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John O'Sullivan

Goodreads Author

Born

in Port Jefferson, NY, The United States

Website

https://www.changingthegameproject.com

Twitter

ctgprojecthq

Genre

Sports, Nonfiction, Psychology

Influences

David Epstein, Daniel Coyle, Bruce Brown, Bob Bigelow, Rick Wolff, Jim ...more

Member Since

October 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/johnosullivan

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John O'Sullivan is the author of Changing the Game The Parents Guide to Raising Happy High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids and Every Moment Matters: How the World's Best Coaches Inspire Their Athletes and Build Championship Teams. He is a consultant for numerous sport governing bodies around the world including the US Olympic Committee, US Soccer, US Ski and Snowboard, USA Swimming, PGA Golf, Ireland Rugby, as well as a frequent contributor to CNN, ESPN, Outside Magazine and other sports publications. He is the founder of the Changing the Game Project, and has spent over two decades involved as both a soccer player and coach at the youth, high school, college and professional level. John received his BA from For ...more

228 posts
John O'Sullivan's Blog

The Best Coaches Bring the Love Before they Bring the Tough

“Tough love is a good thing, but you have to bring the love before you bring the tough.” – Betsy Butterick

This past month, we were able to witness some incredible basketball in the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The games were intense, competitive, played in front of huge crowds, and showcased some incredible talent from both coaches and athletes. As someone who travels the wor

Combine Editions
John O'Sullivan’s books

Average rating: 4.39 · 874 ratings · 98 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Every Moment Matters: How the World's Best Coaches Inspire Their Athletes and Build Championship Teams 4.46 avg rating — 508 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Changing the Game: The Parent's Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to our Kids 4.30 avg rating — 352 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Is It Wise to Specialize?: What Every Parent Needs to Know About Early Sports Specialization and its Effect Upon Your Child’s Athletic Performance 4.07 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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John’s Recent Updates

John O'Sullivan wrote a new blog post The Best Coaches Bring the Love Before they Bring the Tough “Tough love is a good thing, but you have to bring the love before you bring the tough.” – Betsy ButterickThis past month, we were able to witness so Read more of this blog post »
Apr 15, 2026 02:24AM · like

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Quotes by John O'Sullivan (?)

“To try is to risk failure. But risks need to be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel change, grow, love and live. Chained by their certitudes, they are a slave; they have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is free. —Leo Buscaglia”
― John O'Sullivan, Changing the Game: The Parent's Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to our Kids

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“Perhaps most importantly, through sports we can demonstrate to our kids that life is definitely not fair, often unjust, and quite often may end in failure, but that is fine. It is how we handle this adversity that matters most.”
― John O'Sullivan, Changing the Game: The Parent's Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids

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“Many parents and coaches judge the athletic educational process solely by tournament victories, league finish, and final scores. This misdirected focus is harmful not only for a child’s long-term athletic development, but it usually places a great strain on a parent’s relationship with his kids. As a result, children end up competing more than they practice. They develop poor habits and begin to see your love for them, and belief in them, as tied to wins and losses instead of effort and commitment to the process.”
― John O'Sullivan, Changing the Game: The Parent's Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids

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