#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
No Comments
#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
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
#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
#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
#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
#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
#343 Dr. Stephen Norris, World Renowned LTAD Expert: “Kids Love to Compete; Adults Love to Compare” (replay)
Thursday, 21 September 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast In this replay of a brilliant episode from year 2 of the podcast, we welcome Dr. Stephen Norris to the show. Norris was the Director of Sport Physiology & Strategic Planning at the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary for the three Winter Olympic cycles
- Published in Coaching, Long Term Athlete Development, Parenting, Podcast
#342 Kelly Amonte-Hiller, 8x NCAA Champion Coach of Northwestern Women’s Lacrosse: “I Want to Give Back to a Sport That Gave Me Everything”
Friday, 15 September 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Kelly Amonte-Hiller is one of the most decorated athletes and coaches we have had on this podcast. As an athlete she was a 2x NCAA Champion and 2x NCAA player of the year at University of Maryland, as well as an all-world selection
#341 Christina Murillo, Former NWSL and Mexican National Team Player, On Relative Age, Coaching Boys vs Girls, and Promoting Player Safety and Wellness in Youth Sports
Friday, 08 September 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Christina Murillo (@xtinamurillo10) is a former Mexican international soccer player. She earned 29 caps with Mexico and took her senior year off from the University of Michigan to play in the 2015 Women’s World Cup. She later played in the UEFA Champions League
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, Relative Age Effect, Soccer
“Winning’s the Great Deodorant” (But That is Not Always a Good Thing)
Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Legendary NFL coach John Madden was once asked about the importance of winning in professional football. His answer is one of my favorite quotes: “I’ve always said winning’s the great deodorant, and conversely, when you have a bad record, everything stinks, and everything starts to unravel, and everything falls apart.” I love this quote because
- Published in Coaching, High School Sports, Parenting
#340 Brad Stulberg, Bestselling Author, on How to Build Sustainable Excellence, Overcome Target Fixation, and Master Change in Sports and Life
Friday, 01 September 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Brad Stulberg researches, writes, and coaches on health, well-being, and sustainable excellence. His brand new book is called Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing, Including You. He is the bestselling author of The Practice of Groundedness and co-author with past
- Published in Coaching, Mindset, Podcast, psychology
#337 Jenny Levy, 3x NCAA Champion UNC Women’s Lacrosse Coach, on Recruiting and Developing Leaders in Your Program
Friday, 11 August 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Jenny Levy has led UNC Women’s lacrosse to 3 NCAA Championships, 13 NCAA Final Fours and over 400 wins. She has been named NCAA Coach of the year on three occasions, and ACC Coach of the year seven times. She was also the
- Published in lacrosse, Leadership, Podcast
#334 Molly Grisham, College Soccer Coach, Communication Professor and Leadership Consultant: “Power Can Be Taken Away; Influence Cannot”
Friday, 21 July 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Keynote Speaker and Experiential Facilitator, Molly Grisham (@mollygrisham) helps to build and sustain teams in a wide variety of industries. She believes that teams don’t grow apart; they die apart. She knows that elite, high-performing teams in all industries get stretched and stressed
- Published in Coaching, Leadership, Podcast
#333 Drewe Broughton, Former Professional Soccer Player and Founder of “The Fear Coach” on Ego, Fear, Coaching, and Finding Your True Self
Friday, 14 July 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Drewe Broughton is a former professional soccer player in the UK, with over 500 appearances over a 17 year career and over 100 goal scored. After retirement he divorced, struggled with addiction, entered rehabilitation, and has since embarked on a career to help
- Published in Coaching, Podcast, psychology
#332 Dr Jerry Lynch and John O’Sullivan On Being a Mindful Coach and Leading with Intention, Influence, Inspiration, Instinct and Insight
Friday, 07 July 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast This week on the podcast, John and Jerry break down Jerry’s newest book, The Mindful Coach: Leading with Intention, Instinct, Influence, Inspiration and Insight. The book is a wonderful read with short lessons around incredibly critical components of mindful leadership, We pay special attention
#331 Dave Dickerson, USC Upstate Mens Basketball Coach, on Creating a Transformational Environment, and Turning Tragedy into Triumph
Friday, 30 June 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Dave Dickerson is the head men’s basketball coach at the University of South Carolina-Upstate. A former player at the University of Maryland, he has been an assistant coach at numerous schools including Maryland, Ohio State, Tulane and others. His teams have won an
- Published in Basketball, Coaching, Podcast
#328 Shayamal Vallabhjee, Sport Scientist and Performance Psychology Consultant, on Balance, Fear, and Coaching the Human Behind the Athlete
Friday, 09 June 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast Shayamal Vallabhjee is a sport scientist with a masters in psychology and a world renowned mental and strength trainers He was strength and conditioning coach with South African Davis Cup team from 2006-2008, and has worked in cricket, and multiple other sports. He
- Published in Mindset, Motivation, Podcast, psychology