Show notes
Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) is a world renowned fitness coach and has been involved as an assistant in 4 World Cups and 4 EURO's working under Legendary Dutch coach Gus Hiddink, as well as working with several European top clubs like FC Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City. As a youth player Verheijen was part of the famous Dutch Youth Academy structure. Unfortunately, his dream of a professional career ended as a chronic injury forced him to retire at the young age of 18. This disadvantage became an advantage as Verheijen started his coaching career at the age of 19. He studied Exercise Physiology and Sport Psychology at the Free University Amsterdam and completed his Masters Degrees in 1995. In 1995, Verheijen developed his Masters thesis into the book 'Conditioning for Soccer' which became the coach education book of the Dutch FA (KNVB) in 1997. Verheijen became a pro-license instructor at the Dutch FA in 1998. In 2014, Verheijen published the best-selling book 'Football Periodisation'. More than 30,000 copies have been sold worldwide. His latest books are 'Football Coaching Theory' (2020) and 'Tactical Principles' (2022). In our discussion today, we talk about the importance of understanding fitness as the number of game actions a player can complete in a minute, not mindless running. Fitness must be focused on the ability to repeat game actions, not simply run without the ball. We also discuss injuries, how the US develops slow players because of our tournament model, how playing up must be managed better, and so much more. Learn more about Raymond and grab his books at www.fcevolution.com. BECOME A PREMIUM MEMBER OF CHANGING THE GAME PROJECT If you or your club/school is looking for all of our best content, from online courses to blog posts to interviews organized for coaches, parents and athletes, then become a premium member of Changing the Game Project today. For over a decade we have been creating materials to help change the game. and it has become a bit overwhelming to find old podcasts, blog posts and more. Now, we have organized it all for you, with areas for coaches, parents and even athletes to find materials to help compete better, and put some more play back in playing ball. Clubs please email [email protected] for pricing. PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS! Programs such as UNC soccer and lacrosse, Syracuse lacrosse, Stanford Lacrosse, Middlebury College, Colby College, Rutgers University, and many other champions are using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you? We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John's author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry's author page on Amazon Please email [email protected] if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports. Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs. Yeah, there are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs. So if you've been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our Premium Membership, with well over $1000 of courses and materials. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will be granted a Premium Changing the Game Project Membership, where you will have access to every course, interview and blog post we have created organized by topic from coaches to parents to athletes. Thank you for all your support these past eight years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions