Forged Youth | Legacy Within

Send us Fan Mail Confidence is built through your mindset, your habits, and the stories you tell yourself every day. Jasmit Singh Phulka, a world-class wrestler and a man who’s defied every expectation, drops the truth about how mental toughness, patience, and self-awareness shape performance, even when the odds are stacked against you.  If you’re tired of feeling pressure, overthinking your next...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Chris Ryan breaks down how movement, efficiency, and mindset shape performance far beyond the finish line. Whether you're a young athlete, parent, or coach, you'll discover why understanding the power of form , emotional resilience , and efficiency can actually make you faster, stronger, and less injury-prone. Chris shares vivid stories, from the importa...

Send us Fan Mail Is your greatest challenge in sport actually the story you’re telling yourself? There are so many athletes and teams that fall into the trap of pointing fingers and losing sight of responsibility. Jordan and Mariel unpack how avoiding accountability limits your growth and how shifting your mindset to one of ownership can unlock resilience, leadership, and ultimately, the legacy yo...

Send us Fan Mail What does it really take to go from a small-town kid with big dreams to competing on soccer's biggest stages? In this episode, former professional soccer player and World Cup veteran Jay DeMerit shares the remarkable journey that took him from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to the English football pyramid, the Premier League, international competition, and beyond. But this conversatio...

Send us Fan Mail Athletes will spend hours chasing improvement, overlooking the one thing that  sets the great apart: mindset. Still living his dream as a professional quarterback, Nathan Rourke knows this story firsthand and shares it with us this week on Forged Youth Podcast.  Nathan opens up about his journey from Canadian high school football to NFL hopes, and then to CFL stardom. He shares ho...

Send us Fan Mail What if the thing holding your athlete back is what they're eating, how they're sleeping, and who they're spending time with? In this episode, Mariel sits down with Coach Elliot Allen, sports performance coach, former college football player, and founder of Eight Six Speed & Athletics, for a conversation packed with practical, no-fluff tools for teen athletes an...

Send us Fan Mail What does it actually take to perform at your best without burning out, breaking down, or trying to squeeze yourself into a system that was never built for you? In this episode, Mariel sits down with Dan Mickle, Mental Performance Coach, Head Women's Volleyball Coach at York College of Pennsylvania, founder of Soul Performance Academy, and host of The MentalCast podcast, for...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a Swiss national champion swimmer finally gets access to the mental tools that could have changed? That's exactly the question David Karasek sits with, and it's the reason he now dedicates his life to giving young athletes what he didn't have. David is a former competitive swimmer, Swiss national record holder, and Olympian who spent the final four...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to coach athletes hurtling down an icy track at 140+ km/h and build the mental toughness to match? This week, Mariel sits down with Robert Fegg, Head Coach of the Canadian National Luge Team, for a conversation that goes far beyond sliding sports. Robert shares why he believes we're rushing youth athletes toward results at the cost of their long-term develop...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to go from a multi-sport kid in New Brunswick to representing Canada on the international badminton stage, and then channeling everything you learned into helping the next generation of athletes perform at their highest level? In this episode, Mariel sits down with strength and conditioning coach and former national badminton athlete Luke Couture to talk about th...

Send us Fan Mail 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 d...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 oth...

Send us Fan Mail 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 conf...

Send us Fan Mail 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 dr...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 athlet...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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,...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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, identit...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail “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...

Send us Fan Mail 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...