Ep 23: Interview with Legendary Coach Valorie Kondos Field: How to Coach Champions in Life

The Players' Lounge (Tennis Podcast)

Interviewing people whose purpose is to help athletes become the best version of themselves on and off the court is one of the reasons why I started The Players’ Lounge podcast. In today’s episode, I got the privilege to chat with legendary UCLA gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field, also known as “Miss Val”. From 1989 to 2019, she won 7 NCAA titles, 22 regional and 18 Pac-12 championships with her teams and was named “Pac 12 Coach of the Century”.
What’s more extraordinary in Valorie Kondos Field’ story is that she never did gymnastics. She is also a Ted Speaker and the author of the book “Life is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance”. In that great conversation, learn how a professional ballet dancer became one of the winningest coaches in history and what valuable lessons she taught hundreds of athletes to become “champions in life”

From 0 to 2’50: Introduction Valorie Kondos Field

From 2’51 to 4’59: Miss Val’s take on professional athletes’ speaking out about their mental struggles

From 5’ to 6’30: Miss Val’s debut as a coach and some of her early mistakes

From 6’30 to 7’39: How did she change her style of leadership/coaching, how did she redefine coaching:

From 7’40 to 12’09: What were the triggers for Miss Val to change her coaching style? How did she redefine the meaning of success and what she learned from being mentored by legendary basketball Coach John Wooden

From 12’10 to 17’17: How do you teach that to athletes to build a winning mentality and the importance of goals setting: how to set big goals and breaking them into daily goals

From 17’18 to 22’24: Valorie Kondos Field’s transition from being a pro ballet dancer to becoming the head coach of one of the most prominent gymnastics programs in the United States knowing she was never a gymnast. Learn the importance of “making the ask” and using your past experiences to your advantage

From 23’20 to 28’28: how positive parenting and the ability to learn and move on quickly from your mistakes are key ingredients to becoming a successful athlete

From 28’30 to 32’59: tips for athletes so they don’t get affected by negativity

From 33’ to 36’29: what are the actions athletes can take to deal with social media hate

From 36’30 to 40’42: the importance of celebrating “small victories” and how to keep the fun while aiming for big and ambitious goals

From 40’43 to 49’59: Miss Val shares her experience on how to communicate effectively with parents and gives some tips on how to talk to young athletes in an empowering way

From 50’ to 54’54: As a coach, what you can do to build trust and help an athlete who has lost his/her motivation and confidence

From 55’28 to 58’48: Valorie Kondos Field explains the difference between great athletes and champions and why coaches need to become better listeners

From 58’49 to end:How Miss Val’s book “Life is short, don’t wait to dance” is an encouragement for people to become their authentic best version of themselves, her upcoming project and how life is about choices
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