Way Of Champions Podcast

Dr Rob Bell has written eight books on mental toughness and puts out a sport psychology podcast called 15 Minutes of Mental Toughness.  Since 2006 he’s consulted with hundreds  of athletes, coaches, and teams. He also currently serves as a Sport Psychology coach for Indy Eleven pro soccer team, and University of Notre Dame. He has worked with winners on the PGA Tour, an Olympic Silver medalist, ATP Champion, and the 2013 USTA National Champion. He has spoken to Marriott, and Walgreens and has caddied over 20+ events on professional golf tours. A former university professor, Dr. Bell has been featured on ESPN, The Golf Channel, Runner’s World, NY Times and Stack Magazine. Connect with Dr. Bell on his website, Twitter Profile, YouTube Channel, and Facebook Page. His new book which we discuss today is I Can't Wait to Be Patient. The book discusses why we mistake urgency with importance, and why sometimes going slowly helps us arrive quicker at our goals. The big takeaway: "The Process takes perspective, the prod

Craig Parnham is the current High Performance Director fo USA Field Hockey, and former Head Coach for the US Women's National Team. He also served as Assistant Coach for Team Great Britain in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic games, and played for Team GB in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic games, ultimately earning over 100 international caps for England and Team GB. His current role not only includes supporting the US National teams and coaching staffs, but leading coaching education initiatives, and helping grow the sport of Field Hockey. In our conversation today, we discuss the recent USA Field Hockey Coaching Symposium, how to give effective feedback, the importance of being honest with your athletes, and Craig's ideas on why the rest of the world tends to produce players that have more game intelligence then the US's age group based models.  REGISTER NOW! The 2023 Way of Champions Conference will be held August 4-6, 2023 at Colorado Academy in Denver, CO. PHIL JACKSON, 11X NBA CHAMPION COACH, AND STEVE KERR, 9X NBA C

Sherri Coale was one of the most accomplished and impactful head coaches in University of Oklahoma history in any sport, is retiring after a transformative 25 years at the helm of the OU women's basketball program. Coale retiring after 25 years, more than 500 wins, 3 Final Fours, 9 Sweet 16s and 10 conference championships. Owner of the most wins in OU women's basketball history and a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, Coale was a four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year and directed the Sooners to 10 Big 12 championships (six regular season, four tournament) and 20 postseason appearances, including 19 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. She finished her collegiate career with a 513-294 (.636) overall record and a 253-167 (.601) mark in Big 12 play. Nine of her squads that qualified for the NCAA Tournament advanced to the Sweet 16 or beyond. Three of them barreled their way to the Final Four (2002, 2009, 2010), with the 2001-02 Sooners advancing to the national championship game. All told, her teams registe

DR. KELLY STARRETT is the coauthor of the New York Times best sellers Becoming a Supple Leopard, Ready to Run, and the Wall Street Journal best seller Deskbound. He is also the cofounder of The Ready State, and the cofounder of San Francisco CrossFit. He consults with athletes and coaches from the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, the US Olympic Team, elite Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard forces, and consults with corporations on employee health and wellbeing. JULIET STARRETT, J.D. is an entrepreneur, attorney, author, and podcaster. She is the cofounder and CEO of The Ready State, the former cofounder and CEO of San Francisco CrossFit. She is coauthor of the Wall Street Journal best seller Deskbound, and was a professional whitewater paddler, winning three world championships and five national titles. Their new book is Built to Move: The 10 Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully Learn more at www.BuiltToMove.com    REGISTER NOW! The 2023 Way of Champions Conference will be held August

This week we bring you a special episode recorded in Sitges, Spain with TOVO Academy Founder Todd Beane (@_ToddBeane), Soccer Parenting founder Skye Eddy (@SoccerParenting), and John. We all happened to cross paths in Spain when John's team was participating in a training week at TOVO, and we took the opportunity to have a few tapas and record our conversation. It's a wonderful conversation about coaching, challenging your athletes, accountability, parent engagement, and so much more. This is an unstructured, unplanned conversation, so its like you are a fly on the wall (just waiting to see if there is any food leftover). We hope you enjoy and get a lot from our talk.  REGISTER NOW! The 2023 Way of Champions Conference will be held August 4-6, 2023 at Colorado Academy in Denver, CO. PHIL JACKSON, 11X NBA CHAMPION COACH, WILL BE JOINING US AS A GUEST PRESENTER FOR THE EVENT!!! Click here to learn more and register.  You can save $100 until April 1 by entering EARLYBIRD at checkout, as well as get access to the

Ken O'Keefe served as head coach at Allegheny College for eight seasons (1990-97), where his team won five North Coast Athletic Conference titles and the 1990 NCAA Division III national title. O’Keefe led Allegheny to four undefeated regular seasons (1990, 1991, 1994 and 1996), and six NCAA playoff appearances. He was named NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 1990. From 1999-2011 he was the offensive coordinator for the Iowa Hawkeyes, leading the team to top offensive production and multiple bowl games, He then left and served on the coaching staff of the NFL's Miami Dolphins for five seasons before returning to Iowa as QB coach from 2017-2022. Our discussion today covers topics from coaching to being a great teammate to the scourge of social media and early recruiting and how it is ruining youth sports.  REGISTER NOW! The 2023 Way of Champions Conference will be held August 4-6, 2023 at Colorado Academy in Denver, CO. PHIL JACKSON, 11X NBA CHAMPION COACH, WILL BE JOINING US AS A GUEST PRESENTER FOR

Nate Boyer (@NateBoyer37) is a renaissance man. He is a former Green Beret, and played football for the Seattle Seahawks and the university of Texas despite having never played high school football! He currently works as a film producer and leadership consultant, as well as runs his not profit MVP: Merging Vets and Players (www.vetsandplayers.org)Boyer gained national attention in 2016 when a letter he wrote to the Army Times about Colin Kaepernick's protests during the national anthem led to a meeting between the men and thrust Boyer into the national spotlight.  A five-year player for the Texas Longhorns, Boyer served as the No. 1 long snapper on PAT/FG’s his last three seasons and also handled punt-snapping duties during 2013-14.  He played in 39 career games.  In 2012 Boyer received the Disney Spirit Award at the ESPN College Football Awards, which is given to the most inspirational figure in college football. In 2013 the National Football Foundation awarded him with the coveted Legacy Award. He was name

Lauren Fleshman is one of the most decorated American distance runners of all time, having won five NCAA championships at Stanford and two national championships as a professional. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times and Runner’s World. She is the brand strategy advisor for Oiselle, a fitness apparel company for women, and the co-founder of Picky Bars, a natural food company. She is the author of the NY Times Bestseller Good for a Girl, an extraordinary look at female athletes and the struggles they face in a male dominated world.  As the book description says, “Fleshman’s story of falling in love with running as a girl, being pushed to her limits and succumbing to devastating injuries, and daring to fight for a better way for female athletes. Long gone are the days when women and girls felt lucky just to participate; Fleshman and women everywhere are waking up to the reality that they’re running, playing, and competing in a world that wasn’t made for them. Drawing on not only her own story but al

Hugh McCutcheon is a native of New Zealand, where he was national team volleyball player. He played on the New Zealand junior and senior national teams from 1988 to 1990 before coming to the US. He soon began an illustrious coaching career, leading the US Men's National Team to Olympic Gold in 2008 in Beijing, and the US Women's National team to silver at the 2012 London Olympics. He then became the head coach for the women's volleyball team at the University of Minnesota from 2012–2022, leading the team to numerous NCAA tournaments and building them into a national powerhouse. After announcing his resignation from the volleyball team at the conclusion of the 2022 season, in January 2023, McCutcheon became the assistant athletics director/sport development coach at Minnesota. McCutcheon has just published a brand new book Championship Behaviors: A Model for Competitive Sports Excellence which is the major topic of our discussion today. It is a wonderful handbook for getting the culture, skill development, a

Ashley Merryman (www.AshleyMerryman.com) changes the world's dialogue. She finds the science essential to understanding what makes people tick—what motivates us, what inspires us—from individual quirks to institutional phenomena. Then she explains how to use these insights to transform our lives. The best place to get them is to subscribe to her newly reborn newsletter www.thesherwoodreport.com  Her book NurtureShock, co-authored with Po Bronson, has become one of the most influential books about children ever published. On the New York Times bestseller list for more than six months and an Amazon Top Nonfiction 100 book for over a year, it has been translated into 20 languages. Their follow-up, Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing, was another instant New York Times bestseller with foreign translations around the world. Since its publication, Top Dog has revolutionized the world of elite performance. Coaches of professional sports carry it in their bags. Olympians have described themselves as “Top Dog a

