**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives and other major sports figures who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Annette Lynch ([@SpecialOlympics](https://twitter.com/SpecialOlympics)), member of the PCA National Advisory Board and Senior Manager of Coaching Excellence & Sport Education for the Special Olympics North America (SONA). Lynch has previously served as a player on the USA Women’s Basketball Team, a basketball director for Special Olympics, Inc., Vice President of Special Olympics Maryland, Director of Education and Membership Services for the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA), and a coach for nearly every level of sport.

Tina Syer ([@tinasyer4](https://twitter.com/tinasyer4)), Former PCA President, gets Lynch's take on women’s involvement in sports and the benefits of unified play with people who have intellectual/psychical disabilities. Lynch also discusses the evolution of women in sport since she was an athlete. This interview is filled with insights on player development, the fear of disability, unified sports, player behavior, and more.

Lynch talks at length about the Special Olympics and how sports can affect athletes with disabilities. The key thing for anyone to understand is that there are more similarities than differences between these athletes and others, but they learn differently. They receive the same physical, emotional, and social benefits as anyone else involved in sport. Most importantly, having unified sports can help these athletes transition to their communities because, “There are rules in sport [and] there are rules in life.”

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2).

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives, and other major sports figures and academics who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Mark Hyman ([@sportsparents](https://twitter.com/sportsparents)), a faculty member at the George Washington University School of Business and teacher in the Sports Management Program. He has been writing about youth sports for 10 years, publishing 3 books. His writings have also been published in sources such as The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and TIMES.com.

Jim Thompson ([@JimThompson18](https://twitter.com/JimThompson18)), PCA Founder, talks to Hyman about how his experience writing about youth sports opened his eyes to the dysfunction behind youth sports, the roles of parents in youth sports, and the reality of high school athletes playing in college.

Hyman examines the truth that youth sports is a controversial topic because they can create irreplaceable, positive memories, as well as negative problems for aspiring athletes. He is an advocate for competitive youth sports and believes sports are a wonderful thing for kids to participate in. Problems arise once sports reflect the interest of the adults, rather than the kids, involved.

Thompson and Hyman also discuss how there is a lot more hope that is sold rather than delivered within sports. Roughly 5% of high school varsity athletes will play college sports, amongst all the divisions. It is tough to deal with this reality as a parent, especially when they are “programmed to see greatness in [their] kids.”

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2).

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives and other major sports figures who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Dan Coyle ([@DanielCoyle](https://twitter.com/danielcoyle)), former youth baseball coach and New York Times bestselling author for works such as *The Talent Code* and *Hardball: A Season in the Projects*. Coyle joined the PCA National Advisory Board in 2015.

Jim Thompson ([@JimThompson18](https://twitter.com/JimThompson18)), PCA Founder, talks to Coyle about how his writing changed how he felt about coaching, the different set of skills a coach needs to have, and why coaches need to be enthusiastic about the process of struggling.

Coyle talks about his realization that coaching goes beyond a sense of humor and a few ideas: it is about building skills and connecting human beings to a team. Coaches need to master hard skills that require muscle memory like swinging a baseball bat, and soft skills like recognizing patterns and reactions. Coyle also emphasized how coaches need to design spaces that allow players to function at the best of their ability and fail forward. Even though coaches have an overwhelming job, but they also have the power to become an important figure in their players’ lives, so it is important for them to understand the depth of their craft.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)

**[Click here for a transcript of this interview](http://positivecoach.org/media/237066/dancoyle_transcript.pdf)**

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives and other major sports figures who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Ted Leland, current VP of External Relations and Athletics for University of the Pacific, former Athletic Director for Dartmouth and Stanford University, and PCA National Advisory Board Member.

Jim Thompson ([@JimThompson18](https://twitter.com/JimThompson18)), PCA Founder, talks to Leland about the importance of relationships between players and coaches, the effectiveness of joy on performance, the significance of inspiring athletes, the need for a stronger presence of girls and women in sports, and his involvement with PCA.

Leland talks about how his experience as both a coach and Athletic Director exposed him to how crucial it is to construct a positive environment for athletes, determining about 80%-90% of their behavior. His belief in this influenced him to get involved with PCA because sport participation can be beneficial to social and character development in children. An effective sport climate inspires athletes to work hard, increase their self-efficacy, and believe that they can be successful. Leland also discusses the challenges associated with the lack of women in sport and how that has affected female athletes.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives, and other major sports figures and academics who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Jay Bilas ([@JayBilas](https://twitter.com/JayBilas?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)), a top college basketball TV analyst, widely known for his incisive and insightful work for ESPN. He played on the first Duke University team that legendary Coach Mike Krzyzewski led to the Final Four in 1986, earned a law degree and authored the book *Toughness*.

David Jacobson, PCA's Senior Marketing Communications and Content Manager, discusses with Bilas what he learned about the concept and definitions of toughness while writing his book. Toughness emerges as an intangible and a character trait, often forged by adversity and exhibited in the way one handles adversity.

In a poignant moment, Bilas says he wished he knew at age 16 what he learned about toughness while writing the book... a sign that his remarks in this podcast could be essential listening for student-athletes. He also talks about what he learned from Coach K in terms of character.

Finally, Bilas assesses the landscape of youth basketball and how the business of the sport, including the NCAA's role, has impacted development of youth as players and people.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)

JrNBA

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives and other major sports figures who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features David Epstein ([@DavidEpstein](https://twitter.com/DavidEpstein)), an investigative reporter at ProPublica and the author of the New York Times bestselling book *The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance*, published in 2013. He was previously a senior writer at Sports Illustrated.

