More Than Minutes Played

About More Than Minutes Played

When injury hits, performance drops, or the game turns on you, what do you fall back on? Former professional footballer Noah Cavanaugh explores identity, performance psychology, and life outside sport through conversations with elite athletes and sports industry experts. On the More Than Minutes Played podcast, Noah aims to uncover stories about athlete crisis moments and navigating these to maintain peak performance on and off the field. New episodes weekly.

Publisher

Noah Cavanaugh

Category

sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Jul 2026

Latest episode

20 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

16 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Oct 2026

   The Most Important Mental Skill an Athlete Can Have | Daniel Dymond

   Daniel Dymond has spent years working at the elite level of sport, including a stretch helping an Olympic shooter climb from outside the top 20 to world number one. He and Noah dig into why attention, not positivity or confidence, is the psychological skill that actually separates performance under pressure. They talk about the language athletes use internally, and how something as small as "I am anxious" versus "I notice anxiety" can change how much power an emotion holds over them. Daniel breaks down the difference between an athlete driven by fear of failure and one driven by personal values, even when their daily behaviors look identical from the outside. He explains why some mental training accidentally teaches athletes to suppress emotions rather than tolerate them. He also gets into cognitive endurance and fatigue as one of the newest frontiers in sports psychology, what he learned coaching an athlete through the Olympics, and why he thinks high-performance behaviors work like compound interest over a career. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:04 - Self-Determination Theory 03:23 - Attention is the Most Important Mental Skill 05:07 - Why Telling Yourself “Don’t” Backfires 08:07 - Distractions vs. Threats 10:23 - Two Athlete, Same Habits, Only One Sleeps at Night 12:40 - How to Tell Perfectionism From Pursuing Excellence 14:52 - Why Failure Feels Like a Threat to Your Identity 18:59 - “You’re Speaking a Completely New Language” 21:54 - “Mindset” vs “State of Mind” 25:02 - Why Sensitive Athletes Can Thrive Now 28:03 - Why You Fade Late Even If You’re Fit 31:54 - Where Technology Can Enhance Studies 35:10 - What Makes Each Sport Mentally Hard 39:35 - Coaching an Athlete to be Number One for the Olympics 43:25 - “In Psychology, Nothing Works” 46:34 - Glimpses of Brilliance Aren’t the Same as Consistency 48:36 - Suppressing Your Emotions Leads to Anxiety About Anxiety 53:45 - What Separates Elite From Sub-Elite Athletes 55:54 - Elite in Sport Doesn’t Mean Elite in Life 58:34 - What Defines Success Working With Athletes 01:00:35 - “I Do Always look Like Leo Messi”

2. 

   13 Oct 2026

   From Synchronized Swimming to Entrepreneurship | Victoria Justice

   Victoria Justice spent over a decade as a synchronized swimmer, training her body to stay calm underwater while fighting through fatigue, breath control, and the constant threat of injury. She and Noah talk about the mental discipline that sport demanded, how deeply her identity got wrapped up in her performance, and what it felt like to walk away from mastery and start over as a beginner in the business world. Victoria breaks down why she believes seeking out discomfort, not avoiding it, is what actually builds confidence and meaning, and how she and her husband built a shared vision board to keep their marriage and their business aligned. She also talks about learning to separate her self-worth from the need to get everything right, why that shift has made her more competitive rather than less, and how she's come to describe herself now: as a competitive artist. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:49 - Synchronized Swimmers Are Water Gymnasts 02:00 - The Mental & Physical Regime 03:48 - “You Can’t Break or The Team Suffers” 06:23 - How a Team Throws Someone Safely 09:18 - “I Wish I Didn’t Tie My Identity to My Performance” 12:05 - Why Young Athletes Become Their Sport 13:32 - Ability to be Insanely Uncomfortable 15:05 - The Fast Track to Feeling Useless 17:29 - Why Would You Not Want To Know What You’re Made Of? 19:43 - The Levels of Competence 20:42 - My Routine of Manufacturing Discomfort 23:11 - How Do You Find The Best Version of You? 25:45 - Perfectionism Was Trapping Her in a Box 28:08 - Overcoming the Fear of Judgement 29:30 - You’ll Never Be Everyone’s Cup of Tea 31:30 - It’s Hard to be Yourself When Everything is Judged 33:50 - Is There Loss or Freedom After Sport Ends? 36:31 - Why Starting Over is Scarier For Athletes 37:32 - Lay Your Ego At The Door 39:00 - Look in Decades, Not Days 41:05 - What Would Your Ideal Future Self Do? 42:35 - The Cross in the Middle of Her Vision Board 43:30 - Marriage is a Team Sport 47:05 - Your Best is Enough 49:00 - Having Fun is a Competitive Advantage 49:58 - What Questions Would You Ask Your Future Self? 51:55 - Who Are You, Victoria?

3. 

   6 Oct 2026

   My Baseball Career Ended Overnight. Here’s What I Built Next | Cole Critchfield

   Cole Critchfield walked away from a two-year mission in Cambodia and into a college baseball career, hitting .390 in his first season at Southern Virginia after being told it would be a developmental year. He and Noah trace that same mentality through his COVID-shortened senior season, which ended over three consecutive days of cancelled games with no closure, and into a career building personal brands for athletes at every stage: Alec Manoah early in his career, Jonathan David through a record transfer, and Amar'e Stoudemire heading into the Hall of Fame. Cole breaks down why commitment to the process is the single biggest driver of an athlete's growth online, why follower counts can be a misleading measure of actual value, and why building a brand matters most for players who may never make it to the top level. He and Noah also get into the mindset that's carried Cole through repeated, sudden transitions, from his mission to his playing career to building his own house by hand, and why doing the thing without attaching to the outcome tends to be where the real progress happens. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:51 - The State With No High School Baseball 02:26 - What a Mission in Cambodia Taught Him 04:51 - Always Exceed People’s Expectations 06:49 - When Someone Tells You You Can’t 09:00 - High Commitment & High Acceptance 09:41 - Athlete Personal Branding Origins 11:32 - “I Was Thrown Into the Freaking Fire” 13:49 - His Senior Season Ended Without Warning 15:30 - Told on Tuesday, Home by Wednesday 16:07 - Moving 14 Times Teaching Him to Adapt 17:41 - Change is How You Grow 19:19 - You Can’t Build a Brand If You Don’t Genuinely Care 22:03 - The Insane Trust With Alek Manoah 24:03 - Positioning Jonathan David For a Successful Brand 25:40 - The Hall of Fame Campaign 26:25 - Creating Amar’e Stoudemire’s Lasting Legacy 27:55 - Letting Basketball Speak For Itself 30:44 - “To Be Honest Dude, It’s Too Late” 33:01 - Followers Could Soon Decide Draft Picks 33:54 - Personal Brand is Just as Important as an Athlete 35:24 - Going Pro is a Dogfight 37:22 - “It Literally Doesn’t Matter” 39:12 - What If Shouhei Ohtani Showed More Into His Life 40:30 - 1.5 Million Followers That Can’t Sell 42:25 - Just Getting The Thing Done 45:30 - I Don’t Want to Look Back With Regrets 48:04 - Your Aspirations Can Be Higher 50:04 - Go Do It, You’ll Figure It Out 52:00 - Experience How Other Countries Live 53:33 - The Fantasy Nightmare Fallacy 55:40 - Let Go Of Those Expectations 57:14 - One Piece Of Advice For Young Athletes

4. 

