Who Are You: The Life Lessons of Sports

Max Prokopy addresses the serious problem athletes face when they follow the 10,000 hour rule, so famously written about by New York Times Best-Selling Author, Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Outliers".

Tony has lost people in his life to cancer, so this cause is very close to his heart. Tony makes a make a difference by carrying his fridge over long distances all over the world. He does so to promote the cause and to continue to raise money for the ongoing research for earlier detection, more effective treatments and ultimately a cure for cancer. "If you have lost somebody you love to cancer. If you are fighting cancer right now. If you have been affected by cancer in any way. Every step I take is a tribute to you. Be relentless – Live in the moment – We can beat cancer.” –Tony the Fridge

"Bob Bigelow" is one of the foremost "youth sports" speakers and youth coach trainers in the country. As a former professional and collegiate player, Bob played for the Kansas City Kings, Boston Celtics and San Diego Clippers as well as for Hall-of-Fame coach Chuck Daly at the University of Pennsylvania. Bob has been featured dozens of times in the media, and co-authored the groundbreaking book about improving youth sports: “Just Let the Kids Play”.

As the well-known Indian-American author and physician Deepak Chopra so eloquently writes, “There will never be a time when you life is not this moment.” Casey Jennings, professional Beach Volleyball Player and 2016 Olympic hopeful, lives by this mantra.

Casey Jennings is the youngest of 5 brothers. As any younger sibling knows, being born on the bottom branch of the family tree only means you figure out a way to climb to the top. And climb to the top, Casey has. 

Casey has a remarkable gift. His gift is the ability to bottle and harness the wonderful teammates, coaches and overall experiences from his past that enable him to maintain present-day perspective, and therefore, success. To Casey, the scoreboard is important, but his family, teammates and continuous journey to simply learn have been his most valuable award. No athletic medal can serve as a substitute for mastering your craft and understanding your drive. As you will hear, Casey has an entire trophy case full of gold medals representing life’s most important events: being a great husband, father, teammate, coach and friend. 

Equally importantly, Casey has learned to adopt the power of “living in the moment” and simply being present. A learned-trait oftentimes absorbed and understood through adversity and deliberate practice. As the listener will learn from Casey, any great athlete, parent and spouse must have the wherewithal to have an open mind. Casey has done so successfully. Therefore he understands the art of how to harness lived-experiences during his formative years, boosting him into the realm of acceptance and positivity. In other words, Casey Jennings has accepted and embraced lessons learned from his past in order to propel his personal life and professional career. These lessons have now become the catalyst for Casey’s success both on and off the Volleyball court.

In this episode, Casey shares reflective stories from his childhood all the way to present day. As a 2016 Rio Olympic hopeful in Beach Volleyball, Casey has incredible qualities that add to his tremendous success as an athlete, but more importantly as a father and husband.

Casey Jennings is a professional Beach Volleyball player. In fact you may see him center-stage in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. He teams up with Kevin Wong and has teamed up with Brad Keenan or Matt Fuerbringer during most of his career.

Casey began his college career at Orange Coast College and Goldenwest College before transferring to Brigham Young University. At Goldenwest, Casey was a setter and outside hitter, receiving MVP honors on his way to a Junior College Championship. While at BYU he was named Team Captain, helping lead his team to the 1999 National Championship.

He and his former partner, Matt Fuerbringer, captured their first victory at Belmar, New Jersey in 2004. Casey Jennings along with partner Kevin Wong successfully ended the 2010 season by capturing gold at the Swatch FIVB World Tour by beating the Brazilian duo of Benjamin Insfran and Bruno Schmidt at The Hague, Netherlands.

Casey made his AVP in 1999 in Chicago. Over his long and successful career, Casey has seven AVP tour victories from 2004-2013. He was named the AVP Most Improved Player in both 2002 and 2003, and was named Best Defensive Player in 2003. Casey is married to fellow beach volleyball player and 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Kerri Walsh-Jennings. The couple has three children. Casey is currently sponsored by Oakley, Asics, and Rain. 

As the well-known Indian-American author and physician Deepak Chopra so eloquently writes, “There will never be a time when you life is not this moment.” Casey Jennings, professional Beach Volleyball Player and 2016 Olympic hopeful, lives by this mantra.

