Elite Development Podcast

This week I have the pleasure of talking with Dan Donohue on the podcast.  Dan is a Strength & Conditioning coach with the Cincinnati Reds organization. We cover a lot of important topics in this interview.  In the beginning, we talk about the difference between the different levels in the sport of baseball. For those high school athletes looking to step into higher levels, Dan gives some grea...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Bryan Moody onto the podcast. Bryan is a former Olympic Badminton player, representing Canada at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney and the Commonwealth games in 1998. He is now a coach with the Glencoe Club here in Calgary.  We had a great conversation about athlete development.  Whether it is learning how to succeed being on your own at an early age, learni...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Brett Bech on the podcast.  Brett is a former football player spending time with LSU, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints in the NFL.  He also spent a decade as the Strength & Conditioning coach for the Dallas Cowboys. We get some great insight into Brett's career as a player and the overall importance of work ethic and a proper support ne...

This week I have Leland Mack on the podcast. Leland is a scout with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL as well as a coach with BWC Academy in BC.   We start off into an extremely important topic right off the jump.  Developing multi sport athletes from a young age. Understanding from both an athlete and parent perspective how playing multiple sports can really help a kid develop as an overall at...

This week I have the pleasure of talking to 11 year NHL veteran Jarkko Ruutu.  Jarkko played with the Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks over his NHL career. I really enjoyed Jarkko's story as he was a terrific example of how work ethic and perseverance can create a successful athletic career.  He was not the top guy in Finland growing up, he was not a t...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Terell Phillips onto the podcast.  Terell is a former defensive lineman with Tennessee State University and is currently the Outside Linebacker coach with Franklin Road Academy in Nashville.  Terell and I go through his own career as a player and some of his biggest takeaways.  My favourite takeaway from his college career as a player was to go in with an...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing CFL Legend Anthony Calvillo onto the podcast.  For those who may not know, Anthony is a CFL Hall of Fame Quarterback, Grey Cup Champion and the all-time pro football passing yards leader.  For someone who has had such an incredible career, I was extremely interested in this interview to hear Anthony's stories of as he put it "hitting rock bottom&...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Aaron Rhodes onto the podcast.  Aaron is the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the MLB's St Louis Cardinals. The title of this episode comes out almost immediately in the interview. The reason I chose it is because this is some great advice Aaron gives for anyone out there to take away.  If you are focusing on pursuing a career in sport of any kin...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Jeff Lovecchio on the podcast.  Jeff is the owner of RIPT Hockey Training and host of the extremely popular Hockey Think Tank Podcast. Throughout this interview Jeff makes so many important points for young athletes to take away.  However I think the best way to sum these points up is right in the title.  The little details amount to massive changes. If yo...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Jared Saavedra on the podcast. Jared is the owner of Athlete Ready Albuquerque, Athlete Ready Global, Saavedra properties, and many other new ventures. Learning more about Jared's career in Strength & Conditioning was a pleasure.  We cover the development of his gym Athlete Ready, the difference between elite athletes in competition & elite at...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Carlotta Edwards onto the show. Carlotta is a professional figure skater from small town BC.  Growing up in a town with no ice rink, she spent her childhood practicing skating moves on rollerblades and in her living room.  This is a prime example of an athlete building a career based off of the pure love of the sport. One of my biggest takeaways from talki...

This week on the podcast I have the pleasure of bringing on Brett Bartholomew. Brett is the owner and founder of The Art Of Coaching, the host of The Art Of Coaching Podcast, the author of Conscious Coaching, and a Strength & Conditioning Coach that has worked with athletes across all kinds of different sports & levels. Brett does a great job of breaking down the evolution of the strength...

This week I have the pleasure of bringing Allistair McCaw onto the show. I have been personally following Allistairs work for nearly four years at the time of this recording. He does incredible work in the strength and conditioning industry, as well as the leadership and consulting space.  From his early years as an elite tennis player stealing information from coaches to help himself develop, to...

This week I have Belleville Senators Strength & Conditioning Coach Jeremy Benoit on the show. Jeremy and I discuss the day to day role of strength and conditioning in professional hockey, the importance of collaboration with the rest of the staff, as well as the importance of evolution in both training practices and athletes in their careers.  Jeremy and I also dig deep into the development of...

In today's episode of The Elite Development Podcast I have my good friend Antonio Squillante. This episode has some GOLD for coaches.  We often see in the strength and conditioning industry people getting fancy.  Trying to look cool or "different" or come up with new methods.  Antonio, an internationally recognized Strength & Conditioning Coach breaks down exactly what you need...

This week on the show I have international hockey coach Francois Landreville. When we talked about what creates a great athlete, Francois' answer was simple.  What are you doing when nobody else is around? It is easy to convince yourself you're doing enough if you are showing up to practice & training.  However, when there is nobody there watching you, do you put in the same effort?...

This week on the show I have CFL standout Chris Ackie. Chris is a linebacker with the Toronto Argonauts and a 2015 first round draft pick. We talk about his career growing up in football from the youth leagues in Cambridge Ontario through to Laurier University into the pros for the past five seasons. We also spoke about the importance of being a multi sport athlete growing up and how the coordinat...

On the podcast this week I have the head coach of the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL Jim Hulton.  Jim has over 20 years of experience coaching hockey all over the world including 3 years with the Florida Panthers in the NHL. In our interview we talk about an ideal roadmap for young kids trying to turn professional in sport. Every athlete will take a different path, but some of the fundamenta...

In this episode I have Kamloops Blazers & Ex Ottawa Senators coach Cory Clouston. Cory and I discuss the importance of developing an entire skillset as an athlete. Don't simply be "the goal scorer" "the playmaker" or whatever else it might be.  Be a player that coaches can put ANYWHERE in their line up. As well as developing the entire skillset, one of the MOST importa...

In this episode I have Big Dave Niethe on the show. Dave is a mental performance coach from New Zealand who has been a large part of pioneering the Mental Performance industry.  We all deal with adversity in different areas of our careers. Whether it be peers not believing in our goals, facing defeat in high level competition, being put down, or any other difficulty you face, Dave does a great job...

In this episode I have the pleasure of bringing on Brandon Harris. Brandon is the owner of Premier Fitness Systems in Scottsdale Arizona.  He is also the strength & conditioning coach for rising UFC Superstar 'Suga' Sean O'Malley. We really hit on some new and interesting points in this interview.  Brandon breaks down fundamental awareness & how it affects us in life as a wh...

In this episode I have Spiros Anastas on the podcast. Spiros is the head coach for the Brampton Beast of the ECHL. Going from a playing career where his goal was simply to add value to the team in whatever way he could, his transition to coaching was seamless. One of the first takeaways I believe we can all take from Spiros is his passion for the game of hockey and love of coaching.  Turning down...

For the first time this week I have the pleasure of bringing one of my own athletes onto the podcast for the first time.  Calgary based professional boxer Jordan 'The Truth' McNaughton discusses his path through the boxing world.  From his younger days as an amateur through unfortunate circumstances surrounding the Olympic Trials to starting his pro career, to dealing with the global COV...

In this episode I speak with American Top Team & Boca Boxing District Coach Dyah Davis.  Dyah talks about his own unusual path to professional boxing, the ups and downs of that career and how it led to the coaching world.  Going from starting in the boxing world at 23 years old to becoming one of the premiere boxing coaches in the world this is a great story of success as both an athlete and a...

In this episode I am thrilled to bring my good friend Steve McCollum on the show to talk about his journey.  From humble beginnings Steve found a potential opportunity to get a scholarship to Bishop's University for football. Understanding this could be his opportunity for further education he did the one thing he knew how to do and worked his ass off to get a full ride to University.  Since...