   29 Sept 2026

   The Mamba Mentality Isn't for Everyone | Zane Provenzano

   Zane Provenzano played competitively from age eight to twenty-three with a focus on football, academics, and little else. He and Noah talk about what it took to let that extreme mentality go once his path to the pro game stalled during COVID, and how he found his way back into the sport as a strength coach for a USL Championship team and, eventually, as a player in professional indoor soccer. Zane breaks down why he thinks the grind culture around athletes like Kobe and Ronaldo gets misread by young players chasing the highlight reel instead of the boring, balanced routines underneath it, and how building real relationships with teammates ended up mattering more to his career than any training block. He also gets into the differences between indoor and outdoor soccer's pace and pressure, and why publicly committing to a goal, even one that doesn't pan out the way you expect, tends to pull you toward where you actually need to go. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - From Football to Entrepreneurship 03:21 - COVID Closed the Door Right as he Reached it 05:30 - You Just Need One Chance 07:05 - Not Staying Idle, Constantly Improving 08:07 - The Full Circle Moment 09:35 - Why Transferrable Skills Are So Important 11:40 - People Who Are Willing To Help You 13:39 - You Trust People You’ve Suffered With 15:56 - Football, Academics and Nothing Else 17:08 - Getting Valedictorian Because of Football 18:42 - The Cost of Obsession 20:20 - You Need to Find Discomfort for Success 23:55 - Noah’s First Frat Party Experience 25:59 - Letting Go of the Extremes 27:36 - Mamba Mentality is a Lie 28:35 - Adaptability vs. Glorified Mindsets 30:25 - Why Erling Haaland is Showing the Real Side of Pro Football 33:59 - How The Youth Are Developing 36:48 - The Risk Runs Both Ways 38:09 - “I Have No Chips Left on the Table” 39:09 - Never Fully Leaving the Game 40:55 - Four Hours a Week, Made to Count 45:30 - The Constant Chaos of Indoor Soccer 49:11 - Why Mistakes Have Stopped Mattering 52:00 - Believe It First, Then Work Backwards 55:04 - Finite vs Infinite Games 56:08 - Getting There Sideways 57:45 - Public Accountability Is Extremely Powerful 01:00:10 - What Actually Stops People Taking Risks 01:02:02 - How He Wants to Remember His Career

5. 

   22 Sept 2026

   When College Recruiting Breaks Your Identity | The Whole Athlete

   Doug and Christy Sweaney Herrick built The Whole Athlete around a question they couldn't shake as former college athletes themselves: what if performance-based support isn't enough, and athletes need something more holistic? Doug, Christy and Noah walk through the stages where an athlete's identity can start to collapse into their sport alone, from parental pressure and early specialization through recruiting rejection, scholarship dependency, and the shame-based motivation that drives so many high performers. Christy shares her own experience hitting a performance plateau in running during puberty with no explanation for why, and Doug talks about what it felt like locker-room-adjacent to a star player while quietly burning out on fear-based motivation. They get into the difference between guilt and shame, why self-belief has to come before self-criticism for it to actually work, and why having a steady, regulated person in your corner matters more than almost anything else when things go wrong. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:09 - What We Wished We Had as Athletes 03:37 - The Eight Stages of Identity Foreclosure 05:39 - Parents Living Through Their Kids 07:26 - Her Dad With a Stopwatch 08:47 - “There’s So Much Out of Your Control as an Athlete” 12:15 - Optimising Until You’re Miserable 14:50 - People Will Go Far By Enjoying Their Sport 16:00 - The Implications of Specialising 18:10 - “The Pressure Was Overwhelming” 19:40 - Getting Attention For What You’re Good At 22:15 - The Puberty Plateau 26:40 - “Sports Are So Compelling” 29:15 - “Nobody Gives a Sh*t” 31:19 - Hitting the First Wall of Rejection 32:50 - The Reality of Competition in College Sports 34:54 - Not Rising to The Attention 35:54 - Why Flexibility Increases Creativity 38:10 - Finding it Difficult to Trust Non-Athletes 39:44 - “The Way We Define ‘Athletic’ is So Limiting” 42:33 - Creating Space from Athletics 43:50 - Learning to Let Go of Insane Obligations 46:07 - Scholarship Privilege in Sports 48:15 - Doing What We HAVE To Do 49:40 - Dangers of Suffering For a Better Life 51:57 - Realities of Pay in Pro Soccer 55:22 - Locker Next to Clint Dempsey 56:32 - “No One Cares How Much You Make” 57:12 - Mechanisms for Motivation 59:15 - Attaching Identity to Performance 01:01:32 - “You’re Literally Frying Your Nervous System” 01:04:17 - You Can’t Put Your Eggs in One Basket 01:06:30 - “It’s Essential to be Critical of Yourself” 01:09:08 - Having People Who Care About You No Matter What 01:11:53 - Where to Find The Whole Athlete 01:13:00 - The Last Four Stages

6. 

   15 Sept 2026

   Basketball as a Vehicle, Not an Identity | Carlos Angel Jr.

