Use your voice. Be fearless. Create joy. Contribute to something larger than yourself, believe in a collective good. Listen. Speak your principles—even better, live them. Find common ground. Shake hands. For real—not for show, not to establish dominance, as an act of respect. Throw in a wink, why not. Turn your music up—it’s who you are. Read more—it’s who you can be. Build. Create the future—let it fly.
“Progressivism is Patriotism”
Kicking off the Episode 1 of the Truth In The Arena Podcast, longtime track coach and retired chemistry teacher Tony Holler speaks with host Nate Huffstutter about the intersection of coaching, personal values, and political beliefs.
Holler’s Feed the Cats model is based on “inarguable” valuable props, such as “Make practice the best part of a kid’s day” and “kids are good at what they like and obsessed with what they love.” In the conversation, Holler discusses how coaching transcends sports and serves as a platform for teaching life lessons and fostering community.
Holler shares insights on the importance of evolving perspectives, the challenges of navigating personal and professional identities, and the need for coaches to engage with political issues while maintaining their core values. As with the “inarguable” values of Feed The Cats, he expands on how his support for the progressive movement and Bernie Sanders is driven by inarguable points such as “having cancer shouldn’t make you also go bankrupt.”
Throughout the conversation, the two coaches further explore the complexities and pitfalls of media consumption in a disinformation environment, the evolution of personal beliefs, the toughness of coaches, and ways to find common ground by engaging in meaningful conversations.
Chapter List
00:00 Introduction to Coaching and Values
02:35 The Influence of Personal Principles on Coaching
05:50 Navigating Personal and Professional Identities
09:27 Evolution of Perspectives in Coaching and Politics
13:23 Connecting Coaching Principles to Political Views
18:34 Challenges in Political Pragmatism and Progressivism
25:50 Voting Against Self-Interest
28:31 Media Diet and Misinformation
33:48 The Toughness of Coaches
36:27 Evolving Perspectives
41:47 Progressivism as Patriotism
45:56 Finding Common Ground