One on One With Coach Blu: Game ChangerOne on One With Coach Blu: Game Changer
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Coach Blu and Marissa mark ten years of Addict II Athlete with team members sharing stories about stigma, identity, ADHD and living openly in recovery. The conversation highlights how sport, community and honest storytelling help people see themselves as more than their addiction.
1:07:12•16 Apr 2021
Game Changer: Ten Years, Team Stories and Life Beyond the Label "Addict"
Episode Overview
- Sharing addiction stories openly can weaken stigma and help others rethink what an "addict" looks like.
- Replacing the label "addict" with identities like athlete or champion can change how people see themselves in recovery.
- Community events and fundraising make it easier for newcomers to access healthy, sober activities they might not afford otherwise.
- Adult ADHD in recovery benefits from structure, shared responsibility and self-compassion instead of harsh self-criticism.
- Physical disabilities and painful histories can be reframed as different abilities that create purpose and connection rather than shame.
“"No more addict. You're not an addict anymore. You're more than that... They're not addicts. They are champions."”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This conversation with Coach Blu and the Addict II Athlete team feels like dropping into a lively support group at lunchtime, where humour, honesty and a few tears all show up together. The episode marks 10 years of Addict II Athlete, with Coach Blu reflecting on how a small idea to get clients running has grown into a full-on recovery community.
He talks about that first big presentation at a professional conference, where he introduced the idea of calling people "athletes" instead of "addicts" and played Coach Flowers’ famous "I am a champion" speech. As he puts it, the moment a whole room stood up together "felt that spirit of recovery" and changed how people saw addiction. You’ll also hear from three team members whose stories ground the big ideas in real life.
Donnell shares how a simple children’s story helped her rethink spirituality and move from feeling like a victim to taking accountability in recovery. Selena Armitage talks about losing her leg, living with chronic pain and openly owning her history with opiates. When a stranger tells her, "there’s no way you’re an addict," she uses it as a chance to smash stereotypes and show that addiction doesn’t have a single face.
Team Captain Chelsea brings a raw look at adult ADHD in sobriety – the chaos, the guilt and the constant sense of running late. Coach Blu and Marissa respond with practical kindness, framing ADHD as a "superpower" that needs structure, support and realistic expectations rather than shame.
If you’re looking for real talk about stigma, identity and what it means to live as more than "just an addict," this one feels like sitting on the team bench with people who get it. Whose idea of you do you want to live by – stigma’s, or your own?
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