Off The Pitch With Active

Hernan Chousa is an author from Argentina. He lives in Buenos Aires, and he runs his zinc flake coating business as the CEO of Chousa SRL. Unplugged is his first novel where he could fuse two passions: music and writing. He also published “My Son the Tennis Player” and “How to Help Your Kid Succeed in Sports”. Former professional tennis player in his twenties, he is willing to share his experiences as a pro player and as a father to a successful tennis playing son. This is a story with a lot of ups & downs. Married with Mariana with two sons: Julian and Sebastian.

The buzzword most often associated with high performing teams is "chemistry". Chemistry is formed through connection, and at the heart of connection is communication.  Betsy understands that language is the most powerful tool we possess, and that elevating our communication skills gives us a competitive advantage in any arena. As a former coach with experience in DI, DII, DIII, and the WNBA Betsy utilizes her unique background with individuals ready to improve and teams of all kinds - from the locker room to the boardroom. As a facilitator and educator, people are her passion. In her role as "The Coaches' Coach", Betsy meets individuals where they are and supports the growth that they're looking to make. As a Communication Specialist, Betsy helps organizations improve communication effectiveness while working collaboratively to create positive change at all levels of team. Professional, playful, and with a talent for people-centric design, Betsy offers an experiential approach towards learning and development

Matt was introduced to the power of sport by a teacher who helped him use sports as a conduit to self-actualization. He have spent the last 25 years learning, coaching, mentoring, and experiencing the positive impact sport can have on lives. He is Guinness World record holder fastest bike relay across Canada-2007 & TEDx Stanley Park Speaker 2015. Executive Producer of “No Running” Documentary 2016 & “The Cost of Winning” Documentary 2017 He has also presented to the NHL / PGA / Project Play / USOPC / Norwegian Sport Federation and a handful of National, Provincial & Local sport organizations in Canada Overview 0:00     Podcast intro 2:30     Introducing Matt Young 6:15     It begun with free play and good quality physical movements from educated teachers. 10:15   Operation manual for actioning athlete development (not technical & tactical development). A discussion about behavior change, culture, values, accountability, and intentionality amongst a myriad of important aspects. 29:05   Let’s ta

Despite the odds being stacked against Allon, he was determined to change his fate. From a struggling kid, with various disabilities, to fulfilling a childhood dream and managing some of the world’s best tennis players, Allon put his career success down to developing the mental toughness and passion he saw from tennis players, from a young age. He also realized that it is mental toughness that separates the world’s best players from everyone else and it allows them to pursue ambitious goals whilst keeping their mental sanity in place. Allon managed three world #1 tennis players, including Novak Djokovic. He organized his own professional ATP tennis events in three countries that attracted the likes of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. He has been a Member of the ATP Council and have witnessed firsthand the evolution of professional tennis over the last ten years. Overview: 3:20     Introduction 6:15     Metal Toughness eBook and Allon’s journey when his father starting his first World class tennis tourname

VJ Stanley was a three-sport varsity athlete in high school and won the school’s first ever Leadership Award. As an athlete, VJ won the high school hockey league scoring title as a junior and was a First All-Star Selection. In his senior year, he received Second All-Star Honors and also played junior hockey for the Rochester Monarchs. He went on to play hockey at Clarkson University, where he sustained two concussions in one week, which ended his career after only one game. VJ founded Balanced Excellence as an answer to his family's and friends’ constant questions about the stress associated with their children's participation in youth sports. 3:20     Introduction 4:30     VJ’s sporting background as a player of all sports and coach. He talks about the journey of founding Balanced Excellence.  7:30     The story behind “Frozen Shorts”. 10:40   VJ’s first book “Stop the Tsunami in youth sport” 15:00   VJ’s 3 key points in the youth sport world. 18:55   I can do it myself! Children want to own their own journe

