University of San Diego Magazine - Fall 2025

TORERO ATHLETICS

Alexander recalled. “I think that’s my proudest moment as a coach.” These moments illustrate how Alexander’s wellness practices have extended beyond team boundaries. “It’s great because the wellness practices aren’t just within the team,” she noted. “They’re extending to other people, recognizing that others out there might need some support.” For Alexander, success isn’t measured in perfect dives but in personal growth. One of her former athletes contributed a philosophy that became team motto: “You don’t have to do an A-plus dive every time. Sometimes, when you’re particularly anxious, performing a C-minus dive is preferable over aiming for perfection and overthinking to the point of developing a mental block.” “I want them to have compassion for themselves,” Alexander said. “They have that perfectionist attitude from gymnastics, but I hope they realize everything is a learning opportunity. That resiliency and self-compassion naturally spreads to compassion for others.” — Kelsey Grey ’15 (BA)

directly from her background in youth programming. Athletes walk into practice, greeted by a white board with “Welcome to Camp Counselor Training” scribbled on the board in dry erase marker, playing games like “Have You Ever” or finger painting mermaids and seashells on tiny canvases. Each activity they complete successfully unlocks a clue to their next team-building exercise. “It teaches communication, finding commonalities, celebrating differences,” Alexander said. “Diving is a very individualized sport, so giving them group challenges builds cohesion.” One particularly beloved activity is called “Big Mouth.” The team lines up against the gym wall, and the goal is to outrun one’s teammates — but athletes can only run for as long as they can scream. “They just run and scream until they run out of breath, and that’s where they have to stop,” Alexander said. “They are really competitive with it, but they actually request it during the week before finals or midterms as a stress reliever.” The team also conducts regular “jam sessions,” which are reflection circles where athletes share something they’re proud of, something they want to improve or acknowledge a teammate for something

they did well that week. What Alexander finds most meaningful is that the athletes naturally ensure everyone receives recognition, creating an organic support system. This culture of mutual support extends far beyond USD’s pool deck, creating moments that define Alexander’s proudest coaching achievements. At a competition last season, USD divers noticed a first-year student-athlete from a different university was the sole diver representing her team. Without prompting from Alexander, the USD athletes approached their competitor and invited her to join their group for the day, ensuring she wouldn’t face the competition alone. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed. “The coach of that diver relayed to his wife what our athletes did, and his wife started crying because she thought it was so sweet,” Alexander said. But perhaps Alexander’s proudest moment came when the impact of her program’s culture was validated by a complete stranger. “I had a diver from a completely different school come up to me — didn’t know me — and compliment our divers for how they brought in somebody from a competing university into the group to make them comfortable,”

PUSHING PAST PERFECTION From ground level, the glistening ripples of the pool look deeply inviting. But from 33 feet in the air, that picture can change, especially for divers hurling their bodies toward the surface of the water. “Diving is an impact sport,” USD Dive Coach Amy Alexander explained. “You’re hitting the water every single time, and when you’re learning new dives, it typically doesn’t go right the first time.” Alexander speaks from experience. A former competitive gymnast herself, she was a national qualifier in tumbling and trampoline before transitioning to diving in high school, where she helped lead her team to league victories and a CIF Championship in 2003. That personal journey from gymnastics to diving gives her unique insight into the mental transition her own athletes must make. “I learned a lot from my coaches in gymnastics — how to be a coach and also how not to be a coach,” Alexander reflected. Her extensive coaching background, spanning over a decade at the high school level where she was named CIF San Diego Girls Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year in 2015, combined with her master’s degrees in psychology and administration, shapes her understanding of how perfectionist cultures can both drive and damage young athletes. “All of my divers at USD have been former gymnasts, with the exception of

“I see athletics as a relatively low-risk environment for you to learn how to fail and how to build yourself back up and become resilient, because you’re going to need that in other aspects of your life.”

is a monthly mental health day — a practice that began five years ago when she noticed athletes approaching burnout from the unique mental demands of diving. “Diving itself is very mentally draining because there’s a lot of fear factor in the sport and anxiety,” she explained. Originally scheduled for the last Wednesday of each month, the program has evolved to give athletes complete autonomy over when they need the break. “Not everybody’s going to need the same day to recuperate mentally and physically,” Alexander said. “They just text me and say, ‘Hey, I’m taking my mental health day today.’ The only question I ask is, ‘Are you OK?’ just to make sure there’s nothing I can help with.” Some athletes never use their mental health days, finding practice serves as their outlet. Others take them routinely before high-stress periods like finals. The flexibility reflects Alexander’s broader philosophy of treating her athletes as adults capable of self-advocacy. Perhaps the most distinctive element of Alexander’s program is what she calls “Camp Counselor Training,” which includes team-building exercises borrowed

one,” Alexander noted. “They come to college not knowing the difference between injury pain and soreness pain because they were told, regardless, you push through it.” Alexander’s mission became clear early on in her time at USD: undo the damage of perfectionist coaching cultures while building athletes capable of launching themselves from platform heights with confidence and precision. “In gymnastics, there’s a lot of negativity, a lot of being told what you’ve done wrong. The focus is on that perfect score, and it’s all about deductions.” One of Alexander’s first steps in breaking the perfectionism mentality is at the recruitment stage. She is transparent with recruits that her vision for her athletes goes beyond their performance and focuses on who they are as people. “Sports can be disappointing when you don’t succeed the way you anticipated, but that’s a good lesson. It’s better to learn that lesson in this kind of low-risk environment where it’s just about points and placing, as opposed to having to figure out how to build resiliency when you’re out in your career.” One of the cornerstones of Alexander’s wellness practices that she’s implemented

38 | University of San Diego Magazine

sandiego.edu | 39