Casey Jennings is the youngest of 5 brothers. As any younger sibling knows, being born on the bottom branch of the family tree only means you figure out a way to climb to the top. And climb to the top, Casey has. 

Casey has a remarkable gift. His gift is the ability to bottle and harness the wonderful teammates, coaches and overall experiences from his past that enable him to maintain present-day perspective, and therefore, success. To Casey, the scoreboard is important, but his family, teammates and continuous journey to simply learn have been his most valuable award. No athletic medal can serve as a substitute for mastering your craft and understanding your drive. As you will hear, Casey has an entire trophy case full of gold medals representing life’s most important events: being a great husband, father, teammate, coach and friend. 

Equally importantly, Casey has learned to adopt the power of “living in the moment” and simply being present. A learned-trait oftentimes absorbed and understood through adversity and deliberate practice. As the listener will learn from Casey, any great athlete, parent and spouse must have the wherewithal to have an open mind. Casey has done so successfully. Therefore he understands the art of how to harness lived-experiences during his formative years, boosting him into the realm of acceptance and positivity. In other words, Casey Jennings has accepted and embraced lessons learned from his past in order to propel his personal life and professional career. These lessons have now become the catalyst for Casey’s success both on and off the Volleyball court.

In this episode, Casey shares reflective stories from his childhood all the way to present day. As a 2016 Rio Olympic hopeful in Beach Volleyball, Casey has incredible qualities that add to his tremendous success as an athlete, but more importantly as a father and husband.

Casey Jennings is a professional Beach Volleyball player. In fact you may see him center-stage in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. He teams up with Kevin Wong and has teamed up with Brad Keenan or Matt Fuerbringer during most of his career.

Casey began his college career at Orange Coast College and Goldenwest College before transferring to Brigham Young University. At Goldenwest, Casey was a setter and outside hitter, receiving MVP honors on his way to a Junior College Championship. While at BYU he was named Team Captain, helping lead his team to the 1999 National Championship.

He and his former partner, Matt Fuerbringer, captured their first victory at Belmar, New Jersey in 2004. Casey Jennings along with partner Kevin Wong successfully ended the 2010 season by capturing gold at the Swatch FIVB World Tour by beating the Brazilian duo of Benjamin Insfran and Bruno Schmidt at The Hague, Netherlands.

Casey made his AVP in 1999 in Chicago. Over his long and successful career, Casey has seven AVP tour victories from 2004-2013. He was named the AVP Most Improved Player in both 2002 and 2003, and was named Best Defensive Player in 2003. Casey is married to fellow beach volleyball player and 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Kerri Walsh-Jennings. The couple has three children. Casey is currently sponsored by Oakley, Asics, and Rain. 

Winter Vinecki’s father was diagnosed with prostate cancer when she was 9 years old. He passed away 10 months later, just before his 41st birthday. Competing since Age 5, Winter aspires to be a summer and winter Olympian In memory of her dad.

Winter and her mother Dawn Estelle join us for this powerful mother-daughter Podcast interview. An interview about a family of champions born from two loving parents who valued free play, hard work and grit!

Winter Lee Vinecki “Winter” Winter was born on December 18, 1998 in Grand Rapids Michigan.  She grew up in Gaylord Michigan and Salem, Oregon and now trains in Park City, Utah. After losing her Dad at the age of 9 to an aggressive form of prostate cancer, she formed www.teamwinter.org a 501 (c) (3) non-profit to raise money for prostate cancer research & awareness.  She’s raised over $400,000 toward that effort and counting. Winter began racing Triathlons at the age of 5 and completed her first Olympic triathlons at 9!  She went on to become the national Ironkids champ for 2010 & 2011 and finished her third year as the official ambassador of the sport. She was the 2011 recipient of the Annika Inspiration Award.  At that event she met Aerial’s Olympian Emily Cook who convinced her to try out for the Fly Elite Freestyle Aerials team in Park City.  

