#368 Eric Potterat, PhD, Mental Performance Coach for the US Navy SEALs, LA Dodgers, and US Women’s National Soccer Team
Thursday, 14 March 2024
Eric Potterat, PhD, is a clinical and performance psychologist and a leading expert in individual and organizational performance optimization. Eric retired as a commander from the US Navy after twenty years of service, during which he helped create the mental toughness curriculum used during Navy SEALs BUD/S training. Eric spent several years as the director
- Published in Mental Toughness, Podcast, Soccer, sport psychology
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#367 Mark Johnson, Author of Spitting in the Soup, on the History of Doping in Sports
Thursday, 07 March 2024
Mark Johnson (www.ironstring.com) is a sportswriter and sports photographer. He has covered cycling and endurance sports since the 1980s. His work often focuses on the business of pro cycling—a topic that frequently intersects with the sport’s long history of doping. Along with U.S. publications like VeloNews, his work is published in Cycling Weekly in the
- Published in Doping, Olympics, Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
#366 Ian Goldberg and Amy Masters of iSport360 on Sports Parenting, Winning vs Enjoyment, and Managing Expectations in Youth Sports
Friday, 01 March 2024
Ian Goldberg is the Founder and CEO of iSport360, a youth sports technology company that is changing the culture in youth sports for over 4M people. Ian’s career started at the White House where he worked for the economic advisors to two US Presidents and then spent more than half of his career in
- Published in Podcast, Sports Parenting
#365 Dr Mitch Greene on Quieting Your Mind Chatter and Why Having Courage is More Important Than Confidence
Thursday, 22 February 2024
Dr. Mitchell Greene (@greenepsych) is a nationally recognized licensed clinical and sport psychologist, whose success over the past 15-plus years is his ability to tailor personalized solutions to his client’s problems. Dr. Greene works primarily with athletes pursuing high performance goals, or coaches and athletic departments looking to educate their student-athletes on mental health and
- Published in Mindset, Podcast, sport psychology
#364 Wells Thompson, Former MLS Player and Founder of Soccer Resilience, on How to Think Better so you can Perform Better
Friday, 16 February 2024
Wells Thompson is a former Major League Soccer Player and the Founder of Soccer Resilience, an mazing resource for players and teams to build inner strength and help athletes think better so they can perform better. Wells was an all ACC player at Wake Forest and the 5th pick in the 2007 MLS Super Draft.
- Published in Leadership, mental health, Mental Toughness, Podcast, Soccer
#363 The Performance Doctors on Overcoming Fear and Creating theOptimal Environment for Your Athletes to Perform Their Best
Monday, 12 February 2024
This week we are joined by The Performance Doctors, three leaders dedicated to creating the optimal environment for your athletes to thrive. They are Dr Michael Mantell, Dr, Darin Davidson, and Dr. Brendan Meany. For nearly 50 years Dr. Michael Mantell has focused on how improving mindset climate positively influences optimal performance, helps people disturb
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, psychology, sport psychology
Do You Work Hard, or Do You COMPETE?
Sunday, 04 February 2024
“But coach, I am working hard out there,” many of us have heard often as a coach. “Yes Dad/Mom, I am trying my best” sounds familiar to many a parent. We all want our athletes to work hard and apply themselves in training and games. But is something more needed to truly excel? Is working
- Published in Basketball, Mental Toughness, Team Culture
#362 Stephen Rollnick on Using Motivational Interviewing to Coach Athletes to Be Their Best, Overcoming the “Righting Reflex” and Working to Not Be a “Deficit Detective” (replay)
Thursday, 01 February 2024
Stephen Rollnick provides consultancy, mentorship and training on the subjects of motivation, change, teamwork and Motivational Interviewing. Stephen is also a clinical psychologist with many years of experience in service provision and in the training of practitioners. This work, much of it on motivational interviewing (MI), has taken him into diverse cultures and settings. He
- Published in Coaching, Leadership, Motivation, Podcast
#361 Tara VanDerveer, Stanford Women’s Basketball Head Coach and All Time Winningest Coach in NCAA History, on the Power of Influence, Being a Lifelong Learner, and Loving Your Players No Matter What
Tuesday, 23 January 2024
Congratulations to our friend Tara VanDerveer, the Head Coach of the Stanford Women’s Basketball team, who recently became the all-time winningest coach for men and women in NCAA basketball history, surpassing former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Coach VanDerveer is a 3-Time national champion coach, a 5 time national coach of the year, has been to
- Published in Basketball, Coaching, Podcast
#360 Tree Beeckman, Coach Educator, Team Culture Specialist, and Former NCAA Volleyball Coach: “When we don’t feel seen we feel judged”
Thursday, 18 January 2024
A highly-respected coach and educator, Theresa “Tree” Beeckman (@tbeeckman13) is the president and founder of Tree Roots Culture Consulting and Camps LCC. She possesses more than two decades of coaching experience at a variety of levels and has built a championship pedigree with success at numerous stops. The longtime collegiate coach served as an assistant
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, Team Culture, Volleyball
#359 Aaron Cusack, Professor of High Performance Sport Coaching and UEFA A License Coach: “Try Not to Let Someone Else’s Decision Define Who You Are”
Friday, 12 January 2024
Aaron Cusack is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching and PE at Plymouth Marjon University in England where he program leads an MSc in High-Performance Sport Coaching. Coupled with his academic career, he is also a football coach with over 20 years of experience in coach education. Formerly a trainee youth player with Plymouth Argyle,
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, psychology, Soccer
#358 Dr. Ben Freakley, Former NCAA Head Coach and Sport Psychologist: “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”
Thursday, 04 January 2024
Dr. Ben Freakley has coached individuals, teams, and organizations on the psychology of performance, team dynamics, and well-being. A former NCAA Division I athlete, Ben has been an NCAA Division I men’s soccer coach, mental performance coach for special operations forces (75th Ranger Regiment), general manager for a sports club with over 1100 members, and
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, Soccer, sport psychology
#357 Levi Nelson, Coach and Author, on How To Instill Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline in Your Teams and Athletes
Thursday, 28 December 2023
Coach Levi Nelson is a long time football coach and teacher, and holds a doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology, two master’s degrees, and he also currently serves as a college professor and coach developer for USA Hockey. In His new book LEAD: A Coach’s Playbook on How to Positively Impact the World Through Love,
- Published in Coaching, Football, Podcast, Team Culture
#356 Alan Kirkup, Former Man United Player and 30 Year NCAA Coach, on Creating Connection Through Conversation and Instilling a Culture of Excellence
Thursday, 21 December 2023
Alan Kirkup is a former professional soccer player with Manchester United, and then spent multiple decades coaching in the US. He was head women’s soccer coach at SMU, Maryland, and the University of Arkansas before joining Becky Burleigh at the University of Florida for nearly two decades. He compiled over 250 wins as a head
#355 Paul McVeigh, English Premier League and International Soccer Player: “Do your limits allow you to achieve what you want to achieve?”
Thursday, 14 December 2023
For over 25 years, Paul McVeigh (@PaulMcVeigh77) has been an elite performer in two of the most competitive industries on the planet; elite sport and performance psychology. As a thought leader in business, performance psychology and as a published author, he’s dedicated his career to understanding what makes humans ‘tick’ and how it affects the
- Published in Football, Podcast, Soccer, sport psychology
#354 Dr. Cassidy Preston, Mental Performance Coach, on Being Process and Purpose Driven, Playing with Confidence, and Performing When it Matters Most
Wednesday, 06 December 2023
Dr. Cassidy Preston (@cassidypreston) is a Mental Performance Coach for professional athletes and high-performers like surgeons, hedge fund managers, and CEO’s. The challenges he faced as an elite hockey player created a passion for finding a better way to work on the mental game. He has dedicated his life to helping his clients use practical
- Published in Hockey, Mindset, Podcast, sport psychology
#353 Dr. Michael Gervais, Performance Psychologist and Host of Finding Mastery Podcast: “Performance is meant to be an EXPRESSION of who we are not a DEFINITION of who we are”
Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Dr. Michael Gervais (@MichaelGervais) is one of the world’s top high-performance psychologists and leading experts on the relationship between the mind and human performance. Dr. Gervais has spent his career being called on by the best of the best across the worlds of business, sport, the arts, and science when they need to achieve the
- Published in Parenting, Podcast, sport psychology
2023 Most Important Books of the Year
Tuesday, 28 November 2023
It’s that time of year for us to share our favorite, most important books of 2023. We were able to interview some amazing authors this year, and read so, so many good books, but a few books really stood out to us as exceptional. Many of these books have been impactful on both a personal
- Published in Book reviews
#352 Maureen Monte on How to Win Like a Girl and Overcome the Confidence Crisis in our Female Athletes
Friday, 24 November 2023
Maureen Electa Monte (@maureenemonte) builds winning teams that unite, overcome obstacles, and achieve big goals. She has a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an M.S. in Leadership and Business Ethics, and is a Gallup-certified StrengthsFinder subject matter expert. She provided leadership development training for executives as an adjunct professor at Cornell and delivers
- Published in Confidence, lacrosse, Parenting, Podcast
#351 JP Nerbun, Author and Coach Mentor, on Seeing Parents as People, and Unlocking the Power of Parents in Sports
Friday, 17 November 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast J.P. Nerbun (@jpnerbun) is a bestselling author, leadership coach, and founder of TOC Culture Consulting, a leading global sports-consulting and leadership coaching business. His mission is to support leaders and their teams to achieve their full potential through 1:1 coaching, consulting, and community.
