373 episodes

The Way of Champions Podcast is brought to you by Changing the Game Project and hosted by Changing the Game founder John O'Sullivan. Each week we connect you with the top minds in sports, coaching, leadership, and building championship programs so you can take your athletes and teams to the next level.

Way of Champions Podcast John O'Sullivan

    • Sports
    • 4.8 • 246 Ratings

The Way of Champions Podcast is brought to you by Changing the Game Project and hosted by Changing the Game founder John O'Sullivan. Each week we connect you with the top minds in sports, coaching, leadership, and building championship programs so you can take your athletes and teams to the next level.

    #368 Eric Potterat, PhD, Mental Performance Coach for the US Navy SEALs, LA Dodgers, and US Women's National Soccer Team

    #368 Eric Potterat, PhD, Mental Performance Coach for the US Navy SEALs, LA Dodgers, and US Women's National Soccer Team

    Eric Potterat, PhD, is a clinical and performance psychologist and a leading expert in individual and organizational performance optimization. Eric retired as a commander from the US Navy after twenty years of service, during which he helped create the mental toughness curriculum used during Navy SEALs BUD/S training. Eric spent several years as the director of specialized performance for the Los Angeles Dodgers and has also worked with Red Bull athletes, the US Women’s national soccer team, the Miami Heat, and numerous Olympic athletes, first responders, business leaders, and NASA astronauts. He is the co-author of the new book Learned Excellence: Mental Disciplines for Leading and Winning from the World's Top Performers, which we unpack today. on the podcast. You will hear stories about the US Navy SEALs, the USWNT at the 2019 World Cup, Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Chen, and more.
    REGISTRATION FOR THE 2024 WAY OF CHAMPIONS CONFERENCE IS OPEN! Save $100 if you sign up prior to June 30, and save 50% per person for groups of five or more. We are headed back to Denver, CO August 9-11 at Colorado Academy. Our hotel blocks do fill up, so join Jerry, John and a panel of soon to be named all star guest speakers for the coaching event of the summer! Click here to register and learn more. 
    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? 
    Please click here and grab yourself a copy of The Champion Teammate today.  
    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

    • 1 hr 13 min
    #367 Mark Johnson, Author of Spitting in the Soup, on the History of Doping in Sports

    #367 Mark Johnson, Author of Spitting in the Soup, on the History of Doping in Sports

    Mark Johnson (www.ironstring.com) is a sportswriter and sports photographer. He has covered cycling and endurance sports since the 1980s. His work often focuses on the business of pro cycling—a topic that frequently intersects with the sport’s long history of doping. Along with U.S. publications like VeloNews, his work is published in Cycling Weekly in the UK, Velo in France, Ride Cycling Review in Australia as well as general-interest publications including the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Mark has bicycled across the United States twice and completed an Ironman triathlon. A graduate of the University of California, San Diego, the author also has an MA and PhD in English Literature from Boston University.
    VeloPress published Johnson’s first book, Argyle Armada: Behind the Scenes of the Pro Cycling Life, a documentary in words and photos of a year with the Garmin-Cervélo professional cycling team.  Today we discuss his amazing book Spitting in the Soup: Inside the Dirty Game of Doping in Sports. As the book description reads, "The history of doping in sports is one of good versus bad. Or so the story goes. Truth is, athletes have doped to do their jobs since the dawn of organized sports. But cleaning up drug-soaked sports has been a mission at odds with the spectacle-hungry interests of advertisers, Olympic organizers, governments, reporters, and fans, none of whom want to spit into sports' nourishing broth of money, power, and national pride.
    In Spitting in the Soup, Mark Johnson traces the shocking trail of hypocrisy that belies the tidy myth of clean athletes fighting corrupt deviants. Journalists spin false claims about amphetamines and EPO. Cold War governments treat anti-doping as an inconvenience. Olympic organizers dismiss the pursuit of clean sports as a budget breaking nuisance. And U.S. lawmakers tie themselves in knots to enrich snake-oil supplement makers while railing against performance-enhancing drugs as a stain on the American Way."


    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? 
    Please click here and grab yourself a copy of The Champion Teammate today.  
    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 exp

    • 1 hr 5 min
    #366 Ian Goldberg and Amy Masters of iSport360 on Sports Parenting, Winning vs Enjoyment, and Managing Expectations in Youth Sports

    #366 Ian Goldberg and Amy Masters of iSport360 on Sports Parenting, Winning vs Enjoyment, and Managing Expectations in Youth Sports

    Ian Goldberg is the Founder and CEO of iSport360, a youth sports technology company that is changing the culture in youth sports for over 4M people.   Ian’s career started at the White House where he worked for the economic advisors to two US Presidents and then spent more than half of his career in digital product management and sales for early-stage technology companies.  Outside of his role leading iSport360, Ian is an Advisory Board member for the National Alliance for Youth Sports and is the Editor of the largest sports parenting newsletter in youth sports reaching 4 million people each month.  But most of all Ian loves his role as a #girldad and as a volunteer sports coach for his two daughters.
    Amy Masters is a sports mom, coach, and club administrator. She has been coaching youth sports for more than 10 years. She started Jr Lions Field Hockey, the youth recreation program for the Hunterdon County community growing it from 40 players in year 1 to 150 players by year 3. A few years later, she saw the love and competitiveness grow then started Omega Field Hockey Club serving NJ and PA players. Before coaching, she was a collegiate field hockey player for Lock Haven University. In her spare time (lol), she is head of marketing for iSport360, where she brings her love of sports to a bigger audience. 
    Connect with them at @iSport360 on all major social channels or www.isport360.com. 
    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? 
    Please click here and grab yourself a copy of The Champion Teammate today.  
    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, an

