#386 Tara VanDerveer Returns! The All Time Winningest NCAA Basketball Coach on Retiring from Stanford, Her New Coach Mentorship Role, and How Championships are Won in the Locker Room

Way of Champions Podcast

Tara VanDerveer was the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University from 1985 until her retirement in 2024. VanDerveer was a 10 time Pac-12 Coach of the Year and the 1990 National Coach of the year, and led the Stanford Cardinal to three NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships: in 1990, 1992 and 2021. She took a leave of absence in 1996 to coach the US Olympic Team to gold in the Atlanta Games, and was indicted to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. In January 2024, she won her 1203rd game and passed legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzweski to become the all time winningest NCAA basketball coach for both men and women.

In our wide ranging talk today, she discusses her new role as a coach mentor for Stanford coaches, creating a values based culture, staying relevant as kids change, The growth of women’s sports and the Caitlin Clark effect, and how great coaches take their players and teams to a place they would never get to on their own. Get ready to take some notes.

NEW WOC MASTERMIND AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

As you may have heard, we decided to cancel our 2024 Way of Champions Conference, which opens up the opportunity for us to begin a year long mastermind and coach certification program in the Way of Champions and CTGP materials. If you want to simply take a deeper dive then ever offered before into your coaching and personal development, or work within your school or club improving coaching or transforming the culture, or you want to hit the road as a speaker and presenter working with teams and youth sports organizations, we will give you the tools and support to do so. We are collecting names who are interested at this moment in learning more, you can do so by clicking here and adding your name and email to the list.

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. 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 [e-mail] 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. 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 most popular online courses, a $300 value. 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 have access to never before released and bonus material, including:

• Downloadable transcripts of our best podcasts, so you don’t have to crash your car trying to take notes!
• A code to get free access to our online course called “Coaching Mastery,” usually a $97 course, plus four other courses worth over $100, all yours for free for becoming a patron.
• Other special bonus opportunities that come up time to time
• Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences