Game Changers: Incredible Stories of Resilience in Sports

My guest this week is Missy Traversi —an accomplished basketball player and an even more accomplished coach and leader. From a multi-sport standout at Bishop Feehan in MA to a 1,000-point scorer and three-time America East champion at the University of Maine, Missy’s playing career took her overseas and even to the WNBA’s Chicago Sky training camp. As a coach, she’s left her mark at every level—fr...

Luzdali Ocasio’s (also know as La) journey is a powerful testament to resilience, sacrifice, and the strength of the human spirit. From a young age, she poured her heart into the game of basketball, sacrificing time, comfort, and countless hours of work to chase her dream of becoming a college athlete. That dream brought her to the University of New Haven, but her career didn’t unfold the way she...

It’s always a privilege to sit down with Olympians and Paralympians—but this week’s guest takes resilience and versatility to a whole new level. Meet Jack Wallace: two-time Paralympic gold medalist, world-class sled hockey player, and sprint kayaker with Team USA. On the ice, Jack is a powerhouse. At the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, he was named Best Defenseman —a title that speaks to bot...

Roberta (Bobbi) Moran has a remarkable and multifaceted journey in sports—as an athlete, coach, parent of athletes, administrator, breast cancer survivor and inspirational leader. She is the Athletic Director at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts, and one of the few women serving in that role within the New England Prep School Athletic Conference. Before joining Thayer, Bobbi was the Athle...

Today’s guest is one of the most influential voices in the world of sports leadership and team culture: Jeff Janssen . Jeff is the founder of the Janssen Sports Leadership Center and a pioneer in the field of sports psychology and leadership development. For more than two decades, he’s worked with over 3,000 coaches and 30 national championship programs, including legendary teams at North Carolina...

Today’s episode features the incredible Brooklyn McDougall — a true force of nature on the ice and a visionary with a paintbrush. Brooklyn is a Team Canada long-track speed skater, a 2022 Olympian, 2021 Canadian Champion in the 500m, and a 2023 World Champion in the Women’s Team Sprint. Her rise has been nothing short of remarkable — after switching from AAA hockey to speed skating at 15, she was...

This season kicks off a little differently—because I’m in the guest chair. I’ll be joined by psychologist, sports parent, former college athlete and lifelong sports fan Dr. Martha Glisky, who turns the tables and interviews me about the biggest highlights from Season Two.  We will revisit some of the most powerful moments and inspiring conversations with my amazing guests—athletes, coaches, and le...

 Welcome to the Season Two Finale of the Game Changers podcast — I can’t think of a better person to help me wrap this season than Bryson Williams.   Back in high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, Bryson was a standout athlete. A 3-star football recruit by 24-7 Sports and ESPN, First Team All-State his junior and senior year, a Class A state champ in shot put, a varsity basketball player, and a finalis...

I'm thrilled to welcome Linda Flanagan to the show — a powerful voice in the conversation about what's really happening in youth and college sports. Linda is a freelance journalist, a former cross-country and track coach, and the author of the eye-opening book "Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports—and Why It Matters."  She is also collaborating on a...

This episode guest is UK boxer and former cruiserweight boxing world champion Chris Billam-Smith .  Chris’ professional boxing record is 21 wins and 2 losses, with 13 wins by knockout. He won his last fight on April 26th against Brandon Glanton. At regional level, he held the European, British, and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles between 2019 and 2022. Known as "The Gentleman" in the r...

Byron Jackson is a dynamic force in both sports and media. The brother of former NFL (Philadelphia Eagles) star DeSean Jackson, Byron has built a remarkable career of his own—as a former football player at Fresno State and then Kansas City Chiefs and now an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and founder of Sports Rhythms, a skill development company empowering student-athletes, parents, and coac...

I love to talk to Olympians and this week I have a Gold Medalist on but like all of my guests, his story is windy and full of ups and downs.  You are going to love this one.  Steve Mesler is an exceptional athlete, an Olympian, a coach, a father, a husband, a mentor and also the co-founder, and CEO of the international award-winning non-profit Classroom Champions. Steve grew up in Buffalo where he...

