My Story

At a very young age, I fell in love with everything regarding the athletic sports world. It became even more relevant to me during my years as a college athlete. However, my college years were not all peaches and cream. 

Even though athletic programs want to make you believe that your college years as an athlete are the best years of your life. Sadly, this wasn’t the case for me. 

I began my career at North Idaho College where I received my associates transfer degree and played for the Women’s Basketball team. I loved the high-level energy, expectations, the hard work, and like-minded individuals striving for the same thing as me. 

My junior college years were so freeing. Those years helped me develop a new confidence and a new spark in my basketball career. Mainly because I had felt a small detachment from the sport I loved when I was transitioning out of high school.

After trusting my aptitudes and with God’s plans, He opened up a door for an amazing opportunity at a Division II college! I packed up all my personal things, my bedroom mainly, and left Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for Kearney, Nebraska, to continue my dreams of playing at a collegiate level of basketball at The University of Nebraska, Kearney. I continued pursuing my degree in Exercise Science and came with a ton of confidence that I felt I could bring to the women’s basketball program. 

A fond memory of mine was in pre-season, all my teammates were looking to find me on the court and get me the basketball because of the trust they had in me and my capabilities. I was on a high I had never experienced before when it came to playing basketball and I was accomplishing my dreams that the little girl inside of me had always wanted, playing in the NCAA. 

But (there is always a but) as the season continued, I started to slowly lose my starting position, and was benched halfway through the season. I was so confused, I never understood what I did wrong. Even today, I still have so many questions that I will never have answered. At the end of the day, I just had to keep reminding myself that what happened does not change who I am. 

After that experience in my life, my confidence, my pride, and my spirits were destroyed. I was crushed. I called home every weekend, crying, and begging to come home, and questioning if I should continue this journey of mine to be a standout college athlete. Was it worth it? My passion and love for the game of basketball had been stripped away from me. I contemplated back and forth about returning home and leaving basketball behind me and closing that dream and that chapter of my life. I couldn’t. I had too much competitiveness and fight for what I loved and my own voice repeatedly telling me, “Finish what you started, Cierra.” So, I picked my head back up, and started my journey again.

I decided to transfer to a school closer to home and enrolled at The College of Idaho where I again brought my athletic abilities to the Women’s Basketball team. It was a jump I was willing to make to continue my educational goals and pursue my collegiate level of playing again. Due to transferring, I was required to sit my first year of play and catch up on my academic studies.

During my years at The College of Idaho, I learned about my own mental skills based on past experiences, mistakes, and lessons I had overcome as a college athlete. That year of sitting and not playing as an athlete was one of the hardest mental barriers I have endured. 

That year I took a medical redshirt and decided to get a long overdue shoulder surgery due to years of suffering and learned a lot through this experience. I found a new grit, mental toughness, and resiliency. During my medical setback is when I found my mental inner growth. I know, without a doubt, that I was cleared 3 months early from my physical therapist due to my persistence in becoming healthy and strong as quickly as I could to get myself back out on the basketball court and be the best athlete I could be. 

Don't get me wrong, I had struggles with feeling isolated, feelings of being left out due to being unable to travel with my team and spent most of my time watching our basketball games from the seat of my couch. However, it showed me how to love basketball from another perspective. As an outsider who was looking in all the time, my drive and passion to get back out there and make a difference was lit up once again. 

I got in the best shape of my life that summer while transitioning into my FINAL year of basketball. I came into my senior year performing like I never had before. I felt mentally strong knowing how much work I had put in! I was playing with so much excitement and joy and at a whole new level! All my hard work and time invested was paying off! 

Until one day, my coach said to me, “You aren’t playing how we as a staff need you to play for our team”. This was five minutes before warming up for practice.

I put on a straight face and did the best I could through practice that day. I thought I was fully healed on the outside and on the inside, but I was nowhere near healed. After being benched once again, snubbed by my coach, missing home, and family, I lost myself, once again. I fell into a state of depression, anxiety, and unfortunately, an eating disorder. I felt like I let my family down and they were no longer proud of me. I knew they were heartbroken. I had lost my identity, my worth, and everything I cared about. If I wasn't successful at my sport anymore, why keep moving forward?

My College Experiences Led Me to Sport Psychology

Sports aren't about who is the best. Sports aren't about who has the best counter move. Sports aren't about who can get that D1 scholarship. Sports aren't all about your accomplishments. To me, sports surpass the bases of competition; sports are a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. 

While physical skills certainly hold value, it is the mental toughness cultivated through sports that ultimately defines us. It is through athletics that we discover the depths of our own strength and resilience, emerging mentally stronger than we could physically imagine. Do those physical skill sets hold merit, yes, but that's not the purpose of athletics in my eyes. 

Athletics show you how far you can push your mind to endure and overcome the physical demands of sports. What you learn mentally from the world of sports is more than what you learn physically. Mentally, you can walk away from sports stronger than you can physically. This is why I have a deep desire to cultivate mental strength in individuals as they pursue their own journeys.

After my college career as an athlete ended, I knew exactly where my passion needed to be. It’s in helping the next generation of athletes get the help that they need. Something I wish I would have had during my time as a college athlete. I'm determined to help my clients become elite athletes with their mental game, but also elite individuals who can take on all aspects that the world gives you.