What It Takes

Description Most people know Lauren Sisler as the Emmy Award-winning ESPN sideline reporter with the infectious energy and her now-famous Sideline Shimmy . But behind that smile is a story few people could imagine. At 18 years old, while competing as a gymnast at Rutgers University, Lauren received a phone call telling her that her mother had died. She immediately flew home expecting her father to...

Description Every once in a while, you finish a podcast and immediately know you just talked to someone special. That's exactly how Coach Marla Townsend and I felt after this conversation with Morgan Royer, Head Softball Coach at Monmouth University . We were blown away. Morgan has the presence, clarity, competitiveness, emotional intelligence, and ability to connect with players that you see in c...

Description What does it really mean to be tough ? Not social media tough. Not highlight-reel tough. The kind of toughness that shows up when you're exhausted, uncomfortable, doubting yourself, and still choose to do the hard thing. In this episode of What It Takes , Paul Reddick and Coach Marla Townsend sit down with pitching coach Haley Meinen to discuss her new program, The Savage Standard , an...

Description What does it take to win more than 700 games , build championship programs, and develop generations of coaches and leaders? In this episode of What It Takes , Paul Reddick and Coach Marla Townsend welcome one of the most respected leaders in college softball, Coach Tyra Perry . Coach Perry reflects on the mentors who shaped her career, why great coaches see potential long before athlet...

Description For the first time on What It Takes , the microphone gets turned around. Instead of interviewing one of the most respected coaches in softball, Coach Marla Townsend interviews her co-host, Paul Reddick. Paul shares the story behind his coaching career, from growing up in New Jersey and falling in love with baseball, to discovering that his greatest gift wasn't playing the game, but hel...

Who is Coach Marla Townsend? Before she became one of the most respected softball coaches and mentors in the game, she was a fiercely competitive little girl playing football with the neighborhood boys, learning lessons that would shape the rest of her life. In this special episode of What It Takes , Paul Reddick turns the microphone around and interviews his co-host, Coach Marla Townsend. Marla s...

Description What if the biggest setback of your athletic career became the greatest gift of your life? In this episode of What It Takes , Paul Reddick and Coach Marla Townsend welcome one of softball's most respected voices, Amanda Scarborough . From her All-American career at Texas A&M to becoming one of ESPN's premier softball analysts, Amanda has experienced nearly every side of the game. S...

What do the world's greatest athletes have in common? According to award-winning journalist, former collegiate softball player, filmmaker, and Yogi Berra's granddaughter, Lindsay Berra , they all obsess over the little things. In this episode of What It Takes , Paul Reddick and Coach Marla Townsend sit down with Lindsay to discuss the habits, mindset, preparation, nutrition, recovery, curiosity, a...

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...