Joel Franco is using his passion in film making in producing a documentary about youth sport “Where our children play”. Three out of four American families with school-aged children have at least one playing an organized sport — that's a total of about 45 million kids. By age 15, as many as 80% of these youngsters have quit. The documentary intends to shed new light, perspective and expose the truth to ensure that all those involved in youth sports can join hands and work as one to return youth sports to the children. 47:12   min episode 04:12   Introducing Joel Franco and his background in coaching 06:20   What experiences prompted Joel to produce the documentary? 09:15   This is Joel’s approach to the documentary 15:30   This is what Joel has learned so far 24:29   greatest challenges in US youth sport 28:40   Its okay to let the children choose sport 30:50   Sound of music of youth sport 38:00   About the project  

Mark O’Sullivan is a UEFA A licensed coach and is head of youth development for 8-12 at AIK in Stockholm, Sweden and is part of their Research and Development department. Mark is currently doing PhD Research Sheffield Hallam University, UK, which centers around designing learning environments in youth football. Mark has also worked as a consultant for the Canadian FA (2017) helping them to develop their new coach education program. He regularly holds lectures, talks and practical sessions around the world. Not just confined to soccer Mark has collaborated with coaches in Basketball, handball, floorball, figure skating and ice hockey. If you want to read Mark’s own personal insights then just go to his Blog: https://footblogball.wordpress.com Overview: 107:23 Min episode 3:20     Introduction 5:38     Referring to a previous question to Richard Bailey, if there is a conflict between how children learn and how modern youth sports elite programs are carried out that is causing an imbalance? 19:20   How can we pr

The sports world is a high-pressure environment, Richard’s skills and experience mean he is able to probe the tough issues and challenges parents and coaches face, without being judge mental or pushy. He delivered parent engagement strategy support, sports-parent meetings and coaches CPD on working with parents for: Three National Governing Bodies; (England Rugby U18 Boys & Girls, England Hockey U16 & U18 Boys and Girls and England Cricket Board) A number of the UK’s top professional sports teams in their academy system (Including Saracens, Essex County Cricket, Newcastle Falcons & Somerset County Cricket.) The country's top independent schools, (Including Millfield and Millfield Prep & Trinity Croydon.) 20 years of working with parent's which, includes: Worked as a youth worker for the local authority Delivered numerous parenting courses for the local authority Provided one-to-one parenting support for multiple statutory agencies Lectured at several universities, teaching trainee social wo

Mikael Wallsbeck have a European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology, from Högskolan in Halmstad. He is also educated in psychotherapy in cognitive behavior therapeutic direction. Mikael has been working as a leader with experience of working with children and adolescence, specifically with LSS (Australian equivalent to NDIA, National Disability Insurance Agency) Today, he works with Gefle IF in football and Swedish Para Table Tennis Team. He also works with students in sports psychology at GIH (Gymnastik och idrottshögskolan in Stockholm). His team at the company Imagine That, work with many organizations, both corporate and sports to many to mention now. He, together with Fredrik Weibull run a podcast Hjarnskrynklarna. So, we got a lot to talk about. 02:58   Introduction to Mikal Wallsbeck 05:30   Mikael talks about his background in ice hockey and about an incident, he later analysed he study sports psychology. 12:16   The environment outside sport affects performance. How does a coach and parent take

Born in Argentina, Marcos Flores, had a great career in professional football in Union de Santa Fe between 2001 and 2003 where he began his professional career, then Newell’s Old Boys and he also played in Curico Unido. He signed for the A-League club Adelaide United in Australia, where he achieved the player of the year in 2011 (Johnny Warren Medal). Marcos has also been in the USA, to help develop football at Jacksonville Armada. Over 16 years as a pro player, Marcos played in Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Indonesia & USA. In the 2019 season, he captained Adelaide City (National Premier League, Adelaide), but I will spend most of the time talking about his passion for helping young players grow in the sport of football (soccer). 02:25   Introduction to Marcos Flores and how he settled in at Adelaide United as a young import in the A-League. 11:32   Marcos “A brief story” of how it began 18:17   First breakthrough to play a professional game. Success on the first touch, but then what? 26:22   Marco

