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#432 Simon Hartley, Founder of Be World Class, on Owning Your Development, Parental Pressure, and How the Elite Performance Mindset Can Drive You or Make You Miserable

Way of Champions Podcast

Release Date: 06/06/2025

#503 Jack Rolfe, Founder of The Coaching Lab and Creator of MatchPlay Cards show art #503 Jack Rolfe, Founder of The Coaching Lab and Creator of MatchPlay Cards

Way of Champions Podcast

Jack Rolfe is an international coach developer, founder of The Coaching Lab and creator of MatchPlay Cards, used by coaches in more than 75 countries. With a background in Sports Coaching Science, Jack has worked across grassroots, academy and high-performance sport with organizations including Arsenal, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and coaches connected to the England Men’s National Team. His work helps coaches create engaging, games-based environments where young people can make decisions, solve problems and develop a lifelong love of sport. In our podcast this week we discuss innovative...

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#502 The Case for Quitting and the Surprising Benefits of Opting Out with Author Lindsay Crouse show art #502 The Case for Quitting and the Surprising Benefits of Opting Out with Author Lindsay Crouse

Way of Champions Podcast

Lindsay Crouse (@LindsayCrouse) is an author, producer, and journalist. For more than 15 years, she was an editor, writer and producer at The New York Times, where her Emmy-nominated work on women’s sports brought widespread change to the industry, including maternity protections for pregnant athletes. In the Times’s Opinion section, she wrote and commissioned widely read essays and produced hundreds of short documentaries, including the Times’s first Academy Award-winning film. A life-long competitive distance runner and graduate of Harvard, Lindsay is...

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#501 Why Coaches Need a #501 Why Coaches Need a "Second Set of Eyes" with Cody Royle, Mentor of Professional Head Coaches

Way of Champions Podcast

What happens when the person responsible for everyone else's performance has no one to turn to? In this episode, we sit down with Cody Royle, a pioneering voice in elite sports who specializes in coaching the head coaches. Cody pulls back the curtain on the intense, often isolating pressure of leading at the highest level. We discuss his career transition from international AFL coach to trusted advisor, the unique burdens of modern leadership, and why even the best leaders need a "second set of eyes." Cody spent his formative years playing rugby league and Australian Rules football (AFL),...

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#500 Steve Kerr on His Career, Bringing Humanity to Coaching, the Importance of Mentality, and How Values and Process Always Come Before Results show art #500 Steve Kerr on His Career, Bringing Humanity to Coaching, the Importance of Mentality, and How Values and Process Always Come Before Results

Way of Champions Podcast

Steve Kerr is a nine-time NBA champion , widely recognized as one of the most successful and influential figures in basketball history. Across a legendary career spanning more than three decades as an elite player, executive, and head coach, Kerr has consistently engineered a culture of winning. As a player, Kerr was a lethal sharpshooter who spent 15 seasons in the NBA and still holds the all-time league record for the highest career three-point percentage (45.4%). He captured five NBA championships on the court—three alongside Michael Jordan with the historic 1990s Chicago Bulls,...

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#499 Alex Smith, 16 Year NFL Quarterback, on His Comeback from a Life Threatening Injury, the Importance of Gratitude, and Mentoring the Next Generation show art #499 Alex Smith, 16 Year NFL Quarterback, on His Comeback from a Life Threatening Injury, the Importance of Gratitude, and Mentoring the Next Generation

Way of Champions Podcast

Alex Smith (@AlexSmith_11) is a former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, and a 16-year NFL veteran quarterback. Known as one of the game's elite operational minds, Smith threw for over 35,000 career passing yards and earned three Pro Bowl selections while leading the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Washington Football Team. He is also the recipient of the 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. After suffering a catastrophic, life-threatening leg injury in 2018 that required 17 surgeries, Alex defied all medical odds to not only walk again, but return to professional...

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#498 #498 "It's not who we are playing against. It's who we are playing for.": A Conversation on Values, Connection and Purpose with Kate Livesay, 8x NCAA Champion Coach of Middlebury Women's Lacrosse

Way of Champions Podcast

Kate Livesay was a two sport star at Middlebury in field hockey and lacrosse, twice earning All American honors and leading her Middlebury lacrosse teams to two NCAA titles. She is one of the most decorated coaches in college lacrosse history, leading Middlebury Women’s lacrosse to seven NCAA Championships (2016, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026) and Trinity Women's lacrosse to a single NCAA title. Her teams have set the program single-season wins record three times over, going a perfect 23-0 in 2023, 2024, and 2026 — a standard of excellence virtually unmatched in the modern era of...

