This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Nick Winkelman, head of athletic performance & science for the Irish Rugby Football Union. He is also the author of The Language of Coaching , a book that focuses on the impact that communication has on an individual's ability to learn and perform a movement. We discuss how Nick got into movement skill development, how we can assess if out athletes are learning, and we div deep into the idea of "queuing" athletes as coaches. Nick's primar...
May 31, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 170
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Bill Kerig, founder and CEO of GreatCoach.com . Bill Kerig was a collegiate ice hockey player as well as a professional skier. In addition to Great Coach, he founded the sports fundraising platform RallyMe and was the COO of the extreme sports portal LevelRed as well as the medical informatics platform HealthRight. He has produced network television at two Olympics and commentated the ESPN X Games. He has written, produced and directed featur...
May 28, 2020•54 min•Ep. 169
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Dr Neeru Jayanthi, Emory Sports Medicine & Tennis Medicine physician specializing in research on safety and risks of young athletes. You may recognize his name. We have mentioned him in blogs and podcasts, and his work is cited all over the youth sports world. We discuss how his young athlete patients are feeling much better since being able to take a long break from sports, why "multi-movement" is important to a child's physical developm...
May 24, 2020•57 min•Ep. 168
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Joe Ehrmann, Jody Redman, Nate Baldwin and Bev Smith for an incredible cup of virtual coffee as we dive into what the purpose of youth sports is and what we should do when sports start back up. We discuss how the pandemic will change the demand of Youth Sports, how program directors can layer in character development curriculum, and how to create a trickle down effect so that youth coaches create athletes that want to keep coming back. Read b...
May 17, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 167
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Alan Keane and Mark Bennett, both previous guests on our podcast. We dive into the purpose of coaching, how to be a "deficit detector", and the behaviors a coach needs to help their players become problem solvers. If you have listened to episodes #31 , #76 , or #90 , then you know you are in for a treat! Alan Keane is the Great Britain and England U20 Head Men's Basketball Coach. Alan has been involved with professional and international bask...
May 10, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 166
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Tara Vanderveer, Head Coach of the Stanford Women's Basketball team. Coach Vanderveer is a 2-Time national champion coach, has been to 12 Final Fours, coached the 1996 US National Team at 1996 Olympics, and has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year 10 times! She is also one of only nine NCAA Women's Basketball coaches to win over 900 games, and one of ten NCAA Division I coaches – men's or women's – to win 1,000 games. Coach Vanderveer was indu...
May 03, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 165
Apr 26, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 164
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome George Mumford, author of The Mindful Athlete and Mindfulness & Elite Performance Expert. We dive into why sports are so important in teaching life-lessons, how to get buy-in from players, and the most important lesson to teach athletes for peak-performance. 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 L...
Apr 19, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 163
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Chris Armas, New York Red Bulls Head Coach, and former professional soccer player. Armas made 66 appearances with the US National Team, and was US Soccer's Player of the Year in 2000. He was names to 6 MLS All Star games and five times was named MLS Best XI. He won the 1998 MLS Championship and 4 US Open Cups with the Chicago Fire. John and Chris have known each other over 40 years, so this conversation is an invitation to sit in on a dinner ...
Apr 12, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 162
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Dr. Meeta Singh, a sleep medicine doctor from the Henry Ford Sleep Disorder Center. Dr. Singh specializes in a variety of Sleep Disorders with a focus in Insomnia, Obstructive and Central Sleep Apnea, and Sports Medicine. Sleep is perhaps the most important component to peak performance, yet many organizations to not prioritize a solid night's rest. We dive into all-things-sleep, including why sleep matters for elite performance, how much slee...
Apr 05, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 161
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Esfandiar "Esse" Baharmast, a former referee, player, coach and current instructor who has been involved in more than a dozen World Cup tournaments and Olympic Games, and was named the 2020 winner of U.S. Soccer's prestigious Werner Fricker Builder Award. We dive into how great referees prepare for a match, advice on how to clm down an intense in-game situation, and Ease retells the story of 1998 Mens World Cup in France about when he made a v...
