#261 Luke Chadwick, Former Man United Player, on the Genius of Alex Ferguson, Struggles with Mental Wellness, and his Mission to Make Youth Football Fun Again

Ex-Manchester United football player Luke Chadwick played over 460 professional games for clubs such as United, West Ham, Stoke and others before retiring and beginning his coaching journey. Luke was a young boy who dreamed of running out at Old Trafford. But the reality of the pressure of being a professional and everything revolving around winning created an environment that took its toll. His own personal experiences within professional football have served to reinforce his approach to making youth football(soccer) a better experience for kids. He joined the Football Fun Factory as a director in 2019, and his goal is to ensure Football Fun Factory coaches place the emphasis on fun and enjoyment, over technical development and progression and ensure that the children develop a healthy and positive relationship with football that will last a lifetime. In our discussion today we speak about the genius of leaders such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane, the dangerous mentality on professional sports in terms of "manning up" when it comes to mental health issues, and his transition into coaching. You will hear him light up as he discusses his passion for working with grassroots players and focusing on personal development and joy! It's a great talk.  You can connect with Luke and the Football Fun Factory at the following links: Website: https://www.thefootballfunfactory.co.uk  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FootballFunFactory Twitter: https://twitter.com/FballFunFactory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_footballfunfactory/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/footballfunfactory/ Email: [email protected]    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.  Yeah, 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 sprocketsports.com. 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. Thank you for all your support these past four years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions