Supporting Athletes
Mentally, Culturally, and Competitively
Trusted by NCAA Athletic Programs
Who We Are
Two former NCAA Division I teammates, united by a shared mission to transform mental performance support for athletes.
Rachel Balke
Founder, Datababy
Rachel brings a data-driven approach to understanding human behavior. Her background in mathematics and statistics powers Datababy's unique polarity assessment framework.
Tara-Lynn Nicholas
Founder, Clarity Coach
Tara-Lynn is a former elite athlete and certified mindset coach. She transforms behavioral insights into actionable coaching that helps athletes unlock their mental potential.
How We Help Teams
Transform your athlete's mental game with data-driven precision and psychological support.
Train Athlete Mindset
Support athlete psychology as much as physical training, with data-driven precision and personalized coaching.
Strengthen Team Culture
Build openness, mutual respect, and trust between teammates and coaches through shared understanding.
Build Leadership Skills
Deliver data-driven insights that highlight growth areas with objectivity, helping athletes become leaders and coaches adjust their leadership style.
What Each Partner Brings
Two distinct expertises that combine for comprehensive athlete development.
Datababy
Applied Polarity Insights
We provide the behavioral intelligence that makes invisible patterns visible, turning objective feedback into clear development pathways.
- Data-backed insights on each athlete's mindset and how they show up on the team and in competition
- Online platform with individual and team profiles
- Applied Polarity Insights Coaching
- High performer benchmarks and team dynamics analysis
Clarity Coach
The Mindset Expert
Tara-Lynn transforms data into lasting change through relationship-based coaching that meets athletes where they are.
- 1-on-1 athlete coaching for personalized mental support
- Connection Action Plan (CAP) tool for meaningful coach-athlete connection
- Monthly coaching progress reports
- Ongoing support and accountability between sessions
Working With Us
Here's what it looks like when you partner with Datababy × Clarity Coach.
Discovery
We meet with the coaches to understand your team's specific needs. Together, we curate a custom Datababy assessment that captures the behaviors and traits most important to your team's success.
Assessment
We run a live session with your team where everyone completes the peer-to-peer assessment. The format is quick, engaging, and designed to capture honest feedback without social bias.
Onboarding and Team Workshop
Athletes are onboarded to the Datababy platform with ongoing access to their profiles. We run a live team coaching session to start applying insights immediately.
Ongoing Athlete Support
A customizable coaching package based on the level of support recommended for your team. Weekly one-on-one sessions with each athlete for Clarity coaching, plus one-on-one Polarity sessions per athlete with additional sessions as needed.
Clarity Sessions
Relationship-based coaching that provides ongoing mental support and accountability.
Polarity Sessions (Datababy)
Data-driven coaching that applies polarity insights to athlete psychology and mindset development.
Our Story
Tara and Rachel swam together at Southern Methodist University, a NCAA Division I swimming program with world-class coaches and athletes. During our time there, our team won multiple conference championships, and many of our teammates trained for and competed in the Olympics.
Our training program was world-class, and our bodies were prepared to perform at the highest level.
There was something everyone knew but never talked about: how much pressure all of us were under, not just physically but mentally.
As student-athletes, we had to perform in practice, deliver during competition, and maintain a strong academic standing. Mental toughness was not optional to get through life as a D1 swimmer.
What wasn't included in our training program was support navigating the intense, invisible battles every one of us was going through. It was no fault of our coaches, but rather a reflection of the times: mental health and psychological support wasn't something that was talked about very often. Our experience mirrored those of other athletes in our position. The mental and emotional demands we were under were not supported by the system.
Emotional support, teammate connection, and a healthy culture are not secondary to performance. They are foundational to it.
Independently, we followed complementary paths later in life, that would converge to address the same gap we experienced in college. Tara pursued training in psychological and mindset coaching for athletes, working directly with individuals and teams to strengthen mental performance and resilience. Rachel took a more analytical route, developing systems to measure behavior, patterns, and performance dynamics in a way that makes the invisible visible and actionable.
Our work came full circle when we partnered with our former SMU program. Together, we piloted a more holistic approach to mental performance and team culture. Those early sessions laid the groundwork for what would become this partnership.
By combining Datababy's behavioral data with Clarity Coach's expert mindset coaching, we now provide comprehensive mental performance support that reflects the full reality of athletic life. Our goal is to support athletes not just as performers, but as people, and to help teams build healthy, resilient, high-performing cultures.
SMU Women's Swimming 2025-2026
“This is fantastic!”
Ozzie Quevedo
SMU Women's Swimming Head Coach
“I like this approach because it reflects how we are showing up without putting a label on anyone. There are always areas we can continue to get better at.”
Mike Bottom
SMU Women's Swimming Assistant Coach, Former USA Olympics Coach
“Very different than anything we have done before as a team. Thank you!”
Anonymous SMU Swimmer, December 2025
“Very cool and eye opening.”
Anonymous SMU Swimmer, December 2025
“True answers and opportunities for all of us to get better.”
Anonymous SMU Swimmer, December 2025
Ready to Transform Your Team's Mental Game?
Schedule a call to learn how Datababy × Clarity Coach can help your athletes thrive.