Jim Thompson ([@JimThompson18](https://twitter.com/JimThompson18)), PCA Founder, talks to Epstein about the most effective skill and life development pathways, losing out on life lessons due to early specialization, how joy and effort impact performance, the importance of implicit learning from a coach, and how early specialization and over-training backfire as kids get older.

Epstein talks about how some of the world's greatest athletes did not start playing until their teenage years, such as recent World Cup Champion German soccer players, Kansas City Royals Star Lorenzo Cain, and former NBA great Steve Nash. While the sports media doesn't talk about this much, Epstein urges a discussion on the way top athletes avoided specializing and therefore didn't burnout. Playing multiple sports as a youth athlete is better for long-term growth and allows kids to have fun, worry less about mistakes, and bring more effort to the table to elevate their performance.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives, and other major sports figures and academics who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Johns Hopkins University Women's Lacrosse ([@HopkinsLacrosse](https://twitter.com/hopkinslacrosse)) Coach Janine Tucker. A five-time IWLCA Regional Coach of the Year, Tucker is the all-time winningest coach at Johns Hopkins.

Tina Syer ([@tinasyer4](https://twitter.com/tinasyer4)), PCA's former President, talks to Tucker about her evolution as a coach, starting with her multi-sport youth, during which her father coached her. A key piece of advice he imparted: look for "truth-tellers," coaches and others who tell you what you *need* to hear, not what you *want* to hear. Now, she says, she strives to be that truth-teller for her athletes.

Tucker's coaching evolution entailed her learning how to be more demanding, realizing that it is a coach's job to help players improve as athletes and as people. She addresses the importance of athletes' body language and tone of voice.

Other key topics and concepts explored include: the coach's role in guiding players' use of social media; working with players' parents -- realizing that they express concerns out of love for their children, but that ultimately the coach must own those conversations; recruiting players who are "sweethearts off the field and pit bulls on the field;" and her preference for players with multi-sport backgrounds, rather than those who specialize too early.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives, and other major sports figures and academics who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Bob McKillop, the head basketball coach at Davidson College ([@DavidsonMBB](https://twitter.com/DavidsonMBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)), most well-known for the Stephen Curry-led team that reached the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. His record at Davidson since taking the helm in 1989 through the 2014-2015 season is 495-299. However, there is much more to McKillop than numbers reveal.

Jim Thompson ([@JimThompson18](https://twitter.com/JimThompson18)), PCA Founder, talks to McKillop on his core coaching values of Commitment, Trust and Caring. He emphasizes the importance of coaches *showing* they care for their players as people, and he provides some very specific advice on how to do so.

McKillop also emphasizes the power of allying with players' parents. While many in college sports decry the increasing role and influence of players' parents, McKillop sees a proactive, positive relationship with parents as key to his team's culture and their shared effort to develop players and people of character. He draws on his experience with Curry's parents, Sonya and Dell Curry, as an example.

Other important concepts explored here include coaching your own kids (as McKillop did with his son Matt, now an assistant coach for Davidson), and the "Next Play" mantra he "stole" from Coach K to help move his players past their mistakes and living and playing in the moment.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives, and other major sports figures and academics who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Shaun Tomson ([@ShaunTomson](https://twitter.com/shauntomson)) who had a 20-year professional surfing career, winning his first pro contest at age 17 and his last at 30, all the while at or near the top of the rankings for the Association of Surfing Professionals tour. He authored *Surfer’s Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding through Life* and produced of the award-winning documentary film *Bustin’ Down the Door.*

Sonja DeWitt, PCA Senior Trainer Manager and avid surfer, talks to Tomson about his father's influence in helping him become a surfer, but more importantly in developing a sense of character and honor that shaped Tomson's competitive behavior and post-career activities.

He speaks to tens of thousands of youth each year, guiding many of them through replications of his own "12 Simple Lessons" that involve writing down 12 "I will..." statements. His commitment to this practice stems from his belief that "the responsibility of an athlete is to inspire -- you inspire by your performance and you also inspire by your behavior and how you treat others."

Tomson explains how the balance of two Greek concepts *telos* (purpose) and *ethos* are critical to development of youth.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives, and other major sports figures and academics who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.**

This 1-on-1 interview features Jon Gordon ([@JonGordon11](https://twitter.com/jongordon11)), a best-selling author and keynote speaker, known for such titles as *The Energy Bus*, *The No Complaining Rule*, and *Soup*. His latest book is *The Carpenter* and his next book is a collaboration with former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith. He played lacrosse for Cornell University and brings his athletic experience to his insights on coaching, team-building and parenting.

Jim Thompson ([@JimThompson18](https://twitter/com/JimThompson18)), PCA Founder, talks to Gordon on such topics as the relative role of heart and head in coaching and team-building and how players sense their coach's caring. "If your team knows you love and care about them, they will let you push them."

Although positivity infuses all of Gordon's work, he says, "I’m not naturally positive. I have to work really hard at it." His talk of parenting here acknowledges he had to overcome his conditioning toward earning praise as an athlete in order to provide his own children with unconditional love.

Other gems include a metaphorical discussion of the "root and the fruit of the tree." Applied to coaching, that is a reminder not to focus overly on results (the fruit) at the expense of developing players and people (the "root" of the "tree" that eventually produces "fruit"). Gordon and Thompson also touch on the "energy vampires" concept from Gordon's books, the power of prayer and everyone from Billy Donovan to Mother Teresa.

Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2)