Evonne O’Neal is originally from Colville, Washington and currently resides in San Diego, California. She is a Life Coach at Sweetwine Enterprises and a former NCAA Division I swimmer at San Diego State University whose athletic journey spanned 18 years. After competing throughout her youth, she continued swimming at the Division I level for five years while representing San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference.

Throughout her athletic career, swimming became much more than a sport—it became her identity. Her confidence, mood, and self-worth were often tied to her performances, accomplishments, and the opinions of coaches. Like many athletes, she believed that who she was depended on how well she performed.

After graduating and retiring from competitive swimming, Evonne found herself struggling with the transition beyond athletics. Without practices, coaches, teammates, or a structured schedule, she felt uncertain about her purpose and questioned who she was outside of being an athlete. She placed tremendous pressure on herself to immediately find the “right path” while trying to recreate the success she had experienced in sports.

A turning point came during her junior year of college after the COVID-19 pandemic when she became involved in a student community outside of athletics. That experience helped her realize there was more to life than swimming and more to her identity than being an athlete. She discovered that while swimming would always be part of her story, it was never meant to define her entire life.

This experience shaped one of Evonne’s core beliefs:

Athletes don’t lose their discipline—they lose their structure.

Today, Evonne helps current and former athletes rebuild confidence, create routines, strengthen their identity beyond sport, manage pressure, and develop the structure needed to confidently navigate life during and after athletics. Her coaching is strengthened by her academic background in Counseling Practices, Psychology, and Sociology, allowing her to combine lived experience with evidence-informed support.

WHAT EVONNE HELPS ATHLETES WITH

• Confidence and self-belief

• Identity beyond sport

• Transitioning out of athletics

• Managing pressure

• Building structure

• Balancing life and sport

• Direction after sports

• Life planning

Evonne is passionate about helping athletes recognize that the discipline they developed through sports never disappeared—it simply needs a new direction. Her goal is to help athletes create sustainable habits and routines that continue serving them long after competition ends.

WHAT MAKES EVONNE DIFFERENT

Evonne’s coaching philosophy is built on both lived experience and personal transformation.

She understands firsthand:

• What it feels like to have your identity tied to athletic performance.

• The uncertainty that comes with retiring from your sport.

• The pressure athletes place on themselves to have life figured out immediately.

• The challenge of building routines without coaches, teammates, or structured schedules.

• The importance of creating purpose beyond athletics.

She also understands something many people outside of sports often overlook:

Athletes don’t suddenly become undisciplined after their careers end.

For years, athletes operate inside highly structured environments where coaches create schedules, accountability, and expectations. When that structure disappears, many athletes mistake the transition for a lack of discipline when, in reality, they’re simply learning how to build structure on their own for the first time.

Because she’s lived that transition herself, Evonne helps athletes rebuild confidence by creating routines, habits, and systems that support lasting success beyond competition.

A NOTE FROM EVONNE

“I know what it feels like to have your identity wrapped up in your sport.

I know what it’s like to wake up after your athletic career ends and suddenly realize no one is telling you what to do next.

For years, we follow schedules created by coaches, compete alongside teammates, and pursue goals that are clearly defined. Then one day, all of that changes.

What I learned is that the discipline I built through sports never left me—I simply had to learn how to apply it to everyday life.

My goal is to help athletes build that same structure, discover who they are beyond competition, and create a life they’re excited to wake up to every day.

Your athletic career may end, but the person you became through sports never does.”

COACHING STYLE

Evonne brings a calm, encouraging, and structure-focused coaching style that emphasizes personal growth, accountability, and practical action.

When someone comes to her for guidance, her goal isn’t to tell them what path to choose—it is to help them discover the path that fits them best. Whether an athlete is struggling with confidence, purpose, routines, or life after sports, Evonne provides support that helps them move forward with clarity.

Athletes working with Evonne can expect:

• Honest accountability

• Positive encouragement

• Practical goal setting

• Routine and habit development

• Perspective-driven conversations

• Confidence-building support

• Personalized action plans

• Guidance through athletic transitions

Her coaching focuses on helping athletes transform the discipline they developed through sports into lifelong success by creating structure, purpose, and confidence that extends far beyond competition.

EVONNE’S PHILOSOPHY

“Athletes struggle most when they put unrealistic expectations on themselves.”

“Athletes grow the most when they make time for rest. Muscles need time to recover—and so does the mind.”

“My goal is to help athletes build structure, translate their athletic skills into everyday success, and confidently navigate life beyond competition.”

Outside of coaching, Evonne enjoys expressing her creativity through fashion and interior design. She also loves hiking, traveling to new places, and exploring the outdoors whenever she can.

Fun Fact: Evonne grew up so close to the Canadian border that Canada was the closest location for many of her swim meets, giving her the opportunity to compete internationally from a young age.

During her collegiate swimming career, she became a four-time Mountain West Conference Champion, earning four NCAA conference championship rings.