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Olympic skier Libby Ludlow gives young athletes 'Zero Limits'

Z Girls is all about confidence and giving your athletes the tools to be successful.

Olympians often say being an elite athlete is 20 percent physical and 80 percent mental.

It's why one skiier from western Washington, Libby Ludlow, started a mentoring program for young female athletes - to train the brain and to push the brawn.

It's a mentoring program aimed at giving teen girls and young athletes the tools to be successful.

"What is confidence to you guys?"

If there is one word that defines Z Girls - it's confidence.

"We're going to work on some things that we can do to help build our confidence," said Monique Thees, a mentor for Z-Girls.

"It's basically designed to give adolescent girls all the tools they need to be successful, love their life, be confident and thrive in sports," said Libby Ludlow.

Girls can meet in circle groups throughout the year - and also participate in a summer adventure camp.

"Rock climbing, river rafting, mountain biking, hiking, doing yoga and having an absolute blast outdoors and making friends."

Friends - that often last a lifetime.

"At school they don't really teach you these things. They teach you more math and science," 11-year old Ella Widmyer, a soccer player and new to Z-Girls.

But she says it's already made a difference - thanks to Monique - who the girls call "Mo".

"Maybe they don't have a good day at school but they come here and it's really fun and they enjoy it and we get to hang out with friends."

"A lot of young athletes work day in and day out to prepare their physical body but if their head isn't in the right place, it doesn't mean anything," said Ludlow.

Ludlow says she wasn't expecting Z-Girls to be such a success. Interest from parents just continued to grow.

"I wanted this when I was growing up," said Thees.

Mo can relate to girls like Ella and that's the point. Learning from someone whose been there.

"I just hope she learns how to be a strong confident woman because you guys are in your early teens and sometimes it can be hard to work through it with yourself," said Thees.

"During try-outs I was really nervous and I remember Mo saying, 'Breathe and let it go and have fun.' After that it was really fun," said Widmyer.

Fun - with limitless confidence.

And that's what the Z in Z Girls stands for: zero limits.

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