Mar 29, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 160
John O'Sullivan and James Leath get together and do a free webinar about how to support your kids and your athletes during these uncertain times. First, John shares practical advice about what you should do to help kids cope with what is going on, including defining success, being careful not to rupture any relationships, and do whatever you can to build a sense of purpose and responsibility. Then, James shares from a previous webinar about how to create a virtual practice session with your athl...
Mar 22, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 159
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome NBA Head Coach of the Utah Jazz, Quin Snyder. We discuss Coach Quin's journey of going from a player to a coach and how coaching overseas overseas helped him create his coaching philosophy. Coach Snyder is not like a lot of coaches, in that he is a super deep thinker, pulling from his his experience getting a degree in philosophy and completing a law degree. Coach Quin my also be the only NBA coach with an MBA. Join John, Jerry, and Coach Snyd...
Mar 15, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 158
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Martin Rooney, author and trainer for the NFL, MMA, Special Forces Trainer…and high school kids! Martin doesn't just talk the talk, but he is in the trenches daily training people to perform at their peak level. There is so much goodness in this episode! Martin has been educating coaches at conferences for over a decade and is not shy about sharing what he has learned. We talk about how a coach can increase performance by focusing on the posit...
Mar 08, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 157
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Dr. Tiffany (Tiff) Jones, a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) who is on the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) Sport Psychology Registry. With over 15 years of consulting experience, Dr. Tiff is the Founder of X-Factor Performance Consulting, specializing in mental skills training for athletes, teams, coaches, and corporations who are interested in reaching their excellence. Dr. Jones shares many great tips on ...
Mar 01, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 156
This week, John will be reading a chapter from his new book Every Moment Matters on "How to Coach Your Own Child." It is estimated that over 80% of coaches at one time or another coach their own child, yet this unique dynamic is never discussed in coaching education classes, and rarely mentioned by Park and Recreation and Coachign Directors when they send their army of volunteer parents out to coach every season. Yet understanding the dynamic, and some essential do's and don't, can be critical t...
Feb 23, 2020•55 min•Ep. 155
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome, Lani Silversides. Lani is a former Division I athlete, current high school mathematics teacher, high school varsity and youth coach, sport psychology enthusiast, avid photographer and mother of two. We dive into transitioning from high school to college sports, the importance of understanding sport psychology as a coach, tips on coaching female athletes, and we also spend some time talking about her book, A Strong Girls' Guide to Being: Exerc...
Feb 16, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 154
This week we welcome Phil Costa, former NFL Player for the Dallas Cowboys. We dive into a question every athlete must eventually face when they come to the end of their plying career: "What now?" Phil shares his experience trying to remake himself after football is over, we discuss how sports prepares athletes for life, when the best time for an athlete to network is, and w also spend some time talking about his great book, The Transition Playbook for ATHLETES: How Elite Athletes WIN After Sport...
Feb 09, 2020•48 min•Ep. 153
This week we welcome back to the podcast Sport Psychologist Tom Bates. Tom has over 15 years working with youth and senior domestic international athletes, coaches, managers and teams helping them to perform under pressure and be at their best when it matters the most. We discuss implementing sport psychology into daily practice, how to bring values to life on your team, and three questions every team needs to address when trying to improve the culture. We also spend some time talking about his ...
Feb 02, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 152
If you have not yet watched In Search of Greatness , you will want to after this incredible discussion with the movie's director Gabe Polsky. We dive deep into his time with some of the greatest athletes of our time, including Wayne Gretzky, Pelé, & Jerry Rice. The film also features Muhammad Ali, Einstein, David Bowie, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan among others. During our conversation, Gabe shares his insights about the film and his own observations about the status of youth sports and t...
Jan 28, 2020•59 min
In 2019, Kevin Kirk was voted PGA Coach of the Year. Kevin Kirk is one of the top golf coaches in the world. He is a deep thinker, culture creator, and ll-around great guy. We talk bout how to incorporate mental training to golfers, talking with parents, preparing for the national stage as an athlete…you do not want to miss this one! Highlights from the Podcast: Kevin talks about the idea of "Kaizen" and how it effects his coaching How important is it for a coach to know the story of each of the...
