Behind the Dream

Bruce MacLarty is widely considered to be the worlds best Polocrosse coach, and when you look at his win record, he is certainly one of the most successful coaches around across all sports. He has lead South Africa to back to back World Cup titles as well as multiple international series wins over the 8 year period he has been in charge of the national side. 

In this episode Bruce talks about the psychology of a high performance team, his philosophy on creativity and practice and his love (or rather obsession) with continually finding new ways to improve and bring the best out of players and a team. An avid reader, Bruce draws inspiration from diverse people and situations, and talks about how he integrates these ideas into his own coaching style. 

"It was pure excitement" is how Lawerence Brittain describes the moment he and rowing partner Shaun Keeling realised they were going to win the silver medal in the Coxless Pair at the Rio Olympic Games. Fulfilling a childhood dream is exciting enough, but add to this the fact that Lawrence was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma just 2 years before the 2016 Games and you can begin to understand quite what that medal meant to him. 

In this episode Lawrence talks about the importance of perspective and mindset when facing life's challenges, and what kept him focused and motivated during the dark days of his cancer treatment. 

His love of life and obvious enjoyment of competing come though in all he does, and his story has valuable lessons for all of us as we face uncertain and difficult times. 

In this special, and quite harrowing episode, former elite South African gymnast Glenn Joselowitz courageously shares his story of sexual abuse by his coach when he was a young athlete, and how he ultimately found healing and peace.
It took Glenn many years to speak about what happened to him, but now freely tells his story in the hopes that it will help others that may have also gone through the same experience, and to highlight the need for better safeguarding policies within sport. 

Shaun Tomson is a true sporting legend. Not only has he been named as one of the 25 most influential surfers of the century and one of the top 10 greatest surfers of all time, he is also considered the architect of the modern professional surfer.  He is described at the ultimate stoked surfer, and when asked what gave him an edge on other competitors he says "I just loved it more".Over his 14 year professional career he became world champion, won 12 world tour events, and ended in the top 10 in the world most of those 14 years. 

Shaun is also an astute businessman, having founded two multi-million dollar clothing companies, is a best selling author, and is a board member of Surfrider Foundation, the world's largest environmental group dedicated to ocean conservation. 

In this episode we talk about the stoke, lessons learnt through surfing (and what it takes to ride the most dangerous waves in the world), and the transition out of pro surfing into the business world. 

[This episode was recorded with a howling Southwester wind outside so sound may be a bit sketchy at times - but is somehow appropriate as surf conditions the next day were beautiful thanks to the wind!]

Born in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, Odwa Ndungane and his twin brother Akona initially dreamt of a career in football, but went on to become the only twins ever to play for the Springboks. 

During his remarkable 17 year career, Odwa earned the reputation as one of the most professional, humble, hardest working and dependable players on the rugby field. After a difficult start at the Sharks when he wondered if he was on the right path, Odwa is now a member of an elite group of players with over 100 caps for the Sharks, and at the time of his retirement, was their most-capped Super Rugby player with 135 appearances. His Springbok debut came in 2008, and he earned 9 test caps.  

After retiring in 2017, Odwa applied the same focus and discipline he had on the field to life after rugby. He now owns his own construction business, and together with his brother, started the Ndungane Twins Foundation as a way to give hope and provide opportunity to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

In this episode he talks about his love of the game, what kept him motivated and focused during the difficult times, and how he prepared for life after rugby. 

Lancashire cricket captain Dane Vilas has had nothing short of an exceptional career - scoring over 15 000 runs (with a First Class high score of 266 and List A score of 166) and taking over 500 catches. However, the Johannesburg born wicket-keeper batsman has had his fair share of ups and downs. 

Being awarded the Newcomer of the Year in 2009, Dane was called up to the Protea squad in 2012, making his international debut in a T20 against India. But over the next three years he could never quite solidify his place in the national team.

Then in 2017 he made the decision to move the UK  - and what has followed has been an incredible display of his cricketing prowess. Joining Lancashire, in his first season Dane won no fewer than 3 club awards, including the coveted Player of the Year, scoring two double tons. He was named as captain in 2019, with Director of Cricket Paul Allott calling his leadership 'exceptional'. 

In this episode Dane talks about keeping grounded, his love of the game and how he is preparing for life after cricket one day. 

Olympic double gold medalist, and 14 x world record holder, Penny Heyns changed swimming history. However, success brings its own challenges, not least of which is coping with leaving the swimming world and adjusting to 'normal' life. In Part 2 of this episode, Penny talks about the process of how she found new purpose, meaning and identity when she got out the Olympic pool for the last time in Sydney. 

From growing up in the small coastal town of Amanzimtoti on the Kwa-Zulu Natal South Coast, Penny Heyns went on to re-write history in the swimming world. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games she became the first woman ever to win both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, she broke 14 world records in a 4 year period, and remains the only person ever to hold world records in all 3 breaststroke distances (50m, 100m & 200m) at the same time. 

After winning bronze at the Sydney 2000 Games, Penny retired from swimming and is now a business woman, international speaker and head of the FINA Athletes Committee. 

However, by her own admission, her journey has not been an easy one, and both during her career, and afterwards in life outside the pool, she has dealt with many ups and downs, not least of which was coping with the everything that comes with being an Olympic double gold medalist. 

In Part 1 of this 2 part episode she talks about what it took to reach the top of the Olympic podium. 

After making his first class debut in 1998, spinner Paul Harris went on to have a 15 year professional cricket career, taking over 100 wickets for South Africa (and close to 400 in domestic cricket) and was named Newcomer of the Year in 2007 by Cricket South Africa. 

Paul, by his own admission, was an intense competitor that loved the game and it was a big adjustment to 'normal' life when he decided to leave the game. He talks openly about the ups and downs of this transition, and has some good advice for young players. 

After playing for his home town club TPS Turku for 4 years, goalkeeper Peter Enckelman signed his first Premier League contract with Aston Villa. He went on to play for another 15 years at various clubs including Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City and St Johnstone FC, and  was also a member of the Finnish football team for 10 years. 

In this episode Peter talks about what drove him during his football career, gives an interesting perspective on the transition out of football,  and discusses how important it is to look after your mental health.