Way Of Champions Podcast

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Austin Hatch, a two-time plane crash survivor and inspirational speaker. Hatch’s story is nothing short of Miraculous.    On Labor Day of 2003, Hatch and his family were flying home from their vacation home in northern Michigan. As they were preparing to land, the aircraft crashed and burst into flames. Hatch’s dad threw him out of the plane, saving his life and went back into the flames to get his mother, sister and brother, but tragically, was unable to. His mother, sister and brother did not survive. Years later, Hatch was offered a scholarship to play basketball for Michigan.    Nine days later, on June 24th, 2011, Hatch's father and “second mother” were involved in a plane crash and both died on impact. Hatch suffered severe injuries and nearly lost his life. After being in a coma for two months, he had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat and basically how to live his life, once he woke up. With the help of many, many people and against the odds, Hatc

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 primary role with the Irish Rugby Football Union is to oversee the delivery and development of strength & conditioning and sports science across all national (Men and Women) and provincial teams (Leinster, Munster, Connacht, and Ulster). Before working for Irish Rugby, Nick was the director of education and training systems for EXOS (formerly Athletes' Performance), located in Phoenix, AZ. As the director of education, Nick oversaw the development and execution of all internal and external educational initiatives. As a

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 feature films and documentaries and written three books. He currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he coaches multiple ice hockey teams every season.   You can find him on Twitter @billkerig or email him at bill.kerig@greatcoach.com   Highlights from the Podcast: How Bill originally built the platform of “RallyMe” to raise money for sports participation Bill shares a pivotal moment for him at a young student-athlete’s funeral Have you ever googled your kid’s coach? How to message an athlete and be in complian

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 development, and how we can keep our kids healthy.    You can find him on Twitter @neerujayanthi or email him at neerujayanthi@gmail.com   Highlights from the Podcast: Why are kids healing faster now than before? Are there some kids that should play a single sport all year long? What is the difference between multi-sport and multi-movement? How important is specialized sampling in a young athletes life? Every child is build differently, play accordingly  How does physical load level effect a child’s injury rate?

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 below for the bios of our fantastic panel:  Jody Redman is a nationally recognized facilitator and speaker. She is a former collegiate basketball player and has served as a teacher, coach, Athletic Director, Administrator at both the high school and collegiate levels.  Jody carries a dual portfolio as Associate Director for the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and co-founder of the InSideOut Initiative. Jody oversees Minnesota’s education program for 500 member high schools that includes a professional deve

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 basketball for the past ten years, as both the England U16 and U18 Head Coach for the European Championships, as well as assistant coach for the Reading Rockets Senior team.   Mark Bennett MBE is a former British Commando and senior instructor within the Army Physical Training Corps that has transformed his nearly 30 years of practice and research into developing the Performance Development Systems (PDS); a robust set of principles that can facilitate world class learning and performance cultures and environments. During

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 inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. In this episode,Coach Vanderveer shares what it is like to coach during a pandemic, why she thinks it is important to look at every one of her players as someone’s daughter, and what she learned by becoming a student of the piano at 40.   You can connect with Coach Vanderveer on Twitter here and Stanford Women's Basketball here.   Highlights from the Podcast: What is it like to not coach players during this time (COVID-19) How have the players and the environme

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 Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks, to senior global executives and systems. You can connect with George on Twitter or on his website at georgemumford.com. Be sure to check out his great book, The Mindful Athlete or even take his course.     Be sure to listen to the end for a special offer!!!   Highlights from the Podcast: George talks about his transition from athlete to coach  What helped George change his life for the better? Why are sports so important for learning things about life? Wh

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 between two long-time friends as they talk about dealing with major disappointment, developing athletes that can solve problems, and building a strong culture. Chris shares some incredible stories of coming back from injury and what he admires about coaches from his playing days. You will want to make sure you have a notepad and something to write with because this episode is packed with a lot of great stuff!     You can connect with Chris Armas on Twitter.     Here is a great article to learn more about what else Chr

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 sleep does a child need, and why professional sports teams are just now paying attention to the importance of sleep.     You can follow Dr. Meeta Singh on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.      Highlights from the Podcast: What got Dr. Singh get into studying sleep? Why does sleep matter, especially for athletes? How does being sleep deprived effect the rate of injury in athletes? What is the difference between REM and non-REM sleep? How does a student-athlete benefit from sleeping longer? Does being sleep-dep

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 very controversial call in a match with Brazil versus Norway.   Highlights from the Podcast: What does it take to referee at the highest level? How important is physical preparation for a referee? What gives one referee an advantage over another referee? What happens after the match? How does a referee control the safety of a game? How does a referee connect with a player and calm the situation? 1998 Mens World Cup in France…Esse explains the Brazil v Norway penalty call How has VAR changed the game?

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 athletes, from creating a group chat, to choosing a video platform, to organizing the session.      To watch the replay and download the handout, visit https://bit.ly/2J0y4ZO     Here are some other people quoted during the webinar:   “Under the right circumstances, children will develop in optimal ways” – Madeline Levine     "If you’re on a crowded plane and one person is freaking out about turbulence, the panic will eventually peter out. If, on the other hand, six people are freaking out, it’s entirely possible that

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 Snyder as they discuss leadership, building culture, and the power of being vulnerable.  Highlights from the Podcast: How important is relationship in coaching and how did Coach Quin come cross his coaching style? Who  were Coach Snyder's early influences for coaching? When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the coach will win the relationship game. What are the pillars, aka core values of Coach Snyder's coaching philosophy?  What does it mean to be “obviously unselfish”? How have recent tough times

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 positive, where the word “coach” came from, and why the greatest coaches in the world are the ones will will never hear about. We also dive in to his book Coach to Coach: An Empowering Story About How to Be a Great Leader.    Get one, Give one Special: If you order the book, send the receipt and martin@coachinggreatness.com, Martin will send you some special bonus items!     Martin is the founder of Training For Warriors. An internationally recognized trainer, speaker, author and pioneer of strength and conditioning, Martin

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 how to be a better sports parent, why it is important to focus on relationship in coaching, and the number one hurdle athletes need to jump in order be successful.      Highlights from the Podcast: What is the biggest obstacle that holds athletes back? How long does it take to learn a new mental skill? What is mental toughness? What are the best qualities a coach can develop to be better and more influential? How important is relationship in coaching? Why is athlete awareness so important? How can ta

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 to making sure that you have a successful season when coaching your own kids.   After the chapter, John interviews Tara Bilanski, a former NCAA DI women's soccer at the University of Oregon and Portland State. Tara currently lives in Bend and coaches her own 13 year old daughter, and John and Tara discuss some of their own stories from the trenches of coaching their own children.   As an FYI, we do plan to turn Every Moment Matters into an audio book soon, so stay tuned for the full book. We are also exploring whether t

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: Exercises and Inspiration for Becoming a Braver, Kinder, Healthier You Highlights from the Podcast: Lani talks about playing multiple sports growing up What was Lani’s biggest challenge when getting to collegiate athletics? Lani describes her first head coaching position right out of school How important is psychology education in coaching athletes? Why it is okay to perform when you are not feeling your best Lani talks about a life experience that tested her with the mental skills she was teaching Why is th

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 Sports       Highlights from the Podcast: Paul talks about how he came up with his book The Transition Playbook for ATHLETES: How Elite Athletes WIN After Sports How do sports prepare an athlete for life? What happens to a professional athlete when the playing days are over? How did the NFL prepare Paul for life after sports?  When should an athlete start preparing for the transition after sports? What were the differences in struggling between men and women transitioning out of sports?     Phil played for the

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 great book, The Future Coach - Creating Tomorrow's Soccer Players Today: 9 Key Principles for Coaches from Sport Psychology   Highlights from the Podcast: How do we get rid of the stigma of sport psychology? Jerry discusses how Sport Psychology has changed over the past few decades How important is buy-in from all the team stakeholders What three questions does Tom use to help teams create culture? Tom walks us through the most important things to focus on when changing a culture Why and how did Tom part do