The Pressure Lab

If you are a young athlete who replays every mistake long after the game is over, this episode is for you. If you coach or parent one, this episode is also for you.

In Episode #6 of The Pressure Lab, Keith Wilford sits down with Dr. Scott Glassman, licensed psychologist, author of A Happier You, and director of the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Will Davis, a high school sophomore goalkeeper for FC Delco 2010 MLS Next HG, to answer one of the most searched questions in youth sports: how do athletes build confidence and stop dwelling on mistakes?

A mistake on the field can become a story online before the final whistle. For teen athletes, the pressure doesn't stop when the game ends. In Episode 5 of The Pressure Lab, Keith Wilford sits down with Dr. Megan Walls, pediatric psychologist at Nemours Children's Hospital, to talk about what social media is doing to young athlete mental health, and what teen athletes, parents, and coaches can actually do about it.

For a goalkeeper, every mistake is in the spotlight. There is no hiding, no reset, and no one standing behind you. It is the most isolated position in soccer and the most unforgiving one mentally.

In Episode 4 of The Pressure Lab, Keith Wilford sits down with Cate Cantu, ECNL national champion, U.S. U19 Youth National Team goalkeeper and Louisville signee, and Jillian Loyden, former U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper and professional coach, to talk about the mental health and sports psychology of the most unique position in the game.

They explore what it actually feels like to be the last line of defense: where one moment can shift everything, where the loudest voice is often the one inside your own head, and where the mental game is not a supplement to the physical one. It is the whole thing.

Cate and Jillian get into perfectionism and what it does to young athletes, the specific loneliness of the goalkeeper position, the mental weight of penalty kicks, how to recover after getting scored on in front of everyone, and the difference between playing to prove your worth and actually learning how to grow. They also talk about routines, self-talk, identity, and why a goalkeeper's real strength is knowing how to come back to the present moment when everything in you wants to spiral.

This episode is for every goalkeeper who has ever stood alone between the posts and wondered if they were enough. It is also for every coach and parent who works with one and doesn't always know what to say.

Alan O'Mara knows what it feels like to reach the top, and then lose yourself on the way down. Keith Wilford sits down with Alan O'Mara, GAA footballer, founder of Real Talks, and author of "The Best Is Yet to Come," to explore what resilience actually looks like from the inside. At the height of his career, Alan was playing in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Six months later, he hit rock bottom. He became the first active inter-county GAA player to speak publicly about depression, and he opens up about the slow slide into burnout, the moments he almost asked for help but didn't, and the decision to finally speak out when vulnerability in sport was still rare. They get into what resilience actually means: not just pushing through, but learning how to come back, rebuilding identity after sport, and developing the mental performance tools that help you hold steady when things get hard. From journaling and breathwork to honest conversations and real connection, Alan shares how resilience is built in small, consistent ways. This is a conversation about identity, isolation, and the courage it takes to speak up. Because sometimes the bravest thing you can do is ask for help.

Carli Lloyd’s legendary career was built by learning how to lose. Carli and host Keith Wilford sit down to explore the mental work behind one of the most decorated players in the game. Carli looks back on getting cut from the U-21 National Team, questioning whether she wanted to keep playing, and rebuilding her confidence after setbacks. They get into the pressure she carried into the 2015 World Cup, learning to compete against herself, and how failure became feedback instead of something to fear. This is a conversation about pressure, identity, and what it takes to keep going when things get hard. Because the real work of being an athlete happens after the mistake.

In this episode of The Pressure Lab, host Keith Wilford sits down with Philadelphia Union legend Sébastien Le Toux and sport psychologist Dr. Alec Baker for an honest conversation about what pressure really does to athletes. They get into where it starts, how comparison, coaches, parents, and social media can warp it, why vulnerability so often gets mistaken for weakness, and what actually helps when the game is over and the emotions are still roaring. This episode is for anyone trying to stay in the game when the pressure starts to take over.