Way of Champions Podcast

Dive into the world of parenting young athletes! Discover how to nurture confidence, mental toughness, and resilience in your child. The discussion emphasizes transforming losses into learning opportunities and the importance of effective communication between parents and coaches. Explore intentional parenting as a vital tool for fostering deeper connections and supporting your child’s athletic journey. Finally, learn about community involvement to enhance the overall sports experience for everyone.

Ted Kroeten, founder of Joy of the People, champions free play in youth sports to enhance children's development. He shares insights on how unstructured play nurtures creativity and essential skills, contrasting it with traditional coaching methods. Kroeten recounts the impressive evolution of his community sports program, emphasizing inclusivity and joy over competition. He also discusses 'kid micro-clubs' and their role in promoting informal play, highlighting the lasting benefits of fostering resilience and problem-solving through free play.

Juwan Brescacin (@jbrescacinjones82) is a former collegiate football player at Northern Illinois University and the 15th overall Canadian Football League draft pick in 2016. He played 8 years professionally in Canada, winning two Grey Cups (2018 and 2022) before retiring and founding the High Point Athletes Foundation. Today he is pursuing a masters in psychology while mentoring young athletes and teaching them the mental and physical skills needed to exceed on and off the field. In our chat today, we discuss Juwan's athletic journey, overcoming devastating injuries, being mentored as a young athlete, and winning his final Grey Cup as a senior player helping young players lead the team to victory.  Learn more at https://www.highpointathletes.org/ OUR NEW BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! Jerry and John are so excited about their new book together The Champion Sports Parent: Practical Wisdom for Raising Confident, Competitive, Mentally Tough Athletes. Release date is October 1, but we are taking preorders now and hopefully getting you the book before it is available for the public. This book is a great compliment to The Champion Teammate, as your parents are a huge part of your culture. Click here to order now or email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com to inquire about bulk book pricing! NEW WOC MASTERMIND AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM As you may have heard, we decided to cancel our 2024 Way of Champions Conference, which opens up the opportunity for us to begin a year long mastermind and coach certification program in the Way of Champions and CTGP materials. If you want to simply take a deeper dive then ever offered before into your coaching and personal development, or work within your school or club improving coaching or transforming the culture, or you want to hit the road as a speaker and presenter working with teams and youth sports organizations, we will give you the tools and support to do so. We are collecting names who are interested at this moment in learning more, you can do so by clicking here and adding your name and email to the list. PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS! Programs such as UNC soccer and lacrosse, Syracuse lacrosse, Stanford Lacrosse, Middlebury College, Colby College, Rutgers University, and many other champions are using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John’s author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry’s author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  There are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you’ve been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including: Downloadable transcripts of our best podcasts, so you don’t have to crash your car trying to take notes! A code to get free access to our online course called “Coaching Mastery,” usually a $97 course, plus four other courses worth over $100, all yours for free for becoming a patron. Other special bonus opportunities that come up time to time Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences

Brett White is a seasoned sports coach and leadership expert with over 17 years of experience in football (soccer) coaching. He currently serves as the Head Coach for Bonnet Bay FC’s First Grade team in the SSFA Premier League. He has a rich history of fostering talent and managing large teams, having served as the Coach & Player Development Coordinator at Bonnet Bay FC for over 40 teams.  He is also the Football Manager at HFCA Cambodia - Happy Football Cambodia Australia, where he works with underprivileged and impoverished young people, using football programs to instill hope, dignity, community and football opportunities.  In addition to his extensive coaching background, Brett has dedicated a decade to mindset and resilience coaching at leadership, sporting, and organizational levels. He is also the CEO and Founder of Be Leaders and the BE Academy, where he continues to develop, train, coach, and empower leaders, teams, and organizations globally. His new book is Behave, which you can get on Amazon and wherever books are sold.  Connect with Brett: www.beleaders.com.au  OUR NEW BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! Jerry and John are so excited about their new book together The Champion Sports Parent: Practical Wisdom for Raising Confident, Competitive, Mentally Tough Athletes. Release date is October 1, but we are taking preorders now and hopefully getting you the book before it is available for the public. This book is a great compliment to The Champion Teammate, as your parents are a huge part of your culture. Click here to order now or email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com to inquire about bulk book pricing!  NEW WOC MASTERMIND AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM As you may have heard, we decided to cancel our 2024 Way of Champions Conference, which opens up the opportunity for us to begin a year long mastermind and coach certification program in the Way of Champions and CTGP materials. If you want to simply take a deeper dive then ever offered before into your coaching and personal development, or work within your school or club improving coaching or transforming the culture, or you want to hit the road as a speaker and presenter working with teams and youth sports organizations, we will give you the tools and support to do so. We are collecting names who are interested at this moment in learning more, you can do so by clicking here and adding your name and email to the list. PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS! Programs such as UNC soccer and lacrosse, Syracuse lacrosse, Stanford Lacrosse, Middlebury College, Colby College, Rutgers University, and many other champions are using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John’s author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry’s author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  There are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you’ve been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including: Downloadable transcripts of our best podcasts, so you don’t have to crash your car trying to take notes! A code to get free access to our online course called “Coaching Mastery,” usually a $97 course, plus four other courses worth over $100, all yours for free for becoming a patron. Other special bonus opportunities that come up time to time Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences

Dr. Joe Baker, Tanenbaum Research Chair at the University of Toronto, shares his expertise on talent identification and athlete development. He critiques how early labeling of talent can limit children's potential and why it’s damaging. The discussion challenges the nature vs. nurture debate, emphasizing practice and environment over rigid categorization. Joe highlights the importance of enjoyment and autonomy in young athletes, urging for a more individualized coaching approach. He calls for reevaluation of talent systems to nurture true potential rather than confining it.

In this excellent conversation from 2021, we are joined by Rasmus Ankersen (@RasmusAnkersen), an internationally known author, speaker, and film producer and one of the worlds leading experts on talent identification and development. Today he is one of the founders of Sport Republic, which is the majority shareholder of Southampton FC, where he also works as the Director of Football. He was also the co-director of football for Brentford FC of the English Premier League from 2015-2021 and Chairman of Champions League club FC Midtjylland of the Danish Super League. His 2012 book The Goldmine Effect is an incredible read and was one of the books that inspired me at the beginning of my Changing the Game Project journey, so to say that I am thrilled to have Rasmus on is an understatement.  In 2021 he released a film called “The Hockey Miracle in the Middle of Nowhere,” the true story of how the small town of Herning, Denmark (pop. 50,000) sent five players to the NHL in a ten year period. No Danish player had ever made the NHL before! In that same period, the US cities of Chicago and Detroit, hockey hotbeds, each sent less than 5 players to the top of the ice hockey world. How did they do it? In our talk, Rasmus and I break down the major principles outlined in the film and speak about how you might apply these same ideas in your own community so you don’t just ID the talent that shouts, but you can identify and patiently develop the talent that whispers! Please connect with Rasmus at www.RasmusAnkersen.com and grab yourself a copy of The Goldmine Effect. NEW WOC MASTERMIND AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM As you may have heard, we decided to cancel our 2024 Way of Champions Conference, which opens up the opportunity for us to begin a year long mastermind and coach certification program in the Way of Champions and CTGP materials. If you want to simply take a deeper dive then ever offered before into your coaching and personal development, or work within your school or club improving coaching or transforming the culture, or you want to hit the road as a speaker and presenter working with teams and youth sports organizations, we will give you the tools and support to do so. We are collecting names who are interested at this moment in learning more, you can do so by clicking here and adding your name and email to the list. PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS! Programs such as UNC soccer and lacrosse, Syracuse lacrosse, Stanford Lacrosse, Middlebury College, Colby College, Rutgers University, and many other champions are using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John’s author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry’s author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  There are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you’ve been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including: Downloadable transcripts of our best podcasts, so you don’t have to crash your car trying to take notes! A code to get free access to our online course called “Coaching Mastery,” usually a $97 course, plus four other courses worth over $100, all yours for free for becoming a patron. Other special bonus opportunities that come up time to time Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences

Ken Rouff and Jean Linscott are the authors of What is the Goal? The Truth About the Youth Sports Industry. Today we discuss their new, book, many of the problems with the youth sports industrial complex and how it more often than not negatively effects children and drives them out of sports. Ken, jean and John share their own parenting experiences as well.    Jean Linscott, Ph.D., is a clinical child psychologist. She has been working professionally with children and families for over thirty years in hospital-based, clinic, and private-practice settings. She and Kenneth Ruoff are the parents of three athletes who are veterans of the Youth Sports Industry.  She can be reached at JeanLLinscott@gmail.com Kenneth Ruoff, Ph.D., is a professor of history at Portland State University and the author of numerous award-winning books. From the perspective of a historian, he is astonished, in comparison to what he experienced as a kid, at how drastically different a youth-sports environment his family has faced these past two decades. He was a member of  the 1987 Harvard College Final Four team.  He can be reached at ruoffk@pdx.edu.  Click here to grab the book.  NEW WOC MASTERMIND AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM As you may have heard, we decided to cancel our 2024 Way of Champions Conference, which opens up the opportunity for us to begin a year long mastermind and coach certification program in the Way of Champions and CTGP materials. If you want to simply take a deeper dive then ever offered before into your coaching and personal development, or work within your school or club improving coaching or transforming the culture, or you want to hit the road as a speaker and presenter working with teams and youth sports organizations, we will give you the tools and support to do so. We are collecting names who are interested at this moment in learning more, you can do so by clicking here and adding your name and email to the list. PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS! Programs such as UNC soccer and lacrosse, Syracuse lacrosse, Stanford Lacrosse, Middlebury College, Colby College, Rutgers University, and many other champions are using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John’s author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry’s author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  There are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you’ve been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including: Downloadable transcripts of our best podcasts, so you don’t have to crash your car trying to take notes! A code to get free access to our online course called “Coaching Mastery,” usually a $97 course, plus four other courses worth over $100, all yours for free for becoming a patron. Other special bonus opportunities that come up time to time Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences

Neill Collins is a former professional soccer player, with nearly 600 appearances across clubs such as Sunderland, Leeds, Wolves, Sheffield United, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies. As a player he won promotion to the English Premier League with both Wolves and Sunderland, and played under managers such as Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy. In 2018 he became head coach of the Rowdies, and during his tenure reached two USL Championship Final games and was named USL Championship coach of the year. In 2023 he left to manage Barnsley in League One, and was in a 5th place promotion playoff spot when he was fired in April 2024 with one game to play. In our wide ranging conversation today, we discuss his playing journey and the necessity of dealing with adversity and looking at difficult moments as opportunities, and how that has carried into his coaching career. We discuss how to win in the locker room, first, how important it is to connect not just with your top players but those who do not play much, and how to have difficult yet truthful conversations. It is a wonderful talk with  professional working at the top level of coaching in a very difficult environment ho still demonstrates the need to focus on the person and not just the athlete.  NEW WOC MASTERMIND AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM As you may have heard, we decided to cancel our 2024 Way of Champions Conference, which opens up the opportunity for us to begin a year long mastermind and coach certification program in the Way of Champions and CTGP materials. If you want to simply take a deeper dive then ever offered before into your coaching and personal development, or work within your school or club improving coaching or transforming the culture, or you want to hit the road as a speaker and presenter working with teams and youth sports organizations, we will give you the tools and support to do so. We are collecting names who are interested at this moment in learning more, you can do so by clicking here and adding your name and email to the list. PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS! Programs such as UNC soccer and lacrosse, Syracuse lacrosse, Stanford Lacrosse, Middlebury College, Colby College, Rutgers University, and many other champions are using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John’s author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry’s author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  There are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you’ve been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including: Downloadable transcripts of our best podcasts, so you don’t have to crash your car trying to take notes! A code to get free access to our online course called “Coaching Mastery,” usually a $97 course, plus four other courses worth over $100, all yours for free for becoming a patron. Other special bonus opportunities that come up time to time Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences

Mike Lee, a renowned keynote speaker and author, shares his insights as a coach to NBA stars like Steph Curry and Joel Embiid. He discusses his personal struggles and the transformative power of mindfulness in fostering a champion's mindset. Lee emphasizes the importance of a growth-oriented approach in sports, balancing performance with joy and personal growth. He highlights the role of quality over quantity in training and the vital connection between effective communication in coaching and the aspirations of young athletes.

Maggie Mertens www.MaggieMertens.com) is a writer, journalist, and editor located in Seattle. Her essays and reporting have appeared in The Atlantic, NPR, Sports Illustrated, ESPNw, Deadspin, VICE, The Cut, Glamour, Pacific Standard, Refinery29, and Creative Nonfiction, among others. Her work has also appeared in The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2021 (Triumph Books), Women and Sports in the United States (The University of Chicago Press), and has been nominated for the 2021 Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting. She earned a B.A. in English Literature and Italian Studies from Smith College, and an M.F.A. in Creative-Nonfiction Writing from The New School. Today we discuss her new book Better, faster, Farther: How Running Changed Everything we Know About Women. Maggie is a greta story teller and her book/interview discuss the earliest stages of women's running, from the 1896 Olympic marathon, the myth of women collapsing on the track in the 1928 Olympics that set women's sport back decades, to Paula Radcliff, Caitlin Clark and modern day women in sport. Connect with Maggie at www.MaggieMertens.com.  NEW WOC MASTERMIND AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM As you may have heard, we decided to cancel our 2024 Way of Champions Conference, which opens up the opportunity for us to begin a year long mastermind and coach certification program in the Way of Champions and CTGP materials. If you want to simply take a deeper dive then ever offered before into your coaching and personal development, or work within your school or club improving coaching or transforming the culture, or you want to hit the road as a speaker and presenter working with teams and youth sports organizations, we will give you the tools and support to do so. We are collecting names who are interested at this moment in learning more, you can do so by clicking here and adding your name and email to the list. PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS! Programs such as UNC soccer and lacrosse, Syracuse lacrosse, Stanford Lacrosse, Middlebury College, Colby College, Rutgers University, and many other champions are using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John’s author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry’s author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  There are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you’ve been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our most popular online courses, a $300 value. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including: Downloadable transcripts of our best podcasts, so you don’t have to crash your car trying to take notes! A code to get free access to our online course called “Coaching Mastery,” usually a $97 course, plus four other courses worth over $100, all yours for free for becoming a patron. Other special bonus opportunities that come up time to time Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences