"the champions way" WITH ANSON DORRANCE

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Hosted and Presented by The Soccer Fund 

April, 2026: London 9:30 am-12

Admission: This is a free Invitation only event suited for professional club owners, investors, federation directors, club directors, national team and professional coaches and players, high performing emerging player talent, media/entertainment industry leaders

Contact Gary Ireland  garyjamesireland@gmail.com (650) 387 4128

Anson Dorrance is the most successful and influential women's football coach in US history, making a significant impact on the development on the women's game in the USA and globally. Winner of a record 22 NCAA Championships and inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup he rivals Michel Jordan in status in Chapel Hill. 

 “This is a women’s soccer school. We’re just trying to keep up with them" Dean Smith, Jordan's UNC basketball coach 

AGENDA: 

• Past, Present, Future of Women's Global Football
• The Growth Of Women's Global Football
• Identifying, Developing & Training Champions: Dorrance created the 'Competitive Cauldron' culture of recording performance in practice, the foundation for UNC women's players performing at their best not only in games but in practice, adopted by many coaches in other sports
• Architecting & Embedding Culture: Developing Core Values of Nobility, Respect and Positivity. Discover what made UNC one of the most successful sports teams in history
• Anson describes excerpts from his books 'The Man Watching' & The 'Vision Of A Champion'
• Outside The Comfort Zone' & 'Never Ending Ascensions' Anson describes his quest for his coaching staff and players to transcend ordinary effort and avoid mediocrity. Anson and Gary discuss player ownership of performance and importance of self practice

Over 60 UNC players have represented the USA , 12 UNC players playing over 100 games each for the USA, more than any other team in college soccer history, all of them coached by Dorrance at UNC, including Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Lori Chalupny, Cat Reddick, Tisha Venturini, Ashlyn Harris, Jessica McDonald. 

UNC players Anson has coached include 

England Manager Sarina Wiegman who called UNC a ‘football paradise’, Yael Averbuch GM of NWSL 2025 National Champions Gotham FC, President of US Soccer Federation Cindy Parlow, former USA Women's National Team coach April Heinrichs (now FIFA)

Current USA Women's National team players include 

Crystal Dunn (PSG), Sam Meza (Seattle), Ally Sentnor (Utah), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Claudia Dickey (Seattle), Avery Patterson (Houston) 

 "He’s one of the most brilliant men I have met. He blew my mind with his boldness and intuition" (Emma Hayes) 

UNC players who play/have played in England include

England "Lioness" players Alessia Russo (Arsenal), Lotte Wubben Moy (Arsenal), ex-FIFA World Player of Year Lucy Bronze (ex-Barcelona & Manchester City/current Chelsea), Bronze being given the opportunity to start her England career. See BBC story https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer/lucy-bronze-the-making-of-england-s-most-decorated-player/ar-AA1HPDIL and USA national team players Emily Fox (Arsenal) Crystal Dunn (Chelsea-now PSG), Tobin Heath (Arsenal), Heather O’Reilly (Arsenal), Whitney Engen (Liverpool), Lorrie Fair (Chelsea), Heather O'Reilly (ex-Arsenal/coaching at FC Como), Whitney Engen (ex-Liverpool)

"Anson and I met for the first time in 2005. I had been an admirer of his for years and read his book. Dorrance is one of the true legends in sports. I adopted Dorrance’s approach for an number of reasons. As a motivational tool it helped us make sure the players were practicing at a very high level". Superbowl and NCAA champion coach Former USC coach and NFL coach of Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll (Las Vegas Raiders NFL coach). Carroll dedicated a training day "Competitive Wednesday" day in Anson's honor based on his "The Competitive Cauldron"  

Anson is a regular presenter and guest speaker at many events for Bespoke consulting engagements or speaking appearances: 

* Guest Speaker Events (Education, Motivational speaking) 

* Symposium appearances

* Coach & Player Education clinics

* Consulting/advising global clubs, leagues, federations & organizations

* Annual symposium held at UNC Chapel Hill

“You need coaches or loving critics or people that you respect to help accelerate the process so you can get there as fast as possible...its learning how to get to work instead of giving up on a dream" (Anson Dorrance). 

Anson's methods on motivational leadership advice have been adopted by numerous professional and FIFA World Cup players, professional and college coaches, He has consulted with several sports organizations was motivated by Anson's book and applied some of his practices and methods to inspire their management, coaches and players. 

* Houston Astros (MLB) 

* Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB)  

* Pete Carroll Coach of NCAA Champions USC & NFL Superbowl Champions Seattle Seahawks 

* Emma Hayes USA Women's National Team Coach: her outlook on coaching was massively influenced and revolutionized by Anson, stating

While putting in enormous amounts of time refining ones craft to become an expert and pursuing ones passion is a given, it's not just about quantity but quality because the time spent (in soccer) must be filled with deliberate practice (material, quality of work, planning, performance, monitoring, feedback) with concerted effort at the edge of ones comfort zones. 

"Self-regulation is how people actively and thoughtfully pursue goals by understanding their thinking, their understanding, their emotions and their behaviors. Epistemic cognition is about understanding what matters in a discipline and how disciplines create knowledge”. (Anson Dorrance)

Contact info@thesoccerfund.com 

Email Gary Ireland garyjamesireland@gmail.com 650 387 4128