The Playing with Fire Podcast

Sports & Recreation

Please join us each week to learn about the secrets of world class performance and how to improve your game while living a virtuous life! Learn to "double" your talents from this 30-minute mix of pro-athlete interviews, practical-detailed sports performance enhancement tips, great music and much more.

The Playing With Fire podcast is hosted by Dr. Bill Thierfelder, the 6ft. 8in. President of Belmont Abbey College. As a former two-time All-American and NCAA Division I coach, he clearly knows HOW to bring out your best, and with his doctorate in Sport Psychology and Human Movement, he can also explain WHY it works.

MORE ABOUT DR. BILL

Dr. Bill Thierfelder is currently President of Belmont Abbey College and creator of SPD (Sport Properly Directed) - Reclaim the Game and the Playing With Fire podcast and blog.
Prior to his appointment as President of Belmont Abbey College, Dr. Thierfelder, successfully lead and transitioned fitness legend, York Barbell Company from a manufacturer to a solutions-based partner, providing sales, marketing, product development and logistical services to mass merchants and major sporting goods retailers throughout the United States and Europe.

Dr. Thierfelder was also a principal in Joyner Sports Medicine Institute, a physical therapy corporation he helped conceptualize, found and develop. After positioning Joyner as a premier provider of physical therapy services, he was instrumental in negotiating the sale of the company to NovaCare, Inc., the nation’s second largest provider of outpatient physical therapy. As NovaCare's National Director of Sports Science he created, directed and co-chaired one of the largest and most successful sports medicine and physical rehabilitation conferences in the United States.

He has also served as Executive Director of the Player Management Group, a sports representation company that provided contract negotiation, financial management, legal, career planning and sports medicine services to professional athletes in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. Dr. Thierfelder has also helped thousands of athletes including over a hundred at the Olympic and professional levels achieve dramatic improvements in their athletic performances.

Dr. Thierfelder received his masters and doctoral degrees in Sports Psychology and Human Movement from Boston University. He is a licensed psychologist, a Diplomat of the American Board of Psychological Specialties and certified by the American College of Sports Medicine. He is also a member of the United States Olympic Committee's Sport Psychology Registry. He is a former NCAA Division I Coach, National Champion and a two-time All-American from the University of Maryland. He participated in the 1980 United States Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, and was a medalist at the 1981 U.S. Track and Field Indoor National Championship.

Throughout his career, Dr. Thierfelder has delivered hundreds of presentations, both live, and on camera, regarding topics related to athletics, sports science and medicine, and business. Dr. Thierfelder currently lives just outside of Charlotte, NC with his wife, Mary, and their ten children.