The Talent Equation Podcas‪t‬ Stuart Armstrong

This podcast is a bit different. Not only was it the first podcast that I have recorded live, it was a podcast with 2 people who were riding stationary bikes doing a charity virtual bike ride!

In this episode I talk with Gary Laybourne, CEO of Coach Core and Steve Mitchell, one of the trustees...to discuss the amazing work they do to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to start their career in the world of sports coaching...all while Gary is riding his turbo trainer 202 miles from London to Manchester on Zwift....

It's a unique but also humbling and amazing conversation...

Hope you enjoy

If you would like to contribute to the fundraising effort here is the link to the Just Giving Page

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gary-laybourne

This podcast is a bit different - I am on the other side of the mic and I am being asked the questions as this is my appearance on 'The Coach's Road' podcast hosted by Derek Read and Rick Schreiber. Both postgraduate students at Vierumäki University in Finland.

Derek is 22 years old and in his fifth year of coaching. Originally from Colorado, he started coaching while completing his degree in computer science at the university of Colorado at boulder. After his degree he moved to vierumäki, Finland to pursue his passion of coaching youth Hockey and move towards his goal of becoming a coach developer.

Rick is 23 years old and has spent his youth playing hockey in Berlin, Germany. After finishing his high school degree, he moved to Dresden to do a volunteer social year for the Eislöwen Juniors. During that year, he gained his first coaching experiences. he moved to Vierumäki in 2018 to follow his passion and goal of coaching in a competitive environment one day. Currently, he is in his fourth year of coaching.

This was a rollercoaster of a conversation that got me into all sorts of areas of discussion.

Hope you enjoy...

https://www.thecoachsroad.com/podcast

Over Christmas I got to reading some books. The latest from Andreu Enrich '50 tips for intelligent players' spoke to me very deeply so I asked Andreu to come back on the show following his debut with me just before Christmas to talk me through some of the ideas in the book and let me check my understanding of some of the concepts.

Although this book was originally written with Field Hockey players in mind, it has significant cross over and transfer to a range of other invasion sports. The tips are written for players but they have huge potential for the development of coaches as they ask questions about the kind of environments that are required to support the development of 'intelligent players'.

In part 1 we cover 6 of the early chapters that I handpicked because they were particularly interesting to me.

Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Joe Baker is Professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. He makes a welcome return to the podcast along with his research associate, Alexandra 'Sandy' Mosher.

Joe's research team focuses on optimal human development to understand how someone gets to, and stays at, the highest levels of performance. His previous research in this area has considered various psychosocial and environmental factors influencing athletic skill development across a range of sports to catalogue the extensive range of factors affecting an athlete's capacity to maximize their potential.

In this episode with unpack some fascinating new research which challenges the commonly held suggestion that early specialisation is "the villain of talent development", how it might be possible to experience 'healthy early specialisation' and why the link between early specialisation and burnout and injury is not what we think it is.

It is a fascinating discussion...

I hope you enjoy

Skye is the founder of the Soccer Parenting Association with a mission of inspiring players by empowering parents. A former professional player, Skye has coached extensively in the youth and collegiate games she is also a sought after Coach & Parent Educator and Club Consultant.

In this conversation we discuss the ways that coaches can develop strong relationships with players and parents. Skye explains a framework that she uses to support the creation of positive connections through the '4 dimensions of a 'sense of community''.

This is a fascinating conversation full of fascinating insight into the key relationships between coaches, parents and athletes.

Kasey Crider is Associate Head Coach for the Miami University Women's Volleyball Programme. His journey into coaching is an interesting one...he gave up a career as a professional athlete while still in his early twenties to pursue a career as a coach because he couldn't think of a more honourable profession. This is an individual with a genuine passion for supporting others and as such possesses an insatiable drive to learn and improve.

In this conversation we discuss how his dissatisfaction with the traditional approaches that dominate his sport led him to seek out alternative answers and the challenges he has experienced ever since.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.