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#498 #498 "It's not who we are playing against. It's who we are playing for.": A Conversation on Values, Connection and Purpose with Kate Livesay, 8x NCAA Champion Coach of Middlebury Women's Lacrosse

Way of Champions Podcast

Kate Livesay was a two sport star at Middlebury in field hockey and lacrosse, twice earning All American honors and leading her Middlebury lacrosse teams to two NCAA titles. She is one of the most decorated coaches in college lacrosse history, leading Middlebury Women’s lacrosse to seven NCAA Championships (2016, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026) and Trinity Women's lacrosse to a single NCAA title. Her teams have set the program single-season wins record three times over, going a perfect 23-0 in 2023, 2024, and 2026 — a standard of excellence virtually unmatched in the modern era of...

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#498 #498 "It's not who we are playing against. It's who we are playing for.": A Conversation on Values, Connection and Purpose with Kate Livesay, 8x NCAA Champion Coach of Middlebury Women's Lacrosse

Way of Champions Podcast

Kate Livesay was a two sport star at Middlebury in field hockey and lacrosse, twice earning All American honors and leading her Middlebury lacrosse teams to two NCAA titles. She is one of the most decorated coaches in college lacrosse history, leading Middlebury Women’s lacrosse to seven NCAA Championships (2016, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026) and Trinity Women's lacrosse to a single NCAA title. Her teams have set the program single-season wins record three times over, going a perfect 23-0 in 2023, 2024, and 2026 — a standard of excellence virtually unmatched in the modern era of...

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#497 #497 "Your relationship with your players is either growing or dying" with Stuart Lancaster, Head Coach of Connacht Rugby

Way of Champions Podcast

Stuart Lancaster is a world renowned rugby coach and is currently the Head Coach at Connacht in Ireland. He has previously coached England (2011-2015) when they hosted the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Racing 92, and Leinster. His England teams finished as Six Nations Runner Up four times, and he won the European Rugby Champions Cup and four PRO14/URC titles with Leinster. Prior to his time with the England National team, he won three Churchill Cup titles as Head Coach of England Saxons (2008, 2010, 2011) and National Division One title with Leeds Tykes (2006 to 2007). Stuart also runs Stuart...

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#496 The Psychology of Leadership with Sébastien Page, Chief Investment Officer at T Rowe Price show art #496 The Psychology of Leadership with Sébastien Page, Chief Investment Officer at T Rowe Price

Way of Champions Podcast

As Chief Investment Officer at T. Rowe Price, Sébastien Page leads a global team managing hundreds of billions and has been recognized with multiple research awards for his practical approach to finance and leadership. His journey is inspiring, from arriving in North America as a young Canadian immigrant barely speaking English to becoming one of the youngest Senior Managing Directors at State Street, then rising through senior roles at PIMCO and now T. Rowe Price. Sébastien’s new book, The Psychology of Leadership, bridges real-world executive experience with the science of performance...

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Simon Hartley (@simonhartley) is a world-renowned expert in high-performance psychology and the founder of Be World Class. For nearly 30 years, Simon has worked with Olympic athletes, world champions, and top executives, helping them develop the mindset needed to excel in sports, business, and life. He’s the best-selling author of How to Shine and Peak Performance Every Time, and 10 total books, and has been featured on BBC and leading high-performance podcasts. He is also the co-host of The Podium Podcast and The Demon Charmers Podcast. Through his background in sport psychology he has spent much of his career working with elite athletes and sports teams, helping them to get their mental game and their mindset right. His teams and athletes have over 40 world records, world championships and world cup wins. Simon’s real passion is working with and studying the very best in the world, figuring out what makes them great and then helping others adopt those principles.

In our talk today some highlights include the importance of owning your development as an athlete, how the same mentality that can make you elite can make you miserable, and how parents emphasis on outcomes and competition can steal the joy and destroy athlete development. Connect with Simon at https://be-world-class.com/.

BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John, Jerry or both come to your school, club or coaching event? We are booking Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 events, please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com to set up an introductory call.

BECOME A PREMIUM MEMBER OF CHANGING THE GAME PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST

If you or your club/school is looking for all of our best content, from online courses to blog posts to interviews organized for coaches, parents and athletes, then become a premium member of Changing the Game Project today. For over a decade we have been creating materials to help change the game. and it has become a bit overwhelming to find old podcasts, blog posts and more. Now, we have organized it all for you, with areas for coaches, parents and even athletes to find materials to help compete better, and put some more play back in playing ball. Clubs please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com for pricing. 

PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS, AND JOIN 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MCLAREN F1! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. 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?

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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.  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 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 Premium Membership, with well over $1000 of courses and materials. 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 be granted a Premium Changing the Game Project Membership, where you will have access to every course, interview and blog post we have created organized by topic from coaches to parents to athletes.

Thank you for all your support these past eight years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions