John O’Sullivan
John O’Sullivan is the Founder of the Changing the Game Project, an initiative to educate parents, coaches and athletes about the positive benefits of youth athletics, and the need to remove adult priorities and values from our children’s’ sports. He is the author of the national bestselling book Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids, and his writing has been featured by the Huffington Post, Soccer America Magazine, and The Soccer Wire. He travels and speaks internationally to schools and youth sports organizations about developing more competitive, high-achieving athletes by building “player-first” environments of love and respect, rather than fear and pressure. John spent nearly three decades as a soccer player and coach on the youth, high school, college and professional level. In 2012, after working as a youth coach for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, he concluded his full time coaching career to concentrate on his work with the Changing the Game Project. As John says, “When I was growing up, youth sports was about children competing against other children. Today, all too often it is about adults competing against other adults through their children. This is driving our kids out of sports, and this needs to change!” Learn more about John at www.ChangingTheGameProject.com
