The Sport Fuels Life Podcast

From College Quarterback to Prisoner to Criminal Justice Professor, Damon West Shares His Inspiring Story

A Division 1 starting quarterback at the University of North Texas, Damon West had it all. But at just 20 years old, he suffered an injury that tragically ended his ability to play football. He started using drugs, became a functioning addict, and held high profile jobs…until he turned to crime. One life ended and another began on July 30, 2008, when he was surrounded by a SWAT team and their guns. A 65-year prison sentence followed.

A promise to his mother and a conversation with a special person changed his perspective and gave him strength to make parole; he eventually end up being released.  The conversation involves a carrot, an egg, and a coffee bean.  Now, Damon shares his story with others and  emphasizes that the most dangerous prison can be your mind.

To learn more about Damon’s life changing conversations, listen to the full podcast at SportFuelsLife.com.

 

Tyree Washington: From Asthmatic Child to Astounding Athlete, Speaker, and Trainer

Join us at Sport Fuels Life as we talk with Tyree Washington about his amazing life thus far… as an asthmatic child to a 400-metre World Champion in Track and Field to Motivational Speaker and Trainer.

Listen and Learn from Paralympian Tennis Player and Diversity Expert Karin Korb

Join us at Sport Fuels Life as we learn more about the amazing life of Karin Korb. Listen as she describes her journey from gymnast and aerobics instructor to a world class Paralympian and 10-time member of the USA World Team. In addition, learn from her life-changing insights and her advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

 

Monica Abbott’s Story Is Filled with Pitching Skill and Superb Positivity

From Being a Tagalong Little Sister to Signing a $1M Softball Contract, Monica Abbott’s Story Is Filled with Pitching Skill and Superb Positivity

 

NASCAR Driver, Jessie Iwuji, Shares His Incredible Story of Vision & Determination!

Join us at Sport Fuels Life as we talk with Jesse Iwuji about his journey going from a D1 football player to Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy and his newest title of professional NASCAR racer. Jesse’s story is one of vision and determination.

Jesse is among the top up-and-coming NASCAR drivers and one of only two African Americans on theprofessional stock car racing circuit. He attributes the discipline he learned in the United States Navy, as well as playing football for the Naval Academy, to his success. Jesse has tremendous passion for serving his country and is currently still active in the Navy Reserves.

Successful Coaching Comes From The Heart, Here's How

Gustavo Osorio is a strength and conditioning coach for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, currently serving at the Elite Athlete Training Center, in Chula Vista, California.

 

There, he oversees the training of all the center's 32 Paralympic athletes and also works with its Olympic athletes. 

 

This summer, he will head to Tokyo with his athletes who will compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We got to pick Gustavo’s brain on everything from his personal athletic journey to training elite Paralympic athletes with their eyes set on gold at this year’s Games.

Be The Best You Can Be With Diego Moyano

Diego Moyano is an accomplished former professional tennis player from Argentina. As a USTA coach, he has trained ATP players Tommy Paul and Reilly Opelka, and coached Denis Kudla and Andrea Collarini. Currently, he's coaching world ranked number 82, South African player Kevin Anderson. We caught up with Diego in the middle of the Vienna Open in October of 2020, while Kevin was on his way to the semi-finals.

 

Diego joins us in today’s episode to discuss his incredible journey from leaving home at a very early age to set out on his quest for tennis greatness, having nothing and working his way to the top.

 

You can connect with Diego via his Instagram, Twitter or Facebook page, as well as his website, diegomoyanohighperformancetennis.com

Clearing The Bar Of Life With Paralympic High Jumper Isaac Jean-Paul

Isaac Jean-Paul is a Paralympic Track and Field Athlete with a visually impairment who set a world record in the men’s high jump at the 2017 World Para Athletics championship in London. He joins us on this episode of the Sport Fuels Life podcast and shares how he’s cleared the bar on so many of life’s challenges to defy the limitations that most people said would hold him down. Now he’s training at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, aiming for the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

 

Take a listen below and then come back and let us know what inspired you most about Isaac’s journey!

Tracking Success With Dan Jansen

Dan Jansen is a four-time Olympic long track speedskater, who won an historic gold medal in the 1,000-meter during his fourth and final Olympic Games. He set a junior world record at only 16 years of age during his first international competition, and he made the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team when he was just 18. Jansen was a seven-time overall world cup champion and two-time world sprint champion, holding eight world records and over 75 world cup medals. Though Dan had realized success outside of the Olympic Games, he hadn't won an Olympic medal until the final event of his Olympic career. He beat the 36-second barrier four times leading up to the Olympic Winter Games Lillehammer 1994–something no other skater had accomplished at that time, and finally earned his first Olympic medal in the 1,000 with a world-record time, additionally winning the 1994 James E. Sullivan Award for the nation's most outstanding amateur athlete. After retiring from speedskating, he served as a CBS sports broadcaster and established the Dan Jansen Foundation to help aid in leukemia research and youth sports programs.

Transform Your Mind and Body With The Healing Power of The Great Outdoors

When former collegiate athlete and competitive skydiver, Sydney Williams, unexpectedly found herself on the receiving end of a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, while grappling with unresolved trauma from a decades-old sexual assault, she set out on a mission: turn her pain into power. Two hikes across Catalina Island and 80 miles later, she founded Hiking My Feelings to help others tap into the mind-body connection and healing power of nature that helped kick her self-limiting beliefs and put her disease into remission. 

Having more than 12 years of marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies and emerging brands, Sydney serves up her “truth juice” style of storytelling to break wide open tough conversations with practical, powerful content and experiences. Over the years, she’s been featured on the SXSW stage, as well as in the Huffington Post, Psychology Today and numerous other publications. Today, she is the author of Hiking My Feelings: Stepping Into the Healing Power of Nature and travels across the country empowering others to summit their personal mountains on their way to becoming Well Beings.