#391 Rasmus Ankersen, Southampton FC Director of Football, Author, Film Maker, and More: How to Identify the Talent That Whispers

Way of Champions Podcast

In this excellent conversation from 2021, we are joined by Rasmus Ankersen (@RasmusAnkersen), an internationally known author, speaker, and film producer and one of the worlds leading experts on talent identification and development. Today he is one of the founders of Sport Republic, which is the majority shareholder of Southampton FC, where he also works as the Director of Football. He was also the co-director of football for Brentford FC of the English Premier League from 2015-2021 and Chairman of Champions League club FC Midtjylland of the Danish Super League. His 2012 book The Goldmine Effect is an incredible read and was one of the books that inspired me at the beginning of my Changing the Game Project journey, so to say that I am thrilled to have Rasmus on is an understatement.

In 2021 he released a film called “The Hockey Miracle in the Middle of Nowhere,” the true story of how the small town of Herning, Denmark (pop. 50,000) sent five players to the NHL in a ten year period. No Danish player had ever made the NHL before! In that same period, the US cities of Chicago and Detroit, hockey hotbeds, each sent less than 5 players to the top of the ice hockey world. How did they do it?

In our talk, Rasmus and I break down the major principles outlined in the film and speak about how you might apply these same ideas in your own community so you don’t just ID the talent that shouts, but you can identify and patiently develop the talent that whispers!

Please connect with Rasmus at www.RasmusAnkersen.com and grab yourself a copy of The Goldmine Effect.

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