A Coach's Perspective

In episode 186, we hosted a panel of local broadcast legends: Tom Mast, Ray Meyer, and Corey Riggs made for an exceptional team tonight as we flashbacked to our recent Sports 101 series and recapped all of our guests that made this series so fun and enjoyable to cover. My thanks to all of those guests as we wish them the best of luck in their future seasons.

We then shifted to professional sports and took a pause to recap all that has been going on for the last couple of weeks. We covered the Stanley Cup Tampa Bay National Hockey League Champions. We then went to the diamond and discussed the Major League Baseball playoffs. Then we hit the hardwood and recapped the seasons of the National Basketball Association and the Women’s National Basketball Association. After that, onto the turf to tackle the current National Football League. Whew! Did you keep up with all of that? We had a lot of fun and I appreciated my guests and their perspectives!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

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Episode 185: We continued our series of lesser known sports that are growing in popularity. So far, we have covered Pickleball, Horseshoe Pitching, Speed Golf, and Extreme Races, Disc Golf, Archery, Dodgeball, Trap Shooting/Shotgun Sports, Bass Fishing, eSports and Ultimate. In this episode we “switched gears” and had a tremendous time speaking about Bicycle Motocross (BMX) with multiple state champion and professional racer Austin McKan. We also spoke about Motocross and hosted multiple state champion and national champion racer Matt Hannah.

Both of our guests advocated for the growth of these sports and educated us on the thrilling competition and adrenaline rush that fuels its racers. Thank you to both of these athletes for sharing their perspective on their sports and passions!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective

Episode 184: We continued our series of lesser known sports that are growing in popularity. So far, we have covered Pickleball, Horseshoe Pitching, Speed Golf, and Extreme Races, Disc Golf, Archery, Dodgeball, Trap Shooting/Shotgun Sports, and Ultimate. In this episode – wow! We spoke about two very cool sports, very different in nature, but parallel with each other in the benefits they are giving our youth. Both, lifetime sports, they are growing in popularity and we were honored to cover them in our series.

We started the show on eSports, true, I thought we were going to talk about Frogger, Pac Man and Galactica, but I was way off! I am, of course, kidding. These sports have evolved tremendously, and my guest did an excellent job advocating for the benefits of this sport. Drury University eSports coach, Mike Jones, was very thorough in his overview of eSports and what they represent. This sport gives an opportunity to youth to represent their school and community and Coach Jones has done a tremendous job advocating for the sport nationwide. Check out Drury eSports for more information.

We then cast off to the seas! Actually, more like lakes and rivers, where bass fish live. The sport of Bass Fishing is the fastest growing youth sport in the country and there is not a stronger advocate on involving kids in the sport than J.P. Sell. He has done an inspiring job on educating and supporting this sport and it is impressive how he reaches out to all populations and encourages them to take that “cast of a lifetime”, we appreciate all he has done to support kids in our community. For ways to get involved and support these programs, visit: NationalYouthFishingAssociation.

We will conclude this series next week! Email the sport you want covered to [email protected]!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective

What? Yes! Episode 183! We continued our series of lesser known sports that are growing in popularity. So far, we have covered Pickleball, Horseshoe Pitching, Speed Golf, and Extreme Races, Disc Golf, Archery and Ultimate. We aren’t dodging any sports in this series…that’s why we started off with the intense and competitive sport of Dodgeball! This energetic sport of throwing, catching and dodging has grown in popularity throughout the country. One of the most effective and productive advocates of the game is the President of the National Dodgeball League and USA Dodgeball participant Ed Prentiss as he joined us and educated us on the basics, safety and competitions of dodgeball. Tremendous information! Visit Dodgeball for more information.

We also spoke with Coach Kevin Boyer about high school Trap Shooting and college Shotgun sports. As the leader of the national championship team from Logan-Rogersville and current Drury University coach, we learned how this sport has developed and grown over the years. It has provided several youths in our area a connection and opportunity, as Coach Boyer puts it, “to be a part of something bigger than themselves”. We learned the strategy and skills needed to be successful!

We will continue this series next week with Bass Fishing and eSports! Email the sport you want covered to [email protected]!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective

Welcome to episode #182! We continued our series of lesser known sports that are growing in popularity. So far, we have covered Pickleball, Horseshoe Pitching, Speed Golf, and Extreme Races, Disc Golf, and Ultimate. We aimed for the bulls eye this week and spoke with Missouri Department of Conversation Archery expert Warren Rose about the benefits of getting this sport into schools. Springfield Public Schools (SPS) started Archery and in no time has exploded the sport to now hosting over 900 athletes! Two big reasons, besides Warren Rose’s involvement…Theresa Miller and Susan Provance. Theresa and Susan have organized and implemented the Archery program at SPS, and the popularity has grown, along with providing all students interested a connection and opportunity to be involved.

We also spoke with the Executive Director of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA), Coach Denny Hunt about the state basketball coaches clinic that has a stellar line up this year. With over 1,000 coaches in their membership the MBCA has put together a four-day virtual clinic of multiple headlining coaches, along with panels on social justice, mentoring and a panel of MBCA Coaches of the Year.

We will continue this series next week with Dodgeball as we host Ed Prentiss, President of the National Dodgeball Association. Email the sport you want covered to [email protected]!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective

Episode #181! We continued our series of lesser known sports that are growing in popularity. So far, we have covered Pickleball, Horseshoe Pitching, Speed Golf, and Extreme Races. This week we started off with the expert in Disc Golf and had Russ Burns give us all of the information you would need to start this sport and be successful at it. From how to play, to tournaments all over the country, your one-stop shop is his website: discgolfmonkey.com – give it a try!

