My daughter’s story began with tears – not from injury, but from anxiety.

At her first basketball game, she was called for a “carry.” She shrunk on the court, overwhelmed. After the game, she cried and told me she felt like she let her team down. I asked her how it felt during the game. She said, “It felt like there was an elephant standing on my chest.” It was the first time I realized my daughter struggled with anxiety. But it was through the games, the drives home, and the bonds she built with teammates, that she found her way through. Two years later, she was MVP of her middle school team – not because she scored the most, but because she lifted her teammates up. That’s how Future Leaders was born, a place where confidence is trained like a muscle, and leadership is the end goal.