   Carlos Angel Jr. grew up in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, hearing from people around him that he wasn't fast enough, tall enough, or skilled enough to play pro basketball. He and Noah talk about the mentors who changed that trajectory, including his longtime trainer, Stephen Garnett, and the coach who helped connect him to junior college and eventually Whitman. Carlos walks through his winding path through juco, a Division III program, a stint in England, and a showcase in Mexico that led to his first professional contract, plus the string of one-year deals and short-notice moves that have followed since. He gets into how his faith and a daily routine keep him grounded through that uncertainty, why he's always treated basketball as a vehicle rather than his identity, and what he's learned from his parents' immigration story about building something for the next generation. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:42 - Everyone Told Him Why He Couldn’t 04:29 - The Showcase Nobody Came to Watch Him At 08:10 - 23 Points a Game in First Pro Season 09:50 - He Didn’t Know How to Believe in Himself 13:37 - Basketball as a Vehicle, Not an Identity 15:50 - “I’m Just a Regular Dude” 18:36 - Everyone’s Just a Human 19:07 - His Parents Don’t Know The Rules. They Show Up Anyway. 23:12 - The Thing That Finally Clicked 24:51 - Staying Process-Focused in a Results-Driven World 27:01 - He Stopped Negotiating With Himself 29:21 - A Cancelled Season, and a Chance Meeting at the Gym 32:38 - Start Working Like a Pro 35:30 - The Most Influential Relationship 39:13 - Fail 100 Times. Then Fail Again. 40:24 - A Contract Pending in Mexico 41:14 - Dealing With the Uncertainty of Pro Basketball 43:30 - How He Wants to Look Back on his Career 44:49 - More Than Minutes Played

7. 

   8 Sept 2026

   From 112 Games on the Bench to Banana Ball Star | Eli Paton

   Eli Paton spent his early baseball career dominating, until UCLA humbled him with a position switch, a torn meniscus, and 112 straight games on the bench. He and Noah talk through how he handled that stretch, why he ultimately transferred to GCU to find playing time, and how those two years of watching from the dugout shaped him as much as any game he started. Eli explains how a short, unpaid stint in independent ball led him to Banana Ball, what the constant travel and nonstop fan interaction demand of him physically and mentally, and how he works to stay recovered and grounded through it. He also opens up about College Prospector, the athlete-advising business he's building on the side, and what he's learned about staying at an even keel through both the highs and the lows of a career built on constant reinvention. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:47 - The Most Important Question Today 03:57 - “Great Things Come From Hard Work & Perseverance” 05:08 - The One Person Who Changed It All 06:24 - Being Inspired by an Unbiased Third-Party 07:30 - Fall in Love With Your Sport 08:22 - Living Through Your Child’s Career 10:55 - “I Got Cleated in the Head” 13:04 - Josie Was Never Meant to Survive 17:00 - How Eli Got into Banana Ball 19:14 - “I Need to Invest in Myself” 22:26 - Remembering to Soak It All In 23:25 - Your Brand Has to be Authentic 25:43 - How Are You Able to Stay Grounded? 27:29 - Celebrities Aren’t Gods 31:34 - Adapting to the Insane Schedule of Banana Ball 33:49 - “I Sat 112 Games on the Bench” 39:45 - Understanding When to Move On 41:40 - Knowing How To Regulate Your Highs & Lows 44:11 - Giving Back to the Next Generation 47:47 - Teaching Kids Has Helped Me Grow As a Player 51:05 - Life in 10 Years 53:17 - What He Tells Athletes at Every Stage of Their Career 56:58 - Where To Connect With Eli

8. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Sierra Caffo on Playing in the Zone and Losing It

   Sierra Caffo grew up with a beach volleyball in her hand, following her father's love for the sport from San Diego's sand courts all the way to a six-year, Division 1 college career. She and Noah talk about what it felt like getting recruited by top programs at just 14 and 15 years old, and how her parents' hands-off approach to winning and losing gave her the space to build her own relationship with the game. Sierra opens up about her final collegiate match, a loss that came down to her court in the last set of her career, and the guilt she's carried and slowly processed in the time since. She and Noah dig into what being "in the zone" actually feels like and how the discipline and resilience she built on the court have shaped who she is now, well outside the sport. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - Her Dad Found Beach Volleyball & Never Let Go 04:30 - The Sport People Assume Nobody Plays 07:30 - The Rise of Social Beach Volleyball 09:20 - She Still Has to Beat Her Brothers at Everything 11:31 - When Did Volleyball Become Her Identity 14:02 - Was There Ever Parental Pressure to Excel? 17:20 - The Importance of Healthy Parenting 20:29 - Deciding Your Future at Fourteen 24:52 - Being Judged, Ranked, and Chosen at Fifteen 28:03 - The Incredible Feeling of Being in the Zone 29:59 - “Being In The Zone Means You’re Completely Free” 33:33 - The Pain of the Final Game of Her Career 37:40 - “I Felt Like a Failure” 40:36 - Emotional Impact on Noah 43:20 - “I Don’t Want to Disappoint Them” 47:50 - There’s No Perfect Science 49:20 - Sports Increase Your Ability To Adapt 51:57 - Understanding Your Role 54:06 - Resilience, Work Ethic & Constructive Feedback 58:45 - The Key To Willingness to Improve 01:00:32 - Being Proud of Her Athletic Career

