#367 Mark Johnson, Author of Spitting in the Soup, on the History of Doping in Sports
Thursday, 07 March 2024
Mark Johnson (www.ironstring.com) is a sportswriter and sports photographer. He has covered cycling and endurance sports since the 1980s. His work often focuses on the business of pro cycling—a topic that frequently intersects with the sport’s long history of doping. Along with U.S. publications like VeloNews, his work is published in Cycling Weekly in the
- Published in Doping, Olympics, Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
No Comments
Is FOMO Ruining Youth Sports?
Tuesday, 17 January 2023
(Yesterday I had the opportunity to present to a group of orthopedics, physical therapists, athletic trainers and coaches on FOMO: Fear of Missing Out, and why I think it is driving early specialization, burnout and dropout for our young athletes. I figured it was a good excuse to share an old blog of ours on
- Published in Coaching, Mindset, Parenting, Problems in Youth Sports
#307 How Adults Ruin Youth Sports, and How We Can Fix it
Friday, 13 January 2023
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Listen and Watch the Podcast on You Tube: @WayofChampionsPodcast This week we are doing something a little different on the podcast. We had a last minute guest cancellation, so this week we decided to discuss one of our recent blog posts that just went a but viral, “How Adults Take the Joy
- Published in Parenting, Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
How Adults Take the Joy Out of Sports (And How We Can Fix It)
Tuesday, 03 January 2023
We have all seen it. I was recently watching a 12-year-old boys soccer game, and I saw it again. Like a deer in the headlights, the left defender on the blue team was seemingly stranded on the field and unsure where to go or what to do. He turned to one sideline, where his coach
- Published in Coaching, Long Term Athlete Development, Problems in Youth Sports
#293 Linda Flanagan: How Money and Mania Have Ruined Kids’ Sports, Why it Matters, and How to Take Back the Game
Friday, 07 October 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Linda Flanagan is a freelance journalist, researcher, and former cross-country and track coach. A founding board member of the NYC chapter of the Positive Coaching Alliance and 2020-21 Advisory Group member for the Aspen Institute’s Reimagining Sports initiative, her writing on sports has appeared in The Atlantic, Runner’s World, and NPR’s
- Published in Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
#287 Adam Kuhn, Founder of Satori Soccer, on Using Surveys and Data Analytics to Improve Player Experience and Build a Better Youth Sports Organization
Friday, 26 August 2022
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Adam Kuhn is the director of a nonprofit startup, Satori Soccer (www.satorisoccer.org), a youth soccer coach, and has a business background in data analytics in the field of improving customer experiences. In a youth sports world that is increasingly using analytics to improve performance on the field, the importance of player
- Published in Data Analytics, Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports, Soccer
Is Your Child’s Youth Sports Experience Transactional or Transformational?
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
This week I am headed to Chicago to speak at a youth sports conference called Rev, for clients of one of our partners, the web development and online registration organization Sprocket Sports. I have been tasked with moderating a panel called “The Secret Sauce of Taking Your Club from Transactional to Transformational,” and I am
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports, Soccer, Team Culture
#252 How to Transform the Culture of Your Youth Sports Program with Nate Baldwin, Founder of Red Ball Nation (replay)
Friday, 24 December 2021
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Nate Baldwin (@NBaldwin75) has nearly 20 years of recreational sports industry experience as an entrepreneur, program administrator, and advocate for inclusive, high quality sport experiences. Nate’s diverse career has spanned from the creation and management of a successful adult recreation organization in Denver, CO, to the revitalization of the Appleton (WI)
- Published in Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
#234 Dr. Richard Bailey: How to Turn Coaching into a True Profession (Replay)
Sunday, 22 August 2021
Listen on the web, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher Is the way we coach based upon the latest science, research, and best practices of how children learn? Or is it based upon how we were coached growing up? In this fantastic interview, Dr. Richard Bailey (@DrDickB), Head of Research at ICSSPE, separates fact from fiction and discusses some of the
- Published in Coaching, Leadership, Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
Another Great Coach Bites the Dust. How Sad!
Wednesday, 05 February 2020
Yesterday was a tough day. It was a tough day because I had a conversation with another coaching friend who had lost his job. He was not fired for doing anything illegal. He was not fired for anything inappropriate. He was not fired for bullying or demeaning behavior. He was complimented for his integrity and
- Published in Coaching, High School Sports, Problems in Youth Sports
Are Sports Fundamentally Good?
Thursday, 26 December 2019
I recently came across a great quote from the poet TS Elliot, who says “Nothing pleases people more than to go on thinking what they have always thought, and at the same time imagine that they are thinking something new and daring: it combines the advantage of security with the delight of adventure.” The quote
- Published in Coaching, Parenting, Problems in Youth Sports
When Will Youth Sports Actually Serve the Needs of Youth?
Wednesday, 07 March 2018
In late February I was traveling and speaking in Sydney and Perth, Australia, working for a variety of sports organizations including the Football (Soccer) Federation of Australia, Football New South Wales, the Western Australia Department of Sports and Recreation, and the WA Aussie Rules Football Committee. While on site, I got to visit the brand
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports, Relative Age Effect, Specialization
Winning the Race to the Right Finish Line in Youth Sports
Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Kevin McLaughlin, USA Hockey’s Director of Youth Hockey Development, was not looking forward to opening his email in January 2009. He knew it was going to be full of angry posts. He knew he and his colleagues at USA Hockey would be accused of destroying the game and taking the toughness out of the sport.
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports, Specialization
WOC #29 Retired NBA Player, Bob Bigelow, Just Let the Kids Play
Sunday, 01 October 2017
“When I was a child, the vast majority of my sporting activities were in playgrounds and sandlots. Now, the majority of youth sports activities are organized and administered by adults …. The biggest problem in organized youth sports is very simple to explain — too many adults who want to compete through children.” — Bob Bigelow,
- Published in Podcast, Problems in Youth Sports
It’s Time to End the Sideline Sportsanity
Monday, 10 April 2017
As soon as I stepped out of my car in the parking lot, I could hear it. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon of travel soccer, but there it was. You know what I’m talking about: that sometimes beautiful, often times excruciating cacophony of sounds that we have come to know as “cheering for our
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
Why Kids Play Sports
Monday, 09 January 2017
“What do you think is going to change in the next ten years?” That is a question that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos gets all the time. He thinks that is an interesting question, but not the best one people could ask. “I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports
An Open Letter to My Dad, who Makes Me Want to Quit Sports
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Dear Dad, I was afraid to say this to your face after the game today, but I was thinking that maybe you could stop coming to my games for a while. It doesn’t seem that fun for you anyway, and I know it’s not fun for me when you are there. I used to love
- Published in Parenting, Problems in Youth Sports
The Accountability Problem in Youth Sports
Wednesday, 04 May 2016
“Thanks so much for your talk the other day,” wrote a coach from Calgary, Alberta to us recently. “It was so refreshing to hear that message, especially in light of the news I returned home to.” “My friend spent the weekend coaching his son at a spring hockey tournament for 9 and 10 year olds,”
- Published in Coaching, High School Sports, Problems in Youth Sports, Youth Sports
Does Youth Sports Get the Math All Wrong?
Monday, 14 December 2015
“I did not know there would be math on this test,” is something I say (jokingly) when I get a difficult question at my speaking engagements. Recently, I received an email from a frantic mom, and it got me thinking about math. Yes, math. When it comes to our current sporting environment, I think we often
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports, Specialization, Talent Development
The Great Trophy Debate: Do We Need Participation Awards?
Wednesday, 09 September 2015
“Daddy, do we get trophies for playing lacrosse this spring?” my son asked me a few months back. “No, you get to go out and run around and have lots of fun while learning lacrosse,” I said. “OK!” Then he turned and ran out on the field for the start of his first practice. According
- Published in Family Values, Participation Awards, Problems in Youth Sports
3 Myths that are Destroying the Youth Sports Experience for our Kids
Saturday, 25 July 2015
Every year, I travel throughout the US, Canada, Asia and Europe, and give well over 100 presentations to parents and coaches. I speak to tens of thousands of people about youth sports, coaching, and athlete development. Every time I do a live event, I get asked the following question: “If you are presenting all this
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports, Relative Age Effect, Specialization
Help, My Child is a Late Bloomer: 5 Tips for Overcoming the “Relative Age Effect” in Youth Sports
Friday, 29 May 2015
“Here is my question,” a mother concerned with her 10 year-old son’s sports experience recently wrote me. “I am not afraid that my son will quit sports by the time he is 13. I am afraid that he will be denied the opportunity to play. My son is coordinated and coachable. He LOVES sports; we
- Published in Problems in Youth Sports, Relative Age Effect, Sports Parenting
Why Kids Quit Sports
Tuesday, 05 May 2015
“I just can’t take it anymore coach,” a talented but underperforming player named Kate told me a few years back. “I think I am done playing.” My mind went through all the reasons this might be happening: burnout, other interests, team dynamics, I was too hard on her, the gamut. What could it be? “It’s
- Published in Coaching, Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
The 4 Biggest Problems in Youth Sports Today
Friday, 03 April 2015
When you run an organization such as the Changing the Game Project, you hear many youth sports stories from parents, coaches, and players. Some stories are absolutely heartbreaking, others inspiring. Recently I encountered the absurd. Many of us have seen the news about a volleyball player from Washington DC who was taking her playing time
- Published in Family Values, Problems in Youth Sports, Specialization
The Adultification of Youth Sports
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
The other day I had a conversation with a coaching colleague about the state of youth sports. I stated that the emphasis on travel sports and playing multiple games per day for young children was hurting kids and damaging sports. “I agree with what you are saying,” he said, “but you are forgetting that youth
- Published in Family Values, Problems in Youth Sports, Specialization
The Enemy of Excellence in Youth Sports
Thursday, 08 January 2015
“My daughter is the tallest fourth grader in her class and loves to play basketball,” said a father to me recently. “Sadly, I know that she will ultimately grow to be of average height. Since she is now only allowed to rebound and give the ball to shorter-ball handler players on her team, she will
- Published in Coaching, Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
The Tipping Point in Youth Sports
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
“What happens to us parents and coaches,” I often get asked, “that turns us from sensible, relaxed people to stressed out adults roaming up and down sports sidelines and screaming at every play?” It is a question I ponder a lot, especially as I often get to watch my young children’s games played side by
- Published in Leadership, Problems in Youth Sports, Talent Development
- 1
- 2