Be a Thermostat, not a Thermometer: Sample Chapter from our New Book “The Champion Teammate”
Tuesday, 02 May 2023
(Jerry and John are so excited to announce the upcoming release of our new book The Champion Teammate: Timeless Lessons to Connect, Compete and Lead in Sports in Life. Throughout our lives, we will be part of many teams. From sports teams to community groups to our dining room table, our lives are filled with
- Published in Coaching, Leadership, Team Culture
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Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, Talent Development
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
- Published in Basketball, Coaching, Podcast
#320 Kelly and Juliet Starrett on their New Book Built to Move: The 10 Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully
Friday, 14 April 2023
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,
#319 A Mediterranean Tapas Chat with Todd Beane of TOVO Academy, Skye Eddy of Soccer Parenting, and John O’Sullivan of Changing the Game Project
Friday, 07 April 2023
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
#318 Ken O’Keefe, NFL and NCAA Football Coach: “The Great Ones Are Immune to Excuse-itis, and the Only Cure is Accountability!”
Thursday, 30 March 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
#317 Nate Boyer, NFL and University of Texas Football Player, Green Beret, and Renaissance Man on Transitions, Colin Kaepernick, and His Incredible Journey in Football and Life
Thursday, 23 March 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
#316 Lauren Fleshman, 5x NCAA and 2x National Champion Runner and Author of NYT Bestseller Good for a Girl, on Women Competing in a Sports System Designed for Males and Her Journey n Professional Running
Thursday, 16 March 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Lauren Fleshman (@laurenfleshman) 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
#315 Hugh McCutcheon, Olympic Gold Medalist Volleyball Coach: “Championship Results Require Championship Behaviors”
Friday, 10 March 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, Volleyball
#314 Ashley Merryman, 2x NYT Bestselling Author on the Science of Winning and Losing, Coaching Men vs Women, Challenge vs Threat Environments, and How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Athletes
Friday, 03 March 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
#313 Some Thoughts on Parent Engagement, Building Trusted Relationships, and Coach/Parent/Athlete Accountability with John O’Sullivan
Monday, 27 February 2023
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
312 Quin Snyder, former Utah Jazz Head Coach, on Mastering the Relationship Game, Building Culture, and Making Players Feel Valued (replay)
Friday, 17 February 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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,
- Published in Basketball, Coaching, Podcast
#311 Zach Brandon, Arizona Diamondbacks of MLB Mental Skills Coordinator, on Fear, the Difference Between Major and Minor Leaguers, and the Need to Stop Romanticizing the ‘Grind’
Friday, 10 February 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
#310 Carol “Hutch” Hutchins, Hall of Fame University of Michigan Softball Coach, on Culture, Having High Standards, Coaching Today’s Athlete, and Title IX After 50 Years
Friday, 03 February 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
#309 James Leath, Mental Performance Coach at EXOS, on Using Improv Games to Build Team Culture and Develop Leaders
Friday, 27 January 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
- Published in Coaching, Motivation, Podcast
#308 Fireside Chat with Stuart Armstrong, Host of The Talent Equation Podcast, on Skill Acquisition, Over the Top Parents, and Protecting the Rights of the Children in Sports
Friday, 20 January 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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 thrown in. He has been traveling the US speaking at the United
Is FOMO Ruining Youth Sports?
Tuesday, 17 January 2023
(Yesterday I had the opportunity to present to a group of orthopedics, physical therapists, athletic trainers and coaches on FOMO: Fear of Missing Out, and why I think it is driving early specialization, burnout and dropout for our young athletes. I figured it was a good excuse to share an old blog of ours on
- Published in Coaching, Mindset, Parenting, Problems in Youth Sports
#307 How Adults Ruin Youth Sports, and How We Can Fix it
Friday, 13 January 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
- Published in Parenting, Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
#306 Vince Ganzberg, United Soccer Coaches Director of Coach Education: “The Novice Coach Wants Recipes; the Master Coach Wants to Understand People”
Friday, 06 January 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
How Adults Take the Joy Out of Sports (And How We Can Fix It)
Tuesday, 03 January 2023
We have all seen it. I was recently watching a 12-year-old boys soccer game, and I saw it again. Like a deer in the headlights, the left defender on the blue team was seemingly stranded on the field and unsure where to go or what to do. He turned to one sideline, where his coach
- Published in Coaching, Long Term Athlete Development, Problems in Youth Sports
#305 Ashton Eaton, 2x Olympic Gold Medalist in Decathlon on his Multi-Sport Childhood, His Best Coaches, and What Drove his Success (Replay)
Friday, 30 December 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast 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
304 Tim Kight: Leaders Create Culture. Culture Drives Behavior. Behavior Produces Results (replay)
Friday, 23 December 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Leadership Expert Tim Kight (@Focus3team), and you are going to want to take some notes. Tim founded Focus 3 in the mid-80’s in Southern California, a life-long student of elite performance with the
- Published in Leadership, Podcast, Team Culture
#303 Kim Barnes Arico, University of Michigan Women’s Basketball Coach, on Charting a Unique Coaching Path, Building Programs, And Adapting Your Style to the Players You Have
Friday, 16 December 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Kim Barnes Arico finished her 10th season as the head coach of the University of Michigan Women’s basketball team in 2021-22, leading the Maize and Blue to 25 wins and the first NCAA Elite Eight appearance in program history. Throughout her 10-year tenure,
- Published in Basketball, Coaching, Podcast
How Labeling Young Athletes ‘Talented’ Limits Athletic Achievement (And Why We Should Ignore It)
Tuesday, 13 December 2022
The word “talent” gets thrown around quite often in youth sports circles, but what exactly does it mean? And do we really know what talent looks like, what its components are, how to properly develop it, and how labeling kids talented at a young age can actually limit their achievement? These are the questions we
- Published in Talent Development
302 Dr. Joe Baker on Talent, Why We Should Ignore it, How it Limits Athletic Achievement, and Why We Must Stop Labeling Young Athletes Talented
Friday, 09 December 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Dr. Joe Baker (@bakerjyorku) is Professor and 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, developing sport expertise, relative age effect, and
- Published in Podcast, Relative Age Effect, Talent Development
Our 2022 Books of the Year: And the Winner is DO HARD THINGS by Steve Magness
Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Every year for 10 years we have released our favorite books of the year, and this year we had an amazing assortment of books that crossed our path. We are so blessed that all of these authors also took the time to join us on the Way of Champions Podcast so you can listen to
- Published in Book reviews
#301 In Memory of Dr. Greg Dale: A Replay of Our Podcast from 2020 “Stop Catastrophizing Failure”
Friday, 02 December 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast It is with a heavy heart that we replay this podcast this week, as we lost a truly great family man, leader, and mentor in the space of coaching, leadership and human development, Dr. Greg Dale. He was only 60 years old and
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, psychology
#300 John Kessel Returns: “If You Coach the Person, the Skill Will Develop; if you Coach the Skill, the Person May Not.”
Friday, 25 November 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Thank you for helping us reach 300 episodes of the podcast! To celebrate we will go to one of our earliest guests, and great friend of our work John Kessel. John recently retired from USA Volleyball (USAV), where he had worked since 1985,
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, Volleyball
299 Bill Eckstrom, author of The Coaching Effect: “The only way athletes will improve is if the team has a coach who improves.”
Friday, 18 November 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Bill Eckstrom (@ecsellsports) is the CEO and founder of Ecsell Institute, the parent company of Ecsell Sports, Ecsell Business and Ecsell Education. Bill’s robust professional career path has encompassed sales, sales leadership, executive leadership with private and publicly traded companies, and as a
- Published in Coaching, Leadership, Podcast