Supporting Champions Steve Ingham

After 100 episodes over 4 years, I take a chance to reflect on the lessons learned from hosting the Supporting Champions podcast and speaking with some of the world's best performers, coaches, support staff, mainly from sport but also from a range of other performance fields too.


I'm joined by my close colleague, friend and initial podcast guest Dr Jamie Pringle to help me reflect.


 


Episodes mentioned in the podcast
Miss Val Kondos Field
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/029-miss-val-on-coaching-a-positive-culture-in-gymnastics/


Mark Webber
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/071-mark-webber-on-racing-in-formula-one/


Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/093-redgrave-and-pinsent-on-their-olympic-partnership/


Katelyn Ohashi
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/030-katelyn-ohashi-on-finding-joy-in-gymnastics/


Mel Marshall
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/067-mel-marshall-on-evolving-coaching/


Alistair Brownlee
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/alistair-brownlee-on-a-sub-7-hour-ironman-triathlon/


Dame Jessica Ennis Hill
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/042-jessica-ennis-hill-on-becoming-world-and-olympic-champion/


Kelly Sotherton
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/014-kelly-sotherton-on-receiving-her-4x400m-medal-ten-years-late/


Dave Smith
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/048-dave-smith-on-choosing-to-live/


Louise Minchin
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/031-louise-minchin-from-the-bbc-breakfast-sofa-to-gb-team-triathlete/


Mike Powell
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/099-mike-powell-on-records-rivalry-and-resilience/


Emma Hatton
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/043-emma-hatton-west-end-star-on-sustaining-performance/


Peter Vint
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/074-peter-vint-on-data-culture-and-athlete-development/


Liz Stokoe
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/012-liz-stokoe-on-science-and-art-of-conversation/


James Glover
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/051-james-glover-on-intentionality/

A very, very warm welcome to our 100th episode. Woo!


A milestone for us having started the podcast just under 4 years ago.


I truly hope you have enjoyed all the episodes. If you’ve listened to them all then kudos and thanks for being with us along the way. If you’re new in, then hello and I kind of envy you as there is a back catalogue just waiting for you to tune into. When I look back now only a few sections of the conversations are specific to time, and so the discussions are pretty evergreen.


It’s been a pure joy to connect with so many great minds, thinkers, achievers, aspirers, supporters of others - I’m truly humbled and want to thank everyone who has been on the show. I want to say at this point a huge thank you to Rachel who caringly curates the podcast episodes, Rachel does this with a coach's eye for not only the dialogue but also for the deeper motivations, passions, concerns and insights that people share in the conversations. 


 


Share your thoughts about the podcast in this quick survey


 


This week's guest is Baroness Dame Sue Campbell.


Sue Campbell trained as a PE teacher, guiding inner city children in Moss side to embrace sport. 


From humble yet so powerfully formative beginnings Sue has become one of the most effective and infectious leaders in modern sport. Sue founded the National Coaching Foundation, the Youth Sport Trust and became Chair of UK Sport from its early beginnings to becoming a world superpower. Sue now leads the English women's FA, in pursuit of growing the game. 


Her achievements are profound and pioneering having led the development of support for coaches, children, whole system wide sports.  Recognition for her work includes 11 honorary degrees, appointed Baroness Campbell of Loughborough and Dame Commander in 2020.


Throughout her career Sue has infused teams, organisations and the people within them to become better, lift the standards all in service of celebrating the power of sport to affect lives, show us that things are possible and to do so with deep respect for each other.


 


Notes


The importance of sport, for us and specifically children


Football and its ability to reach parts of society that traditional legislation can’t


The next challenge


Designing a pathway for girls professional football. Creating the best professional league for women in the world


Long termism


Influencing


Sue’s greatest challenges


Growing Women’s Football in its own light


 


Links


Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve


Supporting Champions on;


Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs


Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions


Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions


 

This week’s guest is one of the most outstanding athletes ever, Mike Powell. Mike has held the long jump world record for the last 30 years, taking the mark from the legendary Bob Beamon - who held it himself for 23  years. The record stands at 8.95 m or in old money 29 feet 4 and a bit inches. When I do keynote speeches, one of my favourite things to do is to measure out Mike’s record just to illustrate some of the extraordinary feats elite athletes are capable of and it never, never fails to amaze me or an audience. Mike broke the record at the Tokyo World Championship in one of the most tumultuous tussles with the equally legendary athlete Carl Lewis, having played second fiddle to Carl for so many years.


