Coach Amanda Gaines has been a part of the Gopher dance team for 19 years. First as an athlete from 2005-2009, then as an assistant coach from 2009-13, and then as the head coach.

Gaines became the head coach in April 2013 and held that role until March 2017. After taking some time off, she resumed that role in 2020.

During her tenure, Gaines helped the Gophers to a national championship as an athlete (2006), eight national championships (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) as an assistant coach, and 10 titles as the head coach in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In all, Minnesota has won 23 dance national titles with Gaines a part of 20 of them.

Under her watch, the Gophers also represented Team USA for the 2025 International Cheer and Dance Competition, where the team won gold in the Pom and silver in the Jazz division. It was the third time that Minnesota represented the US National Team, having also done so in 2010 and 2014, under Gaines’ leadership.

Today, James and Amanda discuss the psychological frameworks and principles she operates from that help her navigate the pressure, tension, chaos, and the mindsets & behaviors she instills within the team so they can go on the floor and be at their best.

After seeing a rise in anxiety among the athletes and clients James works with, as well as a trend in the Western world, James decided to make Anxiety a main research pillar for 2025.

James shares his takeaways from the book Building a Non-anxious Life by Dr. John Delony.

Tune in to hear some practical strategies that will help you navigate, minimize, and better leverage anxiety.

A renowned leader in sports performance and high-performance coaching, Steve has prepared triathletes for the Kona Ironman, boxers for world title fights, the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and Matt Fitzpatrick for the 2023 PGA Championship and US Open.

He was also the first full-time American performance specialist in the English Premier League, leading the Sport Science efforts for Everton Football Club, facing teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea.

Beyond sport, he has coached executive VPs at Stanley 1913, performance directors at the Phoenix Suns, helped the Colorado Rapids (MLS) develop organizational identity, and has given keynotes on collaboration at Fuel50 and WebPT.

James expands on a quote he found years ago that has helped him remain centered amidst the chaos and uncertainty of life.

In today’s episode, James invites you to shift your relationship with what he calls THE BIG 3. These 3 things, Change, Conflict and Uncertainty, can alter one’s trajectory in significant ways, both good and bad, depending on how one responds. It’s up to you to take inventory and to make the adjustment necessary in one or all of these areas so you can enhance the quality of your life experience.

In this episode, James and Kute discuss how prevalent control is in our lives and ways to begin loosening the grip on our experiences to allow genius and magic to flow through.

In Today’s episode, James talks about the concept of ‘Brain Endurance Training’ from the book Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. He shares the studies that he found insightful and helpful to know about in order to leverage this information for greater levels of performance inside and outside of sport.

Join in and learn the strategies Elite-level athletes are using to reach new levels of performance.

Today is a reverse episode. You’ll hear James on the Mark Groves Podcast encouraging listeners to embrace both their individuality and the interconnectedness of all things to live a meaningful life aligned with their values and purpose.

They explore the importance of living our values to be in true alignment with ourselves.

James dismantles presence and discusses the concept of unselfing and facing our sh*t head on.

Tune in for an eye-opening conversation that invites us to reflect on and widen our perspective.

Title: Partners In Business & Life: Do These Fundamentals to Avoid a Breakdown Description: Today on the podcast, James connects with Ryan and Shannon Matson. Shannon’s journey began in the corporate world, where she held titles such as V.P. of Marketing for a global publishing company and National Director of Sales & Marketing for a […]