Ben is a young football coach based in Brisbane, Australia. Just off the back on spending the last 9 months in Uganda, East Africa working at a football academy called Football for Good. Currently studying a masters at the Queensland University of Technology and the tutelage of Ian Renshaw and Brendan Moy. He runs a YouTube channel, ‘Opposite Direction’ making short educational videos about coaching and some theoretical ideas that may underpin coaching. Ben puts a lot of his understanding and knowledge down to the people he has connected with and been influenced by during his coaching journey. ‘I am because we are!’ Overview 03:15   Introduction and background 10:48   Ben talks about his experience in Uganda 15:30   With so many new terms and learning theories emerging in coaching, is one better than another? 21:00   Ecological psychology-Perception Action Coupling; a new emerging motor learning theory in line with Non-Linear Pedagogy. 26:30   Representative learning, what is it? 38:30   Human experience, doe

Player Development Project is an online learning platform and collaborative project designed to bring together top coaches and experts from around the world. PDP was founded to bridge the gap between research and practice as well as showcase the work of top practitioners from around the world of football and other sports. Their goal is to aggregate and create quality content supported by evidence and experience to help coaches create better environments for young players. Dave is a UEFA A licensed coach (through The FA) and has17 years coaching experience, including the last 7 years at professional academies in London and Melbourne at Brentford FC, Fulham FC and most recently with the U20s at Melbourne Victory FC. 54:56   min episode Overview: 02:35   Who is Dave Wright and how could a New Zealander end up coaching EPL Academy level football at Fulham FC? 07:48   Speed, Intensity and Quality in UK made Dave think “Man-how am I going to be good enough to test these players and create challenging sessions for t

Hall of Famer & mother of 8, Joey Peters has 110 caps for Matilda’s, including 3 World Cups (’99, ’03 & ’07) & One Olympic Games (2004) and she scored 28 goals for the Matilda’s.  She played in USA, Brazil, and my birth country Sweden Retired from pro football ’09 and continued as a Development Coach for International Football School for 6 years on the Central Coast Joey study at AIS, she has FFA/FIFA A-Lic and you see her on SBS as a football analyst. But in this podcast, we discuss the important work she does with Game Play Learn. “Design the game-Let them play-Watch them learn 60:25   min episode Overview: 02:15   In the introduction, Joey Peters talks about how the professional background, she played in, didn’t work for her as a coach. After frustration and stress, she saw the light and developed Game Play Learn, a model based on Swedish Spela Leka Lär 10:15         Needed to change the way she coached to be more “chilled” and let them have more fun and focus more on the enjoyment. Suddenly, s

Reed Maltbie does not really need an introduction, he is a Mentor in youth sport and coaching. With two Masters degrees, one in Early Childhood Learning & one in Sports Psychology, Reed understand children and what is going on in their brains while growing up to become adults. He is the Creator of “Coaching code” podcast & Raising Excellence, He did the TEDx talk “Echoes beyond the game” which is a must watch if you are a coach or parent. Co-Creator of Positive Discipline Tools for Coaches with Dr. Jane Nelson and Cofounder of the brilliant GO! Raise Excellence Think Tank to improve youth sport with Ruth Nicholson. He is also one of the Coaching Mentors with Player Development Project here in Australia. I can go on, but let’s hear it directly from him. Apply this to your coaching and your athletes will soar. 47:30   min episode Overview: 02:15   Reed Maltbie brief bio and explains his current projects; Positive Discipline Tools for Coaches, helping coaches communicate better with young athletes &

Sports Mum of 8, Outreach Coordinator at MVP Leadership Academy and owner and founder at Sports Mom Essentials. Stacie run her own podcast “Eating curve balls for breakfast” 50:08   min episode Overview: 2:10     Introducing Stacie Mahoe 4:00     Stacey’s story is amazing referring to her 8 teachers and      how she has seen families falling apart from their children’s sport. 7:45     Do we know what the parents and kids are going through outside their sport, and how can we reach out and support them better? 10:45   Tracey talks about some of the solutions, including Listen, Understand & Validate from Jerry Lynch book “Let the Play” 19:45   This is one way to get kids to buy into the training. 28:00   Stacey is travelling and help parents and children all around the USA, I asked her what her seminars are about, you really like what she said. 41:15   Talking about some of the future challenges in youth sport. Why the rush to perfection? 45:00   Tough Team Challenge starting 48:30   Closing Book references:

