About The Podcast
Our Story
Sports have played an integral role in my life, from when I was born until today. I’ve been involved in every aspect of athletics for my entire life and I’ve met and learned from some incredible people along the way. This podcast was born because I truly believe we need to be engaged in more positive, powerful, and meaningful conversations about sports in our communities. We face many challenges and we have lots of work to do, but there are also some incredible stories out there and some amazing work being done throughout the world and we want to use this platform to talk openly and honestly about those challenges and share those positive stories.
We should be learning from each other every single day and we hope this podcast can be a positive part of that process. Our journey to create a positive impact in our communities is one that is continual and multi-layered – but also exciting, humbling, challenging, and rewarding. One of the most powerful ways that we can connect with each other and create meaningful dialogue is through the power of sports.
While people often try and focus on our differences, we find that through sports, we have more in common than we do different. This podcast will explore the intersections of sports, culture, society. inclusion and positivity.
“The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why”
- Mark Twain
What is our why?
It’s so important to know why we do things. Why do we play sports? Why do we coach? Why did we decide to start this podcast and blog? We think about these questions all the time. We are still trying to figure it out, but we do know a few things.
Sports teach us lessons that we often don’t learn elsewhere.
We all should continually seek learning.
The benefits of athletic participation are clear and positive for everyone.
Access to those benefits is NOT equal.
We believe that stories can be powerful. We also believe that conversation is vital. There is nothing wrong with competition and nothing wrong with trying to win, but along the way, we are losing the real reasons we play sports. Perhaps our why is helping create dialogue to rediscover why sports are so powerful in our communities. We look forward to exploring this topic with you all and engaging in powerful, positive and respectful conversation.
Mission
To use our platform to showcase the power of sports in our communities through conversations and positive dialogue with individuals, experts, and organizations to inspire a global network of change-makers and movement seekers.
Visi0n
To accelerate positive dialogue using the power of sports to engage, enrich, and enhance our global communities.
Core Values
We believe strongly in the power of sports. Some of the things we like most translate into the core values of our podcast and blog. We believe that we are a global community and sports have the potential to bring us together. To help do so, we will always work within our core values to bring content, create dialogue and help inspire others to follow their passions and engage their community.
Teamwork
Growth Mindset
Empathy
Passion
Meet The H0st
“The athletic arena, more than almost any other venue, has the ability to bring people together despite real or perceived differences. In these arenas we are able to see that we have more in common than we have different”
Bio
Hello everyone! My name is Ryan Plourde and I’m originally from Maine but grew up in Colorado. I’ve played sports his entire life, finishing my formal athletic career as a student-athlete at the University of Redlands, where I got my undergraduate degree in Business Administration. My life has revolved around sports- starting as an athlete and then as a coach and now as a career; though I still play and coach when I can. I have a Masters in International Relations from American University and whenever I have any spare time, you can find me on the basketball court trying to get in a good run.
For the past 10 years, I’ve worked both domestically and internationally in a variety of capacities. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia where I started to work with Grassroots Soccer to implement the program throughout the country. After working with GRS for 3 years, I moved to Colorado as the Program Director for Soccer Without Borders, an organization that uses the power of soccer to work with refugee youth in the United States.
This incredibly rewarding and inspiring work led me to my current position with FHI 360, working as part of a dynamic team that oversees Sports-based exchange programs. In this capacity, I work with coaches and youth athletes from all over the world to put together meaningful programs that bring people together through the wonderful power of sports.
Send me a message!
A little Q&A
What is your favorite Sport? To play- Basketball. To watch- most anything!
Fun fact? I was born in Kennebunkport, Maine, which I guess not that many people in the world can say.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I’m kind of one of those that believes that you can adapt to living most anywhere and happiness isn’t solely based on where we live, so I COULD live anywhere. There are too many dream locations to live in this world, but if you are twisting my arm- I’d say Ethiopia. It’s my second home. Ask me again tomorrow though.
What are your hobbies? I don’t know if it’s one dimensional of me, but my “hobbies” are all sports related. Either playing or watching….usually playing. Any sport.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? For someone who hosts a podcast and often speaks in front of groups, it might be surprising to say I’m actually in introvert. I might better be described as an extroverted introvert. On the field or court or with friends and family, I’m certainly an extrovert. Place me in a party with a ton of people and I’m absolutely an introvert.
What would an ideal day look like? Any day that has me active and competing is a fun day for me. I’d say an early morning hike with Mahi, followed by a nice breakfast, then some basketball in the afternoon and then an evening with some friends sharing some laughs. I don’t need much to be happy.
Best memory? I’m fortunate to have had some great experiences in life, but my wedding was incredibly special to me and is a day I think back on often if I ever need a smile.
Most prized possession? I have a letter that an old friend wrote me a long time ago, that I’ve always kept no matter where I’ve been. I’m not directly connected with this friend anymore, but that is due to time and life, but that letter means a lot to me.
Best career advice? My peace corps director once told us to “not suffer in silence” and it’s a phrase I use a lot in my work. Also, I think anything that relates to following your passions and doing what you believe in is great advice.
What inspires you? There aren’t enough word in this blog to say what inspires me. I find inspiration in so many ways….in the people I meet, the stories I read, the good things that people do for each other and the list goes on. I’m both fortunate and unfortunate to have a wonderful group of friends who all live far away from each other, but that are incredible sources of inspiration because of the human beings they are. We don’t get to see each other as often because we are all off doing various things, but we pick up like we didn’t miss a day and keeping up with what they are all doing is incredibly motivational for me. They are just wonderful people who are kind, caring, selfless and passionate and that’s how I want to always be; so it inspires me to keep going.
Check out some of my other work.
Andilaynen (coming soon!)
RP Web Designs
Kalayou Publishing
Quick Links
Listen.
More than a game is a podcast that explores the power of sports in our communities. We have discussions with experts in the field, share powerful stories from all over the world and engage in important conversations about how sports can play an important role in our global community.
Learn.
Resources are out there for everyone to access, but it’s often difficult to figure out where to start. We collaborate with all of our guests to help provide valuable resources to our audience and help further engage our global community on this important topics. Click below to access some of the best resources publicly available. (currently under construction)
Support.
We are all in this world together. Through sports, we often learn that we have more in common than we do different. If you are interested in supporting our mission and joining the conversations, send us a message anytime! Or if you simply have a question for us, we’d love to hear from you.
Listen up.
Check out each episode as we engage in various conversations centered around the power that sports have in our communities. We will engage in topics ranging from sports for social justice to inclusion to teaching life skills to conflict resolution and much more. We chat with experts in the field, share stories from around the world and learn from each other as we explore the positive impact that sports have.