Youth $ports

Coach Speak

Episode 10 Guest: Sara Martin (Former volleyball coach)
- Hear stories from a coach who fell in and out of love with coaching...
- We are all TOO ACCESSIBLE these days. Cell phones make it instant gratification/communication. Remember phone trees?
- The golden years of coaching: Before it gets too serious and it's still about the love of the game. 
- Club sports aren't for the best players anymore, they are for everyone. 
- Doing what's "best for the team" is harder and harder to get players AND parents to buy into. 
- Everyone is on board for what's best for the team until it impacts THEM. 
- "Parent Goggles" 
- The unique challenges that women coaches face: Family, sacrifices, stereotypes, being treated differently than their male counterparts, etc. 
- "For male coaches winning is the expectation. For female coaches, winning is not enough."
- 98% of parents are supportive. The 2% can drive coaches away from the profession. 

Officially A Problem

Episode 9 Guest: Mike Webster (Basketball Official/Referee)
- Everyone loves their youth sports, but without refs... There IS no youth sports.
- Referee abuse is a real issue and it's causing MAJOR ripple effects with shortages nationwide, across all sports. 
- Losing more #s in officiating than we are gaining. Not a sustainable model. 
- Quality officiating is declining because there's no incentive to improve. Even bad officials HAVE to get games because of low #s.  
- As coaches, players, fans... you want to show up to a game and trust that you are getting quality officials.  
- If you're yelling at officials, you aren't coaching your team. 
- If something doesn't change with ref shortages, it won't be a pretty picture. And rural areas will be impacted the most disproportionately. 
- Will the shortage actually impact/change behavior toward refs?
- What causes rational people to act so crazy toward refs?
- The average person doesn't know nearly as much about a "call" as they think they do...

"I'll Never Be THAT Parent..."

Episode 8: Linda Flanagan (Author/Researcher, Take Back the Game)
- Author of Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania are Ruining Kids' Sports-- And Why it Matters
- Sports used to have a different, less central role in family life
- Obesity problems in America... sports are linked to better outcomes in life. So why are we making them more expensive and LESS accessible?
- Pay to play is shutting out potentially great players. 
- 3 major cultural shifts that have caused drastic changes in youth sports: Decline in public funds/private enterprises capitalizing, OBSESSION with our kids, colleges tying athletic performance to admissions. 
- It's dangerous when sports become your identity, or even worse... when your child's sport becomes your identity as a parent. 
- "Empty Nest Coaches"... Yes, this is a real thing
- Are adults taking care of themselves and their own physical and mental well-being?

College Recruiting: Myths and Misconceptions

Episode 7: Trip Rogers (Centre College Women's Soccer Associate Head Coach)
- Hear the truth about recruiting Myths and Misconceptions from a college coach
- There is NO RETURN on investment when it comes to club/travel sports. I repeat, there is no such thing as a return on investment. 
- No one is earning a scholarship at 10, 11, 12 years old... College coaches do not care where you're traveling at that age. Save your $$$
- College coaches salivate over multi-sport athletes
- Do colleges bear some responsibility for the youth sports machine if they are only recruiting at the big/expensive showcase events where only certain clubs have access?
- Did you know... Most people go to college regionally? Only 2% go further than 5-6 hours away.
- Not all scholarships are created equal. Most people are NOT getting full rides. 
- Recruiting RED FLAGS: Poor body language, social media habits and parental dialogue. 
- ID Camp advice
- Surviving college athletics sets you up for success in life/career
- HOT TAKES are back!

Hello From the Other Side

Episode 6: Matt Bomeisl (A3 Baseball Academy Owner/Director)
- A3 Academy: An alternative path for high school age athletes, designed to give an edge to serious athletes to prepare them for college/professional baseball. 
- Travel sports are emphasizing creating "mercenary teams" that meet up to play in showcases, but does this come at the expense of development? 
- American sports mentality vs. other countries: More distractions, less unstructured play
- Are these academies the future of high level sports? And if so, are kids missing out on a more well-rounded high school experience?
- Landing on the right side of history with alternative paths. Don't wind up like Bishop Sycamore...
- Are we teetering in a territory where student-athletes are now becoming athlete-students?
- There's nothing wrong with pushing your kids to greatness

The Value of High School Sports

Episode 5: Nate Valentine (North Laurel HS Basketball Coach, home of Reed Sheppard)
- High school basketball coach of Reed Sheppard (Former Kentucky men's basketball player and 3rd pick in the NBA draft) sheds light on the story of a kid who decided to stay home and play for his hometown team. 
- The value of playing for your community
- If you're good, they'll find you. More pathways than ever exist today...
- Valuable lessons can be learned from high school sports and your role within a team
- Are we turning teenagers into professionals too soon with things like NIL, transferring at will, bypassing traditional high school programs, etc.? 
- If high school basketball is good enough for Reed Sheppard... it's good enough for "Little Johnny"
- 3 of the top 4 NBA draft picks in 2024 who played college basketball also played high school basketball in their hometown. 
 

Blueprint

Episode 4 Guest: Betsy Huckaby (Current collegiate athlete, Univ. of Louisville)
- Slow and steady wins the race: A blueprint for what youth sports CAN look like... A late bloomer turned Division 1 athlete (University of Louisville)
- The value of growing up as a multi-sport athlete and being a good teammate. 
- How adversity can change the trajectory of an athlete's career. 
- Not everyone has the same drive... and that's okay. 
- The quandary of athletes being encouraged to skip out on high school sports 
- Does Division 1 college athletics feel more like a job or can you still find joy?
- More HOT TAKES

Maybe Less Is More

Episode 3 Guest: Drew Watts (Performance Coach)
- We broach the topic no one wants to talk about... Injuries
-The impact of over-scheduling at a young age
- Is the emphasis on GAMES, GAMES and more GAMES coming at the cost of free play, creativity and recovery?
- At some point, will level headed adults start to say no?
- A concerning increase in overuse injuries
- Variety isn't a bad thing and recovery time is important
- The ACL epidemic 
 

Gaslit Generation

Episode 2 Guest: Katie Wells (Youth sports parent)
- Has the current generation of youth sports parents been gaslit as the "participation trophy generation" and as a result, raised exceptional overachievers?
- Analogizing youth sports to the "Promposal"
- Have we replaced participation trophies with participation national champions?
- A lack of quality recreation leagues
- An alarming statistic about the # of athletes who quit by high school
- Advice for the all important post-game car ride
- More HOT TAKES

2 Fast 2 Serious

Episode 1 Guest: Jordan Parker (Youth soccer coach)
-Has youth sports broken you?
- The commitment (both time and money) to youth sports is happening faster than ever and at a younger age than ever. And a Double Dutch analogy for the ages.
- Expectations vs. Reality. If the parents are the customer, are we giving them what they want?
- Maybe we are all taking ourselves a little too seriously...
- Youth sports parents and their presence on social media. 
- Hot Takes