What It Takes

What does it really take to build championship players? In this episode of What It Takes , Paul Reddick and Coach Marla Townsend sit down with one of the most respected coaches in softball, Shonda Stanton , head coach of the AUSL Chicago team and former longtime head coach at Indiana and Marshall. Coach Stanton shares the habits, mindset, and leadership principles that have shaped her career and t...

In this episode of What It Takes , Paul Reddick and Coach Marla Townsend sit down with Jessica Mendoza, Olympic gold medalist, Stanford All-American, ESPN MLB analyst, and one of the most important voices in softball. Jessica talks about the growth of professional softball, the pressure young athletes face today, what nerves really mean, the difference between winning gold and receiving silver, th...

In this powerful conversation, Coach Marla Townsend and Paul Reddick sit down with one of the most respected voices in softball, Coach Morgan Stuart. Morgan shares her journey from late-start softball player to national champion at the University of Washington, and opens up about the mental struggles that followed one of the biggest successes of her career. After winning a national title, she foun...

https://marlatownsend.com 0:00 — Welcome to the What It Takes Podcast 0:42 — Dream, Determination & Drive: the three pillars 1:47 — How to know if your dream is real (or just wishful thinking) 3:22 — Why a coach's belief in you is worth more than your own inner voice 6:11 — "A coach writes on a player in permanent marker" — Jessica Mendoza 7:28 — The coaching integrity story: what players reme...