Your team has values. Who chose them and who takes responsibility for living them?

Dr. Jay Martin, the winningest coach in NCAA men’s soccer history, shares the process he used at Ohio Wesleyan to help athletes identify their personal values, establish shared goals, and take responsibility for the team they wanted to become.

Closing out Season 3’s theme, From Buy-In to Ownership, this conversation explores how coaches keep those commitments alive through everyday conversations, athlete leadership, and practices that are challenging and fun.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why Jay starts with each athlete’s personal values before having players develop their team’s values and goals.

• How to revisit those commitments throughout the season and hold athletes accountable to goals they helped create.

• How competition, player decision-making, and fun can work together in a demanding practice environment.

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

Your athletes know mindset matters. How do you help them put it into practice when training gets hard or doubt creeps in?

Zach Brandon, founder of MVP Mindset Consulting, discusses the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. Drawing on his work with the Arizona Diamondbacks and IMG Academy, Zach shares ways coaches can make mental skills part of everyday training.

In this episode, we explore:

• How to help athletes recognize unhelpful self-talk, develop more useful responses, and rehearse them in practice.

• How questions about who an athlete wants to become can turn broad goals into concrete next steps they help choose.

• How the word “and” can help athletes acknowledge fear or doubt and still take productive action.

Connect with Zach Brandon

• Listen: Win More, Live Better — stories and conversations on coaching, leadership, and performance.

• Read: Winning With Words — Zach’s newsletter for coaches and leaders.

• Explore: Zach’s coaching and resources.

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

You’ve named your captains. How do you help them—and the rest of your team—actually learn to lead?

J.P. Nerbun, founder of TOC Culture and author of The Culture Captain, explains why leadership begins with self-awareness and grows through everyday experiences. He shares how coaches can help athletes speak up, support teammates, and take responsibility when they fall short.

In this episode, we explore:

• How the four levels of leadership—know yourself, lead yourself, lead others, and lead the team—give athletes a framework for growth.

• Why understanding what stops athletes from challenging teammates matters before giving them the words to say.

• How to build a leadership group with clear responsibilities and coach athletes through the real situations they face.

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

Respect. Effort. Teamwork. What do those words actually look like at practice?

Emma Doyle, coach and author of What Makes a Great Coach, discusses how coaches turn team values into specific behaviors athletes can understand, practice, and take ownership of.

Coach EM also shares why athletes need a voice in shaping their team’s values and how coaches can guide that process through better questions and consistent reinforcement. She also explores how everyday coaching choices help athletes build the confidence to think and make decisions for themselves.

In this episode, we explore:

• How to involve athletes in reviewing team values and defining what they look like in practice and competition.

• How “next time” questions help athletes learn from mistakes and identify what to try next.

• How to design practice activities that give athletes opportunities to solve problems and make their own decisions.

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Connect with Emma Doyle

Continue learning with Coach EM through her book, podcast, and programs for coaches and leaders:

• Read: What Makes a Great Coach? — practical coaching lessons drawn from conversations with more than 500 coaches across sport and business.

• Listen: The Coaching Podcast — conversations about communication, leadership, and bringing out the best in others.

• Explore: Coaching and leadership programs — learn more about Emma’s courses and training opportunities.

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

Can an athlete disagree with a coach and still be highly coachable?

Ric Bucher, sports journalist and author of Coachable, shares how confidence, humility, and trust help athletes take greater responsibility for their development. He explores why asking questions can signal investment, why athletes need to understand the purpose behind their role, and what it takes to turn feedback into action.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why an athlete’s questions can open the door to greater commitment and why disagreement still requires working toward a shared understanding.

• How coaches can adapt their communication to each athlete while maintaining consistent team standards.

• What coachability looks like in everyday behavior: seeking feedback, applying it, and following through without constant reminders.

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

Your athletes know the rules. But what happens when you’re not in the room?

Carol “Hutch” Hutchins, drawing on her years leading University of Michigan softball, shares what it takes to build a program that athletes feel responsible for. From earning trust to developing captains, she explores how coaches help players take greater responsibility for their growth, their teammates, and the standards they share.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why teammate accountability starts with everyday connection and how coaches can help athletes navigate difficult conversations.

• How giving athletes a voice in creating team standards helps them take ownership of those expectations.

• Why Hutch asked prospective captains to make their case in front of the team before a vote and what that revealed about their readiness to lead.

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

You’ve explained the standards. You’ve talked about accountability. But you’re still the one doing all the reminding.

How do you help your athletes take ownership?

Season 3 of Momentum Sessions explores how coaches help athletes take greater responsibility for their actions, their teammates, and the culture they’re building together.

Hosted by Matt Minkus, this season features conversations with:

• Carol Hutchins
• Ric Bucher
• Emma Doyle
• J.P. Nerbun
• Zach Brandon
• Jay Martin

Together, we’ll explore:

• What separates compliance from ownership and what coaches often misunderstand about coachability
• How to turn team values and good intentions into everyday behaviors
• How athletes can help shape team standards and develop as leaders throughout the roster

Six conversations about what ownership looks like in practice and what it asks of us as coaches.

Follow Momentum Sessions so you don’t miss the first episode.

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

In our Season 2 finale, Dave Clawson, the former head football coach at Wake Forest, shares why leadership and character must become part of a team’s identity long before they’re needed. He explains why great programs intentionally celebrate the behaviors they want repeated and why making leadership “cool” creates teams that stay connected when pressure rises.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why leadership and character should be celebrated
• What actually holds teams together under pressure
• Building culture before adversity arrives
• Reinforcing the behaviors you want repeated
• Why winning starts long before game day

🎧 This conversation originally took place inside Momentum Sessions, a free community where coaches learn from some of the world’s best leaders in sport.

Join future conversations and connect with coaches who are building stronger cultures at:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions

About Momentum Sessions
Momentum Sessions is a free, private community where coaches explore how culture, leadership, and standards actually work inside real teams.

Join future sessions:
👉 momentumteams.com/sessions