Richard is a young (26years old), passionate and innovative coach from North Wales, UK. He continually strives to improve his level of knowledge working within a sporting environment in an attempt to fulfill individual(s) potential. With 7 Years of coaching experience, working an array of ages (U6 > Seniors), and abilities, cultures and backgrounds, he takes pride in developing and maintaining relationship with parents & players, creating a positive environment for those participating. UEFA B (Youth and Senior) & USSF Licensed Soccer Coach  FE PGCE (Graduating this month-June 2019) & Health and Well-being Coordinator Teaching Assistant at Cae Top Primary School & Bodedern High School. More recently a development coordinator at local academy season 2018/19. He also coached professionally in USA.   59:12   min episode Overview: 02:00   Introduction to Richard Cashman 05:10   Richard reflects on his young background and his experience in USA. 14:43   Sometimes when you ask a parent of what they w

Gordon MacLelland set up ‘Working with Parents in Sport’ after 20 years as a teacher and as a coach for all age levels from 7-year olds to Adults. He has a BA/Hons degree in Sports Science from University College Chester and a PGCE from Lancaster University. He is the author of two books, ‘Great Sports Parenting’ – A pocket guide for parents of children in sport and ‘Engage’ – A coaches guide to building positive relationships with parents. His organisation currently works with 7 National Governing Bodies across a wide range of sports, clubs and schools of all sizes and the Little Athletics Franchise in NSW, Australia. Darren Wensor, Head of Coach & Volunteer Development with Little Athletics NSW. Darren has twenty-five years of experience working full-time in sports development and coach education, and he is in his 30th year of coaching/teaching experience. Darren has authored/contributed to numerous sports-related articles, books, journals, manuals, support resources and coach education course outlines.

Ruth Nicholson is an internationally-certified professional facilitator, mediator, and organizational alchemist. She specializes in helping clubs design board processes and club operations to provide more effective support to coaches, teams, and players.  Ruth is also the co-creator of the 2019 GO! Chase Excellence Think Tank to Improve Youth Sports which engaged nearly 200 people from two dozen sports. The online event offered more than 80 solution-focused sessions and 61 speakers from five continents. In 2018, Ruth was one of four national finalists in for the Innovator of the Year award in the US, based on her development of the GO! Resource and training platform. GO! Offers youth sports organizations proven governance, leadership, and administrative tools. Since its launch in mid-2017, Ruth has fielded inquiries and worked with coaches, clubs, associations, and leagues in 19 North American states and provinces, as well as others in Europe, South America, Africa and Australia. 60:15 min episode Overview: 2

Glen Mulcahy is a professional speaker & coach, mentor with a down to earth flair who shares his knowledge from a lifetime of involvement in multiple sports as athlete, coach and parent. Glen is passionate about sharing what he has learned to “bring the game back to the kids”, while leading others to do the same Glen grew up playing multiple sports across Canada and played on provincial winning teams in Hockey, Football and Rugby. He is a graduate and now a mentor of the University of British Columbia’s Kinesiology Program. Soon after he graduated from UBC he started coaching, and he has now coached men, women, boys and girls in slow-pitch, hockey, baseball, softball, rugby and ball hockey for over 2 decades. His various hats in the youth sports space include; • Founder and CEO, PARADIGM Sports • Executive Director, For the Love of the Game • Canadian Speaker for Changing the Game Project • Member of the Quality Coaching Collective • Hockey Canada NCCP Facilitator and Regional Evaluation Coordinator for B

Janis is a family coach for all families, but has extensive experience coaching families with children who play sports. She was a coach's wife for 29 years, a sports mom for 21 years, and is now a mom to two coaches, and a mother-in-law to one. She loves to see families thrive through all their seasons, in and out of youth sports. You can learn a lot more on Janis website www.rcfamilies.com Overview of our conversation 0:00   Introduction to the show & Janis Meredith 5:00   Started being involved in youth sport at the beginning of her marriage. This led to family coaching. 9:28   Kids leaving sport as they feel a lot of pressure. They also find easier, more fun alternative activities in a digital culture. 14:30 We are raising champion human beings, not just athletes. 18:00 Frustrations in youth sport-how it changes from just fun at early ages to high expectations as they grow older. 28:15 How serious should parents take their children’s sport? 35:00 How do parents navigate through so many challenges in sp