the book is the connection between mindset and leadership. Great athletes and teams are not just talented; they embrace challenges, learn from failure, and inspire those around them. Whether you’re a player, coach, or parent, developing a growth mindset can help build strong, confident leaders both on and off the field.

📢 Key Quote from the Book:

💡 This quote reinforces the idea that success isn’t about being the best right now, but about constantly improving and embracing challenges as part of the journey.

Takeaway: The best athletes and teams don’t fear failure—they see it as a step toward success.

You can find it here:

Let the craziness begin…⚽🏐🏃‍♀️

As Ben mentioned last week, with the start of a new year, comes the juggling act of sports! This year, though, we have a bit of a game-changer—our daughter Bella just got her restricted license! 🎉 That means no more hour-long drives each way for pick-ups from after-school volleyball, futsal, and football training! 🙌

Of course, the fun doesn't stop there. While Bella now has the freedom to drive herself to her practices, we’ll still be clocking in trips for her younger brother’s futsal and football practices. Sadly, he isn’t legally allowed to travel with her just yet, so the sports taxi service (aka us) is still very much in business. 🚗💨

As crazy as this might all sound, the highlight of our week—hands down—is watching our kids play football. It might sound a little cheesy, but for John and I, there’s nothing better than cheering from the sidelines, seeing their hard work pay off, and feeling so proud of them. Our weeks and weekends are about to get even fuller with sport (hello, busy schedules!), but honestly, we wouldn't change a thing. These moments, with all the chaos and joy they bring, are so precious.

Our kids are growing up way too fast, and while the hours on the road can feel long, we know we'll look back on these years with a lot of love and fond memories. ❤️ So here’s to a year full of sport, challenges, growth, and family time! Let the craziness begin—and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

@misparks

Kids in sports problems 😂 💯 #sportmoms #momsoftiktok #kidsoftiktok #parentsoftiktok

If you are not already a part of The Game Changer Facebook Community but would like to be then come on over and join our wonderful group of people taking on the youth sports journey together.

Enjoy the journey, embrace the small wins, and let’s make this season one to remember!

Enjoy the rest of your week and the weekend ahead, and keep raising game changers!