Sports is filled with successful coaches, but Satch Sullinger' story offers championship-level inspiration to players, parents and coaches who care about values and winning the right way, on and off the court. In an ego-soaked era where highlights and sound bites speak to a "me first" societal mentality, Sullinger's message cuts through the din, to the core of what matters most: mastering the fundamentals of selflessness that allow us to raise our game, lift our teammates and rise to collective glory.
Satch Sullinger's story is the essence of what it means to make the most of a second chance. As a young man, his bad choices led to a dirty world of drugs and crime. One night, police smashed through the door of his apartment, and he stood face-to-face with the brutal prospect of life in prison. That harrowing experience proved a turning point for Sullinger, who climbed from the depths to carve for himself a new life rooted in education and a commitment to helping kids avoid similar pitfalls.
At twenty-six, Sullinger enrolled in college at Oberlin, became captain of the basketball team, graduated with a degree in education and later returned to his alma mater as coach.
Sullinger's emphasis to kids on accountability, especially where education and respect for the game is concerned, received national attention a few years ago, when, as coach at Northland High, he became concerned that Jared wasn't taking his schoolwork seriously and benched his son for a crucial playoff game. Without its star player, heavily-favored Northland lost the game, and with it an expected state championship. Sullinger establishes in Winning with Purpose a foundation for personal and team improvement buttressed by principles like effort and attitude, preparation and perspective, trust and teamwork, and accountability and integrity.
Sullinger utilizes a wealth of leadership experience, sprinkled with awareness gained from his own poignant life lessons, in offering practical, powerful solutions to these and other ego-influenced impediments to victory. Ultimately, Sullinger's message in Winning with Purpose is simple: Get your heart and mind right, and your game will follow. Then, you'll be in prime position to rise to your potential and enjoy uncommon team success.
Satch Sullinger is a longtime coach, teacher and believer in the power of playing with purpose, on and off the court. Sullinger is the 2010 Naismith National High School Basketball Coach of the Year. Sullinger was selected to coach in the Adidas Nations Global Championship in Los Angeles in 2012. The tournament features the top high school basketball players from around the world. Sullinger continues to speak at coaches' and youth clinics across the country.
John Dauphin has written for The Plain Dealer, The Columbus Dispatch and Hittin' the Note. He has interviewed and written about Bob Knight, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Walter Cronkite, Roy Williams, Roger Clemens and Cameron Crowe. John wrote and directed Winning Lives: The Story of Ted Ginn Sr., a documentary that aired on CBS Sports Network. Winning Lives is the inspirational story of the high school football coach and his efforts to make a positive impact on the turbulent lives of inner-city kids in Cleveland and beyond. John lives in Columbus with his wife and two daughters.
