Forged by FAU - Ali Gorrell
10/18/2020
If I hadn’t turned it around and got into an environment that let me feel confident and happy playing this sport again, I would not be anywhere where I am. I would not have gone overseas. I would have been done after playing in college. And so, it [FAU] 100 percent shaped where I’ve been and where I continue to go. It really showed me in black and white what it looks like for somebody to lose the love for the game, have no confidence and perform nowhere close to where the peak performance would be. And then go to FAU, get that confidence and love back, and then perform 10 times more than I had before.
Gallery: Forged by FAU Ali Gorrell
Ali Gorrell is living her basketball dreams, having played in the Women’s British Basketball League over the past five years and earning multiple All-League selections. But if it weren’t for a decision she made as a college player, her career would look completely different.
After spending her freshman season at Wyoming in 2012-13, Gorrell needed a change. She didn’t fit into the system. Her coaches thrusted her into a role she wasn’t suited for. The experience made Gorrell lose her confidence and, eventually, her love for the game.
Gorrell transferred to Florida Atlantic University late 2013 and began to get both back. NCAA transfer rules prevented Gorrell from playing for the Owls immediately, but the redshirt year she spent in Boca Raton was beneficial nonetheless.
“I was building my confidence back up, which I lost at Wyoming,” Gorrell said of her redshirt season. “It really was a mental growth year for me when I was sitting out, and it allowed me to observe the team, get to know the campus, the area, so that by the time I was playing, it was easier for me to adjust to fit into that role of being a leader and being a go-to player on the team.”
The adjustment was seamless for Gorrell and FAU upon her debut. As a junior, she led FAU in rebounds (6.5) and assists (2.4), ranking second in steals (33) and points (13.9). Gorrell then led FAU in points (14.8), rebounds (6.5) and assists (4.3) as a senior, earning her All-Conference USA Second Team honors.
FAU helped Gorrell excel by rebuilding her confidence and love for the game, as well as giving her a scholarship. But its support didn’t end upon her collegiate career’s conclusion. An FAU employee found an opportunity for Gorrell to play professionally while pursuing a master’s degree in the United Kingdom.
Gorrell took the opportunity, and her major, fittingly, was sports psychology.
“My process of transferring from Wyoming, kind of struggling with that mental side of the game for a few years and then kind of regaining it and seeing the difference at FAU was really what propelled me into pursuing sports psychology,” Gorrell said, “just by seeing how much that mental side can affect you on a mental health level but also a performance-based level.”
Performance hasn’t been an issue for Gorrell since she turned pro. She has averaged over 16 points and five rebounds per game every season, while swiping over two steals per game in three of her last four. Gorrell’s dominant play earned her All-English First Team honors in 2018 and 2019, Second Team honors in 2017 and a 2019 WBBL Cup.
Basketball, however, isn’t the only avenue through which Gorrell is making an impact.
Gorrell has worked as a mental coach since 2017, helping players from teams such as the Sunderland AFC women’s squad reach peak performance on and off the soccer pitch as well as on it. Gorrell extended those efforts by starting her own mental-coaching company, AG Performance, last year.
For Gorrell, mental coaching is personal. She knows first-hand what it’s like to struggle mentally and how that affects play. She also knows, thanks to FAU, how a strengthened mental fortitude can elevate an athlete’s performance.
Gorrell credits both sides of her career to her decision to transfer to FAU. And that, in turn, is helping the next generation of athletes.
“If I hadn’t turned it around and got into an environment that let me feel confident and happy playing this sport again, I would not be anywhere where I am,” Gorrell said. “I would not have gone overseas. I would have been done after playing in college. And so, it 100 percent shaped where I’ve been and where I continue to go. It really showed me, in black and white, what it looks like for somebody to lose the love for the game, have no confidence and perform nowhere close to where the peak performance would be. And then go to FAU, get that confidence and love back, and then perform 10 times more than I had before.
“And so I really think that is what inspired me to work with other athletes,” Gorrell added, “because I know so many other athletes are going through the same thing but they’re not able to ask for help, or they don’t even know how to get to the other side of things. And I think if I didn’t have FAU to show me that difference, I would have never been where I am today. And so, I’m so thankful for FAU giving me the opportunity to do that. And now I’m just trying to give back the same way that certain people at FAU gave to me. The coaches I had, the academic advisors I had, the things they instilled in me I’m now in turn, trying to give back to other athletes, other people, trying to shape their careers. And as much as I can help, that’s what I would like to do, and make an impact on people that are trying to get to the place I’m at now and trying to grow beyond where I am.”