Our story

We are Camille McGirt and Emanuel McGirt Jr., siblings and the co-founders of EXTA. We both played NCAA Division I sports and our journeys, struggles, and stories led to EXTA's creation. EXTA stands for Excelling Through Adversity. Often times coaches talk about the big games, the fans, and the excitement/memories that sports creates  —  and that's needed to help fuel the nostalgia and impassionate reflection... but very few discuss the adversity that all athletes will face. We want our athletes that utilize this platform to excel through their situations despite the challenges and adversity that they may experience. As former Division I athletes, we understand the triumphs, trials, and adverse challenges that athletes encounter when competing in sports. Camille played basketball at Hampton University before tragically losing her scholarship after suffering two significant injuries and Emanuel played football at North Carolina State University, where he had two season ending injuries back to back seasons. We both had our own mental struggles that we battled because of our stories, but our tough road has led to an impactful destination. 

We both have strong passion and desire to change the way mental health is viewed in athletics. We want to create a mental health resource that is easily accessible for all athletes to conveniently utilize for their own benefit. Despite there being a recent  and fervent push to make mental health more of a conversation in athletics, we knew that discussion wasn't enough so we walked out on faith by creating a high value solution that will change the world of athletics. 

With EXTA, athletes can connect with a licensed sports psychologists or mental skills performance coaches that can help guide them through the situations they are facing in their sport. Without the hassle of in-person appointments or a heavy cost burden subscription, we have a platform that allows athletes access to an affordable and easily accessible solution. 

As we continue to take this journey of service and impact, we hope to help your athletes as they look to solve the issues that are impacting the sport that they love.  We know that adversity will happen at some point in time in an athletes life, but with EXTA we hope that they can excel through their adversity as they develop the mental skills to face their challenges. 

Our mission is to ensure that all athletes have access to equitable mental health services without stigma. Every year athletes are put through innumerable physical assessments to test their strength, endurance, and physical health. These tests are essential for talent benchmarks but they aren't measuring athlete's potential efficacy holistically. Understanding the importance of mental health is imperative for athletic success. If athletes are not mentally equipped, prepared, or stable, their performance could be altered and heavily affected. 

Adequate mental health of the athlete is extremely important for their own personal success, their school's success, and their team's success. 

The importance of mental health in athletics is slowly transitioning to the forefront of mainstream messaging, but what is recognition without a solution? Identifying a deep seeded issue only creates marginal change, solutions must be developed and implemented to really change a narrative. At EXTA, we intend to bridge the gap between the lack of mental health resources in athletics and the much needed solutions that haven't been developed. 

Athletes all share an unique experience that is filled with ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, along with victories and losses. It is important to have resources in place for all athletes and even former athletes, to work through the adverse situations they experience during their athletic lifetime and also when their careers are over. 

Less than 20% of NCAA Universities (Division 1, Division 2, Division 3, NAIA, JUCO) have readily available mental health access for their student athletes in the form of a sports psychologist, counselor, social worker, and/or mental health professional. EXTA plans to bridge that gap to create mental health access for all student athletes.