My name is Bridget Gleason and I am the founder of Inside Athletics. Thank you for joining us! I am a former Division II and Division I Women’s Soccer player. I played at Bentley University from 2021-2024 where I was an All-Conference and All-New England Forward. I then transferred to Northeastern University to play my last season of eligibility in 2025. Through my college career I have been through it all: the bench, a sub, and a starter. I went from being told I wasn’t good enough at a DII school to winning awards and playing DI. Through my journey I have identified a problem in college athletics: there is a lack of transparency into the world of what it is really like to be an athlete. When I was in high school, my mom and I had no idea what was ahead (even though we thought we did), all that mattered was just committing to a school. The transition from high school star player to college bench warmer was very tough for me mentally. I felt very isolated, humiliated and alone during that time. If there was a platform like Inside Athletics for me to talk to others with similar experiences, I know it would’ve helped me. Despite the adversity I faced, I was able to persevere and ended up having a successful career, and I wouldn’t change a thing because my experience taught me so much and led me to create Inside Athletics. This is just my experience; every athlete’s experience is vastly different and of course this does not happen for everyone. My hope for this platform is not only to give current and former college athletes a place to discuss their experience, but also for aspiring college athletes and their parents to have access to asking athletes questions and talk amongst themselves about recruiting. Through customer interviews, it is clear there is a stigma around college athletes being open and honest about what they’re going through. Whether it is embarrassment or fear of being judged, there are many understandable reasons why athletes feel uncomfortable speaking about their real experiences - good or bad. Recruits and parents are so caught up in the recruiting process they often keep things secretive and aren’t necessarily aware of the reality of being a college athlete. It feels like there is a closed door in front of the world of college athletics that only the insiders know what is behind it. Our mission is to at least crack that door open and help the next generation of college athletes have great experiences and be prepared, while also providing a safe community for current and former athletes to share experiences and build comradery. We allow anyone to be anonymous if they would like, with verified athlete badges on athlete profiles to add credibility to their posts. Let’s build the first and best community for all things college athletics!