2026 Conference Livestream Schedule
Building Community
We are thrilled to have you join us virtually for the 21st annual Play Like a Champion Conference!
Browse sessions available to stream during this year's conference below.
2026 Conference Livestream Schedule
*All Times Eastern Daylight Time
Thursday, June 11th: Building a Champion Community
9:00 AM
Join long-time college and professional basketball coach Mike Brey as he talks coaching, leadership and more!
9:30 AM
Mike Brey is joined on-stage by Thursday Evening Keynote speaker Roy Hibbert. The two competed against each other during Hibbert's collegiate career when Brey was the coach at Notre Dame and now they'll bring their expertise and friendly rivalry to the stage for a fascinating conversation.
Mike Brey
Mike Brey
Roy Hibbert
10:30 AM
Carli McGregor
Early sport-specialization, professionalization of youth sport, family dynamics, performance pressures, and self-expectations are just some of the common issues that plague today’s youth athlete. In navigating these, our youth are susceptible to experiencing low self-worth and elevated perfectionism. As a result, mental health, relationships, attitude, and athletic performance are negatively impacted. Youth sport stakeholders have an opportunity to create a sport environment that assists athletes in developing more helpful relationships with themselves, their sport, and their performances. This session will discuss how an athletic community can support youth-athletes’ sense of self, and consequently, positively impact well-being and development.
11:15 AM
Morning Breakout Sessions
James Driessen
Lending Calm: Coaches' Role in Creating a Leadership Culture through Mindset and Performance Psychology
McKenna Hall 215/216
James Driessen
Team culture does not begin with athletes, it begins with the emotional presence and leadership of the coach. This interactive workshop explores how coaches can utilize mindset and performance psychology to “lend calm” during high-pressure moments, shaping the emotional climate of their teams. Participants will engage in practical strategies to regulate pressure, model composure, and intentionally build a culture rooted in trust, accountability, and connection.
1:00 PM
Afternoon Breakout Sessions #1
A Team for Every Child: How Collective Impact Collaboratives are Transforming Youth Sports
McKenna Hall Room 215/216
This panel presentation presents how collective collaboratives in Chicago, South Bend and Philadelphia are challenging and changing the youth sport culture in America. We are stronger together: 1+1=3
2:30 PM
Breakout Sessions #2
A Team for Every Child: Children, Families, and Neighborhoods: Building Community with Radical Hospitality
McKenna Hall Room 215/216
This session explores ways in which communities can engage families in support of each other and their children around sports. Building strong neighborhood connections fosters belonging, efficacy, and access to vital resources. Sports are transformational when the sport culture, the system and policy all work together.
3:45 PM
Breakout Sessions #3
Jim Lefebvre
Lessons in Leadership from the Life of Knute Rockne
McKenna Hall Room 215/216
He’s known as one of the greatest coaches in history. And what Knute Rockne did in leading his players at Notre Dame, and mentoring coaches across the country, is truly legendary. We’ll look at Rockne’s philosophy and methods that resonate today — in organization, preparation, communication, motivation and above all, human relations.
Jim Lefebvre
5:00 PM
End of Day Community Meeting
McKenna Hall 215/216
Head back to the main room as we wrap-up the day's discussions with takeaways and action items.
Dr. Clark Power
Kristin Sheehan
Friday, June 12th: Building a Community of Light
9:00 AM
DT Shackelford
Dr. DT Shackelford’s journey was shaped by three defining beds: an uncomfortable twin bed, a prison bed that held the man who raised him, and a casket bed that held his biological father. Rather than extinguishing his future, those pressures forged his leadership capabilities, identity formation, and his ability to overcome adversity. Through the metaphor of bioluminescence, he reveals a powerful truth for leaders: when external light fades, champions learn to generate their own while forging a new path for others.
10:00 AM
Cathyana Marcel, MSW
Kevin Love Foundation
Everyone is Going Through Something
McKenna Hall 215/216
Join The Kevin Love Fund for a 75-minute professional development session designed for coaches, athletic staff, and educators. This training will demonstrate an evidence-based approach to helping student-athletes express their emotions and cultivate tools that support well-being. This session provides a practical framework for you to reinforce these skills within your teams. You will learn how to leverage your unique position to build trust, create a team culture that actively reduces stigma, and solidify your role as a trusted adult.
Cathyana Marcel
11:30 AM
Fr. Nate Wills, author of Pray Like a Champion, will share stories from his journey as Notre Dame football chaplain while discussing the intersection of sport and spirituality.
Fr. Nate Wills, CSC
Featured Speakers
Speakers Listed in Alphabetical Order
Mike Brey was widely considered one of the most likable coaches in men's college basketball across his 23 year tenure as the Head Coach at the University of Notre Dame (2000-2023). Now an Assistant Coach with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, he's been advocate for Play Like a Champion since the program's beginning and a fan favorite at past conferences. Brey's personality and coaching acumen have earned him national acclaim. Across 28 seasons as a college head coach at Delaware and Notre Dame, Brey amassed 582 wins. He was named AP Coach of the Year in 2011 and Big East Conference Coach of the Year three times (2007, 2008, 2011). His teams reached 15 NCAA Tournaments, which included 3 trips to the Sweet 16 and two more to the Elite 8. Yet it's his commitment to the people he coaches that has made him such a beloved figure.
James Driessen is the founder of Bullish Drive and an accomplished mental performance coach and consultant with a wealth of experience. Holding a Master's degree in Forensic Psychology, he has acquired certificates in various fields, including developmental psychology, criminal psychology, play therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. Driessen served as the head coach for the Rochester High School Rugby Club, leading them to four consecutive state championships and has acted as a coach consultant for several other teams, including mental skills coach and scrumhalf specialist for the University of Minnesota. Through his expertise in mental skills coaching, psychology, and rugby coaching, he has helped coaches, athletes, and teams enhance their mindsets, boost their meta skills proficiency, and achieve remarkable levels of performance. Driessen is also an accomplished musician. His unwavering passion for helping individuals and teams elevate their mindset, enhance their skills, and unlock their fullest potential shines brightly in every facet of his remarkable journey, working one on one from 8 year old athletes to NBA players and everything in between.
Roy Hibbert leaped into the spotlight as an All-American basketball player at Georgetown University from 2004-2008, going from fan-favorite to NBA prospect over four years. The 7'2" Hibbert was drafted 17th overall and traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he played most of his career before retiring in 2018. Along the way he made two NBA All-Star teams and an NBA All-Defensive Team (2014), earning a reputation as a hard working presence in the middle of the paint, capable of both scoring points and locking down opposing post players. Since retiring from the NBA, Hibbert has served as a Player Development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers and a college basketball analyst for CBS Sports, as well as sharing his story with audiences across the country, encouraging people to "stand tall" in the face of self-doubt.
Jim Lefebvre is one of the nation’s leading college football historians, specializing in the Rockne era. Jim authored the definitive, award-winning biography Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne. He is also the executive director of the Knute Rockne Memorial Society and leads the annual Knute Rockne Spirit of Sports Awards. Jim writes the Irish Echoes column in each issue of Blue & Gold Illustrated and enjoys presenting on Rockne’s philosophy and methods that still resonate today — in organization, preparation, communication, motivation and above all, human relations.
Cathyana Marcel, MSW is an educator, life coach, and mental health and wellness specialist at the Kevin Love Fund. With a master’s degree in social work from Florida International University and over ten years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Cathyana brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her roles. Her background—providing highly engaging training and development experiences in higher education, and delivering direct services nationally and within her community—allows her to engage with individuals in transformative ways, fostering environments where participants are empowered to step into their stories and take ownership of their mental health. Reflecting on her experience delivering the Kevin Love Fund curriculum, she shares, “Living in a culture that caters too easily to silencing our inner struggles, the Kevin Love Fund provides a life-giving and empowering experience for participants to share their stories with pride. Only when we finally express our stories can we be free.” Cathyana is a lifelong learner, a lover of stories and leadership development, and is passionate about creating brave spaces that empower individuals to thrive.
Dr. Carlie McGregor is a licensed psychologist embedded in the University of Notre Dame athletic department. In her role as a sport psychologist, she provides individual and group psychological services. She works with athletes to address mental health concerns and to enhance athletic performance with the goal of collaboratively elevating well-being, optimizing athletic performance, and, ultimately, helping student-athletes develop into their best selves. Her areas of interest include multicultural identity empowerment, sport performance, interpersonal patterns, identity development, and self-worth concerns. McGregor earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 2015. She then went on to complete her Master of Science and PhD in Counseling Psychology, with an emphasis in Sport and Performance Psychology, at the University of North Texas.
Dr. DT Shackelford is a transformational leader, a former Division I student-athlete at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and founder of DT Shack LLC, a leadership platform focused on identity, resilience and adversity. Raised amid incarceration, loss and absence, he transformed a legacy of correction into a mission of cultivation, earning his Doctorate of Higher Education by age 28 and grounding his work in purpose-driven, servant leadership. Dr. Shackelford has dedicated his professional life to empowering others, serving as a non-profit leader and supporting holistic student-athlete development with the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation. Through compelling storytelling, workshops and speaking engagements, he equips students, educators and organizations to turn adversity into opportunity and to lead with clarity and conviction.
Fr. Nate Wills, CSC, serves on the faculty of the Alliance for Catholic Education's Remick Leadership Program at the University of Notre Dame and is the chaplain of the Notre Dame football team. As an education professor, he directs the "Higher-Powered Learning" program, which helps teachers and leaders leverage technology to meet the needs of all learners in K–12 classrooms. As football chaplain, he is known for his warmth and humor, serving coaches and student athletes while making complex spiritual themes accessible and inspiring. Fr. Nate earned a master of divinity in theology and a master of education from the University of Notre Dame, as well as a doctorate in education leadership and policy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was ordained in the spring of 2006 and is currently the priest-in-residence in Keough Hall.
