Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Reinvention.
Former gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field led her team to victory by creating a supportive environment, instead of a cutthroat one. The impact of that decision, she says, echoes far beyond the gym.
About Valorie Kondos Field
In her tenure as the womens' gymnastics coach at UCLA, Valorie Kondos Field led her team to seven NCAA championships, was four times voted the NCAA Coach of the Year, and was also voted the PAC-12 Coach of the Century. Miss Val, as she's known by her gymnasts, developed a coaching style based on trust, empathy, joy, and a radical refusal of win-at-all-costs culture.
After more than three decades of coaching in college athletics, she retired in 2019.
She is the author of Life Is Short, Don't Wait To Dance.
This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Maria Paz Gutiérrez and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.
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