GAINESVILLE, Fla. -  Santa Fe Athletics recently caught up via Zoom with former women's basketball player Julie Fournier, who played for Head Coach Chanda Stebbins from 2017-2019. 

The Amelia Island, Fla. native started her basketball career as a walk-on at a Division I school, but then began the search for a new place to study and play basketball. 

In seeking the "right fit" to attend, most student-athletes have multiple schools on their list. That was no different for Fournier, but Santa Fe stood out for her.

"When I went to visit Santa Fe, I had a few other visits lined up afterwards. When Coach Stebbins talked about treating basketball like a classroom though, I cancelled all the other visits and was ready to go to Santa Fe. Every morning before practice, she would have either a motivational video or reflective thought that helped you get your mind ready for practice, which really helped."

Fournier helped the Saints to a Mid-Florida Conference title in 2019 before choosing to continue her playing career at a "dream school," Colorado Christian in 2020-21. To this day, she reflects back positively on her time at SF.

 "I developed a lot both on and off the court," said Fournier. "With Coach Stebbins, when I visited she said that they focus on the ABC's, which stood for Academics, Basketball, and Character. It was the first time I had heard a college coach talk about developing character, so I knew then that I wanted to play for her. It really shaped me and helped me see that character development is something that I am really into and something I want to pursue. That was a big reason why I chose Santa Fe and why I was able to develop so much during my time there."

In 2021, Fournier graduated from Colorado Christian with a degree in psychology with an emphasis in Biblical Studies.

For Fournier, however, the completion of her degree was the next step in an academic and professional journey that was already well underway. 

All the while balancing collegiate academics and basketball, Fournier became a published author and the Founder & CEO of "Basketball is Psychology," a company whose mission is to "strengthen the minds of those who love basketball." A link to the website is included at the conclusion of this story.

Where did Fournier's idea for the development of "Basketball is Psychology" really take off? Right here on the campus of Santa Fe College. 

"You hear coaches say all the time that it is all mental, "emphasized Fournier. "While I was at Santa Fe, I thought to myself, 'if it is all mental, why don't more coaches spend time working on the mental side of the game (like Coach Stebbins was doing)'. I thought there should be a resource out there for coaches and players to help them develop the mental side of the game and train the mind. I went home, did a Google search to look for this resource, and everything I found was either cliche or outdated, or just not really answering the questions that athletes are asking or solving the problems that athletes are dealing with. I decided that I was going to create something. I didn't even have a laptop at the time so I used the Santa Fe library to start this whole business."

The company started as a blog in December of 2018. Fournier then published her first book in August of 2020 entitled, The Art of Embracing Diversity: A Guide to Living a Meaningul Life in the Midst of Losses, Setbacks, and Uncertainty. 

She hasn't stopped there. A second book, Daily Wisdom: 365 Days of Motivational Thoughts, Quotes, and Stories, published this month, and a podcast has been started as well. 

"There aren't a lot of podcasts out there specifically dedicated to sports psychology and something that coaches and athletes can use as tools, so I wanted to create that," said Fournier. "My first guest was UCLA Head Women's Basketball Coach Cori Close, so that was awesome. I have a few more guests lined up like a sports psychologist who works with a lot of WNBA players, and an ultramarathon runner who knows a lot about mental toughness."

Fournier is in the process of writing a third book entitled "What Makes Great Teams," and will often be traveling to speak to, observe, and interview teams until June 2022 to collect and discover commonalities between great teams at all levels of sport. She hopes it will be published in 2022. 

She currently is an AAU Coach fpr a 15U team with the BC Denver Basketball Club in Colorado. Additionally, she has begun serving as a mentor for a local academy, Five Star. 

"A friend of mine who plays professionally in Germany decided to start this academy that focuses on mental training, having a community of other girls who are pursuing similar goals as you, along with having a mentor who has already been where you want to go that can help you reach tbose goals. Right now, I am a remote mentor. Once a week we do mentor calls with each athlete, and I also help with the online content for the course that it comes with."

In the near future, Fournier hopes to pursue a Graduate Assistant Coaching position to jumpstart her coaching career, and shared some words of wisdom for current student-athletes.

"Take responsibility. I think a lot of where we (as student-athletes) go wrong is we focus on what we deserve and we lose a lot of happiness when we think we deserve something. We can't be grateful for something that we feel entitled to, so I would say take responsibility, enjoy the moment, and don't feel entitled to anything. You have to earn it." 

Website: Basketball is Psychology