9. 

   25 Aug 2026

   Owning Your Greatness | Dr. Cassidy Preston

   Dr. Cassidy Preston has spent his career helping athletes rewire their mental game, and this conversation gets into the actual tools he uses to do it. He and Noah unpack the fantasy-nightmare trap that keeps high performers chasing wins and fearing losses, and why the word "acceptance" makes so many athletes flinch even though it's the thing that actually frees them up to perform. Cassidy breaks down the difference between a confident mistake and a fearful one, walks through the reset routine he built to help athletes clear their heads mid-game, and explains how to construct an alter ego that works instead of just sounding cool, using real moments from coaching Noah through a professional setback. They close out talking about when this kind of mental training should start with kids, and what parents and coaches can do without needing a psych degree. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:37 - Mindset First, Results Second 03:24 - From a Basement Hockey School to a PhD 06:33 - How Young is Too Young for Mental Performance 08:36 - Why Social Media Makes Comparison Inevitable 09:47 - Preventative Work vs. Putting Out Fires 14:11 - “A Lot of Our Job Is To Be a Mirror” 16:10 - Profiling Noah as an Athlete 18:06 - “If You Can’t Accept it, Don’t Play” 22:07 - Team Sports vs. Individual Sports 24:15 - When Acceptance Sounds Like Losing 27:20 - What Lobsters Can Teach Us About Growth 29:44 - Own the Mistakes, Own the Good Too 32:54 - Why High Performers End Up Miserable 35:40 - The Fantasy and the Nightmare 41:15 - Confident Mistake vs. Unconfident Mistake 46:13 - The Powerful One-Two Punch 50:20 - Bringing Your Alter-Ego to Life 52:52 - “Success is Boring Sometimes” 55:00 - Coaching His Own Seven Year Old 58:13 - “We’re Missing Opportunities to Connect” 01:00:43 - Noah’s Gift to Dr. Cassidy 01:01:44 - The Importance of Role Models 01:03:36 - CEP Mindset Work

10. 

    18 Aug 2026

    ⁠ The Late Bloomer Who Made a World Cup | Sophie Braun

    Sophie Braun grew up small, playing catch-up against her younger brother Nico on the same backyard fields that would eventually send them both to Gonzaga. She talks about the mindset that got her through being overlooked as a kid, the phone call from Argentina's federation that pulled her onto their national team despite not speaking Spanish, and what it took to earn trust in a locker room where she didn't share a language with her teammates. Sophie and Noah go deep on her winding path through pro rosters in Mexico, Kansas City, and Spokane, the World Cup goal she never saw coming as a defender, and why she walked away from a stacked NWSL team to get playing minutes. She also opens up about finishing her MBA mid-career, her long-term goal of becoming a GM, and what she thinks actually separates a healthy team culture from a toxic one. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Most Important Relationship in Her Career 04:25 - “I Never Thought I Could Play Professional Soccer” 06:18 - Struggling With Confidence 08:15 - Controlling What You Can Control 10:23 - Playing For Others, Not Just Yourself 11:36 - For Those Who Don’t Believe in Themselves 13:35 - Recruited for Argentina at a Young Age 15:30 - Soccer is its Own Language 17:33 - “Give Yourself Grace” 19:12 - Adapting to New Environments/Phases of Life 24:05 - Doing It For The Love of the Game 25:37 - World Cup & The Olympics 27:29 - The Most Insane Goal in The World Cup 29:11 - The Growth of Women’s Football 32:36 - “It’s Hard When You Put Your Life Into Sport” 34:42 - “I’ll Go To War For the Person Next To Me” 37:18 - Dream Role as a GM 40:25 - Second Jobs Were Just The Reality For Women’s Soccer 45:02 - Her Responsibility To The Next Generation 49:32 - Fostering a Healthy Environment 52:10 - Transparency & Communication Are Keys to Success 54:58 - Advice For a 13-Year Old With a Pro Dream 57:00 - What She Learned From Mentors 58:46 - What The Game Taught Her About Life 01:00:52 - The Legacy She Hopes To Leave

11. 

