GRL Talk: Real Conversations for Real Growth
Essays and tools on leadership, agency, and the stuff nobody hands you a script for — real, not perfect.
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Coach, You Don’t Need to Be an Expert. You Need One Sentence.
A girl walks up before practice, studying her shoes. Most coaches freeze. Here are six plain-language scripts, word swaps, and team moves for talking with girl athletes about periods, plus what athletic directors can put in writing.
Pickleball Is Losing the Plot (And So Are We, If We Let It)
I grew up on courts, and pickleball gave me back the girl who played for the love of the game. Lately, though, the “right way to play” has come with a cold shoulder. A reflection on belonging vs. fitting in, mean girls who never aged out, and who we make room for on the court.
Belonging Isn't a Bonus, It's the Playbook
I never felt like I belonged on my basketball team, and thirty years later it still shows up when I'm not invited to pickleball. A March 2026 research review says belonging isn't a nice-to-have for kids either — it's a real driver of their mental health and whether they stick with a sport. Here's the science, my son's story, and four scripts coaches can use to build belonging on purpose.
Why we love sports movies: Belonging Before the Win- Why Sports Movies Still Move Us
Watching Little Giants with my son reminded me of something sports movies have always gotten right: belonging comes before success. From The Sandlot to Remember the Titans, these stories resonate because most of us have felt like outsiders at some point — and finding a place where we belong changes everything.
Is the Pink Tax Real? What Girls Learn About Worth Before They’re 18
The pink tax is real — and it teaches girls early lessons about worth, fairness, and belonging. Here’s how it shows up in sports, school, and leadership.