Coach Alex Popp is a high school basketball coach at The Winchendon School in Massachusetts. Popp brings an impressive track record of talent development and a wealth of experience in coaching at various collegiate and prep levels. He holds a Master’s degree from Springfield College and a Bachelor’s degree from Assumption University. Popp most recently served as the Head Coach of the Academic Post...

In the Fall of 2023 the Yeshiva University’s men’s basketball team was riding high.  They were on a 50 game winning streak and were going after the NCAA Division 3 National Title.  They had a lot of talented players including 6 Israelis.  Then the attack on Isarael on October 7th changed everything.  The team had to make a choice about cancelling their season or to keep playing.  They chose to pla...

Robert Steinfeld is a renowned sports television producer and author with a career spanning over four decades. He has earned 10 Sports Emmy Awards and produced major sporting events including MLB, NBA, WNBA, NCAA championships, and 3 Summer Olympics. He’s produced and or directed for ESPN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox Sports networks, Bally Sports, the NBA and more.  He is the Executive Producer of the WNBA...

Caelan "CJ" Jones was a standout basketball player at Vermont Academy before spending three years at Boston University, where he earned a degree in film and television. He later transferred to Claremont McKenna College, where he's now pursuing his Master’s in Business while continuing his basketball career.  His journey is one I hear often—chasing the Division I dream at all costs,...

You all know how much I love a great comeback story, and today’s guest brings us an incredible one. I’m thrilled to welcome Sarah Meister to the show to share how her college volleyball team at University of Missouri transformed their culture by committing to a true team-first mentality and going from 19 and 12 in 2012 to a perfect undefeated season of 34 and 0!  Sarah was a standout libero and he...

I'm thrilled to have Jamal Allen, also known as "Sauce" on the show this week. Sauce made a name for himself as a standout college basketball player at New England College. In high school, he was a two-time Dual County League All-Star and a Metrowest Daily News All-Star during his senior year. He ranked among the top 10 scorers in Massachusetts and once scored an impressive 42 point...

Record-breaking swimmer Becca Mann was a young swimming prodigy. A two-time USA National champion, she was the youngest person ever to place in the Top 10 in four events at a single Olympic Trials and represented Team USA at four World Championships. But after years of sacrifice, relentless drive, and coming heartbreakingly close to Olympic glory—three times—Becca’s dreams came crashing down. But...

This week I'm talking to Maurice (Moe) Taylor, Jr.  Moe’s basketball journey is nothing short of inspiring as there were many ups and downs as he chased his dream of playing professionally —first he played at Cambridge, Rindge and Latin and then he transferred to Beaver Country Day where his team won a NEPSAC Class B Championship.  After graduation he went to North Carolina A&T, Western T...

This week I have Sunny Choi on the show.  Sunny, known in the breaking world as "B-Girl Sunny," is a prominent member of Team USA’s Olympic breaking team. She competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, marking the historic debut of breakdancing as an Olympic sport. Originally from Tennessee, Sunny discovered breaking during her freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania.   Sunny won the f...

This week is an exciting episode with an incredible storyteller and a passionate advocate for athletes worldwide! Today on the Game Changers podcast, I’m thrilled to welcome Kevin Owens. Kevin’s basketball journey is nothing short of extraordinary – he’s got some of the wildest and most entertaining stories from his career. He played college basketball at Monmouth University before taking his tale...

This week's guest embodies everything that the Game Changers podcast is all about: resilience. Kelsey O'Connor was a Division 1 softball player at North Carolina State when a traumatic brain injury during practice abruptly ended her athletic career. Faced with an unpredictable and challenging recovery, Kelsey refused to give up. She fought her way through and her story of grit and determ...

Today we are continuing our amazing story of Noelle Lambert and her coach Carly O’Connell.  This week we will focus on Carly’s side of their incredible story. Coach Carly O'Connell was a standout Div. 1 Lacrosse player at University of Oregon, starting all four years and earning First Team Conference honors twice. She holds multiple records at Oregon including: career draw controls per game (...

Today is a very special and unique episode of the Game Changer’s podcast because we are bringing together two separate guests who share one incredible story. Noelle Lambert was an exceptional Division 1 lacrosse player at University of Massachusetts Lowell and Carly O’Connell who was also an exceptional college lacrosse player in her day at University of Oregon was hired to the UMass Lowell lacros...