There are a lot of overbearing parents in youth sports. Don’t act shocked, you know it’s true! John O’Sullivan is working hard to change that.
O’Sullivan is the founder of the Changing the Game Project, an organization that provides coaches and youth player supporters with the resources and proper information on how to make sports a healthy, positive, and rewarding experience for kids and families.
Through his detailed research and coaching experience, O’Sullivan has created an organization that properly guides the most influential people, parents and coaches, in youth players’ lives to success in supporting and encouraging their young players’ sports experience.
What makes O’Sullivan the perfect leader for this initiative is his ability to balance a competitive attitude while still understanding the importance of positive leadership from coaches and parents.
From a coaching perspective, what allows O’Sullivan to shine above the rest is understanding that his role in coaching is built upon relationships and having a true connection with his players first before focusing on the X’s and O’s of the game. O’Sullivan’s focus on leading people to come together in support of one another is what has allowed him to experience tremendous success in his career.
O’Sullivan is originally from New York where he began playing soccer. He decided to play his collegiate soccer days at Fordham University. During his collegiate career, O’Sullivan began to show flashes of his leadership ability when he was named team captain his senior year. O’Sullivan’s time at Fordham University is highlighted by the Rams capturing the 1990 Patriot League Championship.
After his four years at Fordham, O’Sullivan continued on to play professional soccer for a stint with the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USISL. He then chose to translate his love of soccer from a player role to a coaching one. O’Sullivan’s first coaching experience was with Cardinal Gibbons High School located in North Carolina as the Head Coach of the boy’s Varsity Soccer team.
The University of Vermont quickly came knocking at O’Sullivan’s door with the opportunity to be the Assistant Soccer Coach for both the men’s and women’s programs. During this experience, O’Sullivan discovered his true soccer coaching passion was in the trenches at the youth stage. He transitioned to the youth club soccer world and continues in this effort today. Now residing in Bend, Oregon, O’Sullivan spends time coaching youth soccer for kids of all ages with Apex FC.
Aside from coaching, O’Sullivan is an accomplished individual who has written two #1 best selling books. The first is Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids. The second being Every Moment Matters: How the World’s Best Coaches Inspire Their Athletes and Build Championship Teams. Both books have received tremendous praise, being featured on many top media outlet sources such as CNN, Outside Magazine, ESPN, NBC Sports, and many other media entities.
Along with his written work, O’Sullivan has hosted many speaker-engagement events focusing on coaching and partnering at the youth sport level. O’Sullivan has spoken for TEDx, The US Olympic Committee, US Soccer, and many other international sporting organizations.
O’Sullivan’s unrivalled commitment to spearheading a positive influence on youth sports by providing coaches and parents with the necessary resources to create a positive sports experience is what makes him a fantastic leader. We are very pleased to welcome John O’Sullivan to TCS Live in June where he will provide greater insight into how coaches can instil a positive and healthy culture that results in a winning mindset.
