Carlie Banks

About Me:

I am 29 years old from Peachtree City, Georgia. My love of the game began at the age of 8 and has only grown every day since.

The highlight of my High School soccer career was playing alongside US Women’s National Team player, Kelley O’Hara, and winning the 2007 Georgia State Championship.

Upon graduating from high school, I attended Louisiana State University on a full-ride scholarship to play soccer. While at LSU, I received such honors as being named CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performer, SEC Freshman of the Week (on multiple occasions), SEC All-Freshman Team, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Team, and being ranked among the Top 10 on LSU’s all-time list for assists. I graduated from LSU in 2012 with a degree in Kinesiology and a minor in Sociology. I have also received a Certificate in Sports Psychology from California Southern University.

After graduating from LSU, I went on to pursue a professional career in Houston, TX, playing for the Houston Aces in the WPSL Elite. My seasons with the Houston Aces included being crowned USASA National Women’s Champions, Big Sky Blue Conference Champions, Midwest Conference Champions, and two-time WPSL Elite National Finalists.

Following my stint in Houston, I continued my professional career in Europe, joining IK Myran in Finland. During my two seasons in Finland, I was the team’s leading goal scorer and recognized among the Top 2 leading goal scorers in the entire league.

Since returning from Finland, I have been living and playing semi-professionally in the WPSL in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for Chattanooga FC Women and now, the Chattanooga Lady Red Wolves SC. My seasons in Chattanooga have included being crowned 2018 and 2019 Southeastern Conference Champions and South Region Semi-Finalists. I have also been named to the Southeastern All-Conference Team and Conference Offensive Player of the Year for two consecutive seasons, leading my team and conference in goals scored.

Aside from being a player of the game, I am also a teacher of the game as the proud business owner of IMPACT Performance Training. As the owner and sole trainer, I provide soccer performance training to individuals and small groups of all ages seeking to achieve their goals. My mission is to continue to make an impact on the game by helping athletes to impact their game by becoming impact players.

I can remember it like it was yesterday, gathered as a team after we had just lost our game that ended our time at the Disney Tournament. We were sitting right off the field by the corner flag, sweaty, exhausted, and dejected, knowing we should have won. We could tell by the look on our coach’s face that we were not going to like what he had to say. Instead of addressing us as a whole, he went around one by one, giving each player an individual earful of why we failed to play to our full potential.

When it came to my turn, I expected such things as poor decisions on the ball, lack of effort, and fatigue, just like I had been hearing him tell my other teammates. Much to my surprise, that was not the case. When he turned to me, he asked me, “Carlie, what do you think I am going to tell you?” His voice changed from rage to disappointment, and at that moment, I realized exactly what I failed to do. I replied to him with my head down, “I didn’t believe in myself.” With that, he nodded his head and moved to the next player. That was it. No earful, no explanation, nothing. Pondering that moment on the long car ride back home was the WORST!!

Believing in myself was an area of my game that my coach preached to me. What I failed to do that game did not include anything about my physical performance, but EVERYTHING to do with my mental performance.

Growing up, I played in the age group above mine, so not only was I always the youngest, but I was and pretty much still am always the smallest player. And as a forward, I tend always to get matched up with the twin towers of the other team at center back. My coach would always remind me of the work I put into how skilled I am, and that size does not matter. So as long as I believed in myself and my abilities, the rest would take care of itself. But he warned me that the moment I doubted myself, I was already defeated.

I have held onto that moment after our game in the Disney Tournament and the lessons he taught me about believing in myself all the days of my soccer journey, and I can attest to the truth of his advice still to this day. I didn’t miraculously believe in myself in every moment of every game from that moment on, but every time my performance has been less than my best, I can tell you exactly why.

I am very thankful for my club coach growing up, and the lessons about the mental aspects of the game he taught me at a very young age. I believe that helped and still helps me to grow, not only as a player but as a person too. Our journey’s as athletes are not always glittered with glory and triumphs, and over the past 21 years of my career, with its’ peaks and valleys from youth to college and all through my professional career to now, I can fully attest to that truth. However, one thing remains constant, and that is our ability to turn our focus to the one thing only we have control over, our belief in ourselves.

My hope is that I can have the opportunity to successfully impact the careers and lives of others, just as my club coach impacted mine, by passing on the lessons I have learned about the importance of believing in yourself.