This week John shares his thoughts after two weeks on the road visiting college teams and conducting some parent and coach workshops on some topics that have come up a lot recently. Quite a few coaches have asked about parent engagement and how to work with those parents who just don't get it, and John shares his ideas around building trust, and making deposits in the trust bank so you can make withdrawals at a later date when you do screw up, or have to be a bit more demanding. He discusses his thoughts on communication, some tools to get parents, athletes and coaches more aligned, and then the concept of accountability being a two way street, something that takes great courage, and also something that should not be viewed as a negative. He mentions the work of a group called The Program, you can learn more about them here.   REGISTER NOW! The 2023 Way of Champions Conference will be held August 4-6, 2023 at Colorado Academy in Denver, CO. Click here to learn more and register.  You can save $100 until April

Quin Snyder is the former Head Coach of the Utah Jazz of the NBA, stepping aside in June 2022 after eight very successful seasons. Previously he was head coach at Missouri, as well as numerous assistant coaching stints across the NBA, college basketball, and even CSKA Moscow in Russia. Snyder played collegiately under Coach K at Duke University, and was named an Academic All American as a senior. He has an undergrad degree in philosophy, a law degree, and an MBA, making Snyder one of the most interesting coaches Jerry and I have ever had the pleasure of interviewing. This was recorded in march 2020, just prior to COVID shutting down the world, and we had Quin back in 2021 for our Way of Champions Conference. Sit back and get ready to take some notes! REGISTER NOW! The 2023 Way of Champions Conference will be held August 4-6, 2023 at Colorado Academy in Denver, CO. Click here to learn more and register.  You can save $100 until April 1 by entering EARLYBIRD at checkout, as well as get access to the best hotel

Zach Brandon (@mvp_mindset) serves as the Mental Skills Coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks where he oversees mental performance services for players and staff across all levels of the organization. His focus is on helping players and coaches achieve peak performance consistently, while also increasing their enjoyment and satisfaction in sport and life. Prior to his current role in professional baseball, Zach served as a Mental Conditioning Coach at IMG Academy (FL) from 2016-2018. While working at IMG Academy, Zach served as a primary mental conditioning coach within the following sports: Baseball, basketball, tennis, and track & field. He also provided individual consulting services to external trainees which included Olympic track & field athletes and Major League Baseball players. Zach received his Master’s degree in Kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton (CSUF) and his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Linfield College (OR). While attending CSUF, Zach served as a mental performance coach wi

Carol "Hutch" Hutchins wrapped up her 38th season at the helm of the University of Michigan softball program in 2022. She was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006. With a career record of 1,707-551-5 over her 39 total seasons as a NCAA head coach, Hutchins is the winningest coach in NCAA softball history. Hutchins' squads have captured one NCAA National Championship, 22 Big Ten regular-season titles, 10 Big Ten Tournament championships and qualified for the NCAA Tournament 29 times (1992-93, '95-2019, '21-22), earning 18 NCAA Regional crowns and making 12 appearances in the NCAA Women's College World Series (1995-98, 2001-02, '04-'05, '09, '13, '15-'16). She has earned 18 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year honors, eight NFCA Regional Coach of the Year awards and a pair of NFCA National Coach of the Year honors. The Hutchins-led Michigan coaching staff has garnered Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 15 of the last 24 seasons (1998-99, 2001-02, '0

James Leath (@jamesleath) is a mental performance coach, keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and founder of Unleash the Athlete. He is the former Head of Leadership at IMG Academy and currently is a mental performance coach for EXOS. when not traveling the world speaking and presenting He is a long time friend, former co-host and producer of this podcast, and speaker for Changing the Game Project and the Way of Champions Conference. James has just released his brand new book Team Building Activities for Athletes, which collects over 50 of his favorite games that will help your team connect, compete, and find more joy in sport. We love the work James does and his new book will become a toolkit for you to bring to practice everyday and keep your athletes focused and having fun. You can learn more and get yourself a great free download at www.JamesLeath.com/woc  REGISTER NOW! The 2023 Way of Champions Conference will be held August 4-6, 2023 at Colorado Academy in Denver, CO. Click here to learn more and regi

This is a special episode of the podcast as Stuart and John got to record in person in Bend, Oregon after a 2 day work visit with a little ski adventure on the thrown in. He has been traveling the US speaking at the United Soccer Coaches Convention and working with the coaching staff of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL, and had a few days to spend in Bend before keynoting the Oregon Youth Soccer AGM. For those who do not know, Stuart has worked in sports development for the past 20 years. He has held positions in coach development, performance and talent development at England Golf, UK Coaching and the Rugby Football Union. Stuart is currently the Strategic Lead for Workforce Transformation at Sport England. He has been responsible for writing and publishing two national strategy documents, ‘Coaching in an Active Nation: The Coaching Plan for England’ and ‘Working in an Active Nation: The Professional Workforce Strategy for England’. Stuart is a highly regarded public speaker, having delivered keynote pre

This week we are doing something a little different on the podcast. We had a last minute guest cancellation, so this week we decided to discuss one of our recent blog posts that just went a but viral, "How Adults Take the Joy Out of Sports , and How We Can Fix It." The release of this blog coincided with the drama around the US Men's National Soccer team that gained international headlines when parents of a US Player (Gio Renya) made a complaint against the coach Gregg Berhalter after their son's behavior during the recent World Cup was called into question. This podcast is not a rehash of that situation, which is just incredibly sad on many levels. It is a discussion of the blog post and the ways in which parents can suck the joy out of sports, and a breakdown of the six things often loving parents and coaches do that lead kids to quit, burnout and dropout. They are: Parent Sideline Coaching Joystick coaching/yelling instructions from the sidelines Disrespecting officials Questioning the coach Commenting on

Vince Ganzberg is the Director of Coach Education for United Soccer Coaches, the largest soccer coaches association in the world. Ganzberg has earned his US Soccer A-License, United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma, and National Youth License along with a Master’s Degree in recreation and sports science from Ohio University. He has honed his craft through his tenure as a United Soccer Coaches Education Instructor, US Soccer Coaching Instructor, and Coaching Education Consultant, including creating the first US Soccer “F” License. In 2018, Ganzberg received the US Youth Soccer Dr. Thomas Fleck Excellence in Youth Coaching Education Award. Ganzberg served many roles with US Youth Soccer, including being the former Indiana State Director of Coaching, which he was inducted into the Indiana Soccer Hall of Fame in 2015, and has served as a USYS Regional and National Coach. Prior to this he spent 14 years as a teacher, so he brings together not only a wealth of knowledge about the game, but about teaching and impartin

This week we dig into the archives from April 2017, when John sat down with world record holder and 2x Olympic Gold Medalist Ashton Eaton for some timeless advice for athletes of all sports and ages. Ashton Eaton is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in both the decathlon and indoor heptathlon events. Ashton competed for the University of Oregon, where he was a five-time NCAA champion, and won The Bowerman award in 2010. In 2011, he won the first international medal of his career, a silver, in the decathlon at the 2011 World Championships. The following year, Eaton broke his own world record in the heptathlon at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, and then broke the world record in the decathlon at the Olympic Trials. After setting the world record, Eaton won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He successfully defended his Olympic title in Rio 2016 by winning the decathlon gold medal and tying the Olympic record. Eaton is only the third O

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Leadership Expert Tim Kight (@Focus3team). Tim founded Focus 3 in the mid-80’s in Southern California, a life-long student of elite performance with the passion and drive to help organizations achieve their goals. In his college days, Tim transferred from Ohio State to UCLA while running Track. It was at UCLA that he witnessed John Wooden win his 9th and 10th national championship. An experience that instilled a great curiosity in Tim as to what distinguishes elite performers from average performers. A question he’s pursued answering ever since that moment. The answer for Tim was curated through observing and documenting the mindset and behavior patterns of elite performers. What was discovered was that elite performers think and behave differently because they’ve adopted a system.   In our interview, which first aired in September 2020, we cover a lot of Tim’s incredible material, including how leaders create culture, how to recognize a leader, his famous