The Youth Sports Experience with Aaron Seitz

This episode discusses why passing judgement on young athletes who are still developing can hinder the athlete from reaching their potential. The episode also covers the role of patience in effective young athlete development and three approaches to consider for a better path for young athletes to fulfill their personal maximum potential.

Missy engages in an energetic and informative conversation around the many layers of the current youth sports landscape. As the Owner of Higher Energy Rising Coaching, Missy uses her wealth of knowledge and experience gained through competing as a swimmer at the University of Michigan, working as an Attorney for the NCAA, and experiencing youth sports as a parent. I hope you enjoy this episode and the wisdom Missy shares.

Natalie Morse shares a wealth of experiences as a former college basketball player, a former D1 college coach, an NCAA Specialist, and a basketball trainer for the Indiana Girls Basketball organization. Our conversation covers topics such as the player/coach/parent relationship, player evaluation/recruitment at the college level and how the process works, advice on making the most of being a college athlete, transitioning out of being an active competitive athlete at the end of a playing career, and the role sports play in developing young girls and women into future leaders.

Alex candidly shares her experiences as a highly accomplished high school and college swimmer. Alex and Aaron dive into a plethora of topics including handling disappointment, her thoughts on how coaches can create a more positive competitive experience, how to balance athletics and academics to achieve success in both, and the realities of competing at the Big Ten/Division I level of collegiate athletics. Alex also shares her thoughts on parenting a young athlete and what she sees for the future of Purdue Boilermaker Athletics.

This episode discusses the importance of sports parents and youth/high school athletes working together to find clarity of purpose for the athletes sports journey.

This episode shares some reflections from my point of view as a parent and a youth sports coach on my daughter's recently completed career as a young athlete.

This episode introduces questions and thoughts about how we are administering youth sports to the 6-12 year old age group. Are we doing what is best for the kids? Is the current youth sports format preparing athletes to be at their competitive peak, both mentally and physically, when they enter the teen years? Why do some parents and youth coaches seem to be seeking their own validation and fulfillment? Check out this episode for thoughts on these questions and the state of the early years of youth sports today, as well as ideas for making the early years more positively impactful for young athletes.

This episode discusses the importance of taking advantage of the opportunities available to connect with our children available because of the youth and travel sports environment.

This episode focuses on the negative consequences of using false praise and the importance of being intentional in how we develop elementary and middle school aged athletes to deliver confident/competitive athletes to the high school level and beyond. Also, there is a special message directed to parents of high school athletes near the end of this episode.

This episode discusses the challenges in managing the range of emotions along the youth/high school sports journey. It covers the different approaches we can take at each step along the way to insure our children have the best competitive athletic experience possible.

This episode discusses how our youth and high school athletes, with our support, can avoid defining themselves by single moments and events.

This episode discusses ways to effectively nurture and support the highly driven young athlete with a special focus on not missing/discouraging the highly driven, yet late developing, young athlete.

This episode discusses the temptations of player/team ratings and rankings and how letting the temptations frame your thinking, as an athlete or parent, is not conducive to team and individual success. Check out the 4 points to consider to keep these temptations from having a negative impact on athletes and teams.

This episode discusses three ways we can help our young athletes become empowered to handle loss, struggle, and disappointment effectively and what that can mean for positively influencing their futures.

This episode discusses the concept of urgent patience and how it can help athletes maximize their long term athletic success.

This episode discusses the importance of instilling and nurturing 3 key intangible qualities or controllable “abilities” that will benefit athletes now and in their adult lives.

This episode discusses the real return on investment that parents should expect from youth sports.

This episode discusses why it is important to allow our athletes to handle success and struggle, while parents avoid interfering in the competitive process.

This episode discusses the importance of keeping a proper perspective as we support our young athletes on their sports journey.

This episode discusses the importance of supporting and respecting our athlete's coaches, and why this is the best approach for our athlete's long term success.

This episode covers ways to effectively manage the car ride home and the post competition interactions. As sports parents, how we handle these can determine our athletes level of desire to play sports.

This episode discusses the important role a parent plays in their young athletes sports experience and the importance of embracing a team first mindset.