Way of Champions Podcast

Our guest this week is Erik Imler. Imler, a UVA graduate, was a NCAA National Champion in 1989, 1991 and 1992 and went on to be a member of the 1992 Olympic Team and represented the United States as a player and then as a coach.   As a Youth Academy Director and passionate blogger who is dissatisfied with the status quo of youth soccer development in the United States, Erik is on a mission to supp...

Terry Liskevych spent 12 years as the head coach of the USA National Women's Volleyball Team. During his tenure with the National Team, the U.S. posted over 300 international victories and earned bronze medals at the 1992 Olympics and the 1990 World Championships. In 1995 Liskevych led his team to the gold medal at the World Grand Prix and was selected as the FIV International Coach of the Year.  ...

Stuart Armstrong is the Head of Coaching for Sport England. Prior to Sport England, he was the Player Development Manager for the Rugby Football Union. He is one of the world's top experts on player development pathways and skill acquisition, and has helped thousands of coaches in the UK create better learning environments and develop deeper relationships with their players.   His sports coaching...

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we have a discussion with Lindsey Wilson from Positive Performance Training about the importance of the mental game for athletes of all ages. Lindsey works with athletes and coaches to unlock player and team potential through mental performance training. As an athlete, Lindsey had the privilege to play on many successful teams and collect an impressive at...

Dr. Joe Baker is one of our favorite people in talent development, sport specialization, and long term athlete development, and our conversation this week does not disappoint. We talk about David Epstein's new book Range, discuss sport specialization, as well as the relative age effect, what great coaching looks like, how poor the evidence shows we are at talent ID, our broken talent ID system, an...

Ian Goldberg is a sports dad, coach and Founder of iSport360, a SportsTech company that is helping coaches, kids and parents set goals, share player feedback and track player progress.  His informative and frequently-funny youth sports newsletter has 70,000 subscribers, earning Ian a place on the Advisory Council of the National Alliance for Youth Sports.  https://isport360.com/   Connect with Ian...

With over 25 years of experience in player development and a long history as a coach with USA Hockey, Ken Martel was named technical director of USA Hockey's American Development Model in May 2009. He is charged with helping provide a framework for associations nationwide to follow for optimal athlete development.   From 2006-08 at USA Hockey's national office in Colorado Springs, Colo., Martel wo...

  Celia Slater brings nearly 30 years of unmatched experience in college athletics as both an organizational head and a collegiate basketball coach, most recently serving as co-founder and executive director of both the NCAA Women Coaches Academy (WCA) and The Alliance of Women Coaches (The Alliance). The WCA started as a professional development program and, due largely to Celia's efforts, soon e...

Jon's professional career began with the Buffalo Bills as assistant strength and conditioning coach. For 14 years he worked as the head strength and conditioning coach for the Indianapolis Colts where he was the youngest to be hired in this role. His responsibilities were many and are proud to have worked on a fully integrated team with a shared vision. This culminated with a world championship in...

Global School Play Day  is an ad-hoc leadership team of educators inspired by Dr. Peter Gray's research on the decline of play and the adverse psychological, emotional and physical effects this has had on children. They continue to be a shoestring operation, promoting almost entirely through Twitter, Facebook and occasional spots on educational podcasts. No fees are collected and GSPD is entirely...

Dr. Roberta V. Kraus is currently featured as an expert in a new video series launched by TrueSport, an educational program powered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that inspires athletes, coaches, parents, and administrators to change the culture of youth sport through active engagement based on cornerstone lessons of sportsmanship, character-building, and clean and healthy performance.   Outside o...

Dr Martin Toms is a senior lecturer in Sports Coaching in the School of Sport & Exercise Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences.   Dr Toms has been involved in sport coaching and development for a number of years, and has experience of teaching in schools, as well as coaching (Professionally) prior to undertaking posts at University. He has researched, presented and published in the...

Join us as we talk toJohn Luetkemeyer about how a youth sports organization went from a local disaster to national recognition based on volunteers changing how we trained players! It is an incredible conversation filled with nuggets of wisdom. John has been coaching since 2005 and have four of his own sons go through the program he shares with us.    Quick Announcements: Way of Champions Conferenc...

