Lexi Vanderlinden is originally from Seminole, Florida and currently resides in Seminole, Florida. She is a Life Coach at Sweetwine Enterprises and a former Division I soccer player at James Madison University whose athletic journey began at five years old. She competed in soccer from age five through age twenty-two, progressing from recreational soccer to club soccer, IMG Academy, and eventually Division I collegiate soccer.  Throughout her athletic career, Lexi was constantly criticized and judged because of her small size, especially during the college recruiting process. She often felt that people focused more on her physical appearance than the skill and talent she possessed. As a result, she worked ten times harder to prove her worth on the field. 

Those experiences taught Lexi to be resilient and never give up despite the opinions of others. She believes those challenges strengthened her mindset and mentality while allowing her to reach new levels of success throughout her athletic career. 

One of the moments that changed how Lexi viewed her sport came after being diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) at a young age and being told she would not be able to play soccer. Despite that diagnosis, she continued pursuing the sport she loved and achieved many of her greatest goals and aspirations. She began to see soccer not only as a sport, but also as an outlet to express her creativity and joy every time she stepped onto the field. 

After finishing her collegiate playing career, Lexi found herself unprepared for the transition into the real world. Like many athletes, she experienced the identity shift that comes when you are no longer defined by your sport and found herself questioning who she really was outside of being an elite soccer player. 

This experience shaped one of her core beliefs:

Athletes are more than just their sport.

Today, Lexi helps current and former athletes build confidence, strengthen their identity beyond sport, navigate pressure, create structure, balance life and athletics, develop leadership, and move forward with clarity during and after their athletic careers. 

WHAT Lexi HELPS ATHLETES WITH

■ Confidence

■ Identity beyond sport

■ Transitioning out of athletics

■ Managing pressure

■ Building structure

■ Balancing life + sport

■ Direction after sports

■ Life Planning

■ Leadership

Lexi is equipped to help athletes in all of these areas, but loves helping athletes develop leadership and mindset. She believes leadership is influence and credits her experience captaining both high school and collegiate teams for shaping the way she leads others today. She also believes mindset is one of the most important aspects of life because it determines how people show up each day and overcome challenges. 

COACHING STYLE

Lexi brings a supportive, encouraging, and athlete-centered coaching style focused on helping people grow both during and after their athletic careers.

When someone comes to Lexi for help, she takes an active interest in understanding the athlete, identifying the challenges they are facing, and creating solutions alongside them. Most importantly, she strives to be a mentor who celebrates athletes during their successes while coaching them through difficult moments. 

Athletes working with Lexi can expect:

■ Active listening

■ Practical problem solving

■ Positive encouragement

■ Mentorship

■ Support through wins and losses

■ Individualized guidance

■ Leadership development

■ Accountability

Lexi believes athletes need support from people who focus on them as individuals rather than simply as athletes. As she often says:

“I am not here to develop players, I am here to develop people.” 

WHAT MAKES Lexi DIFFERENT

Lexi's coaching philosophy is built on personal experience and perseverance.

She understands:

■ What it takes to compete at the Division I level.

■ What it feels like to be judged because of your size.

■ The pressure athletes place on themselves to perform.

■ The fear of failure athletes often experience.

■ The identity shift that comes after sports.

■ The importance of mindset and leadership.

During her collegiate career, Lexi also experienced the benefits of working with a life coach firsthand. Having someone who invested in her as a person—not just as an athlete—gave her perspective, accountability, and support throughout both her playing career and her transition out of sport. That experience reinforced the value of having someone in your corner and ultimately inspired the way she now serves current and former athletes. Today, Lexi combines her own athletic experiences with the lessons she gained through life coaching to help athletes build confidence, strengthen their identity beyond sport, and navigate life with clarity.

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

Athletes often place immense pressure on themselves to perform at a high level. That pressure can create a perfectionist mindset that negatively impacts confidence both in sports and throughout life. Lexi helps athletes recognize that they are more than their athletic performance. 

Lexi’s PHILOSOPHY

“Athletes struggle most when they are fearful of making mistakes.” 

“Athletes grow the most when they are coachable and adaptable to different challenges they may face.” 

“My goal is to help athletes be the best versions of themselves.” 

Outside of coaching, Lexi enjoys listening to music, running, lifting in the gym, and spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys backyard games such as cornhole, washers, bocce ball, and Kan Jam. 

Lexi earned her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Pre-Physical Therapy from James Madison University. She is also a NASM Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) and holds CPR and AED certifications. She completed internships in James Madison Athletics Strength and Conditioning and an outpatient physical therapy clinic. Her athletic and academic honors include President’s List, United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America, JMU Athletic Director’s Scholar, College Sports Communicator Academic All-District, Sun Belt First Team All-Conference, and All-State First Team. She also finished seventh in James Madison University history in career assists with 28. 

Publications

https://jmusports.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/lexi-vanderlinden/22108