Kaleigh Kurtz on Overcoming Abuse and Being Courageous
ABOUT THE EPISODE
Kaleigh Kurtz, a defender for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League, joins this episode of Athletes OnBalance. Kaleigh has been a member of two NWSL championship teams, both in 2018 and 2019 with the Courage. Last season, she was nominated for NWSL Defender of the Year and named to the league’s Best XI Second Team. Incredibly, she also recently completed her second straight “Iron Woman” season in which she played every minute for her club. In this episode, Kaleigh discusses her experiences with sports psychologists, the importance of controlling the controllables, the challenges that high-level athletes face when they retire from playing, the verbal abuse she endured from a former coach and her struggles that resulted from it, finding the strength to speak up and demand change, and how she is helping others to ensure they never feel alone.