Catch The Spirit

Kaiya McCullough, her mother Amy Thorne and DCScores Director of Creative Arts and Education Charity Blackwell join Craig Hoffman for a conversation for social justice.

The group discusses how they each experience race in America, how those experiences have shaped them and some of the factors that have contributed to their current, varied levels of understanding. They discuss multiple types of racism, from overt and hateful acts to how systems can and do act in racist ways to unintentional micro-aggressions.

They also talk about interactions with police and how the racial climate in America has shaped those interactions before ending with how they are healing and taking care of themselves during a traumatic time and things people can do to make a difference in the justice and equity spaces.

Catch The Spirit is presented by WAGS. This episode premiered exclusively on Twitch and video of this episode is available there. 

Catch The Spirit's Theme Music is produced by Jamarian Bates. It is produced in association with Train With The Best Media and you can find "The Train With The Best Podcast" anywhere you found this one.

Spirit forward Crystal Thomas joins Craig Hoffman to talk with Ryan Defibaugh, counselor at MBS Performance Counseling and coach with Potomac Soccer Association.

The trio talks about how the brain processes different triggers and how those triggers are affected during quarantine. How can we replace the feelings of joy and success that we usually attain from being with teammates and competing? How do we manage our emotions accordingly and what are some tips to be mentally successfully as we're all at home?

Crystal, Ryan and Craig also talk about grit. What is it? What are its limits? How do we harness mental toughness for self-betterment and how does that definition of what is better change with each individual?

Plus, all three give recommendations on resources they use to stay on top of their game mentally. 

Catch The Spirit is presented by WAGS. This episode premiered exclusively on Twitch and video of this episode is available there. 

Catch The Spirit's Theme Music is produced by Jamarian Bates. It is produced in association with Train With The Best Media and you can find "The Train With The Best Podcast" anywhere you found this one.

Tegan McGrady joins Craig Hoffman to talk about The Imagineering Story on Disney+. The documentary goes behind the scenes of how the Disney Theme Parks, Tegan's first love, were made. 

Craig and Tegan are then joined by the executive producer of the documentary, Leslie Iwerks to talk about the documentary. They also talk about the family nature of Disney, how to tell good stories and more!

Catch The Spirit is presented by WAGS. This episode premiered exclusively on Twitch and video of this episode is available there.

Spirit forward Jaye Boissiere joins Craig Hoffman to talk to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, epidemiologist and former Health Director of Detroit. The trio talks about the coronavirus pandemic from every angle, starting with what the virus actually is and why it was able to spread so vastly across the world.

They discuss the decisions made by leaders from the White House to the World Health Organization, what goes into those decisions and how better funding of public health could have provided a better safety net for us all.

Plus, Spirit owner Steve Baldwin joins the conversation to discuss some of the data being collected and analyzed about COVID-19 and how that can turn into proper resource allocation and more.

Catch The Spirit is presented by WAGS. This episode premiered exclusively on Twitch and video of the episode is available there.

Craig Hoffman and Chris Gorres dial up Spirit High Performance Coach Michael Minthorne on Zoom to talk about Michael's career, which has taken him all around the world. Minthorne talks about his time with EXOS which took him to China, plus his time in England and Brazil.

They also talk about how training has adapted during COVID-19 when athletes of all kind, including our players, have limited access to equipment. Michael also tells the story of when the other coaches duped him into speaking up against the players eating dessert on a road trip.

Plus, we reveal next week's podcast guest: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and the moment our special co-host, Jaye Boissiere, learned she would be on the show.