1st Successful Athletes Podcast I’ve ever listened to.
Well done to all involved.
2 Likes
Incredible interview, not what I expected. I love what Amber has brought to TR, however this is next level with lots of life lessons in first hour before we got to her College years.
Great work by Jonathon as well.
Regards to all
Hugh
4 Likes
Wow. That was the best S.A.P. yet.
Thank you @ambermalika. Had me in tears…
(My wife was(is!) an athlete and struggles w/ depression.)
Again - Thank you.
1 Like
I shed a tear or two. I didn’t want it to end. I agree TR in general is doing an outstanding job.
2 Likes
Absolutely shocked with the treatment by the coach.
I’ve got friends and family who work at the very top of the football pyramid where the stakes are higher and to produce top class players and I can tell you they dont treat kids like that
2 Likes
I think some do and some don’t. I’ve said it on here before but I played basketball through college and met a few coaches exactly as she described. That said, I’m the same age as Amber so therefore same “era”, which I believe may have been the tail end of coaches acting like that. The accepted ways of coaching “kids” has changed drastically in the last decade - some for the better, some for the worse.
Now what surprised me about it is where she went to school and it being the head coach at that institution at the time. He has since passed away, but was/still is a revered coach and in some circles considered the best coach in USA Swimming history. Definitely caught off guard by that.
In any case, great interviews and it’s always nice when the elites open up about the struggles that they have with sport, because as Amber noted in episode 1, it sure doesn’t seem that way from the outside.
2 Likes
This was one of the most powerful, generous, and honest interviews I have ever heard. Thank you @ambermalika for sharing your story and thank you @Jonathan for so skillfully creating this space for Amber to share her story.
4 Likes
Amber has been one of my favorites on the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast since I started listening a year ago, in large part because of how she talks about the psychological, emotional, and social dynamics of the sport. It’s sad to hear how much she had to go through to get to that incredibly healthy, balanced, and well-adjusted perspective, but it was amazing and invaluable to hear it. Thank you @ambermalika and @Jonathan for this gift to the sport community.
6 Likes
@ambermalika, @Jonathan and everyone: here is a really interesting take on the dynamics of college sports as presently practised in the USA:
Enjoy [or not: weep, perhaps].
1 Like
I intended to skip part 1 of these episodes to get right to Amber’s cycling career and because she had touched on her swimming career in regular Ask a Cycling Coach episodes. I am sure glad that I didn’t do that. It would have taken tremendous courage to go through what she experienced at college and be open about it. Well done to both Amber and Jonathan.
3 Likes
These were two brilliant episodes with a truthful and honest review of her career. Profile - ambermalika - TrainerRoad. Aspiring young athletes should listen to it. As an Austrian having grown up in the Alps, I was pleased to hear that she enjoyed her six years in Graz. Our language and dialects are difficult to master.,
Amber, enjoy motherhood now. It does put a new perspective on life (Says father of three…)