When Joey Peters was younger, her fierce competitive instinct seemed to be her greatest strength.

Joey, the 102nd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, became an elite footballer – she played more than 100 times for Australia, went to three World Cups and represented her country at the 2004 Olympics.

But when she came to the end of her career, she realised her competitive instinct had done more harm than good.

Joey was burnt out and her body was banged up. She’d been so obsessed with measuring and perfecting things that she’d stifled her creativity. Too late, she realised that if she’d embraced her creative side more, she would’ve been an even better footballer and wouldn’t have put her body through so much stress.

Now, Joey is making things better for the next generation. Game Play Learn, a program she founded in 2016, uses a unique coaching approach.

Instead of trying to control the kids and turn them into robots, she lets them decide how sessions are run and is happy to let them express themselves on the field.

The result? The kids are not only happier, they actually learn more, because they’re trying more things.