    • 52 min
    #365 Dr Mitch Greene on Quieting Your Mind Chatter and Why Having Courage is More Important Than Confidence

    #365 Dr Mitch Greene on Quieting Your Mind Chatter and Why Having Courage is More Important Than Confidence

    Dr. Mitchell Greene (@greenepsych) is a nationally recognized licensed clinical and sport psychologist, whose success over the past 15-plus years is his ability to tailor personalized solutions to his client’s problems. Dr. Greene works primarily with athletes pursuing high performance goals, or coaches and athletic departments looking to educate their student-athletes on mental health and performance enhancement strategies.
    Typical clients are either college (or college-bound) student-athletes or elite or pro level competitors. In 2023, Dr. Greene published Courage over Confidence: Managing Mind Chatter and Winning the Mental Game, a book based on his years of working with high-performing athletes who struggle with managing doubts and negative thinking. His book has spent time as a top 5 “Youth Sport” and “Sport Psychology” Book on Amazon. Athletes and teams have purchased Dr. Greene’s book as an off-season guide to help them train their mind for competition, as well as an in-season resource to improve their mental game.
    Connect with Dr Greene at www.GreenePsych.com
    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? 
    Please click here and grab yourself a copy of The Champion Teammate today.  
    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.

    • 1 hr
    #364 Wells Thompson, Former MLS Player and Founder of Soccer Resilience, on How to Think Better so you can Perform Better

    #364 Wells Thompson, Former MLS Player and Founder of Soccer Resilience, on How to Think Better so you can Perform Better

    Wells Thompson is a former Major League Soccer Player and the Founder of Soccer Resilience, an mazing resource for players and teams to build inner strength and help athletes think better so they can perform better. Wells was an all ACC player at Wake Forest and the 5th pick in the 2007 MLS Super Draft. he played for the New England Revolution, Colorado Rapids and Chicago Fire, winning the 2007 US Open Cup, 2008 Superliga, and 2010 MLS Cup. He was also the 2011 Colorado Rapids Humanitarian of the Year. In our chat you will hear such amazing self-awareness, vulnerability and authenticity from Wells as he details his journey of struggles, substance abuse, self-doubt and more as a professional athlete. It is an amazing conversation with an amazing human being.
    You can connect with Wells at www.soccerresilience.com. 
    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? 
    Please click here and grab yourself a copy of The Champion Teammate today.  
    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.

    • 1 hr 1 min
    #363 The Performance Doctors on Overcoming Fear and Creating the Optimal Environment for Your Athletes to Perform Their Best

    #363 The Performance Doctors on Overcoming Fear and Creating the Optimal Environment for Your Athletes to Perform Their Best

    This week we are joined by The Performance Doctors, three leaders dedicated to creating the optimal environment for your athletes to thrive. They are Dr Michael Mantell, Dr, Darin Davidson, and Dr. Brendan Meany. 
    For nearly 50 years Dr. Michael Mantell has focused on how improving mindset climate positively influences optimal performance, helps people disturb themselves less, and creates lasting positive behavior change. Since earning his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1976, he’s been riveted on alleviating suffering and accelerating peak efficiency, from serving as Chief Psychologist for San Diego’s Children’s Hospital and the San Diego Police Department, to supporting elite amateur and professional athletes, to giving psychology away and making it public throughout national and international media. He is best known for his international best seller Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. 
     
    Dr. Darin Davidson is an Orthopaedic surgeon and polyvagal informed coach focusing on promoting health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance amongst professionals in high demand, high pressure environments.
     
    Dr. Brendan Meany is a coach, educator, researcher, writer, and yoga instructor. As a doctor of sport and performance psychology, his work focuses on optimizing individual and group performance through research-based psychological frameworks, interventions, and skills. Dr. Meany is a former collegiate athlete and rugby player with experience coaching college football and rugby in Argentina, Belize, Japan, and South Africa. 
     

    Michael Mantell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaelmantell

    Darin Davidson: www.darindavidson.com

    BrendanMeany: UpDocYoga.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-meany-edd-54a99393/

     
    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? 
    Please click here and grab yourself a copy of The Champion Teammate today.  
    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 tryin

    • 1 hr 17 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
246 Ratings

246 Ratings

LdubNichols ,

Great for coaches

Listening to way of champions should be required listening for all coaches. His passion for sports and the power influence and opportunity for coaches to impact young people’s lives is infectious

Cincy Daniel ,

A Voice in the Wilderness of Youth Sports

I greatly appreciate what John is doing to bring such significant people together. There is a unified sense of concern for the kids in youth sports and the need for coaches and parents to be aware of their influence with their kids. We need these reminders and tools to keep us focused on what is most important: the kid’s best. I continue to recommend these podcasts and I know this info will make me a better parent coach.

Nbones32 ,

Great podcast

John does an excellent job. He has outstanding guests and is a leader in this space. Highly recommend listening!

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