Focus First
How Mindfulness Fuels Performance
April 22, 2026
12:00–2:00 PM PT / 1:00–3:00 PM MT / 2:00–4:00 PM CT / 3:00–5:00 PM ET
Build athlete focus, emotional regulation, and resilience through mindful, healing-centered coaching.
Athletes face pressure before, during, and after competition. Focus First helps coaches and youth sports leaders teach mindfulness in ways that are practical, relevant, and built for real moments in sports. Through grounding, reflection, and recovery strategies, participants learn how to support athlete performance while protecting well-being and strengthening belonging.
This training helps participants move beyond abstract ideas and into concrete coaching practice. You’ll experience sport-connected tools that support athletes before competition, during emotionally intense moments, and after performance. Grounded in Girls Leadership’s SEL framework and brave space foundation, this training also centers the experiences of girls and gender-expansive youth – especially those who are racially marginalized. Because performance does not happen separately from identity, belonging, or emotional well-being. It all matters.
Focus is a skill. And when young people have the tools to manage pressure and stay connected to themselves, they’re better able to compete, grow, and lead.
Why Focus First Matters
Mindfulness is often treated like an add-on. In Focus First, it is woven directly into the real rhythms of sports.
Young athletes are navigating more than the game in front of them. They are also navigating expectations, pressure, distraction, identity, and the emotional weight that can come with competition.
When adults teach athletes how to notice what is happening internally, without shame or judgment, young people gain tools to reset, recover, and move forward. When coaches understand how belonging, bias, and identity shape athletic experience, they can create sports spaces where more young people feel supported to participate, persist, and lead.
What You’ll Experience
This session is practical, reflective, and energizing. Participants will engage in guided grounding, reflective writing, discussion, and applied sports scenarios that connect directly to coaching and athlete development.
Participants engage in:
- Four Corners of Awareness to notice body, breath, thoughts, and emotions
- Self-Care Toolbox activities to build regulation and recovery strategies
- Prepare, Ground, Recover frameworks for use before, during, and after competition
- Reflection tools that help athletes stay present and respond to pressure with intention
This training is for coaches, athletic directors, community-based organizations, youth development staff, and any sports educator who holds space for middle and high school youth in sports. Focus First is especially valuable for adults who want to strengthen both performance and well-being while building more inclusive, supportive team cultures.
Help your athletes build focus, confidence, and resilience. Register for Focus First today.
Join Us and bring these tools to your athletes!
Price:
This training is offered at NO COST thanks to our partnership with Pinterest. Registration required.
Teach young athletes how to reset, refocus, and stay grounded—before, during, and after competition.
Have Questions?
If you’re not sure whether this training is right for you, or if you need additional information before registering, please email us at info@girlsleadership.org and we will get back to you.
