#486 "Give the stage to the players and you will be surprised how they can shine" with Anne Walker, 4x NCAA Champion Coach of Stanford Women's Golf

Anne Walker is the Head Coach for Women's Golf at Stanford University, and has established herself as one of the premier college coaches in the country. In addition to leading the Cardinal to its first four NCAA titles in school history (2015, 2022, 2024, 2026), Walker has mentored some of the most recognizable names in the sport. Stanford has enjoyed unprecedented team and individual success under Walker. The Cardinal has qualified for the NCAA Championships in all 14 possible seasons during Walker’s tenure, including nine appearances in the national semifinals, and has earned the distinction of being the only program in the country to reach the NCAA match play quarterfinal stage in all 11 seasons of the current format. Under Walker’s guidance, Stanford has captured 59 full-field victories and has produced 42 All-Americans. Stanford has had at least one first-team All-American in all 14 seasons with Walker at the helm, including three consecutive seasons of five All-Americans

A three-time WGCA National Coach of the Year (2015, 2022, 2024) and five-time conference Coach of the Year (2015, 2021-22, 2024, 2026), Walker has mentored the likes of Rachel Heck, Andrea Lee, Paula Martín Sampedro, Mariah Stackhouse, Albane Valenzuela and Rose Zhang, a heralded group that has combined to win three NCAA individual titles, three ANNIKA Award honors, three WCGA Golfer of the Year Award nods and six conference Golfer of the Year Award accolades.

In our conversation today, we speak about the importance of giving players autonomy and ownership of the experience, how to lead with love, the importance of optimism, and being a lifelong learner. Walker shares stories around incredible team meetings and coaching moments throughout her 24-year career. You will want to take notes for this one.

 

CAPTAIN: THE ATHLETE’S GUIDE TO BEING AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM LEADER is now live on Amazon! 

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

We are constantly asked “where have all the leaders gone?” Now more than ever, it is up to schools, clubs and coaches to develop our leaders, and this new book is a perfect guide to train and develop them. It is filled with stories of champion team captains on the professional and college level, Hall of Fame coaches, and more, and is a masterclass on leadership. Your athletes will learn from leaders such as Carles Puyol Abby Wambach, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier, Richie McCaw, Carla Overbeck and Simone Biles. It will help your athletes understand the qualities needed to lead, the responsibilities they must accept, and the most common challenges they will face. The chapters are short and sweet and have discussion questions so that your leaders can work through them together and set your team up for great success. The book also comes with a  FREE downloadable 10-session curriculum so you can guide your team or the leaders in your school or club through the entire book. 

FOR ORDERS OF 10 OR MORE, WE OFFER A $5 PER BOOK DISCOUNT. EMAIL [e-mail] to place your order.

BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John or one of our speaking team present to your school, club or coaching event, either in person or virtually? Looking for leadership training for your student athletes, a coach development workshop or parent education? We are still booking Fall 2026 events, please email us to set up an introductory call [e-mail]

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Click here to visit John’s author page on Amazon

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Please email [e-mail] if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone.

This weeks podcast is brought to you by our newest sponsor, Zone 14 Coaching. Zone 14 Coaching is a company built by coaches for coaches. If you have ever ended a session thinking, “Did that practice really hit the mark?” you will love what they have created. Zone 14’s next-gen journals for coaches and players help you plan every practice, reflect on what worked and track progress all season long. Built on intentional coaching and backed by neuroscience, they bring structure and purpose to your training. Visit zone14coaching.com and use code Champions20 for 20% off. Or if you want to outfit your whole team or club and improve consistency across coaches, you can get in touch with Zone 14 via their website to discuss bulk discounts.

This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a software platform for youth sports clubs.  Yeah, 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, communication tools 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.