Way Of Champions Podcast

This week’s podcast guest is Brian Barlow, Oklahoma father and soccer referee Brian Barlow. On his facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/youreoffside/, Barlow calls out parents who are caught on tape displaying poor sportsmanship and offers $100 to people who submit the videos to bring attention to the pervasive problem of parents acting badly at youth sport games.   Whether you agree with the shaming of this behavior or not, we can all agree that sideline behavior of fans is a big problem and is the leading cause to the shortage of refs in all sports.    Other Highlights from the Discussion: The percentages of first year refs not coming back for the second year is dropping rapidly Kids who ref are terrified of the parents and that is not helpful Brian discusses why he started https://www.facebook.com/youreoffside/ How far have some fans actually taken a perceived bad call? Is shaming parents the best way to help the situation? If not, is there a better way? Why are clubs so afraid of holding f

This weekend, US men's national team star Christian Pulisic began his EPL career with Chelsea after his $73 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund to London.   In today's podcast, we speak with his father Mark, a former collegiate and professional player and coach, about a variety of topics, including what it was like to raise Christian, how many times they said no to great opportunities, how they limited his competitive team practices to 2 sessions per week, dealing with pressure, Christians goodbye in Dortmund, and so much more. We trace Mark's professional career and his short stint coaching in Germany and what were the major differences with coaching youth players in the US. His answer might surprise you.   This is a great conversation with some terrific insight into the childhood and early sports career of one of world soccer's brightest stars.In this week’s podcast we welcome    Other Highlights from the Discussion: How important is it to allow kids to develop their own passion for the sport? How d

In this week’s podcast we welcome Dr. Fergus Connolly, one of the world’s foremost human performance thought leaders and influencers. Dr. Connolly has applied performance science with leading sports, military, and business teams. He is the only coach to have full times roles in every major sport, including soccer (Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers), professional and college football (San Francisco 49s and University of Michigan) and rugby (Welsh national team).   We talk about the three types of coaches he has seen in the world and how the one thing we can control is our response, and how powerful it is when we respond appropriately.    Other Highlights from the Discussion: The importance of self-formal education "Running down rabbits and forgetting to grab the rabbit." Ben Johnson story about analyzing running and the importance of being selective about what you change in an athlete Can we build models within sport that can help predict team success?  3 Types of coaches Fergus has worked with "Take the

In this week’s podcast we welcome Travis Daugherty, a coach, teacher, speaker, and author of Hidden Talent: Uncovering What Really Makes a Champion a Champion. We discuss how sports should bring families together, the importance of knowing your “why” as a coach, and why it is crucial to know the difference between talent and ability.   Other Highlights from the Discussion: Making mistake as a young coach can help you later in your coaching career What do you do when winning doesn’t fulfill you like you thought it would Asking an athlete, "How would you practice if you were already the champion?" Why do champions do better than others? “You are not born a winner or a loser, you are born a chooser." A coachable spirit is important for athletes AND coaches Being a great teammate in a high-stakes environment  Confusing Talent with Ability Travis's first book,The LENS: Raising a Champion Athlete and Man in Today’s Myopic World (2017), focuses on developing champion athletes and people through spo

"It's difficult to be a great teammate if you are still focused on yourself,” says Dr. Peter Scales, author of Mental and Emotional Training for Tennis. For more than 45 years, Dr. Peter Scales has been a developmental psychologist, researcher, author, and speaker, internationally recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the positive development of children and youth. Among other topics, we discuss about how his background as a developmental psychologist influences his coaching, how to build a “team-first” culture, and the importance of teaching of positive self-talk and positive body language.  Other Highlights from the Discussion: *You should teach the kids who’s worse instincts you find amusing *All kids need A-B-C: Autonomy, Belonging, and Competence *How come teachers are taught how to teach a certain age, but coaches are considered able to teach any age *Why Dr. Scales will ask the players,”Is this working?" *How do we build a “team-first” culture? *When your child wants to practice afte

Coaches of the future need to be evidence based coaches, according to Dr. Ronald Quinn, our recent guest on the Way of Champions Podcast. Join us as we discuss many topics, including why he chose to focus on youth sports and not coaching professionals, teaching “positions” versus “positioning”, and the importance of having a coaching philosophy.    As a coach, Dr. Quinn served as the Xavier University Women's Soccer Coach from 1993 - 2004 holding a 134 - 95 - 16 record over the 12 year period, winning two Atlantic-Ten Tournament titles and qualifying for the conference tournament nine of 12 seasons. Dr. Quinn has authored, co-authored or provided chapters to seven soccer coaching books. He has published over 25 articles on various aspects of youth coaching and has conducted numerous coaching education programs.    For his work over the past 30 years in coaching education, Dr. Quinn was awarded the 2006 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), Youth Long-Term Achievement Award and in 2007 receiv

What does free play have to do with performance? Why does deliberate practice often fail to help a child reach their full potential? Let’s find out! Join John and Ted Kroeten, founder of Joy of the People, as they discuss why free play before structure is the best way to help young athletes reach their full potential.    Our guest, Ted Kroeten, leads the way in rethinking and delivering player development always championing kids and possibilities based on his experienced, dedicated, and innovative soccer career. Joy of the People’s mission statement provides a clear idea of what they’re attempting to provide:    To support the idea of play as an important part of a child’s development, to build small soccer spaces for kids to play, to serve disadvantaged youth, and to build community spirit.   Here are some highlights from the Podcast: What happened when free play was introduced into practice? How does the now defunct idea of "10.000 hours” play into free play and increasing performance? The younger tea

How can an Olympic Silver Medal be the greatest and worst moment of your life? This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome 5x Olympian and current Chair of UK Sport: Dame Katherine Grainger. Dame Katherine is British rower and with five Olympic medals and is Great Britain's most decorated female Olympian.   We dive into many different topics during our time together, including how a karate teacher changed the course of Kathrine's life, the best way to get athletes to love a sport or team, what it was like to be so close to a gold medal for 12 years, and the qualities of a great coach.   In addition to being a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist, and six-time World Champion, Dame Katherine also has an MA in Medical Law, an MA Ethics, and a Ph.D. in Criminal Law.   Highlights from the Podcast: * The importance of teachers and coaches in a child's life * How a chance meeting helped Kathrine find the sport of rowing * The role of a coach in sharing a passion for sport

  Tom Byer is a former professional soccer player originally from New York but who is now based in Tokyo, Japan as one of the most decorated and admired grassroots soccer coaches in the Asian region. HIs official title is Tom is the Technical Consultant for the Ministry of Education School Football Campus Program”.     In this episode, we discuss ideas about how to create a culture of ever-improving performance, the role of sports academies, and the dark side of high-achieving, performance-driven young athletes.    Tom was the first American soccer player to sign in Asia. Over the past 24 years, Tom has been conducting events in more than 2,000 locations with a total of 500,000 children participating. To culminate his achievement, Adidas honored Tom with the Golden Boot award, which he accepted in France after the World Cup draw of 1998 for his contribution to youth soccer in Asia.     Judged by his football peers, the local and international media, and the countless number of young Japanese over the space

Richard Cheetham MBE is Senior Fellow in Sports Coaching. He recently been awarded the 2018 UK Coaching Coach Developer of the year. Cheetham has worked at the University of Winchester since 2005, following three years spent teaching and coaching in New Zealand. He has a reputation at national and international level in coach education and development with his work ranging from rugby union to triathlon and professional cycling with the UCI. \   His research, publications and conference presentations have focussed on developing a more holistic approach to coaching as well as encouraging creativity and innovation in practice session design. The important role of play in sport at all levels of performance and across all ages has been a specific area of research with his work contributing to a regional primary education physical literacy initiative, UK Coaching, Rugby Canada and the University of Winchester Play and Creativity festival.    Highlights from the Podcast: Content and Instruction versus Play and Enj

Meet Trevor Ragan, the guest on this week’s Way of Champions Podcast. Trevor is the founder of Train Ugly, and the host of a fantastic podcast called The Learner Lab [link]. This one goes a little over an hour, but we promise it is worth the time! Grab a notebook and a pen, and maybe some coffee or tea. This one is packed with incredible information!   Highlights from the Podcast: The most important trait of a great leader: the ability to learn How Trevor came up with the name “Train Ugly" Helping learners appreciate the pain of messing up to get better The difference between a tiger growing up in the zoo or growing up in the jungle Trevor shares his story of trying out for Duke Basketball Spending two years experiencing the leadership of Mike Krzyzewski Why Trevor started his podcast Overcoming Fear, Stress and Anxiety Things that create fear: Uncertainty, Attention, Change and Struggle Practice: Doing vs Reading Trevor explains how baseball coaches can improve pregame warm ups What

In this bonus episode, John and Jerry discuss the Way of Champions Conference in Denver, CO on August 2-4.   Visit https://changingthegameproject.com/wocconference for more information!  WOCERALYBIRD for $100 off (good until June 15, 2019) Discounts for students from 1/2 off  Group discount, 1/2 off with 5 or more coaches Highlights from the Podcast: Why Jerry is learning Spanish Wining an “empty” championship How to get your best athletes to buy into a culture change  New stuff for this year’s conference Building a great culture: connection, caring and core values Jerry shares a story about working with Steve Kerr and Pete Carrol  Learn more about the 4th Annual Way of Champions Conference Website: https://changingthegameproject.com/wocconference  Web: https://changingthegameproject.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctgprojecthq Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChangingTheGameProject/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctgprojecthq/ iTunes: http://bit.ly/wocpodcast SUPPORT T

Rob is a motivational speaker for “Proactive Coaching“. Along with Bruce Brown, Rob uses his speaking skills and “coaching” knowledge to promote the “Proactive Coaching” mission of helping coaches positively impact their athlete’s lives. His experience gives him an amazing view at the status of modern day coaching and parenting.   Highlights from the Podcast: Teaching Leadership to Young Athletes The Captains and Coaches Workshop Give Each other permission to confront each other Turning Confrontation into Communicaion  Social Media responsibility  Why is the average age of head coaches going down? You Rise to standards, You Break Rules: How to empower kids to success The laws of motor development Confronting an athlete as a coach Taking notes for Coach John Wooden at a conference   Connect with Proactive Coaching  Website: https://proactivecoaching.info Twitter: https://twitter.com/proactivecoach Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/proactivecoach/ SUPPORT THE PODCAST! Become a Pod

David Epstein is the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, and of the New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene. He has master's degrees in environmental science and journalism and has worked as an investigative reporter for ProPublica and a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He lives in Washington, DC.   Highlights from the Podcast: Min 2: The debate between Epstein and Gladwell, and why the 10,000 rule is wrong Min 10: "Breadth of training predicts breadth of transfer” Min 23: "Teaching with hints” Min 28: How to use “spacing" to increase learning   Min 33: Why current performance is not a good indication of learning Min 40: Sport sampling and the fear of leaving the “sports pipeline”  Min 48: The world's finest youth academy is not the best developmental system Min 55: The diversity of movement and lowering the chance of overuse injury Min 59: The true meaning of GRIT and the studies that explain it   Resources Mentioned: The debate between Epstein and Gladwell [video] Joy of

Our guest this week is Erik Imler. Imler, a UVA graduate, was a NCAA National Champion in 1989, 1991 and 1992 and went on to be a member of the 1992 Olympic Team and represented the United States as a player and then as a coach.   As a Youth Academy Director and passionate blogger who is dissatisfied with the status quo of youth soccer development in the United States, Erik is on a mission to support the positive change that must be experienced in youth development. Erik is in constant search for intelligent and thought provoking soccer conversation and is determined to make a difference in the youth club soccer landscape.   His youth programs address the most prominent technical deficiencies in many youth players – passing and receiving – while simultaneously creating a thirst for skill mastery and love of the game among the players.   Check out Erik's soccer BLOG – Can't Pass, Can't Play as he attempts to educate parents on what really matters.   Highlights from the Podcast: Min 03: Getting to know Eric Iml