- Published in Podcast, Sports Parenting
The Storm Has Its Purpose
Thursday, 16 November 2023
The other day I was on a live webinar with a couple of dozen parents of young athletes, almost all moms. They were there to gain some insight into how they could best support their children on the sporting journey across a variety of sports. I was asked a question that is a very common
- Published in Adversity, Family Values, Mental Toughness, Parenting
#350 George Mumford, Psychologist and Elite Performance Expert for the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers, on Getting Unlocked, Finding Your Greatness, and Building Strength Through Adversity
Friday, 10 November 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast This week we welcome George Mumford, author, psychologist and Mindfulness & Elite Performance Expert. Named Phil Jackson’s ‘Secret Weapon’ to winning eight NBA Championships, George’s passion is teaching mindfulness to high profile sports, business and academic teams alike; from the Los Angeles Lakers,
- Published in Coaching, Mindset, Podcast, sport psychology
Don’t Be a Starving Baker
Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Have you ever heard the parable of the starving baker? Once upon a time, there was a baker renowned for his delightful pastries and delicious breads who took great pride in feeding his community. As the town’s population grew, so did the demand for his baked goods. The baker, determined meet this need, started working harder. He started skipping his own meals.
- Published in Coaching, mental health
#349 Dr. Lauren McHenry, Sport Psychologist and Educator, on Fostering Connection and Integrating Person Centered Coaching into Coach Education
Friday, 03 November 2023
Dr. Lauren McHenry is a certified mental performance consultant through the Association of Applied Sport Psychology and national certified counselor. As a former Team USA and professional athlete, Lauren understands the pressures, expectations, and emotional highs and lows in the world of elite and collegiate sport. She is the founder of McHenry Mental Performance, LLC and Thriving
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, sport psychology
#348 Matt Kaiser, International Sports Lawyer, on Anti-Doping, the “Safesport Scaries”, and How Coaches Can Protect Themselves in a Litigious Youth Sports Environment
Friday, 27 October 2023
Matthew Kaiser is a graduate of Villanova University School of Law and an emerging force in the sports law world. He first joined the Global Sports Advocates (www.globalsportsadvocates.com) legal team in 2016 as an intern while a student in the International Sports Law Master’s program at the Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía (ISDE) based
#347 Ben Freakley, Sport Psychologist and Former Head of Mental Performance for the Toronto Blue Jays: “It’s Not a Skill if it Doesn’t Hold Up Under Pressure” (Replay)
Friday, 20 October 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Ben Freakley (@bcfreakley), is a sport psychologist, founder of ready,Set,Resilient, and former head of mental performance for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. Ben brings a lot of experience working with elite performers, from professional athletes to working with the 75th
- Published in Baseball, Podcast, Soccer, sport psychology
#346 Troy Urdahl, Athletic Director and Coach: Chasing Influence, Being Intentional, and Knowing Your Coaching WHY
Friday, 13 October 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Dr. Troy Urdahl has spent his professional career at St. Anthony Village High School (SAVHS), a Twin Cities, Minn. public school. For the past 16 years Urdahl has been the SAVHS Huskies head baseball coach. In addition to his head coaching responsibilities, Urdahl
- Published in Coaching, Leadership, Podcast
Youth Sports is a Journey (And We Have Lots to Be Grateful For)
Wednesday, 11 October 2023
This week I wanted to share with you some thoughts I recently sent to my local youth soccer club. I wrote these as I was working in the Middle East, visiting a series of international schools and doing coach, parent and leadership education in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kuwait. It was a fascinating trip, as I learned
- Published in Adversity, High School Sports, Parenting
#345 Rebecca Rusch, World Record Endurance Athlete, Philanthropist and Emmy Award Winner: “Movement is Medicine, and Adventure is Therapy”
Friday, 06 October 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Rebecca Rusch (@rebeccarusch) is an author, filmmaker, adventure athlete and world champion biker and skier. Her memoir Rusch to Glory: Adventure, Risk & Triumph on the Path Less Traveled, continues to receive popular and critical acclaim. She is the Emmy-winning protagonist of Blood Road,
- Published in mental health, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Podcast
#344 Major General Scott Clancy, for Director of Operations for NORAD, on Trust, Dealing with Difficult Teammates, and the Difference Between Leading and Coaching Your Teams
Thursday, 28 September 2023
Major General Scott Clancy served in the Canadian Armed Forces as a tactical helicopter pilot. He taught tactics at the Army Staff college and planned expeditionary operations at all levels of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Before retiring after a 37-year career, he served as the Deputy Commander of the Alaskan NORAD Region and finally as the Director
- Published in Leadership, Podcast, Team Culture