<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Girls Anthem: The Locker Room ]]></title><description><![CDATA[For the female athlete who knows her identity in Christ is the foundation of a great performance. ]]></description><link>https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/s/the-locker-room</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Hcl7!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe9e8b780-cb85-4811-94c6-c40dcc0275b6_500x500.png</url><title>Girls Anthem: The Locker Room </title><link>https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/s/the-locker-room</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 15:20:55 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Mya K. Douglas]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[writermya@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[writermya@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Mya Kay]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Mya Kay]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[writermya@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[writermya@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Mya Kay]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Your mental health is not a side effect]]></title><description><![CDATA[Nearly half of female college athletes are dealing with overwhelming anxiety right now.]]></description><link>https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/p/your-mental-health-is-not-a-side</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/p/your-mental-health-is-not-a-side</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Mya Kay]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 13:01:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png" width="1400" height="480" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:480,&quot;width&quot;:1400,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:65256,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/i/201922843?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fYjb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96d41796-843a-4b7a-94d7-754cd12a10ae_1400x480.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Nearly half of female college athletes are dealing with overwhelming anxiety right now.</p><p>Let that sink in. Not &#8220;some.&#8221; Not &#8220;a few.&#8221; <strong>48%.</strong></p><p>And 28% are struggling with depression. These aren&#8217;t just statistics &#8212; these are your teammates. Your training partners. Maybe you.</p><p>For too long, the research on athlete mental health barely included women who look like many of us. Most studies before 2021 focused primarily on white athletes. The experiences of Black female athletes, and honestly, the real, lived experiences of <em>all</em> female athletes navigating pressure, identity, and faith, were missing from the conversation.</p><p>That&#8217;s changing. I&#8217;ve been in the research, and what&#8217;s coming out of it is something a lot of us already knew in our gut:</p><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><p><strong>Your faith is not a backup plan. It&#8217;s your strategy.</strong></p></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg 848w, 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QrjX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f5eefe4-5084-47af-9bc0-e0cbd15dd716_3036x4554.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by <strong>Eduardo Romero</strong></figcaption></figure></div><p>Studies show that a student-athlete&#8217;s relationship with God has meaningful, measurable connections to their ability to manage anxiety and depression. But here&#8217;s the gap: almost no athletic programs offer anything structured around this. A chapel service once a semester is not a program. A passing mention of prayer in a wellness meeting is not support.</p><p>That&#8217;s exactly why I built <strong>The Girls Anthem Locker Room</strong> &#8212; a 6-week faith-intensive designed specifically for athletes who are ready to stop grinding alone and start building from the inside out.</p><p><strong>Over the next few weeks, I&#8217;m breaking down what the research actually says</strong> &#8212; about the pressure you&#8217;re under, the barriers in your way, and why faith belongs at the center of your mental health strategy.</p><p>And if you&#8217;re already ready to go? Enrollment for the August cohort is now open. You can register below. <strong>Spots are limited.</strong> This is <em>where grit meets grace&#8230;</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://girlsanthem.biz/thelockerroom&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Register Now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://girlsanthem.biz/thelockerroom"><span>Register Now</span></a></p><p>&#127897;&#65039; <strong>ALSO</strong> &#8212; The Locker Room Podcast drops <strong>July 3rd</strong> on all platforms. The trailer is live now. Go find us wherever you listen and hit subscribe so you don&#8217;t miss episode one. </p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/033ukH56IWArBonZ2CY9Kb&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/033ukH56IWArBonZ2CY9Kb"><span>Podcast</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p style="text-align: center;"><em>Based on original research by Mya K. Douglas, Liberty University, 2026.</em></p><div class="captioned-button-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/p/your-mental-health-is-not-a-side?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">Thanks for reading Girls Anthem! This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/p/your-mental-health-is-not-a-side?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/p/your-mental-health-is-not-a-side?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.girlsanthemmag.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>