Event Preview: Four Softball Olympians Providing FREE RISR Zoom Webinar On “Mental Process” Tips…Tuesday (Jan 25, 7:30 pm EST)

Players, coaches, parents & fans: how would you like to tap into the winning mindset of four Olympic softball players who competed in Tokyo Games last Summer and learn the mental tips and processes that made them the best in the world?

And get this invaluable knowledge for… free?

That’s right, coming up on Tuesday, January 25 at 7:30 pm EST, four of the best fastpitch players in the world—Amanda Chidester, Haylie McCleney, Erika Piancastelli and Janie Reed—will be sharing their thoughts and answering questions from the public on the mental side of the game in what is sure to be an exciting and informative virtual link-up free to anyone interested.

The quartet of elite players are instructors for RISR™, the fast-growing training company which Chidester compares to a popular exercise program.

“What Peloton is for exercise, RISR is for softball,” she says, referencing the training and exercise equipment and program that is internet connected.

*** Click HERE to get more information on RISR and sign-up for the webinar ***

Piancastelli, for one, feels the RISR system will revolutionize the sport.

“The thing that excites me the most,” the captain of last Summer’s Italian National Olympic Team told Extra Inning Softball last night, “is the fact that it is hitting and mental training.”

“This is something I believe the softball world is lacking right now and being able to create a platform that focuses on not only the physical aspect but also the mindset is huge for our sport.”

She admits that she also loves her fellow instructors and not only is the message great, but so too are the messengers.

“I really love working with Amanda, Haylie and Janie!” Piancastelli says. “I learn so much from them every single day and we bounce ideas off each other constantly. They’re also older than me, so they teach me so many things outside of softball as well. I consider all three of them to be my mentors, too.”

All four RISR instructors will be attending and Chidester, who was a two-time All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year at Michigan before making Team USA an astounding eight times, believes that the webinar will be for “any softball player” and that “all ages can learn something that can help them.”

“We will be talking about our mentality before and during the Olympics,” she continues. “How every great athlete has a mental process, but each individual has one of their own. Everyone (attending the webinar) will get four different perspectives of the ups and downs of their mental battles.”

Other bullet points to be covered in the webinar on Tuesday, Jan. 25 include:

• the exact mentality the four athletes had to adopt, habits they forged, and workouts they conquered just to get to the Tokyo Olympic Games,
• the importance of building habits, routines, and a process specific to each player,
• tips and pointers on “how” to become mentally elite,
• the how and why of their processes to become an Olympian and how this equates to  helping anyone wanting to be elite in anything they do,
• how these four Olympians continue to perseverance and battle day in and day out to achieve their dreams!

Chidester says she relishes the change to give back to the softball community, especially those young athletes following in the path she blazed to success earlier in her career.

“I think it is important for people to hear us speak,” she adds. “We were just like them. We all played travel ball, college, and pursued to continue the sport post college. We had to go through school while competing and we all experienced being overwhelmed, stressed, doubt, lack of confidence… I know so many youth players struggle with the same. They are not alone, and we want to help guide them with some of the strategies we used to help us through it all and continue to the battle.”

The beauty of the webinar is also that it’s going to be a two-way process of communication.

“We also will take questions from social media along with questions from anyone attending,” Chidester explains, saying that anyone can submit questions on the related Instagram pages:

• • RISR: @risrapp
  • Janie Reed: @_janiereed
  • Erika Piancastelli: @urka_20
  • Haylie McCleney:@hayliemac8
  • Amanda Chidester: @chiddy3

“Ask away!” Chidester encourages those who will join in next Tuesday.

“No question is a bad question as we are here to help… and parents are welcome, too! Our goal is to share our stories with the softball world in hopes that it helps others in any area of their life. We want to give back to the sport and teach what we wish we would have known at a younger age!”

For her part, Piancastelli says she’s also excited to share her knowledge and became a fan of the RISR platform and approach during her second season at Athletes Unlimited when Chidester explained the platform’s approach.

“I was bought in the minute she explained the vision to me!”

— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball

*** How to sign up: those wishing to attend the free Zoom webinar need to go to the RISR website (www.risrapp.com) and sign up. The event will be Jan 25^th at 7:30 pm ET and the link will be sent out the day of the event.

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RISR Instructor Bios:

Amanda Chidester

• 2020 Team USA Silver Medalist
• 8x member of Team USA
• 2x NFCA All-American for the University of Michigan
• 2x Big Ten Player of the Year
• Finished career for the University of Michigan having hit (200) RBI’s, (.596) SLG%, (40) HR’s, & (5) Grand Slams.
• 2019 National Pro Fastpitch Player of the Year
• 2021 Athletes Unlimited Batting Champion

Haylie McCleney

• 2020 Team USA Silver Medalist
• 8x member of Team USA
• 3x Women’s College World Series Participant
• 4x NFCA All-American for the University of Alabama
• 3x finalist for NCAA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
• University of Alabama’s all-time leader in BA (.447), OBP (.569), walks (199) and triples (16).

Erika Piancastelli

• Captain of the Italian National Olympic Team, Tokyo 2020
• 4x Conference Player and Hitter of the Year
• Southland Conference Freshman of the Year
• 2x NFCA All-American for McNeese State University
• In all of the NCAA, ranks 7th in walks and slugging for her career
• Ended collegiate career (.400) BA, (212) RBI’s, (75) HR’s, (299) walks and (.800) SLG%.

Janie Reed

• 2020 Team USA Silver Medalist
• 7x member of Team USA
• 3x NCAA All-American for the University of Oregon
• Competed in the 2014 Women’s College World Series
• 300 hits, 200 runs & 100 stolen base club for the Ducks
• University of Oregon’s all-time leader in AB (788), Runs (204), Hits (309), and SB (102).