Courtney Gano, a professional softball player in the Athletes Unlimited league, Team USA member, and former member of the University of Washington women’s softball team shares how vulnerability, injury recovery, and mental health challenges have shaped her highly successful softball career. Through lessons of self-embrace, Courtney emphasizes how we can learn to take care of ourselves and become better versions of ourselves by seeking resources like a therapist or sports psychologist; her numerous injuries forced her into learning how to find the much needed resources she utilized to grow into the best version of herself. These recovery cycles catalyzed her firm belief that sport does not completely define us and that we can foster a more compassionate and caring sports environment that benefits every athlete. Courtney compassionately reminds us that love and motivation for sport is not always constant, so “when you can take a step back and get a different perspective, you can find that love again, figure out why do I play this sport? Is this something that I wanna do? Because if you're not having fun with it, you're not gonna be at your best.” - Courtney Gano