    11 Aug 2026

    Being the Smallest Kid to Marking England's Starting XI | Angelo Calfo

    Angelo Calfo spent his early teens the smallest player on every roster he made, watching bigger kids separate from him year after year while he waited on a growth spurt that wouldn't come. He talks about the anger that came with it, the mentors who kept him tethered to the game itself rather than the results, and the winding road that followed: Spain, a semi-pro men's team, Gonzaga, a string of tryouts that didn't pan out, and finally a contract in Flower City for less than a living wage. Angelo and Noah dig into identity loss after sport, the alter ego he tried and abandoned as a college player, and what it actually felt like lining up against Eberechi Eze and Ivan Toney in a friendly against England's senior team. Angelo unpacks why he started Odyssey College Recruiting, how playing multiple positions reshaped his understanding of the game, and why he's finally found peace with the idea of eventually walking away from it. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - Hitting Puberty Years After Everyone Else 04:50 - Controlling What You Can Control 07:20 - The Importance of Role Models In Your Life 10:40 - What is the Philosophy Around Heroes? 12:11 - Are Heroes Still Untouchable? 13:44 - Meeting Jude Bellingham 14:56 - Is Having an Alter-Ego Needed in Pro Sport? 16:40 - The One Moment That Changed The Way He Plays 19:28 - Playing Against the English National Team 22:00 - “We Couldn’t Get Close To Eze” 24:50 - The Best Players in the World Know Their Role 28:45 - How To Avoid “Identity Death” 30:54 - You Should Learn To Play Multiple Positions 32:22 - Why Flower City Season Was Special 36:07 - Off-Field Experiences Were Life Changing 39:30 - The Importance of Having Passions Outside Sport 43:35 - His Failed Business Taught Him Valuable Lessons 45:23 - The Pure Love of Playing Sport 47:08 - “First Time I’m at Peace With Not Playing Anymore” 48:34 - Why Most Players Can’t Play With Freedom 52:41 - You’ll Remember the Incredible Experiences When Retiring 56:20 - Pro Athletes Can Live Two Lives 58:51 - Tony Robbins’ Three Fundamental Skills 01:00:02 - What is Odyssey College Recruiting? #MoreThanMinutesPlayed #AthleteIdentity #LifeAfterSport

12. 

    4 Aug 2026

    He Trained Next to Messi, Then Walked Away From It | Lucas Meek

    Lucas Meek spent an entire season on the bench. He was doing his best to stay positive and be the hype guy for everyone else, without playing a single minute. That same energy and mindset is what carried him through the scoring streak and took the University of Washington to a national championship. Three days before the MLS draft, he tore his meniscus. Inter Miami took a chance on him, and five months later he was training next to Messi. He gets into what that was actually like day to day, and why he chose to walk away from that entire path to go play in New Zealand instead, knowing his career could suffer. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:44 - The Most Important Question 02:10 - Current Greenville Life 03:04 - His Dad Signed Him Up For The Wrong Trial 05:05 - “My Parents Couldn’t Keep a Ball Away From Me” 06:16 - His Soccer Idols Becoming His Mentors 08:00 - Emailing Coaches Every Night For Hours 11:10 - Being Inspired by USMT Player Jordan Morris 15:00 - “Pride and Humility Can Be a Superpower” 18:52 - Valuing Education While Playing Soccer 21:52 - Status of Soccer Players in College 24:49 - The Positive Hype Guy on the Bench 28:08 - Six Goals in 50 Minutes 32:50 - Disaster Three Days Before The Draft 35:11 - The Struggle of Getting Past Mental Battles 37:50 - Having Passions Outside Your Sport 40:30 - What Wemby Teaches You About Balance 42:25 - You Don’t Have to Deal With Struggles Alone 45:55 - Inter Miami Securing His Future 47:10 - Training Alongside Messi 50:10 - “I Couldn’t Believe What Messi Could Do On The Pitch” 51:53 - How Much Better Are They Than MLS Players 54:46 - The Mental Ferris Wheel Of Being on the Second Team 58:30 - From MLS to Playing in New Zealand 01:01:34 - The Soccer World Runs on Perception, Not Talent 01:04:50 - What It’s Like Being So Far From Home 01:07:40 - “I Had a lot of Side Quests in Australia” 01:12:04 - Playing Back into the US and Slowing Down 01:14:20 - Debating Whether to Retire From Soccer 01:16:54 - What He Wants His Legacy To Be 01:19:26 - Sacrifices You Make Playing Professional Sports

