Val Whiting- "Mentally StrongHER

Val Whiting, two-time NCAA Champion and former elite WNBA athlete. Val starred all four years at Stanford, she ranks 6th all-time in scoring (2,077 points) and 6th in rebounds (1,134). Val holds a Master’s degree in Sport and Performance Psychology and is currently a certified Mental Health Coach.

On paper, her career was a success. Mentally, it was a different story. Despite her championships and her accolades, Val struggled with pressure, self-doubt, and emotional overload, challenges no one had trained her to manage. That experience led her to found MentallyStrongHer, an organization dedicated to helping female athletes build mental resilience, emotional stability, and confidence beyond the scoreboard.

Through Mentally StrongHer, Val has coached and supported athletes navigating anxiety, identity loss, burnout, and the pressure to perform, issues that don’t end when the game does. Her work bridges the gap between performance and mental health, helping current athletes compete with clarity, former players rediscover purpose after sport, and individuals beyond athletics apply the same mental skills to leadership, career transitions, and everyday life.

We walk with Val Whiting as she teaches us what it truly means to champion the game beyond the court, because being emotionally prepared matters just as much as being physically ready for the game called life.