We then took the disc to another sport and explored Ultimate! This sport has been popular for decades and has continued to grow because of advocates like Neil Adams. Neil joined us, along with fellow high-level players Doug and Stephanie Jacobs as we explored the ins and outs of Ultimate. Get involved by checking out their Facebook page Springfield Ultimate.

Two more competitive and social lifelong sports that listeners were inspired to try were covered tonight. Get involved! Get out of your comfort zone! Try one, or two of these sports and enjoy being fit and competitive! Thank you to Russ Burns, Neil Adams, Doug and Stephanie Jacobs for sharing their valuable perspective.

We will continue this series next week with Dodgeball (yeah, that’s right!) and Cornhole! Email the sport you want covered to [email protected]!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective

Episode #180! Last week we kicked off a new series of lesser known sports that are growing in popularity. We covered Pickleball and Horseshoe Pitching. This week we started off with Horton Smith Golf Pro, Garrett Holt as he gave us the 101 information about the growing sport of Speed Golf! Combining endurance running and the finely tuned skill of golf, this combo sport has grown tremendously in popularity. Listen to learn all of the strategies and the mentality it takes to be successful.

We then discussed the extreme physical (some say crazy) events that require endurance running while completing wild and challenging obstacles. I am referring to Spartan Races, Warrior Dashes, and Tough Mudders just to name a few. Crawling through caves, jumping over fire, all another day at the office when you compete in these events. Amy Hietter joined us and helped us understand the picture of these courses along with the psychology of tackling and finishing these events.

The bonding force, socially and athletically, of both of these sports is evident and I challenge all of you to get out of your comfort zone and find your next adventure sport! Thank you to Garrett Holt and Amy Hietter for a fun hour and sharing your perspective.

We will continue this series for the next couple of weeks. Email the sport you want covered to [email protected]!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective

In episode #179, we are kicking off a new series of lesser known sports that are growing in popularity. We started the show learning all the ins and outs of Pickleball! Who better to learn about Pickleball than our own local, professional tour player, Coach Jarrod Smith! You may know him as the highly successful tennis coach at Drury University, but the Pickleball community considers him the regional expert. He gave a “101” lesson on how to play, how to score, and where you can get started. He motivated us all to give this sport a try!

We then hosted the talented horseshoe pitcher Mark Kiser and learned about the world of pitching. We learned the basics of the game and then about the strategy and skills needed to be champions from 15-time state champion, Stan Griggs, and 24-time world champion Alan Francis. This trio of knowledge left us inspired to learn more and give pitching a try!

We will continue this series for the next couple of weeks. Email the sport you want covered to [email protected]!

A Coach’s Perspective:

Tune in Wednesday night’s live from 6:00-7:00 pm on 99.9FM/96.9FM or on the Radio-Springfield app.

Listen at Previous Shows on the website acoachsperspective.com

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective

Episode 178: Had a great time celebrating the career of Dan Cashel Thank you to my “surprise” guests: Dr. Edsel Matthews, Dr. Nate Quinn, Coach Molly Miller, Ed Beach Amine Boustani, Mark Stratton and Barb Cowherd. Dan gave out gratitude for several years of working with wonderful people and is appreciative of his many experiences. He definitely left a lasting and impressionable mark on the sports world in our area. Missed the show? Tsk. Tsk, but we have you covered! Listen at www.acoachsperspective.com‬‬

Congratulations to Dan Cashel on a tremendous and impactful career at Drury University. Your influence has rippled through Drury and Springfield and beyond! Enjoy your retirement!

Next week, we are going to kick off a series learning about some lesser known sports and how they have been growing in popularity. Have one in mind? Email me at [email protected]

In episode #177, we welcomed best-selling author Kate T. Parker, author of “Play Like a Girl”, “The Heart of a Boy” and “Strong is the New Pretty”. She was full of energy and enthusiasm for the life lessons we can teach our youth through sports. A former collegiate athlete (Wake Forest Soccer), she has created motivational works from her writing and photography skills. She has been featured on ESPN W, the Today Show, Good Morning America, among others, and we were delighted to host her for the entire hour. This is a great motivational tool for athletes, coaches, officials, and parents. Check her work out at www.katetparker.com – it is very impressive!

Next week, we are going to celebrate the stellar and legendary, 46-year career, of Dan Cashel. Recently retired from Drury University, this multi-talent human champion has had many roles through the years and impacted many lives. Tune in to celebrate his career and learn a lot about sports history in Springfield, Missouri as he traveled through lots of changes during his time. We might also have some surprise guests…. Tune in Wednesday night’s 6:00-7:00 pm.

Listen at https://www.acoachsperspective.com/new-page-2-2-1

Or on Apple iTunes Podcast under A Coach’s Perspective.

A Coach’s Perspective:

Live on Wednesday nights, 6:00-7:00 pm on the ESPN affiliate The Jock 96.9FM/99.9FM/1060AM/RadioSpringfieldApp.

Like-Facebook: @CoachJeniHopkins

Follow-Twitter: @coachhopkins987

Subscribe-Website: acoachsperspective.com

Subscribe-Apple iTunes Podcast: A Coach’s Perspective