Ruling Sports

Esther Vergeer has been called the "most dominant athlete" in history. After suffering three strokes between the ages of six- and eight-years-old, Esther was left paralyzed from the waist down following a surgical accident. Introduced to sport in a rehabilitation facility, Esther fell in love with wheelchair tennis, because it gave her a chance to focus on what she could do, instead of w...

Trischa Zorn-Hudson is the most-decorated Paralympian in the history of the Paralympic Games. Born in California, Trischa’s parents received scary news in her early days. She was born with Aniridia, an absence of the iris in her eyes. At the time, significant stigma surrounded people with disabilities. Trischa’s parents were told that she would need to be institutionalized. That possibility wasn’t...

Steve Delsohn is a Peabody award and EMMY nominated 30-plus year sport journalist, who one day after winning top journalism awards was unexpectedly laid off from ESPN after 16-years on "Outside the Lines." 59 years old and facing unemployment, Steve tells us how he navigated shock and fear to establish not only a new identity, but a successful business--Delsohn Strategies. In this episod...

Steve Astephen is the Founder and CEO of The Familie and co-founder of Unlisted/Brand Lab. Moving from Boston to Vail, CO in the late-1980s, Steve opened the Vail-area's first snowboard shop, despite feedback that the plan would never work. Thus began a nearly 40 year entrepreneurial journey building big consumer facing brands and companies for the likes of Machine Gun Kelly, Travis Pastrana a...

Kaig Lightner is the founder and Executive Director of the Portland Community Football Club. Kaig recognized that the cost of youth sports precludes low-income youth from accessing the benefits of sport. Founded in 2013, the organization dismantles the barriers to competitive athletic training and opportunity, and provides a safe space for all youth to gain skills, confidence, educational and emot...

Amy Perko is the CEO of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Sports, an organization leading the conversation on necessary reforms to strengthen the educational mission of college sports. A former DI women’s basketball player at Wake Forest, Amy tells us how Title IX impacted her life and how she got involved with basketball. A Phi Beta Kappa member who graduated summa cum laude, Amy has great...

Alison Lee is one of the world's best women's professional golfers. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Alison began competing in golf at six-years-old and played NCAA women's golf at UCLA. In this episode which was recorded when Alison was competing in the Aramco Series Individual Event in Florida, Alison discusses her decision to turn pro three semesters into her time at UCLA and the jou...

Bonnie Bernstein is an Emmy Award-winning sport broadcaster and entrepreneur. The founder of Walk Swiftly Productions, Bernstein recently released the Audible Original podcast, " She Got Game: Inspiring Women, Inspired by Sports ." A former NCAA Division I gymnast, Bonnie discusses: The unique possibilities that being told "no" can create; The lesson being an NCAA gymnast taugh...

Ginny Cappicchioni was the first female in North America to sign with a men's professional team, play in a men's professional lacrosse game and compete in a men's national team in any sport. A two-sport NCAA Division I athlete in field hockey and lacrosse, Ginny was recently named the head coach of the first-ever U.S. women's box lacrosse team. The team will compete for the World B...

Jake Olson grew up in Southern California a devoted fan of the USC Trojans football team. At one-year-old, he lost sight in his left eye. Over the next twelve years, he battled cancer in his right eye eight times. After beating it seven times, doctors finally told him there was nothing they could do: he was going to go blind. With six weeks before the required surgery, Jake considered what sights...

Norris Frederick is an NCAA All-American, Team USA athlete and professional long jumper who has built a successful career as an influencer turned entrepreneur. Growing up in Washington, as a child, Norris and his family experienced homelessness. He shares with us the pivotal encounter as an elementary school student that caused him to reevaluate his life and set a new identity for himself. Using t...

Myriam Glez is a two-time synchronized swimming Olympian. She first competed in the 2000 Olympics Games for her home country, France. Born and raised near Lyon, Myriam began synchronized swimming at age six. Despite her success in the Olympic Games, her career for the French team was unexpectedly cut short, leading her to retire from competition in 2002. Thereafter, she finished business school, w...

David Bagga was a walk-on member of the University of Arizona Men's Basketball team from 2005 through 2009. David embraced the opportunity to train alongside some of the greatest basketball players in the nation and under a Hall of Fame Coach. During his time at Arizona, the team made it to the Sweet 16 and enjoyed the second-longest NCAA Tournament streak in college basketball history, making...

Ray Austin is a former NFL player who was drafted by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 1997 Draft. After football, he went on to successful modeling and acting careers. Today he is the co-founder of Fan Controlled Sports, where he is the commissioner of the Fan Controlled Football League. He also is a co-founder of Athlyt, an NIL platform. Ray calls being drafted into the NFL, "a bl...

Misi Simms is a former NCAA men's basketball player who competed at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Washington College. For nearly two decades he has worked in finance for TIAA, where he is presently a portfolio manager. In this role, he helps investors ensure their strategies are correctly balanced to meet their financial goals. In this episode, Misi tells us how playing colle...

Val Ackerman is the current BIG EAST commissioner, the founding president of the WNBA and a past president of USA Basketball. A scholarship women's basketball athlete at the University of Virginia, Val played basketball professionally in France before attending law school. She is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. In this episode, Val discusses what has been critical to her prof...

Lisa Leslie is a two-time world champion, three-time league MVP, four-time Olympic gold medalist, entrepreneur, team owner, head coach and broadcaster. A Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee, Lisa didn't pick up a basketball until the age of 12. Considered "behind" in the sport, she tells listeners how she leaned into that moment and instead of giving into fear, committed herself to...

L. Renee Blount is a Harvard-trained designer, creative strategist, adventurer, storyteller and founder of WNDR Haus, a creative agency. She has appeared on the cover of Outside Magazine and worked with clients including, National Geographic, Patagonia, The North Face, Athleta and more. Through her work, L. seeks to showcase joy and engagement in the outdoors by underrepresented people. In this ep...

Doug Sanders is the founder of Sanders Sports and Entertainment. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Doug grew up around the entertainment industry. In college, he became best friends with Channing Frye, who would be drafted by the New York Knicks in the 2005 NBA Draft. Seeing Channing’s NBA life unfold sparked a reality for Doug that an exciting opportunity existed blending entertainment and...

Darnell Jones is the co-founder and CEO of POWERHANDZ, an athletic training and rehabilitation company. The company’s products are used and endorsed by top professional athletes across multiple sports. In 2022, POWERHANDZ received a multi-million dollar round of funding from Vanguard Holdings Group. In this episode, Darnell explains how competing in college basketball prepared him for entrepreneur...

Bella Rasmussen is a senior at Laguna Beach High School—yes, the same Laguna Beach of reality TV lore—who carries a 4.0 grade point average. But when she’s not excelling in the classroom, she’s succeeding on the football field as a member of the Breakers’ varsity team. In October 2022, Bella made history when she became the first female football player in California history to score not one, but t...

Neeta Sreekanth is the Senior Vice President of Operations for Winners Alliance, the for-profit affiliate of the Professional Tennis Players Association. A sport business veteran whose career began as a ball kid for the Dallas Mavericks, Neeta highlights how being surrounded by people with a champion’s mentality as a child impacted her future. In this episode, Neeta, who is a former Division I bas...

Culture is a critical element to a team’s success. But how do you build culture from the ground up? Freya Coombe is the inaugural head coach for Angel City Football Club. Founded in July 2020 and starting play in the NWSL in 2022, Angel City FC has captivated widespread interest and shown the momentum behind women’s sports. Notable about the team is it is led by a majority female ownership group t...

How do you overcome doubt? Even more, how do you overcome doubt in the face of insurmountable odds? Drafted in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Shazier experienced a dream come true after playing football since the age of five years old. But the road to the NFL wasn’t clear, as Ryan battled alopecia and scoliosis as a kid. Yet, through exercising faith and str...

106 wins. Two World Cup tournament victories. The winningest coach in American soccer history. It is hard to imagine that with all Jill Ellis has achieved in her soccer career, she grew up in a time when there were no organized soccer opportunities for girls. Coach Ellis joins us the Ruling Sports Podcast to discuss her storied career, and how now, after leaving coaching, she is working to pave ne...