Ashley Willock was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in Trinidad, W.I., with her parents and two siblings. Her involvement in organized sports came about when she attended York College, where she started on the volleyball and softball teams and ended her senior year on the tennis team. Although a later start than most, she developed a newfound passion and knack for playing sports. She attributes her pursuit of a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology to her enjoyment of playing sports and her experiences where she observed how different coaching styles, team cohesion, support, and self-efficacy influenced the team’s performance. Therefore, she is currently a swim instructor, to which, to some extent, she can put into practice her knowledge gained at the University of Tennessee. She also volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club (Tennessee Valley) by designing a sport-based program to foster youth development. It implemented sport psychology strategies to introduce a healthy way of thinking at an early age. She hopes those strategies will not only be used within sports but also transcend into other aspects of the children’s lives. She also volunteered at organizations such as Girls on the Run and PowerUp, which were all geared toward developing healthy lifestyles in kids. She sees sport as an excellent medium for youth development as children are naturally motivated, engaged, and challenged, which is necessary for growth and development.

Currently, Ashley is on a mission to restore the critical facet of youth sports; character development, which she believes is lost and is never too late to learn.