Kristen Dieffenbach is an associate professor of Athletic Coaching Education and the director of the Center for Applied Coaching and Sport Science at West Virginia University. She earned her PhD in exercise and sport science with an emphasis in sport and exercise psychology and is an Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) certified mental skills consultant (CMPC).  Kristen is currently the...

John Patrick "Jack" Perconte (born August 31, 1954) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1980 to 1986. In addition to his Major League baseball career, Perconte has authored three books: "Creating a Season to Remember: The New Youth Sports Coaching Leadership Handbook "The Making of a Hitter- A Proven and Practical Step-by-Step Baseball Guide"  "Raising an Athlete- H...

This podcast would not exist, the Changing the Game Project would not exist, if it were not for Joe Ehrmann. Many years ago, I read his incredible book InSideOut Coaching , and it changed my life forever. It validated for me that there was more to coaching than Xs and Os, and that I wanted to be a "transformational coach, and not a transactional one." Thus, to celebrate our 100th episode of The Wa...

  Do your athletes struggle with the right frame of mind for the "big game"? Does the pressure of a "must win" have an effect on their pre-game mindset? Tune in to hear about some strategies for keeping a cool head win it is all "on the line".   Getting in Touch: Jerry: wayofchampions@gmail.com John: john@changingthegameproject.com Show Notes 3:00 Show up to win the day instead of win the game 17:...

He was not always the best player in the group, he didn't play soccer year-round, and he didn't have access to see the game being played by the best. He did work harder than anyone else and always kept the mindset there was room to be better. Because he chose work ethic as his guide, Brian Ching succeeded in soccer. Hear his story.   Getting in Touch: Email: bkching@houstondynamo.com Twitter: @Bri...

You can take courses, read a bunch of books, listen to a thousand podcasts on what you should be doing to be a champion. Dana Cavalea hs been there too, but he had a front row seat to Champion Habits as the Strength and Conditioning Coach of the New York Yankees, and he knows exactly what Champions do to be Champions.     Getting in Touch: Website: danacavalea.com Email: dana@danacavalea.com Twitt...

It's not what the greatest performers do in the moment of competition that makes them the greatest. It is what they did in the "unseen" moments long before they take to the arena that matter. Success never happens in the moment. It is honed, crafted, practiced painstakingly in days, months, years prior. Choose to be successful now. Don't wait for a lucky moment…Hear more insight from Alan in our l...

We present a lot of theory on the Way of Champions podcast, but putting that theory into practice is what matters most. In this episode, we talk with veteran basketball coach, Greg Garrison, about 5 practical methods you can use with any team, in any sport, to begin a culture of winning tomorrow. Enjoy the Show! Getting in Touch: ggarrison@asij.ac.jp   Last chance to join us at the Future of Coach...

We all want our players to be creative. We structure the way they train to promote creativity. We talk to them about embracing creativity. However, because we structure it, are we prohibiting the potential for creativity to arise? Is the macro-culture of youth sports holding back creativity? James Vaughan, who did a PhD in studying the cultural significance of creativity in sports, weighs in on th...

He didn't specialize early. In fact, he didn't play until high school and scouts were not lining up to sign him for college football, and yet Matt Birk forged a great career and became one of the best Lineman in the NFL? Do you really need to focus on one sport early in your childhood? Matt Birk is proof you don't.   In this episode, Matt also discusses our infatuation with early talent, the lack...

Become a fly on the wall and listen in as the experts behind the Future Coaching Conference plan out the sessions, discuss what it means to be a great coach, differentiate between resilience, grit, and mental toughness, and much more. Stuart Armstrong hosts from his car while driving the M6, and John, Mark, and Juan join him for an informal yet meaningful chat.     Getting in Touch: Twitter: John...

  It is important the people coaching our children have all the qualities and skills necessary to develop success beyond the game. Who "coaches" our children's coaches? This week, we continue with this theme of coach development to discuss how vital it is to have someone "coaching the coaches". Bill Beswick is widely considered one of the best coach trainers in the world and he joins us to share h...