In the conversation Mike describes in such a colourful and engaging way how he went about pursuing the title, using Carl as a motivator, how he tapped into a coach that could take him to another level, how he harnessed sports psychology long before it was common place.


If you can take a look at the youtube link in the below of the competition either as a reminder or to soak up for the first time what I would describe as one of the best head to head sporting competitions of all-time.


 


Tokyo World Championship final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0WfsAwvTSU


 


*** Applied Pro Practitioner Courses ***


https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse


Notes


The long jump record was a turning point in Mike’s life

Mike Foul!

Using fuel between Carl Lewis and himself as competition

Stoking of aggression in order to fuel performance

Visualisation with a sport psychologist

Mike Powell’s coach Randy Huntington and his training methods

Breaking the World Record but Carl had 2 jumps left and he ALWAYS came back

What was it like experiencing the peak of his performance?

Mike’s prediction!

Adjusting to fame and the downsides

Mike’s pearls of wisdom

Being lean and strong is the key!


Links


Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve


Supporting Champions on;


Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs


Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions


Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions


You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

This week’s guest is Ben Ryan. Ben coached the England Rugby Sevens team between 2007 and 2013. Ben then took a big leap of faith in taking up the head coach role with the Fijian team, leading them to Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics. In recognition of these achievements the IOC named Fiji as the best male team performance at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and Ben was awarded the Companion of the Order of Fiji, the highest order attainable on the Islands. Ben’s book documenting his journey, Sevens heaven won the Telegraph’s sports book of the year.


Ben is a thoughtful, observant coach. He has a level of calm consideration for the environment he is in and the people he interacts with whether they’re a prop or a prime minister, which all manifests itself in an unambiguous focus on how he works, how he leads and how he creates the conditions for others to succeed. This approach makes him one of the most compelling coaches to listen to. 


*** Applied Pro Practitioner Courses ***


https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse


Notes


Talking in different languages

Resources, foundations & communication

Independent views is added value

The commitment to Fiji

Massaging egos

Sausages!

What did you learn and still reinforce whilst in Fiji?

Ben’s North Star


Links


https://benryan.co.uk/


https://benryan.co.uk/podcast/


https://twitter.com/benjaminryan


Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve


Supporting Champions on;


Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs


Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions


Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions


You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A


 

This week’s guest is Laurence Halsted. Laurence is a former Olympic fencer, having competed at the London and Rio Olympics. Laurence retired after the Rio Olympics and is currently Performance Director of Danish Fencing. 


 


Since retiring as an athlete Laurence has been supporting athletes in a bold new way to support the whole athlete, through holistic thinking, mentoring, developing self-awareness, care and mental health. He’s done this work with a company called The True Athlete Project and he has just published a book by the same title which lays out - in a very clear, logical inspirational and practical way.


 


Notes


Laurence explains a little of the fencing rules

Performance Director for the Danish fencing team

Post Games how do you debrief athletes?

How to offset conditions to create change in sport

The definition of a ‘true’ athlete

‘The second arrow’ & mentoring

Mindfulness as a starting point



Links




Applied Practitioner Course


https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse


 


Where to buy Becoming a True Athlete book:


Amazon-


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-True-Athlete-Philosophy-Flourishing/dp/191411003X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2AX88EK2ZG67S&dchild=1&keywords=becoming+a+true+athlete&qid=1631273446&sr=8-1


Waterstones-


https://www.waterstones.com/book/becoming-a-true-athlete/laurence-halsted/9781914110030


www.thetrueathleteproject.org


www.laurencehalsted.com


Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurencehalsted


 


Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve


Supporting Champions on;


Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs


Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions


Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions


 


You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes - 


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

Martin Yelling is a former international runner, duathlete and ironman athlete and since retiring has, along with his partner Liz Yelling coached 1000s of athletes, and everyday folks to marathon and endurance achievements. Recently, Martin has set about creating a charitable organisation called Stormbreak. They have a purpose to; “... improve children’s mental health through movement, equipping them with sustainable, transferable skills and coping strategies to thrive during the complex demands of growth into adult life.


Martin describes the origins of the idea, the challenge they’re working with and the hopes for what might develop.


 


If you want to get involved follow Stormbreak


https://twitter.com/hellostormbreak


https://www.stormbreak.org.uk/


 


Work experience bootcamp - registration closes 10th Sept


https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/kps-course/


Starter Courses - Pre-register Now


https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/starter-courses-2/


Applied Pro Practitioner Course - Pre-register Now


https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/applied-pro-course-preregister/


 


 


You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes - 


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A


Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve


Supporting Champions on;


Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs


Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions


Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions