Ryan is joined by Valorie Kondos Field, former gymnastics coach from UCLA for a conversation about coaching, authenticity, and helping athletes find their joy.
“When you rearrange the letters in ‘listen’ it spells ‘silent.’ In order to truly listen, we have to silence our brains and stop trying to be right and figuring out how to respond. Just shut up and listen to our children.”
In this episode, I sat down with Valorie Kondos Field, one of the worlds best coaches as we chat about her coaching history, philosophy, and approach. As coaches, we should always be learning, no matter how much experience we have and this episode will provide a wonderful opportunity to learn from one of the best of all time; regardless of sport. Miss Val has a unique and inspiring coaching story and philosophy that offers incredible value to those who are open to learning from it.
2018 National Championship: Definition of Joy!
Key takeaways:
Infuse Joy
Would you coach differently if nothing was attached to winning?
We should never stop learning how to better support our youth.
Learning how to compete is a skill.
Don’t coach from your ego!
Focus 90% at least on the mental health and wellbeing of their players.
Words of wisdom from Miss Val
“Coaching is motivating change in someone, not dictating change in someone”.
“Let’s make those incremental adjustments towards a positive goal and celebrate those everyday”.
“We are going to work really hard during the week and our competitions are a celebration of our hard work”
“When an athlete is coached from pressure, they are not expressing themselves fully. Joy comes from really hard, consistent work towards a goal. Joy doesn’t come being suppressed, it comes from thoroughly enjoying the process of learning the skills”.
“We are put in charge of the development of a child, it is such an honor- but is equally daunting that responsibility because every single thing we say they are interpreting, perhaps different then we meant it. Everything we don’t say, everything we do, everything we don’t do. It’s so easy to be abrasive with young people, so if we can take a pause and take a deep breath and realize that we are helping this young person develop into a superhero. How will that change how you would react to them?”
“Whenever you try to be somebody else, you’ll always be a second rate them because it’s not authentic to you at all. The worst part of trying to be someone else is that it prevents you from honing in on who you are and what your coaching philosophy should be”.
Guest Info
Valorie Kondos Field
Buy Miss Val’s Book!
Valorie Kondos Field, aka Miss Val, as she’s affectionately known by the scores of champion gymnasts she’s coached over her career—has no background in gymnastics. She never tumbled, flipped, or played any type of organized sport. And yet she became a legendary, hall of fame coach, through curiosity, creativity, attention to detail, and unwavering care for the overall well-being of her athletes.
Head coach of the seven-time NCAA Champion, 22-time Regional and 18-time Pac-12 Champion UCLA Women’s Gymnastics team, Miss Val was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010. The four-time “National Coach of the Year” was recently named “West Region Coach” of the Year, Pac-12 Coach of the Year, and “Coach of the Century” for her solid track record as a preeminent coach.
Crediting her mentor, legendary basketball coach John Wooden, and the Olympians and athletes with whom she’s worked, Miss Val’s success is due to her extraordinary leadership and mentorship of young student-athletes, and the way in which she uses gymnastics as an avenue through which to teach valuable life lessons.
In her book, Life is short, don’t wait to dance Miss Val shares personal stories, anecdotes and lessons learned throughout the 37-year career of a dancer/choreographer turned athletic coach. She shares stories about the Olympians and athletes with whom she’s worked, explains how her diagnosis with breast cancer actually turned into one of the best years of her life, and expounds on how she shaped her UCLA Gymnastics program as a life skills class. For Miss Val, it’s not about winning and losing, it’s about choreographing your life and owning the choices you make.
Miss Val is a dynamic speaker and choreographer. She lights up a crowd with her enthusiasm and zest for life, and mesmerizes audiences with her spectacular ability to entertain. And, as a newly retired head coach, she’s ready to spread her joy even further.