After a weeklong camp, Fly Elite decided to sponsor Winter as a 2018 Olympic hopeful in Aerials Freestyle. This was a significant change in Winter and her family’s lives because joining this team requires Winter to live in Park City Utah with a host family for the foreseeable future. Winter’s Mom, Dawn and 3 brothers live in Oregon and they are able to visit as often as possible at races across the country and brief periods of downtime between training sessions. Winter, now 14 years old is planning to race in dozens of events throughout 2013, she’ll be focused on freestyle aerials throughout the Winter as well as completing her world record marathon attempt by the end of the year. She recently set a new world record as the youngest person to ever complete a marathon on Antarctica. She’ll also be racing in multiple running triathlons including the Xterra series.

For Winter, it’s not about the attention. It’s about bringing vindication to her dad, who was given a death sentence in the form of prostate cancer; a disease in which one in six men will be afflicted with. She strives every day, sacrificing playtime and other luxuries kids her age take for granted to ensure that she is doing all she can to bring an end to this tragic and all-too-common disease. 

Alan Stein is the co-host of the popular Podcast, Hardwood Hustle. Alan is also the owner of Stronger Team and the strength & conditioning coach for the nationally renowned, Nike elite DeMatha Catholic High School basketball program. Alan brings a wealth of valuable experience to his training arsenal from over a decade of extensive work with elite high school, college, and NBA players.

Alan’s passion, enthusiasm, and innovative training techniques make him one of the world’s leading experts on productive training for basketball players. He is a performance consultant for Nike Basketball as well as the head conditioning coach for the annual Jordan Brand Classic, the CP3 Elite Guard Camp and the Nike Basketball Summer Skills Academies. Alan is a former camp coach at the prestigious NBA Players Association’s Top 100 Camp as well as the former strength & conditioning coach for the McDonald’s All-American game.

Alan is the founder of The Stronger Team Nation and Cutting Edge Clinic Tour as well a partner with The D1 Experience.

Joshua Sweeney started playing hockey in middle school and then played for Ironwood High School in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. He joined the United States Marine Corps upon his graduation in 2005 to support his country and travel the world. In October of 2009 while serving in Afghanistan Josh was severely injured by an improvised explosive device. Due to this horrific injury, both of Joshua's legs had to be amputated above the knee.

While undergoing intense rehab, Josh gravitated back to the sport he loved. Having been a hockey player, friends like Rico Roman, also a military serviceman injured after a bomb blast, encouraged and recruited Josh to play Sled Hockey for Team USA as part of his rehabilitation. Not only did Josh join Team USA, he made the 2014 Olympic team and scored the only goal in the Gold Medal Game versus the Russian Sled Hockey Team in Sochi, earning Josh and his team a Gold Medal.

Now in his third year on the team, Josh is proud to represent his country and wear the Team USA jersey as he embraces the present moment, but also looks towards the future for the next journey...another Gold Medal. Josh is also a Hockey Coach in his local community.

For 17 years, Rod Dixon was one of the best runners in the World. He is an Olympic Medalist; two-time World Cross Country Championship Medalist and the 1500m Champion of the United States, France, Great Britain, and New Zealand. And, to this day, his victory in the 1983 New York City Marathon remains one of the most dramatic finishes the event has ever seen.

Rod is now a passionate advocate of the worldwide children's health and fitness movement. He knows that kids around the world are not getting the physical exercise and nutrition they need. It is Rod's goal to bring the KidsMarathon Foundation and program to thousands of children around the world, so they can experience the true value (and fun!) of exercise and nutrition, and develop positive life-long habits.

Erik Weihenmayer lost his vision at the age of 13 due to a degenerative eye disorder called retinoschisis. Despite his blindness Erik has become one of the most accomplished adventurers in the world. Determined to rise above his disability, Erik has redefined what it means to be blind, leading a fulfilling and inspiring life with his beautiful family.

The most recent proof that no barrier, in Erik's words, will stop him from finishing the story is the No Barriers challenge he has casted. The language of the No Barriers Pledge is clearly stated on his website www.kayakingblind.org:

I pledge to view my life as a relentless quest to become my very best self; To always view the barriers in my life as opportunities to learn; To find ways to work with others to build teams, serve those in need, and do good in the world; And to push the boundaries of what people say is possible; for only I know the potential that lies inside of me.