Jan 26, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 151
How do you get buy-in from athletes? Why is it important to not try and fit players into a system? How can being a creative thinker make you a better coach? Join us as we answer these questions and much more of Gary Gait, considered by many as the greatest lacrosse player of all-time. Gary is currently the head coach of the women's lacrosse team at Syracuse University. Gary has won championships as a collegiate and professional coach. When Gary was playing, he was a 4-time All-American at Syracu...
Jan 19, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 150
We are super excited to have USMNT Legend and current SD Loyal Head Coach Landon Donovan on the podcast, joined by his assistant coach Carrie Taylor. Many of you know Donovan, the all time leading scorer for US Soccer, 6x MLS Champion, and the namesake of the Major League Soccer MVP award. Taylor is the only woman currently coaching professional soccer in the US, and is highly experienced on all levels of the game. In this great podcast, we cover a variety of topics. Highlights from the Podcast:...
Jan 12, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 149
From the football field, to the stage, to becoming a best-selling, author Bo Eason joins us on the Way of Champions Podcast to discuss peaking in youth sports, competing against difficult opponents, and the mentality it takes to be the best in the world. Highlights from the Podcast: Bo shares a defining moment in his life when he was told he was too small to play football Why most people are lousy at selecting future talent in young athletes Why don't most high school stars go on to be professio...
Jan 05, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 148
If the shoe fits, performance improves! That is the message our guest this week is so passionate about sharing. Dr. Bob Weil is a sports Podiatrist & host of "The Sports Doctor", bbsradio.com/thesportsdoctor , a live weekly hour show featuring guests from all aspects of sports medicine, fitness & Wellness. We discuss Highlights from the Podcast: How does the way a shoe fits improve performance? What three things does Dr. Bob recommend when it comes to shoes? Chose the shoe that is design...
Dec 29, 2019•48 min•Ep. 147
Dr. Jay Martin, Head Men's Soccer Coach for Ohio Wesleyan for the past 42 years is the winningest coach in college men's soccer history. We talk with Coach Martin about the importance of making practice fun, how kids have changed in the past 43 years of coaching, and how to use player ideas to improv practice. Highlights from the Podcast: What brings Coach Martin back coaching after 4-+ years and two national championships? How have things changed in collegiate sports over the past 40+ years? Th...
Dec 22, 2019•50 min•Ep. 146
What is it like to be be competing to be the best in the world at your sport? In this week's episode, we talk with author and Olympian Annie Vernon about why sport psychology is as important to understand as building physical strength, how to build confidence and stay motivates, and what to do the you or your athlete has Raceday jitters. Highlights from the Podcast: Annie shares how she got into rowing as a child Does coming in second mean failure? How did Annie recover from the results at the 2...
Dec 15, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 145
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome back Amanda Visek, a certified mental performance coach and associate professor at George Washington University. Dr. Visek has contributed to some of the most incredible research out there on youth sports. During our chat, we discuss why fun is looked upon so poorly in youth sport, what are the similarities between coaching boys and girls, and how kids from ages 8 and 18 define fun. Dr. Visek has been a huge inspiration for John's new book, E...
Dec 08, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 144
Dan Abrahams is a sport psychologist who works alongside individuals, teams, coaches and organizations globally. He is known for his passion to de-mystify sport psychology and for creating simple to use performance techniques. Dan is a returning guest to the show ( see episode #003 ) and it was again an incredible conversation. We discuss ways an athlete can establish a mental framework for success, how much of our performance we control, and we have a debate on whether attitude, energy and effo...
Dec 01, 2019•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 143
FA National Women's Coach Developer, Amy Price shares her unique approach to player development as she shares how coaches can use the principles of video game design to engage in their development, setting challenges, designing tasks and encouraging problem-solving. Highlights from the Discussion: How to gain trust of a new team Assessing what a team needs from a coach How does video game design mirror great practice strategies Can we create a 'flow-zone" for multiple players at one time? How ca...
Nov 24, 2019•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 142