Terry Liskevych spent 12 years as the head coach of the USA National Women’s Volleyball Team. During his tenure with the National Team, the U.S. posted over 300 international victories and earned bronze medals at the 1992 Olympics and the 1990 World Championships. In 1995 Liskevych led his team to the gold medal at the World Grand Prix and was selected as the FIV International Coach of the Year.   Highlights from the Podcast: Min 07: Getting to know Terry Liskevych Min 15: Does college prepare an athlete to be a professional? Min 20: What are the positive effects of sport sampling? Min 25: What has changed in sport on youth level the has trickled into the higher levels? Min 32: Is coaching and art or a science? Min 42: Why don’t great players become great coaches? Min 51: What would Terry change about the current youth sport system?   Connect with Terry Liskevych Website: theartofcoachingvolleyball.com  Email: liskevycht@theartofcaoching.com   Announcements for Changing The Game Project:   CONFERENCE Wa

Stuart Armstrong is the Head of Coaching for Sport England. Prior to Sport England, he was the Player Development Manager for the Rugby Football Union. He is one of the world’s top experts on player development pathways and skill acquisition, and has helped thousands of coaches in the UK create better learning environments and develop deeper relationships with their players.   His sports coaching experience is in golf, cricket, field hockey, rugby, and soccer. He leverages the knowledge gained from the various sports he has coached to help create multi-sport, player-focused training programs that assist athletes in not only developing sold skill foundations but great off-field skills to help them succeed in life.   Highlights from the Podcast: Min 10: What is Talent? OR Talent vs Ability Min 18: Why it is important for a coach to develop more than just the technical and tactical  Min 24: How to shift the coach mindset from ignoring the psychological side of coaching athletes  Min 31: Finding the balance of sp

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we have a discussion with Lindsey Wilson from Positive Performance Training about the importance of the mental game for athletes of all ages. Lindsey works with athletes and coaches to unlock player and team potential through mental performance training. As an athlete, Lindsey had the privilege to play on many successful teams and collect an impressive athletic resume along the way. As a mental training coach, Lindsey has developed mental performance training tools and techniques for universities, teams, and organizations across the globe.   Highlights from the Podcast: Min 06: Why Lindsey starting a mental coaching business Min 13: Why Being called "Relentless” was important to Lindsey  Min 17: Playing professional, or being liked? Min 21: Recognizing the shift towards accepting mental training in sports Min 24: What Lindsey teaches for mental training (and how to get coaches to “buy in”  Min 31: What to say to a an athlete that just failed? Min 43: How do coaches r

Dr. Joe Baker is one of our favorite people in talent development, sport specialization, and long term athlete development, and our conversation this week does not disappoint. We talk about David Epstein's new book Range, discuss sport specialization, as well as the relative age effect, what great coaching looks like, how poor the evidence shows we are at talent ID, our broken talent ID system, and so much more. This is one you are going to want to take some notes on!   Baker is a Professor and the head of the Lifespan Health and Performance Laboratory in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University, Canada. He is a world-leader in research on talent identification and high performance athlete development and has held visiting researcher/professor positions in the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany. His research considers the varying influences on optimal human development, ranging from issues affecting athlete development and skill acquisition to barriers and facilitators of optimal agi

Ian Goldberg is a sports dad, coach and Founder of iSport360, a SportsTech company that is helping coaches, kids and parents set goals, share player feedback and track player progress.  His informative and frequently-funny youth sports newsletter has 70,000 subscribers, earning Ian a place on the Advisory Council of the National Alliance for Youth Sports. https://isport360.com/   Connect with Ian Goldberg Blog: https://isport360.com/blog/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/isport360 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isport360/   Highlights from the Podcast: Min 07: Ian’s "Ah-ha” moment Min 18: The worst word in youth sports:"Shoot!” Min 24: Mis-diagnosed over-use injuries (parents won’t admit what is happening!) Min 28: What happens when a 6-year-old is going through the kind of stress a senior in high school choosing a college goes through? Min 32: The iSport360 App Min 39: What are some things that clubs should teach parents to help kids? Min 49: You Shouldn’t be shocked at try-outs. Parents, read the evaluation