Supporting Champions

100: Sue Campbell on leadership and the power of sport

A very, very warm welcome to our 100th episode. Woo!
A milestone for us having started the podcast just under 4 years ago.
I truly hope you have enjoyed all the episodes. If you’ve listened to them all then kudos and thanks for being with us along the way. If you’re new in, then hello and I kind of envy you as there is a back catalogue just waiting for you to tune into. When I look back now only a few sections of the conversations are specific to time, and so the discussions are pretty evergreen.
It’s been a pure joy to connect with so many great minds, thinkers, achievers, aspirers, supporters of others - I’m truly humbled and want to thank everyone who has been on the show. I want to say at this point a huge thank you to Rachel who caringly curates the podcast episodes, Rachel does this with a coach's eye for not only the dialogue but also for the deeper motivations, passions, concerns and insights that people share in the conversations. 
 
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This week's guest is Baroness Dame Sue Campbell.
Sue Campbell trained as a PE teacher, guiding inner city children in Moss side to embrace sport. 
From humble yet so powerfully formative beginnings Sue has become one of the most effective and infectious leaders in modern sport. Sue founded the National Coaching Foundation, the Youth Sport Trust and became Chair of UK Sport from its early beginnings to becoming a world superpower. Sue now leads the English women's FA, in pursuit of growing the game. 
Her achievements are profound and pioneering having led the development of support for coaches, children, whole system wide sports.  Recognition for her work includes 11 honorary degrees, appointed Baroness Campbell of Loughborough and Dame Commander in 2020.
Throughout her career Sue has infused teams, organisations and the people within them to become better, lift the standards all in service of celebrating the power of sport to affect lives, show us that things are possible and to do so with deep respect for each other.
 
Notes
The importance of sport, for us and specifically children
Football and its ability to reach parts of society that traditional legislation can’t
The next challenge
Designing a pathway for girls professional football. Creating the best professional league for women in the world
Long termism
Influencing
Sue’s greatest challenges
Growing Women’s Football in its own light
 
Links
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
 

099: Mike Powell on records, rivalry and resilience

This week’s guest is one of the most outstanding athletes ever, Mike Powell. Mike has held the long jump world record for the last 30 years, taking the mark from the legendary Bob Beamon - who held it himself for 23  years. The record stands at 8.95 m or in old money 29 feet 4 and a bit inches. When I do keynote speeches, one of my favourite things to do is to measure out Mike’s record just to illustrate some of the extraordinary feats elite athletes are capable of and it never, never fails to amaze me or an audience. Mike broke the record at the Tokyo World Championship in one of the most tumultuous tussles with the equally legendary athlete Carl Lewis, having played second fiddle to Carl for so many years.
In the conversation Mike describes in such a colourful and engaging way how he went about pursuing the title, using Carl as a motivator, how he tapped into a coach that could take him to another level, how he harnessed sports psychology long before it was common place.
If you can take a look at the youtube link in the below of the competition either as a reminder or to soak up for the first time what I would describe as one of the best head to head sporting competitions of all-time.
 
Tokyo World Championship final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0WfsAwvTSU
 
*** Applied Pro Practitioner Courses ***
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Notes
The long jump record was a turning point in Mike’s life
Mike Foul!
Using fuel between Carl Lewis and himself as competition
Stoking of aggression in order to fuel performance
Visualisation with a sport psychologist
Mike Powell’s coach Randy Huntington and his training methods
Breaking the World Record but Carl had 2 jumps left and he ALWAYS came back
What was it like experiencing the peak of his performance?
Mike’s prediction!
Adjusting to fame and the downsides
Mike’s pearls of wisdom
Being lean and strong is the key!
Links
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

098: Ben Ryan on culture

This week’s guest is Ben Ryan. Ben coached the England Rugby Sevens team between 2007 and 2013. Ben then took a big leap of faith in taking up the head coach role with the Fijian team, leading them to Olympic gold at the Rio Olympics. In recognition of these achievements the IOC named Fiji as the best male team performance at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and Ben was awarded the Companion of the Order of Fiji, the highest order attainable on the Islands. Ben’s book documenting his journey, Sevens heaven won the Telegraph’s sports book of the year.
Ben is a thoughtful, observant coach. He has a level of calm consideration for the environment he is in and the people he interacts with whether they’re a prop or a prime minister, which all manifests itself in an unambiguous focus on how he works, how he leads and how he creates the conditions for others to succeed. This approach makes him one of the most compelling coaches to listen to. 
*** Applied Pro Practitioner Courses ***
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse
Notes
Talking in different languages
Resources, foundations & communication
Independent views is added value
The commitment to Fiji
Massaging egos
Sausages!
What did you learn and still reinforce whilst in Fiji?
Ben’s North Star
Links
https://benryan.co.uk/
https://benryan.co.uk/podcast/
https://twitter.com/benjaminryan
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
 

097: Laurence Halsted on becoming a true athlete

This week’s guest is Laurence Halsted. Laurence is a former Olympic fencer, having competed at the London and Rio Olympics. Laurence retired after the Rio Olympics and is currently Performance Director of Danish Fencing. 
 
Since retiring as an athlete Laurence has been supporting athletes in a bold new way to support the whole athlete, through holistic thinking, mentoring, developing self-awareness, care and mental health. He’s done this work with a company called The True Athlete Project and he has just published a book by the same title which lays out - in a very clear, logical inspirational and practical way.
 
Notes
Laurence explains a little of the fencing rules
Performance Director for the Danish fencing team
Post Games how do you debrief athletes?
How to offset conditions to create change in sport
The definition of a ‘true’ athlete
‘The second arrow’ & mentoring
Mindfulness as a starting point
Links
Applied Practitioner Course
https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/onlinecourse
 
Where to buy Becoming a True Athlete book:
Amazon-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-True-Athlete-Philosophy-Flourishing/dp/191411003X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2AX88EK2ZG67S&dchild=1&keywords=becoming+a+true+athlete&qid=1631273446&sr=8-1
Waterstones-
https://www.waterstones.com/book/becoming-a-true-athlete/laurence-halsted/9781914110030
www.thetrueathleteproject.org
www.laurencehalsted.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurencehalsted
 
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
 
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes - 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

096 Martin Yelling on supporting young people with Stormbreak

Martin Yelling is a former international runner, duathlete and ironman athlete and since retiring has, along with his partner Liz Yelling coached 1000s of athletes, and everyday folks to marathon and endurance achievements. Recently, Martin has set about creating a charitable organisation called Stormbreak. They have a purpose to; “... improve children’s mental health through movement, equipping them with sustainable, transferable skills and coping strategies to thrive during the complex demands of growth into adult life.
Martin describes the origins of the idea, the challenge they’re working with and the hopes for what might develop.
 
If you want to get involved follow Stormbreak
https://twitter.com/hellostormbreak
https://www.stormbreak.org.uk/
 
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https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/starter-courses-2/
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You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes - 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

095: Duff Gibson on the Tao of Sport

Duff Gibson won the Olympic gold medal in bob skeleton at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. He did so at the age of 39. Duff has an incredible story to tell about trying and trying again, testing himself in several different sports, in the pursuit of finding the one that would suit him and allow him to take a shot at being an olympian.
Duff shares that exploration and with it the clear analysis of why he wasn’t suited to certain sports, ranging from physiology to politics. But this isn’t a tale of a plucky loser, picking himself up from each knock back, failure or disappointment. This is a lesson in valuing the experience along the way, experience above detail, journey above destination.
Duff has such clarity on this philosophy that he has written a book called the Tao of Sport in which he lays his experiences bare and creates a campaign for us to be more cognisant and skilful in how we create the journey for young athletes in the future. Talking to Duff reminded me of the quote from Confucius We all lead two lives, the second one begins when you realise you only have one.
 
Notes
Early athletic career
Mental strategies - what if I wasn’t able to compete?
The Turin Olympic gold
Intimidation versus competitor support
Creating an environment which support great performance not just winning
It’s about execution - what makes a difference
 
Links
https://twitter.com/duffgibson
For details of Duff's upcoming book
https://www.darkhorseathletic.ca/
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-tao-of-sport?fbclid=IwAR2wQaSfF-cO4qEeQz6EPAidMW3G_kYaCqesu4sa6mgyJZuyTRhe7jkqKJI
 
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A

094: Dan Bigham on reverse engineering performance

Dan Bigham is an athlete of the highest order, principally in the disciplines of individual and team pursuit with multiple national and World cup titles. Recently Dan is taking a pop at Bradley Wiggins’ hour record too. But Dan has achieved this level of performance with a band of brothers who congregated together and plied their collective physical talents with a mindset of simply trying to ‘work performance out’. Dan is an engineer by training and spent numerous years working in motorsports and sports analytics using his big brain and curiosity to ask questions, explore, be willing to go off script in the pursuit of performance. Dan’s recent book Start at the End, tells the story of how he led this team to success using the principles of reverse-engineering. And while you’ll hear Dan get into the technical details of aerodynamics etc, you’ll also hear how this attitude has spilled or you could say has been applied to all aspects of personal and team performance too.  
Notes
Early introduction to a range of sports
Cycling interests increase and coincide with business development of Team KGS
Team Derbados!!!!
The closing of systems after initial success
Creating loss, fail at competition or training, questions decisions
Don’t be annoying
Marginal gains and not stretching too thinly
Separating the results from the process
Open conversations and feedback sheets shared with everyone clarity over metrics and selection 
Dan’s lesson on team organisation /dynamics: listening, decision making, attitude etc
 
Links
You can follow Dan on Twitter
https://twitter.com/DanBiggles22
Start at the end book 
https://www.shopforwatts.co.uk/products/start-at-the-end-book
 
You can get bonus content from me at Youtube, take a look at the link in the show notes - 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
On Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

093: Redgrave and Pinsent on their Olympic partnership

Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent are as successful a sporting duo as you’ll ever meet. Steve has won 5 gold medals at 5 successive games and is a 9 time world champion, Matt has won 4 Olympic golds and 10 world championships. 
They were successful before Britain became good at sport, winning before the UK Olympic system grew sophisticated. But not just the occasional win - sustained and dominant winning.
I had the privilege of working with Steve and Matt from 1998, supporting them, along with Tim Foster and James Cracknell to the Sydney Olympics. I can’t tell you how much influence they both had on me as a professional sports scientist and as a person. Their focus, standards, intensity, but also thinking, understanding and at times philosophy was so impressive you couldn’t help but learn from it.
You’ll hear that though in this conversation, which was surprising, fun and at times emotional.
 
Notes
Tokyo delays how would they have responded?
‘Just what we wanted’ & ‘Control the controllables’
A hairline crack in the rig puts a race in jeopardy
Are you feeling nervous yet? Changing the conversation
The step up from Barcelona to Atlanta the pressure changed hugely
Steve’s infamous quote and the pressure of build up
It wasn’t a long retirement!
The challenges that Steve felt in returning to rowing, both physically & mentally
The way in which Matt & Steve supported each other, the deep level of understanding
What are Matt & Steve’s reflections on pursuing a goal pushing and driving but doing it well?
 
Links
https://twitter.com/matthewcpinsent
https://twitter.com/SteveRedgrave5
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

092: Martin Buchheit & George Perry on ego in high performance

In this week’s conversation I speak to Martin Buchheitt and George Perry authors of their upcoming book “Egoals” (a blend of Ego and goals), the subtitle being, “Exercising your ego in high-performance environments”. Martin has been a real leader in applied sports science and research particularly in team sports and George is a track coach and writer based in the US. They’ve teamed up to explore the notion of how we manage, utilise and harness our sense of self, identity and achievement in roles which are inherently in support of others achieving. They have done this with a powerful collection of interviews and reflections from support staff from around the world with an accumulated experience level of over 2000 years.
Their writing and reflections resonated deeply with me and yet the conversation challenged me. There is an urge for us to be a little bolder with the experiences and insights we need to find ways not to get ahead of ourselves. There is a balance to be had, a tightrope, almost a dil for which we have to find a better way to manage. Martin and George’s exploration of ego is a valuable contribution to our craft.
 
Follow Martin on Twitter
https://twitter.com/mart1buch
Take a look at the book 
https://egoalsbook.com/
http://instagram.com/egoalsbook
 
NEW SUPPORTING CHAMPIONS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8W3kvAsvtDDsEayex-1i5A
 
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions

091: Mike Hughes on analysing elite performance

This week I spoke to Mike Hughes. Mike is a Performance Analyst, having worked with some of the best teams in the world and developed them by providing understanding and insight based on deconstructing and exploring phenomena in training and performance. Mike and I worked alongside each other at the English institute of Sport, though on different teams, Mike worked with British cycling in the years that it went from mediocre to utterly dominant. He’s worked at Insight Analysis where he was assigned to the England Rugby team where you may have seen him alongside the England coaching team where Mike was beavering away crunching numbers on hand to feed directly to the coaches.
 
Performance Analysis has risen in prominence in the last few decades - nearly every top operation has analysts as a central part of their backroom teams. What is interesting about the discussion with Mike though is that he creates the case that insight is all very well but if you haven’t got the relationship with the coaches and leaders to have that conversation that could necessitate change, (perhaps sometimes against their preferred way of working), then analysis stays as just that - an unused data point.
 
At the very heart of Performance Analysis is the saying “Why guess, when you could know?” - but as Mike illustrates a deeper question is - “Now you know what needs to be different, but do you know how to make difference?”
 
Happy listening
 
Notes
 
Performance analysis in the blood - Mike Hughes son of Prof Mike Hughes!
The differing eras of PA advancement
Current PA set up for teams 
The importance of coaching intuition and marrying with PA
Mike’s example of making a difference via PA
Simulating differing environments, referees and preferences
Red Zone Analysis
 
Links
Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve
Supporting Champions on;
Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs
Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
 
If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/
or drop us a note at enquiries@supportingchampions.co.uk then you can sign up for a free consultation to explore which package is right for you.