Picking Teams: A Playbook for Parents
Picking Teams is a podcast that dives into the playbooks of seasoned coaches. Host Amy Bryant is a 23-year veteran college coach, and her guests hail from the professional, college and youth ranks. Together they'll share real stories from their coaching experiences to empower parents to be positive forces in their children's sports journeys. The podcast is also a great resource for coaches and anyone interested in youth, college and professional sports. Topics covered include: strategies for positively supporting youth sport athletes; college recruiting guidance and etiquette; tips for identifying team culture and coaching styles; college admissions, applications and the recruiting process; student-athlete mental and physical health; and more. Amy Bryant is a student-athlete college counselor and sports recruiting advisor for Bryant College https://bryantcollegecoaching.com/ a full-service college counseling and athletic recruitment advising firm.
Picking Teams: A Playbook for Parents
Double Vision with Coach Tommy Valentini
Today's Play: Gustavus Adolphus head coach Tommy Valentini shares the powerful story behind his team’s NCAA doubles national championship—one rooted in culture, gratitude, and perspective. Tommy highlights how his players prioritized team values, even in the highest-pressure moments, and honored a lost classmate in a deeply meaningful way. He offers insight into how true freedom in sport comes from knowing your worth isn’t defined by wins or losses—a mindset built over years, starting in youth sports. Tommy also reflects on the enduring legacy of his mentor, Steve Wilkinson, whose “double vision” approach—seeing people both as they are and as they could be at their best—informs Tommy’s coaching, parenting, and life.
Today's Coach: Dr. Tommy Valentini is in his 16th year as head coach of the Gustavus Adolphus College men's tennis team where he holds an overall record of 273-104. The Gusties are the third winningest program in the history of Division III tennis with an all-time mark of 1303-532-3 (.710 winning percentage). Gustavus has claimed two NCAA Team Championships (1980, 1982), while also winning six national titles in doubles and four national titles in singles. Tommy has also coached at Emory University and University of Nebraska, written a book chapter titled: Love-Love: A Fresh Start at Finding Value and Virtue in Tennis and presented a Ted Talk on Purposeful Character Building Through Sport. He's also a youth hockey coach and runs a coach education/team culture building education program for the Minnesota River Bulldogs. Last, but not least, Tommy is a professor in the philosophy department at Gustavus Adolphus College where he teaches sport ethics and philosophy.
Mentioned in today's episode: Let Love Serve, by Steve Wilkerson
To learn more about Bryant College Coaching, and download our new e-book, click here or go to www.bryantcollegecoaching.com
Picking Teams: A Playbook for Parents is produced by: Amy Bryant and Sasha Melamud
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