13. 

    28 Jul 2026

    Inside Banana Ball with Ben Parker

    You may recognize him by his muscles before you recognize his face. Ben Parker is a bodybuilding outfielder for the Loco Beach Coconuts, one of the newest teams in Banana Ball, a league that's now outdrawn every major U.S. pro sports franchise combined. He won't miss a gym day, even on a schedule that has him signing autographs, rehearsing dance numbers, and playing games from 10 a.m. to midnight. He calls the reason "fear of regression," and he means it literally. Ben talks with Noah about what that pace actually costs, and what happens when someone who's built his identity around never slowing down has to sit with the question of what comes after. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh talks with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:11 - Banana Ball is a Concert Mixed in With Pro Baseball 02:45 - The Instagram DM That Changed His Career 05:09 - The League That Incentivizes You To Build a Brand 06:29 - Making an Impact On & Off The Field 08:51 - “I Was Undersized Growing Up” 10:20 - Does Bodybuilding Ruin Your Baseball Athleticism? 12:01 - Why Going D3 Was the Best Decision 14:13 - Red Carpet Treatment at a College I Never Heard Of 16:08 - “I’m Not Going to Let You Down” 17:59 - The Love of Sports Came from Zero Family Pressure 19:14 - Healthy Competition Growing Up 20:10 - “I Wasn’t Even Drafted” 21:47 - Banana Ball is Making a Special Impact 24:18 - Balancing Pro Baseball With The Performances 26:11 - “There’s Not Many Bodybuilding Baseball Players” 28:10 - I Want To Experience It All First 30:07 - Nothing Compares to The Banana Ball Schedule 31:54 - Learning to Take Rest When Needed 33:27 - Why Being Too Type A Doesn’t Work in Banana Ball 35:40 - “Fear of Regression” 37:12 - Defending Banana Ball to the Pro Baseball World 39:23 - The Legacy He Wants to Leave Behind 40:38 - Everyone Thinks, “This is Insane.” #MoreThanMinutesPlayed #AthleteIdentity #LifeAfterSport

14. 

    21 Jul 2026

    The Unbelievable Story of Determination For The Game | Kiley Norkus | Kiley Norkus

    Kiley Norkus calls it “fight, bite, and a dog in her” that won't let anything decide her career for her. She started emailing every D1 coach in the country before she even had her driver's license, then followed up with cold calls because she figured no one else was going to make her case for her. That stubbornness got her through Turkey, where she went four months without pay, ended up in the hospital twice, and needed FIFA and FIFPRO to get her out of a broken contract. It's the same instinct that eventually carried her to Canada's first pro women's league; one stop in a career that's taken her through seven countries. This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh talks with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly. Subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:04 - “Dad, Soccer is Dumb…” 02:29 - The Euphoria You Chase in Sport 04:22 - “Can You Control It? Yes or No?” 06:07 - Why Process Based Thinking is Sustainable 07:40 - What Playing in 7 Countries Teaches You 09:49 - A Lifetime of Experience Before Age 30 12:57 - The Team of “Nobodies” That Won Everything 15:06 - Four Hours Each Way, Skipping Class to Play 16:36 - She Emailed Every D1 Coach in the Country 20:26 - How One Shot Led to Recruitment 22:25 - When Soccer Became a Job Instead of Fun 24:12 - “I’ve Got That Fight, That Bite, That Dog in Me.” 25:53 - Transferring Before the Portal Existed 27:53 - Earning Respect as the New Kid in the Team 32:26 - Committed to Going Pro at 13 34:40 - Messaging Coaches on MySpace 37:11 - How Psychotic Do You Have to Be? 38:54 - You Just Need One Opportunity 41:53 - Integrating Into New Environments 44:22 - Playing in Iceland and Realising There’s More 50:00 - Fistfights at Training in Israel 52:56 - Learning to Push Through vs. Parting Ways 56:37 - “Turkey Was Literally the Death of my Existence” 01:00:26 - The Lengths We Go To For a Game 01:03:29 - Becoming Robotic to Survive 01:05:08 - A Second Family in Calgary, Then a Call to Halifax 01:08:16 - The Unbelievable Resilience in Pro Sport

15. 

    14 Jul 2026

    "Positive Vibes Only": Shae Holmes on Coming Back from 3 ACLs

    In four years, Shae Holmes tore her ACL three separate times, at one point going straight from a ten-month rehab into surgery again. One full healthy season at the University of Washington was enough to get her drafted by the NWSL's Seattle Reign, into a locker room with Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Barnes. In this episode, Shae discusses what recovery actually felt like for her: being on autopilot through rehab. The mental trap of wondering if anyone even saw her play. And the identity question underneath the whole comeback: who is she, if she's not a soccer player? This is More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - Shae’s Unique Favourite Animal 03:07 - The City That Became Her Second Home 05:04 - Two ACL Tears in Two Years 07:39 - “Soccer Isn’t Forever” 08:57 - “My Purpose Wasn’t On The Field” 10:15 - Your Attitude is Everything 14:48 - “Energy Vampires” vs “Energy Suppliers” 17:07 - The Importance of Role Models 20:23 - The Phone Call She Didn’t Believe Was Real 21:30 - “You’re Basically Signing Up For Life at 16” 25:43 - The One Season That Changed Everything 32:26 - Playing Rookie Year Alongside Industry Giants 34:44 - “You Become the Player of the Environment You’re In” 37:17 - How To Deal With Inconsistencies In Sport 41:03 - Process-Focused in a “Dog-Eat-Dog” World 42:24 - A Home Game She’s Never Gotten to Play 46:52 - The Mental Trap of Watching From The Bench 51:31 - What Her Niece Taught Her About Validation 54:27 - Being Grateful For Living The Dream 57:03 - Why She’ll Have No Regrets, Whatever Comes Next 58:13 - The Business Born From Her Injuries 01:05:55 - Shae Holmes Without Soccer

16. 

    7 Jul 2026

    Losing Your Identity After Sport | Makena Rietz

    Makena Rietz used to drive four hours each way, alone, just to train for club soccer. She captained a top-ten college team and was named an All-American. Then she went overseas to chase a pro contract, and everything she'd dreamed of started coming apart. Makena is honest about all of it. Not being the best player on the team. The tryout process that broke her. The year she cried every day. Feeling like soccer was the only thing she knew how to be. And what happens next. This is episode one of More Than Minutes Played, where host Noah Cavanaugh has conversations with athletes, coaches, and sports psychologists about identity, purpose, and what life looks like inside and outside of sport. New episodes weekly, subscribe if you enjoy these conversations! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:01 - The 4-Hour Drive to Chase the Dream 05:16 - Why She Chose the Hardest Path 07:39 - Feeling Like You’re Always on Trial 11:20 - Four Years Doing Extra Training 17:27 - "It's Not Punishment, It's the Price" 20:14 - The Recruiting Grind 23:37 - A Top-10 Team in the Country 25:00 - The Pressure She Put on Herself 27:15 - "My Identity Was Entirely Football" 28:48 - Arriving at College a Nobody Again 30:58 - How COVID Made Her a Player 34:16 - A Championship-Caliber Senior Year 37:34 - Leading by Example 42:22 - Going Pro: Denmark 47:10 - Spain, and the First Real Slap in the Face 51:20 - The Last Tryout 54:00 - "Feeling Like I Was Tearing Myself Apart" 57:45 - Rebuilding an Identity Without the Game 01:01:25 - Advice for Athletes in Transition 01:04:33 - Was It Burnout, or Was It Over? 01:06:43 - Why the Crash Is Proportional to the Investment #MoreThanMinutesPlayed #AthleteIdentity #LifeAfterSport

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