Our story

Hi! I’m Gemma, the founder/creator of Power Me Up.

I’m 15 years old, and I’ve been playing sports for as long as I can remember. I love the game — the energy, the teamwork, the thrill of competing. But along the way, I noticed something that didn’t sit right with me.

Youth sports in the U.S. has turned into a giant pressure cooker. Instead of being about the joy of play, growth, and personal challenge, too often it’s about winning at all costs, “more is always better,” and pushing to be “the next big thing.” Practices get intense, games feel like life-or-death, and players are judged more on wins and stats than effort. Bad attitudes, bad sportsmanship and nonstop stress started creeping in everywhere.

And honestly? It’s stealing the joy out of the game. Instead of building kids up, the youth sports machine is tearing them down with pressure and unrealistic expectations. The fun gets lost, and with it, the very reason most of us started playing in the first place.

Watching this happen, I realized something BIG was missing: Young athletes are being pushed into higher and higher levels of physical training, tougher competition, and nonstop schedules. But almost nobody is teaching us kids how to mentally handle it all…so they can actually enjoy it all. What’s been missing is this: the mental side of the training equation.

That’s why I created Power Me Up. I wanted to build a place where young athletes like you (and me!) could start to understand the power of the mind in sports and train their own minds to unlock the power within. Here, we focus on things like confidence, resilience, focus and handling pressure — the skills that actually make sports enjoyable and make you better at them.

Because sports should lift you up, not tear you down. They should help you grow as a person, not just as a player. They should teach you how to compete with confidence and heart — without losing the fun.

This is your space, fellow athletes. A space to learn, grow, and find your mental edge. Together, we can take back what sports are supposed to be about: joy, challenge and playing with passion.

Welcome to Power Me Up!

— Gemma