Show notes
Sam Parfitt is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The True Athlete Project. He holds an MSc in Sport Policy, Management and International Development from the University of Edinburgh, where he then became an associate tutor. His dissertation focused on the role of sport coaches as social change-makers, basing his research at The Crags Centre - a community sports center in an area of high deprivation in Scotland, where Sam was the sport-for-wellbeing manager. Sam is a certified mindfulness teacher and a USPTA professional tennis coach, with experience coaching all ages and standards - from total beginners to internationally-ranked juniors. A former tennis player, Parfitt won the 2006 London Youth Games and three British Tour doubles titles before moving to the United States in 2009 on a division one college tennis scholarship where he became a two-time All American Scholar Athlete. While Sam suffered with much ill health during his time in the States, Sam endeavored to use his experiences in sport - both positive and negative - to help others. His academic work centered around sport and identity, and he became intimately involved in establishing projects which used sport as an agent for social change. Thus, the True Athlete Project was born. Connect with Sam: The True Athlete Project: https://www.thetrueathleteproject.org/ Americas Cohort: https://www.thetrueathleteproject.org/apply-839194.html Coach Membership: https://www.thetrueathleteproject.org/membership.html Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.true.athlete.project/ Contact email address: [email protected] BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John, Jerry or both come to your school, club or coaching event? We are booking Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 events, please email [email protected] to set up an introductory call. BECOME A PREMIUM MEMBER OF CHANGING THE GAME PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST 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, AND JOIN 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MCLAREN F1! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. 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