Game Changers: Incredible Stories of Resilience in Sports

Welcome to Season Two of the Game Changers Podcast.  This week I am the Host and the Guest and I'm breaking down some of the things that I have learned in my first season with this Podcast.  I'm talking about the Top 10 Mental Fitness Hacks—the game-changing tools that help athletes and coaches sharpen their edge, strengthen their mindset, and elevate their performance.

I will briefly cover things like how to communicate better, build trust between coaches and athletes, and overcome the fear of failure—because confidence isn’t built on perfection; it’s built on resilience. I’ll also talk about what it really means to have a winning mindset and why there’s a difference between working hard and truly competing at the highest level.

And for those athletes who’ve never missed a meal, we’ll explore how to coach hunger—not just the kind that fills your stomach, but the kind that fuels your drive to be great.

Whether you’re an athlete looking for a mental edge or a coach searching for new ways to inspire your team, this episode has some insights that will challenge the way you think about performance.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

Réka Gyorgy is not just an incredible swimmer; she’s a trailblazer. As a Hungarian Olympian who competed in Rio 2016 and a standout collegiate athlete at Virginia Tech, she’s a 2-time ACC Champion, 2-time All-American, and 7-time Honorable Mention All-American. Now, as Virginia Tech’s Director of Operations, she’s channeling her passion for the sport into leadership.

But what truly sets Réka apart is her courage. She was the first collegiate athlete to publicly challenge the NCAA’s policy on transgender athletes, calling for transparency and fairness in college sports. Her leadership sparked a movement, and she’s now part of a group of former and current athletes suing the NCAA and Georgia Tech over these policies.

Tune in to hear Réka’s powerful story of resilience and advocacy.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

This week, I have a really special guest on the Game Changers podcast, someone with a deep connection to basketball history and a very unique perspective on the game. KC Jones III or Kip was an exceptional high school basketball player at Andover High School here in MA where he was the Merrimack Valley Most Valuable Player in 1981 and ended his career with a 24-1 season losing only to CRL and Patrick Ewing.  He then went on to play at Bentley College where he was a captain in 1984-85, the Most Improved Player in 1983 and an all-conference second team selection in 84. He participated in the Boston Celtics rookie camp his junior year. He is now a hotel executive and also a coach at the Red Auerbach Basketball Camp.

What gives Kip an even more interesting perspective is that he is the son of KC Jones an 8-time NBA Champion, 2 time NCAA champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist and a Naismith Hall of Famer as a player and NCAA Hall of Famer as a coach. Basketball is in their blood.  

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

This week is such a fun show for me because I’m talking to basketball great Bobby Martin whose story is filled with highs and lows that showcase his unwavering spirit and great perspective on the game of basketball. Out of high school, Martin was a McDonalds All-American, Street & Smith All-American and was a member of the Nation’s best recruiting class of 1987.

Bobby went on to play at Pitt where he was a 3 year starter and finished 17th on the Pitt scoring list with 1,282 career points, 775 rebounds and 109 blocked shots. 
In 1993, he was a member Team USA’s gold medal winning team at the FIBA Americas Championship. Bobby went on to have a successful 16 year professional career where he won the CBA Championship in 1994 and was named to the CBA All-Defensive Team.  He then played in the Liga ACB in Spain where he was named as one of the top rebounders in ACB history by Solobasket.com

Bobby is a husband and father of 3 children and is now the founder of BMB Training where he works with players of all ages on player development.  

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

This week's guest is one of the very few female coaches coaching in the National Basketball Association (NBA).  Jenny Boucek is the Indiana Pacers Assistant Coach.  For those of you who don’t know her – Jenny is highly respected basketball coach with a rich history in both the WNBA and NBA. Known for her strategic mind and deep understanding of the game, Jenny has made a significant impact in the world of basketball. 
She played college basketball at the University of Virginia, where she helped lead her team to three NCAA Tournaments and a Final Four appearance.  She also played in the WNBA in the inaugural season in 1997 and over-seas where she was the Icelandic Champion and the Ur-val-stead Foreign Player of the Year in 1998. After her playing career, she transitioned into coaching for several teams in the WNBA.  In 2017, she become an Assistant Coach in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings.  She has also coached for the Dallas Mavericks and has been with the Indiana Pacers since 2021. 

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

Continuing The Legends Coaching Series - University of North Carolina’s Women’s Lacrosse coach since the program’s inception in 1994, Jenny Levy.  Coach Levy has won 4 National Titles at UNC (including this year in 2025) and a National Title at University of Virginia as a player - making her only the 4th person to both play on and coach a national championship women's lacrosse team. She has twice been named the National Coach of the Year and was also named as the head coach of the US women's national lacrosse team in 2017.  She is also one of very few Mother-Daughter duos to win a National Championship.
She was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2021.  As a player, she was a first-team All American and the 1992 NCAA Attacker of the Year.  She was named as one of the top 50 players in ACC history in 2002. 

Jenny’s husband and three children are/were all collegiate lacrosse players at University of North Carolina.  Listen in to hear about Jenny Levy's incredible journey including why "Confidence Looks Good on Them" and "How Champions Adapt."
 

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

Brenda Frese is a legendary basketball coach at the University of Maryland where she has been coaching since 2002.  Frese led her to team to win the National Championship in 2006 beating Duke in over-time at the Boston Garden.  She was voted AP National Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2021, ACC Coach of the Year in 2013, Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2002, 2015, 2019, and 2021, and MAC Coach of the Year in 2000. At Maryland, she's coached four ACC Players of the Year and four ACC Freshmen of the Year. 
As a player, she was an Honorable Mention All-American and Iowa state champion (playing with her sister) in 1988. 
Her coaching career officially started as an assistant at Kent State and Iowa State and then as head coach at Ball State where in her very first game as a head coach, she led Ball State to an upset win over Minnesota. Less than two years later, Minnesota hired Frese as their new head coach. During her 2001–02 season at Minnesota, she led a one-year turnaround of 8–20 to 22–8, one of the biggest in NCAA history.  

Listen in as she talks about her incredible journey and what it takes to stay in the game and find joy after all these years.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

JR was an exceptional 3 sport athlete (hockey, football, baseball) in high school at Cushing Academy and then played Division 1 hockey at the College of the Holy Cross.  JR grew up in a hockey family.  His father was a high school hockey coach for 25+ years, his brother played college hockey and his other brother played in college, the NHL and the 2018 Olympics.  Upon college graduation, JR began a very successful tech sales career in Boston. JR is now the Founder and CEO of a company called the Shift Group that trains and connects former athletes and military veterans with meaningful employment opportunities. But, like all of my guests on the Game Changers podcast, the road has been very windy.  JR struggled after his hockey career ended and now he has committed himself to leading others into fulfilling careers. 

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

Pete Bidstrup was an incredible college lacrosse player at Franklin Marshall College in Pennsylvania and then went on to become a legendary high school lacrosse coach at Governors Academy in Massachusetts for 22 years.  He is the father of two college lacrosse players – his daughter at Williams and son at Harvard.  He was an All American at Franklin Marshall, inducted into their Hall of Fame and a Centennial Conference’s All Century Team member.  At Governors Academy he coached his team to  8 ISL league titles and thousands of hours of development and JOY on the lacrosse field.  His stories are both entertaining, moving and inspiring.  

He is now a certified trainer in the Mindful Sports Performance Enhancement Coach and a member of the Association of Leadership Educators. His clients include high school, college and professional athletes as well as  NCAA Championship level teams and corporate leaders.  He is the founder of Integrative Coach and the creator of the HRB – Human Reset Bracelet.  Don't miss all of the wisdom that he passes along to coaches and athletes alike in this episode of the Game Changers.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories. 

Owen Reid comes to us all the way from Singapore. He is an international baseball coach that has coached players from more than 20 countries on 5 continents.  He was a former college pitcher at Baylor and Winthrop Universities and prior to that was a stand-out player in Moberly, Missouri when he set numerous high school records.  In addition to many high school accolades, he was chosen to the Columbia Daily Tribune’s All-Decade Team for 2001 - 2010.  
After college, Reid played in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.  He was then the Player Development Manager for Baseball Western Australia and the Australian Baseball League’s Perth Heat where he was a part of 3 ABL Championships.  He has worked for Team Australia and the Singapore Senior National Team amongst many others.  
Listen in as he passes along some great baseball advice and more importantly life lessons that were learned on the baseball diamond all across the Globe.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Game Changers. We hope you found inspiration and motivation in the stories of resilience and adversity shared by our incredible guests. Remember, no matter what challenges you face, your ability to overcome them lies within. Stay resilient and keep pushing forward towards your goals. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with others who may benefit from these powerful stories.