Playing Through

Chris Somerfield is a senior on Arkansas State's men's golf team. Today, he takes us through his journey from being recruited as an Australian native to becoming conference freshman of the year and dealing with challenges along the way. Chris and I also discuss the mindset that allows him to continue playing free and enjoying the grind of college golf. Enjoy the show!

This week I sat down with Olivia Papakyrikos to discuss a crash course in everything related to athlete identity and self-talk. Olivia is a licensed mental health therapist and sport psychology consultant who helps athletes and high-performers strengthen their mental game and support their mental health. She has spent nearly a decade helping competitive athletes navigate pressure, confidence, identity, injury recovery, and the mental demands of high-performance sport.A former NCAA field hockey player herself, Olivia brings a personal understanding of what it means to compete, struggle, recover, and grow. Her practice, Papakyrikos Therapy & Performance, serves athletes and high-performers across Boston and beyond, with a focus on resilience, emotional regulation, body image, and sustainable performance.

This week, you are going to hear my conversation with Daniella Rosa. Daniella is the founder of AIEA Golf, a women's golf clothing brand that merges together high fashion and the technical performance of sportswear. Her brand is designed with the active woman in mind to create pieces that work with you throughout your day, not just on the golf course. Daniella’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur is truly inspirational. In this episode, she discusses how she made her decision to ultimately quit her full-time job and go all in on AIEA. She also talks about what it takes to keep showing up in work and in life. Whether you are an athlete, student, parent, or even someone thinking about needing a fresh start like Daniella, this episode is for you! 

Today, Zack Kramer is on the show. Zack specializes in teaching athletes how to breathe specifically for their sport so that they can recover faster, build stamina, and improve their overall performance. He explains in this episode how being intentional about breath work can truly change someone’s performance. If you have ever thought about exploring deep breathing practices to perform better in your sport, at the gym, or just lead an overall healthier lifestyle, I’m confident that this episode will give you the tools to do so.

Dr. Jonathan Jenkins is a clinical and sport psychologist who helps high-performing athletes reach their full potential. He is also the mental performance coach for both the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox. Dr. Jenkins shares my passion for growing the game of golf as he is also the co-founder of No Bunkers, No Bogeys, a golf community built for underrepresented golfers.Today Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Kimberly O’Brien have released their book called Mentality Wins: The Athletes' Playbook for Thriving in Sport and Life. In this episode, Dr. Jenkins dives into what inspired him to co–author Mentality Wins and discusses his own journey of finding the mental performance space as an athlete and clinician. We also explore where athletes should start in their mental strength training.This episode is full of advice, inspiration, and wisdom to help you become the best version of yourself even in those moments of struggle! Having been able to get an early look inside Mentality Wins, I encourage anyone listening to check it out in the link below and pick up a copy yourself - you truly will not regret it!Enjoy the show!Link for Mentality Wins: https://tinyurl.com/jkkxnarc

As we head into 2026, hear about 3 keys for a successful start to a college sport season!

This week I interviewed Dr. Stephen Ginsberg who is a clinical psychologist and mental performance consultant. Together we discussed his work, and we answered some of the most asked questions that athletes and high performers have about their mental games. Like, what even is the “flow state” and how do we get there? How do we move on from a poor performance during competition? And so much more!Make sure to subscribe to Playing Through wherever you listen to your podcasts and follow us on Instagram @playingthrough_podcast so you don’t miss an episode! Enjoy the show!

Today, you’ll hear an interview with Jennifer Sorkin, who is a senior on the Mount St. Mary’s women’s golf team. She is also the co-creator with her brother Aaron of Golfers University which is a college recruiting platform built to help young players connect with college coaches and work with a mental performance coach to navigate what often is a very stressful recruiting process.In this episode, Jennifer and I talk about navigating our own recruiting experiences with limited guidance and how we eventually ended up at schools that were the perfect fit for us. She shares what made her and her brother want to start their organization, and we’ll chat about some of the dos and don’ts of the recruiting process.Enjoy the show!

