Dr Josephine Perry is a chartered psychologist working with those in sport and on the stage and in business to help them overcome their barriers to success, so they can achieve their goals. Josephine has a background in communications and behaviour change, having worked for many years in journalism, marketing, public relations and crisis communications across private corporations and government. She has a MSc in Communications, a MSc in Psychology and a MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology. She also has a PhD in Political Communications. Josephine run “Performance in Mind”, a performance psychology consultancy. Based in London but working worldwide, to help you find your why and identify your values so you can overcome those barriers that sport, high performance, and life throw at us. She is the author of 3 books, she is with me today to discuss aspects of her latest book. “I can-The teenage athlete’s guide to mental fitness”.

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#043 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Dr. Josie Perry, Performance in Mind

A world first youth sport podcast episode with 3 teens, 2 girls and 1 boy. It is always adults who tell us what kids & Teens want in sport, but how about speaking to them directly and listen to what they have to say. In this episode, I have found 2 amazing 15 & 16 year old girls from here in Adelaide, Australia and a 16 year old boy from New Jersey, USA. We are kicking off with Brandon Shintani, Brandon is a student at Ridgewood High School, in New Jersey and is the Sports and Wellness Columnist for his high school paper and much more. After Brandon, I like to introduce you to Lucy Benn. Lucy is in year 11 and we will discuss her findings in her SACE project. She asks, “What are the psychological reasons girls leave sport?” My last teen age guest is Emily Gail, it is an old recording never released, but it is perfect for this episode. Emily was 15 when I spoke to her, and she refereed U18 boys’ soccer. She also plays soccer and Futsal. She is now 18 and I have seen her referee seniors, she still plays both soccer and Futsal. If you are a girl aspiring to play a sport, or you are a parent with a girl who wants to play sport, this is a brilliant ending to this episode. So, sit down grab a coffee, enjoy, and learn something new starting with Brandon, Overview: 75:30 min episode 01:40   Brief intro of the 3 teens 03:15   Brandon Shintani’s brief background 04:45   Welcoming Brandon and he talks about when he started and what he is doing. 08:15   Brandon “Honestly I only played sport to have fun and make friends” He also said he have friends playing on a very high level. 12:20   How is Brandon’s parents supporting him in sport, but he also had support outside his family. 15:45   Major injury stopped his sport at 15-Where is support now when motivation was so hard to find? 23:00   Some great mindful advice from Brandon and final thoughts 28:50   Wrapping up with Brandon 29:55   Introducing Lucy and she talks about her start in sport around 2-3 years of age playing with her older brothers?. 30:30   Lucy explain her school research project of why girls quit sport. 34:55   How did other girls in her school respond to her questions. Take note on the response. 38:28   Lucy gives great advice to us parents. 39:10   Body image and impact in sport. 44:00   School & sport balance 48:30   I asked Lucy how she feel about parents yelling and how it impacts her performance. 53:20   Suggestions on how to fix the issue and to make it more fun. 60:15   Introducing Emily and we chat about her involvement in sport as a referee and player. 63:00   Challenging moments for a teenage referee

#042 Off the Pitch with Active: 3 Teens impacting youth sport

Welcome to part 2 and the last part of this amazing conversation with VJ Stanley, Balanced Excellence. In this episode we continue the conversation from ep40 about puberty and sport. If you have not heard part 1, I recommend you listen that episode first as some references may not make sense otherwise. Towards the end, I will mention a free gift from V.J which he shares exclusively with Off the Pitch with Active audience. So, let’s continue VJ! Overview: 39:59   min episode part 2 (part 1: ep 40) 01:15   Brief intro before we continue our conversation about puberty and sport. I am also flagging an amazing gift from VJ so stay tuned in until the end. 2:12     Moving on in ages when V.J unpack “You don’t play the best players, you play the best players plying their best” 7:35     Playing up age groups 15:15   Fundamentals in all sport REST-BALANCE-FUN 16:31   How fragile is a teens confidence? 21:29   How can a senior coach help a teen who is playing up? 25:20   V.J’s version of “Sound of music” in youth sport. 26:39   Is free play the answer to learning? 32:26   V.J talks about the books he authored

#041 Off the Pitch with Active: Prt 2-Interview with VJ Stanley, Balanced Excellence, author, mentor, who council’s mental health techniques to excel in sport & life: Puberty & Sport

VJ Stanley was a three-sport varsity athlete in high school and won the school’s first ever Leadership Award as an athlete, VJ won the high school hockey league scoring title as a junior and was a First All-Star Selection. In his senior year, he received Second All-Star Honors and also played junior hockey for the Rochester Monarchs. He went on to play hockey at Clarkson University, where he sustained two concussions in one week, which ended his career after only one game. VJ founded Balanced Excellence as an answer to his family's and friends’ constant questions about the stress associated with their children's participation in youth sports. The company is based on Science, Psychology and data He is an author of 4 books “Stop the Tsunami in youth sport”, “Less is more”, “talented athletes” and his latest “Does your mind, mind what you are doing to your body” His latest presentation, “Creating the Championship Mindset”, has been endorsed nationally by Lou Vairo, the 1984 US Olympic Men’s Hockey Coach and USA Hockey Hall of Famer He has been on numerous TV shows and podcasts, he also produced a documentary “Frozen shorts” addressing issues in youth sport. Overview: 52:45   min episode part 1 02:11   Introducing V.J and he gives a few minutes background of his extensive life in youth sport which begun in 1976. 06:11   Puberty and its impact and starting with the 10 and under group. 14:56   Children have abundance of energy, but what about their mental capacity to learning? You will be surprised how V.J respond to this question. 18:11   Hang On, they cannot learn by playing Simon says, or can they? 27:51   Is a warm-up drill for U10 valuable to teach discipline? If only 1% make it, why should we coach like every will make it? 31:26   The world is changing; we just need to listen to experts in this space. 33:46   Which characteristics can a child learn from play? 37:11   I asked V.J, how does guilt from coaches and parents affect young players? 43:32   V.J discuss confidence, winning and being competitive. 52:18   Puberty and life beyond-Life is about to change for everyone. www.yellowforyelling.com

#040 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with VJ Stanley, Balanced Excellence-Puberty and Sport

Paige is a sports and fitness enthusiast. She uses a process called Performance Neuro Training which is a combination of sports psychology, Brainspotting, and hot & cold photobiomodulation laser-light therapy. Her current practice philosophy combines a variety of techniques including clinical social work, exercise and neuroscience, and health and wellness lifestyle coaching. Through this process she provides sports injury intensive recovery sessions, and sports and life performance coaching.  She is currently assisting athletes all over the world ranging from youth, teen, NCAA, USA National Athletes, MMA, NFL, MLB, NHL and weekend warriors in reaching their full sports and life performance potential! Education Doctorate of Internal Medicine Quantum University Honolulu, Hawaii (IMD & PhD 2020). Masters of Social Work Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado (Advanced Generalist 2010- 2013). Bachelor of Arts Degree: Colorado Mesa University, (Human Performance and Wellness: Exercise Science 2003-2005). You will love this episode as Paige paints a picture of something we can’t see “what is going on in the brain of our kids/teens” 02:16   Introducing Paige and she talks about her early trauma and experimenting with what would make her happy in life. 10:25   Destressing your body and nervous system. 15:25   Let’s understand a little bit more about the brain in the context of youth sport. What role is diet playing? 22:35   What is going on in kids/teens head in state of flow and what do they need to hear. 26:25   What should coaches be mindful of? 33:50   Warm up routines which positively impacting your players mind and nervous system. Challenge of the day; contact Ken or Paige if you are in! 41:25   What can we do when our players feeling sad? Will their feelings go away when you tell them to ignore these feelings and instead focus on the task at training? 45:54   What is happening when asking questions instead of giving instruction. 52:05   Paige version of “Sound of Music” in youth sport and wrap up.

#039 Interview with Paige E. Roberts LCSW LICSWA CBP CLT, Clinical Sports Neuro Psychologist - Peak Performance - Neurohacker

Hernan Chousa is an author from Argentina. He lives in Buenos Aires, and he runs his zinc flake coating business as the CEO of Chousa SRL. Unplugged is his first novel where he could fuse two passions: music and writing. He also published “My Son the Tennis Player” and “How to Help Your Kid Succeed in Sports”. Former professional tennis player in his twenties, he is willing to share his experiences as a pro player and as a father to a successful tennis playing son. This is a story with a lot of ups & downs. Married with Mariana with two sons: Julian and Sebastian.

#038 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Hernan Chousa, Ex pro tennis player, Parent, CEO & author

The buzzword most often associated with high performing teams is "chemistry". Chemistry is formed through connection, and at the heart of connection is communication.  Betsy understands that language is the most powerful tool we possess, and that elevating our communication skills gives us a competitive advantage in any arena. As a former coach with experience in DI, DII, DIII, and the WNBA Betsy utilizes her unique background with individuals ready to improve and teams of all kinds - from the locker room to the boardroom. As a facilitator and educator, people are her passion. In her role as "The Coaches' Coach", Betsy meets individuals where they are and supports the growth that they're looking to make. As a Communication Specialist, Betsy helps organizations improve communication effectiveness while working collaboratively to create positive change at all levels of team. Professional, playful, and with a talent for people-centric design, Betsy offers an experiential approach towards learning and development. A life-long athlete, Betsy grew up playing all sports and was a competitive basketball player (and awful golfer) at the collegiate level. She now spends her time in coastal California cycling, hiking, surfing, practicing yoga, chasing sunsets and in constant pursuit of the perfect breakfast burrito. Relevant Certifications B.A. Psychology (Claremont McKenna College, 2006) Certified Integral Coach (New Ventures West, 2011) NCAA Women Coaches Academy Faculty Member (via WeCOACH since 2015) D.I.S.C. Certified (through Athlete Assessments, 2015) Overview 2:28     Introducing Betsy 6:13     Betsy talks about her background and why she is so passionate about communication and sport (playing and coaching) 10:53   Digging into the foundation of team chemistry 17:43   How do we connect with and coach Gen Z. How do you complete “Kids these days…. Fascinating discussion for parents , teachers and coaches. 23:18   Betsy shares some golden nuggets from her course “Relating to Today's Student-Athlete: Effectively Coaching Gen Z” http://bit.ly/GenZcourse 26:43   Are “Kids these days” soft or are they simply require a different coaching style? 29:43   Don’t miss Betsy’s Sound of Music environment 31:43   What resistance does Betsy experience developing the Sound of Music environment. 34:30   Betsy talks about 2 digital courses she has released. If you are teaching or coaching youth, or even of you are a parent and wants to learn more about your child’s generation, you will love this. Betsy offers Off the Pitch with Active listeners $200 discount of the course “Winning with Words: Championship Communication for Coaches”. It is a digital course. You can read about the course here http://bit.ly/YPodcast The discount code is in the podcast and in the show notes https://wp.me/Pax5s9-b42   

#037 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Betsy Butterick, The Coaches Coach & Communication Specialist

Matt was introduced to the power of sport by a teacher who helped him use sports as a conduit to self-actualization. He have spent the last 25 years learning, coaching, mentoring, and experiencing the positive impact sport can have on lives. He is Guinness World record holder fastest bike relay across Canada-2007 & TEDx Stanley Park Speaker 2015. Executive Producer of “No Running” Documentary 2016 & “The Cost of Winning” Documentary 2017 He has also presented to the NHL / PGA / Project Play / USOPC / Norwegian Sport Federation and a handful of National, Provincial & Local sport organizations in Canada Overview 0:00     Podcast intro 2:30     Introducing Matt Young 6:15     It begun with free play and good quality physical movements from educated teachers. 10:15   Operation manual for actioning athlete development (not technical & tactical development). A discussion about behavior change, culture, values, accountability, and intentionality amongst a myriad of important aspects. 29:05   Let’s talk about the 80% of development, the non-technical & tactical.  35:00   How can clubs start a positive change right now?  42:25   Biggest treat to increased participation 51:50   Matt’s “Sound of music” of youth sport  

#036 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Matt Young, Quality Sports Hub- Operation manual for actioning athlete development

Despite the odds being stacked against Allon, he was determined to change his fate. From a struggling kid, with various disabilities, to fulfilling a childhood dream and managing some of the world’s best tennis players, Allon put his career success down to developing the mental toughness and passion he saw from tennis players, from a young age. He also realized that it is mental toughness that separates the world’s best players from everyone else and it allows them to pursue ambitious goals whilst keeping their mental sanity in place. Allon managed three world #1 tennis players, including Novak Djokovic. He organized his own professional ATP tennis events in three countries that attracted the likes of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray. He has been a Member of the ATP Council and have witnessed firsthand the evolution of professional tennis over the last ten years. Overview: 3:20     Introduction 6:15     Metal Toughness eBook and Allon’s journey when his father starting his first World class tennis tournament. 8:30     Allon was asked to become a manager for his first tennis player 9:37     Winner of junior grand slam never made in senior pro, we discuss why? 10:55   Novak Djokovics never won a Junior grand slam event, what was he like as a teenager? 17:20   What is mental toughness and how do you coach it? 23:20   Carol Dweck study about praise 26:35   Mental toughness training 28:10   Internalizing beliefs 36:45   Book “So good that they can’t ignore you” Contact details can be found on www.yellowforyelling.com  

#035 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Allon Khakshouri, Mental game of Tennis

VJ Stanley was a three-sport varsity athlete in high school and won the school’s first ever Leadership Award. As an athlete, VJ won the high school hockey league scoring title as a junior and was a First All-Star Selection. In his senior year, he received Second All-Star Honors and also played junior hockey for the Rochester Monarchs. He went on to play hockey at Clarkson University, where he sustained two concussions in one week, which ended his career after only one game. VJ founded Balanced Excellence as an answer to his family's and friends’ constant questions about the stress associated with their children's participation in youth sports. 3:20     Introduction 4:30     VJ’s sporting background as a player of all sports and coach. He talks about the journey of founding Balanced Excellence.  7:30     The story behind “Frozen Shorts”. 10:40   VJ’s first book “Stop the Tsunami in youth sport” 15:00   VJ’s 3 key points in the youth sport world. 18:55   I can do it myself! Children want to own their own journey. 23:50   Comparison with growing up in the 70’s. Kids are the same, but the environment is different. 24:57   Coaching challenge-for both coaches during a game to remain silent for one complete half. 26:55   Ideas how to create the youth sport for the enjoyment of children. 32:00   How did you teach your child riding a bike? 36:24   We adults need to eliminate outside noise, so players can focus on making several decisions every second. Avoid bottle necking to choke players with information. 39:32   Free play, Yes please! says the captain of the US Olympic ice hockey team and USA Hockey Hall of Famer, Ryan Janta. “I’m there and my guys are there and when it is getting dark, we pull up our trucks and put the lights on and keep playing.” It is important part of ice hockey 42:30   Multi-sport plays an important role in sport. 45:10   What is a perfect environment for youth sport? VJ “Messy & Madness!” For links and connecting with VJ Stanley go to www.yellowforyelling.com/podcast  

#034 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with VJ Stanley, Balanced Excellence

Joel Franco is using his passion in film making in producing a documentary about youth sport “Where our children play”. Three out of four American families with school-aged children have at least one playing an organized sport — that's a total of about 45 million kids. By age 15, as many as 80% of these youngsters have quit. The documentary intends to shed new light, perspective and expose the truth to ensure that all those involved in youth sports can join hands and work as one to return youth sports to the children. 47:12   min episode 04:12   Introducing Joel Franco and his background in coaching 06:20   What experiences prompted Joel to produce the documentary? 09:15   This is Joel’s approach to the documentary 15:30   This is what Joel has learned so far 24:29   greatest challenges in US youth sport 28:40   Its okay to let the children choose sport 30:50   Sound of music of youth sport 38:00   About the project  

#033 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Joel Franco from Chesapeake Films

Mark O’Sullivan is a UEFA A licensed coach and is head of youth development for 8-12 at AIK in Stockholm, Sweden and is part of their Research and Development department. Mark is currently doing PhD Research Sheffield Hallam University, UK, which centers around designing learning environments in youth football. Mark has also worked as a consultant for the Canadian FA (2017) helping them to develop their new coach education program. He regularly holds lectures, talks and practical sessions around the world. Not just confined to soccer Mark has collaborated with coaches in Basketball, handball, floorball, figure skating and ice hockey. If you want to read Mark’s own personal insights then just go to his Blog: https://footblogball.wordpress.com Overview: 107:23 Min episode 3:20     Introduction 5:38     Referring to a previous question to Richard Bailey, if there is a conflict between how children learn and how modern youth sports elite programs are carried out that is causing an imbalance? 19:20   How can we preserve unique playing styles emerging from environments outside sport if using a linear model? Mark talks about an interview Pavel Datsyuk, the Russian NHL player called the “Magic Man” 25:08   A key factor in the research at AIK, is looking how they create motivational climates when it is the children’s inner motivational factors as a key for participation, performance and personal development over time. 31:55   AIK’s 3 principles 1. Wellbeing of children 2. Following United Nations & rights for children and Gov documents about children in sport & 3. Having more players, play U16, U17, U19 and into their senior team. They also have a clear pedagogical model and principals within the club. 41:12   SDT and how it relates to development 45:40   Programs are becoming based on economic models rather than learning models, which shifts the focus more towards the economics 52:50   Fascinating that coaches from different sports from all around the world say NO to the following question “If we restart youth sports from zero and rebuild it based on children’s physical and emotional needs, would it look like it does today?” 59:55   Afordances landscape of training: isolated individual skills on one end and free play on the other. The optimum opportunity of interactions of which the training is design is likely somewhere in between. The question to ask ourselves as coaches; Does the design invite, permit or inhibit young players to interact and learn? For more details about Yellow for Yelling visit www.yellowforyelling.com  

#032 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Mark O’Sullivan, UEFA A licensed coach at AIK in Stockholm, Sweden

The sports world is a high-pressure environment, Richard’s skills and experience mean he is able to probe the tough issues and challenges parents and coaches face, without being judge mental or pushy. He delivered parent engagement strategy support, sports-parent meetings and coaches CPD on working with parents for: Three National Governing Bodies; (England Rugby U18 Boys & Girls, England Hockey U16 & U18 Boys and Girls and England Cricket Board) A number of the UK’s top professional sports teams in their academy system (Including Saracens, Essex County Cricket, Newcastle Falcons & Somerset County Cricket.) The country's top independent schools, (Including Millfield and Millfield Prep & Trinity Croydon.) 20 years of working with parent's which, includes: Worked as a youth worker for the local authority Delivered numerous parenting courses for the local authority Provided one-to-one parenting support for multiple statutory agencies Lectured at several universities, teaching trainee social work students about effective strategies for working with families Worked in various roles for two churches Coached and encouraged people from a wide range of backgrounds, faiths and life experiences Worked with and spoken at many schools across all ages Public speaking in many contexts (from skate-parks to funerals and everything in-between.) Qualifications Honours degree in Community and Youth Studies (St Martins, Lancaster) Honours degree in Theology (University of Wales) Diploma in Life Coaching from A R Training Facilitator for ‘Strengthening families, strengthening communities’ parenting program Facilitator for ‘Strengthening families’ 10-14 parenting course Overview: 03:15   Richard Shorter’s Bio 05:20   Richard talks about his background 09:00   Home to be the harbor for children and openness and honesty is important part of communication at home. 16:15   We discuss when children get identified more for their sport rather than them as human. 24:10   Coaches need compassion and better parent engagements, and if they coach their own children allow their children to give feedback without being defensive. 30:10   How can parents support their children during the selection time? 40:45   How can play games with parents, help parents related to their children’s sporting world? 48:15   Non-perfect Dad’s vision of the perfect youth sport environment. Contact: Web: https://non-perfectdad.co.uk/ Twitter: @nonperfectdad Facebook: @Non-perfect dad

#031 Off the Pitch with Active: Interview with Richard Shorter, founder of Non-Perfect Dad

Mikael Wallsbeck have a European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology, from Högskolan in Halmstad. He is also educated in psychotherapy in cognitive behavior therapeutic direction. Mikael has been working as a leader with experience of working with children and adolescence, specifically with LSS (Australian equivalent to NDIA, National Disability Insurance Agency) Today, he works with Gefle IF in football and Swedish Para Table Tennis Team. He also works with students in sports psychology at GIH (Gymnastik och idrottshögskolan in Stockholm). His team at the company Imagine That, work with many organizations, both corporate and sports to many to mention now. He, together with Fredrik Weibull run a podcast Hjarnskrynklarna. So, we got a lot to talk about. 02:58   Introduction to Mikal Wallsbeck 05:30   Mikael talks about his background in ice hockey and about an incident, he later analysed he study sports psychology. 12:16   The environment outside sport affects performance. How does a coach and parent take this into consideration? Mikael shares a story of a family under a lot of stress and how this affected their son’s performance in sport. 21:11   Sweden produces more NHL ice hockey players (per capita) in the world than any other country outside North America. How is this possible? Early specialization is a topic debated in Sweden and it is a move away from this. They don’t believe it is so important. 25:38   How can we help athletes and parents go through their sporting journey and, does parent's needs to help children to be nicer to themselves? 40:56   We need to be more critical to our own sporting environment. We need to consider what can create a negative experience in our club? 43:39   The dream world image of youth sport Contact: Web: http://www.imaginethat.se/ Twitter: @MikaelWallsbeck

#30: Interview with Mikael Wallsbeck Founder of Imagine That in Stockholm, Sweden

Born in Argentina, Marcos Flores, had a great career in professional football in Union de Santa Fe between 2001 and 2003 where he began his professional career, then Newell’s Old Boys and he also played in Curico Unido. He signed for the A-League club Adelaide United in Australia, where he achieved the player of the year in 2011 (Johnny Warren Medal). Marcos has also been in the USA, to help develop football at Jacksonville Armada. Over 16 years as a pro player, Marcos played in Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Indonesia & USA. In the 2019 season, he captained Adelaide City (National Premier League, Adelaide), but I will spend most of the time talking about his passion for helping young players grow in the sport of football (soccer). 02:25   Introduction to Marcos Flores and how he settled in at Adelaide United as a young import in the A-League. 11:32   Marcos “A brief story” of how it began 18:17   First breakthrough to play a professional game. Success on the first touch, but then what? 26:22   Marcos father was much more than a father, he was a mentor. 30:52   Marcos talks about coaches who made the most impact on him and why? 33:02   “Bring your Guernsey, and come to my office” 36:13   Coaching South Australia Cerebral Palsy Soccer Team in the National Champion Ship. 42:12   Founding PTA-Get into the challenge 49:57   A great football story with a difference in a prison in Madagascar with 120 youths. 56:32   This is the reason why Marcos became a Soccer Player Profile for Yellow for Yelling. 62:37   Wrap up

#29 Interview with Marcos Flores, Ambassador for Adelaide City & Johnny Warren Foundation, Yellow for Yelling Soccer Profile Player & founder of PTA

ARE YOU A PARENT WITH A CHILD PLAYING SPORT? Listen to educated people around the world on the topic of child development in sport. No 1 reason children start playing sport is because it is fun but a staggering number of kids leave sports because they stopped having fun. Why? These and many other questions about child development in sport are discussed in this series. Come on! Join me it's a lot to learn about this.

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