This week, I interviewed Liesbeth Pauwels, who works with some of the top professional and collegiate golfers to improve their mind and body through yoga. She has been featured on platforms such as Golfers Magazine, Me and My Golf channel, The DP World Tour, and The Ladies European Tour.This episode is filled with the inspiration you just might need to start your journey into yoga to improve your whole-body well-being and maybe even your golf game. Connect with Liesbeth here: https://www.lpgolfperformance.nl/Follow Playing Through: https://www.instagram.com/playingthrough_podcast/

This week, I interviewed Anika Dy, who is a former University of Michigan women’s golfer. Anika competed at one of the highest levels of college golf, being in the Big 10 conference; however, her road to success was not always smooth sailing. As she talks about in our interview, Anika went through bouts of anxiety and depression that eventually led her to take a step away from the sport she loved to focus on her own mental wellbeing.We discuss everything about her journey from seeking help for the first time to making the transition back to college and every lesson she learned along the way. Anika’s vulnerability in sharing her story is truly remarkable, and I know that anyone listening will be able to take something away from this episode.

Welcome back to another episode of playing through!This week I interviewed the head coach of Albany’s women’s golf team. Coach Cashman has seen success at all levels of the game. From playing for Purdue and then eventually having a very successful professional playing career, she provides her team the wisdom and tools to succeed year after year. Coach Cash is now a 4X MAAC Conference coach of the year and is looking to take her team all the way this season. Enjoy this episode!

This week I interviewed Jackie Eleey, Jackie played collegiate golf at Georgetown where she led her team to two consecutive Big East Conference championships which eventually led her playing professional golf for five years! In this episode Jackie talks about how both the highs and lows of going for your dreams can teach you so much about life itself. Whether you are a junior athlete getting ready to make the transition to college or just someone trying to chase a lofty goal I’m sure that Jackie’s story will leave you inspired and motivated!

Today’s interview is with Coach MaryJo McCloskey. Coach MJ as she is known by her team is a 7 time NCAA D3 West Region Coach of Year and 10 time Northwest Conference Coach of the year. In 2023 she brought her team to their first national championship and the program has racked up a total of 9 NCAA trophies in her time as coach.Coach MJ prides herself on helping her players develop into the best golfers and more importantly the best people they can be. In 2023 she published her first book “When Girls Win” in which she shares her journey to the top of college coaching. The book is filled with mental strength training tips that any athlete, coach or high performer can benefit from. I hope this conversation will leave you as inspired and motivated to dream big as it did for me! 

This week I interviewed sports performance coach and former D1 golfer Alyssa Morahan!Alyssa is trained in sports psychology so you can trust that her guidance is backed by scientific approaches. She has worked with 100s of elite golfers to help them perform to the best of their ability on and off the course. In this interview she shares so many great mental tips and tricks that I truly wish I had before getting to college. I hope you all take something away from this episode and are able to play a little bit freer after listening!Follow Alyssa on Instagram - @alyssamorahan

This week I interviewed Dr. Rashmeen Nirmal. Dr. Nirmal is a registered psychologist who specializes the majority of her practice in children, teens and young adults with neurodevelopment conditions. During her college days Dr. Nirmal played golf for Nova Southeastern University in Florida. She has now merged her passions for golf and psychology to form her own sports performance platform called Golf PhD. In this interview Dr. Nirmal dives into the best coaching practices for working with neurodiverse athletes and what it is like to take that step to seek out a sports psychologist. She also shares with us some of her favorite in-game mantras for recovering after mistakes. This conversation is filled with a wealth of information so grab your notebooks and be ready to soak in everything she has to offer!

Maddie Moran just graduated from The College of Wooster where she was the captain of her women’s golf team. Along with competing at the collegiate level Maddie saw the need for more student athletes on her campus to talk about their mental health and normalize their struggles. In this episode Maddie and I will discuss what it is like to take on the title of “advocate” and how to engage students in a much needed discussion. Check out The Hidden Opponent and become an advocate today: https://www.thehiddenopponent.org

This week you will hear from University of Monmouth freshman, Delaney Nadeau on her high school experiences that shaped her into the team player she is today. She speaks on the importance of advocating for what you know is right and your own truth!

Welcome to Playing Through! This podcast committed to sharing stories related to mental performance and wellness. Each week we will interview athletes and experts to learn how they “played through” some of the toughest moments in their career.