Podcasts about athletes

In this episode you will hear: Mark shares 10 Speakpike messages from listeners and he has a little commentary on each message Interview-Student Athlete Advisors-Part 2 of 4 o Amy discusses how a player can find out the level that they can play at o Joe talks about how much you can learn from studying the rosters of the students o Reid talks about the best way to reach out to colleges once you know you are interested in them o Reid talks about the importance of video and the importance of having an effective call to action in your outreach o Katie talks about using social media to reach out and she talks about how to tell if a coach is serious about you o Katie talks about the importance of follow-up o Joe talks about which coaches you should read about o Joe gives his view on athletic resumes o Recommended Resources Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

Hey, Comedy Lovers! ✤ Welcome to "Ian Lara" ⭐ All advice is bad advice, please do adult things and put this podcast on in the background.

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3317: Nancy Clark reminds us that even fit, “skinny” athletes aren't immune to heart disease, and that no one can out-exercise a poor diet. Drawing from the American Heart Association's latest guidelines, she explains how simple, sustainable eating patterns support not only long-term heart health but also peak athletic performance. Learn how small daily choices, from whole grains to healthy fats, can protect your heart while fueling miles of smiles. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://nancyclarkrd.com/2022/02/11/yes-even-athletes-get-heart-disease/ Quotes to ponder: “No one can out-exercise a bad diet.” “Given cardiovascular disease (CVD) starts in the womb, adopting heart-healthy eating patterns early and maintaining them throughout one's life is important.” “Replacing hard-at-room-temperature saturated fats (butter, coconut oil) with soft-or-liquid polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, has robust scientific evidence of protecting against heart disease by lowering bad LDL cholesterol.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Sugerman of Centr returns to the Future of Fitness to break down how the brand has completely transformed since their last conversation in 2023 — moving from a broad wellness platform to becoming the performance infrastructure behind one of the fastest-growing fitness movements in the world. Andrew pulls back the curtain on Centr's official partnership with Hyrox, including how they engineered custom competition equipment from the ground up (yes, even the kettlebells got a redesign), why fitness-as-sport is the most powerful retention tool gym operators aren't fully using yet, and what the coming wave of industry consolidation, GLP-1s, and AI means for every fitness business in 2026. Whether you're a gym owner looking to tap into the Hyrox affiliate opportunity or just trying to understand where the fitness industry is headed, this one is packed. Episode Takeaways:

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3317: Nancy Clark reminds us that even fit, “skinny” athletes aren't immune to heart disease, and that no one can out-exercise a poor diet. Drawing from the American Heart Association's latest guidelines, she explains how simple, sustainable eating patterns support not only long-term heart health but also peak athletic performance. Learn how small daily choices, from whole grains to healthy fats, can protect your heart while fueling miles of smiles. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://nancyclarkrd.com/2022/02/11/yes-even-athletes-get-heart-disease/ Quotes to ponder: “No one can out-exercise a bad diet.” “Given cardiovascular disease (CVD) starts in the womb, adopting heart-healthy eating patterns early and maintaining them throughout one's life is important.” “Replacing hard-at-room-temperature saturated fats (butter, coconut oil) with soft-or-liquid polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, has robust scientific evidence of protecting against heart disease by lowering bad LDL cholesterol.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I see it as a tragedy and a cautionary tale, just think of what it could've been.” Ryan Clark  Friday back with the fellas as Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder kick off March Madness and NFL's Free Agency frenzy for an unfiltered conversation where the mics seem hotter than normal...no guests—just the three guys giving fiery takes about everything happening right now in sports, culture and life. Taking a moment to talk about another young life lost to soon and why mental health is such a hard road to navigate in today's world. The conversation pivots into the wild world of podcast beefs and social media drama from 50 Cent to TI as the hosts give their honest takes on how the podcast game has changed media and why there is no standard of checks and balances. And it's Freddy T with the jaw dropping 50 Cent take. With the NFL Draft approaching and Free Agency about to shake up the league, Ryan responds to an old media clip resurfacing from 6 years ago— about his 2020 Kyler Murray projection—Chan laughs that people act like it was a new clip and is more caught up with Ryan's look from 2020 than what he said! The guys chat the biggest headlines coming out of the 2026 NFL Combine, talking about the pressure young prospects face, unfair criticisms and how media narratives can shape careers before they even begin. Getting into culture talk, crossover with sports, and how athletes and entertainers both deal with public scrutiny. They reflect on the ups and downs of life, not knowing what someone is really living with as the deeper story of Lamar Odom's addiction is revealed in a recent new documentary which opens up the discussion on what could have been for star athletes if they didn't have off the court and off the field distractions, as Channing shares his own experiences with it. Of course, it wouldn't be The Pivot without some real-life scenarios to react to as Ryan, Channing and Fred get into a funny debate about splitting the bill on a date gone wrong—you already know what Channing is chiming in with! It's a raw, funny, and honest conversation about sports, life, relationships, and navigating fame— the kind of unfiltered dialogue that makes The Pivot one of the most authentic podcasts in the game. Pivot Family, comment, like, hit the subscribe button, we enjoy hearing and learning from you- the good and the bad, we want to know! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of Red Eye Radio with Gary McNamara and Eric Harley, high-paid athletes in California mitigate the state's high tax rate in consideration to their salary and whether or not to ditch the Golden State. Also complaints from Washington state on the economy, audio from The Morning Joe, CNN and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz grilled on poverty in his state. For more talk on the issues that matter to you, listen on radio stations across America Monday-Friday 12am-5am CT (1am-6am ET and 10pm-3am PT), download the RED EYE RADIO SHOW app, asking your smart speaker, or listening at RedEyeRadioShow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

PTs are expected to be the movement experts—yet most movement assessment is still subjective: “knee valgus noted,” “pelvic drop,” “looks better.” Dan Seidler (Business Development Lead, DorsaVi USA) and Maka Lange unpack what changes when clinics can quantify biomechanics with video AI and wearable sensors.They cover how objective data improves patient education and buy-in, strengthens documentation, and makes return-to-play/return-to-work decisions more defensible—especially as AI, wearables, and non-PT competitors raise the bar for “measured” care.What you'll learnWhy “eyeballing” biomechanics breaks down across cliniciansHow objective data can improve patient buy-in and clarityThe difference between quick video AI assessments vs IMU sensor “gold standard” testingHow standardized movement reports can help documentation and communicationUse cases: mass athlete screenings, surgeon referrals, workplace safety, workers' comp/FCEs, and early pelvic health biofeedback workGuest + LinksDorsaVi: http://www.dorsavi.com/

John Canzano talks about the relationship between athletes and the press who cover them. Russell Westbrook's comments about media ranked some. Canzano also talks about the latest in the Oregon State vs. Blueprint Sports fiasco. Subscribe to this podcast. Read JohnCanzano.com

March 2026 is going to be one of the most transformative months in the history of Syracuse University athletics. A new Chancellor (Mike Haynie) is in place. A new athletic director is soon to follow and in all likelihood SU will be looking for a new men's basketball coach soon.  What kind of AD does Syracuse need in 2026? Brent Axe discusses that and gives you his pick for AD then brings on Syracuse native Jim Cavale of Athletes.Org to discuss the qualities an AD needs in 2026 and the changing landscape he/she will be facing going forward.  Music provided by Overtired YouTube- @weareovertired Do you want your independent music featured on Syracuse Sports? Email Brent at baxe@syracuse.com for details.  The conversation on Syracuse Sports and our live Syracuse postgame shows and live editions of Syracuse Sports is always shaped by terrific insight from Syracuse Sports Insiders.  Become a Syracuse Sports Insider today!  Sign up at joinsubtext.com/syracusesports to get your voice heard on the SU football postgame show and have direct text message access to Brent Axe anytime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you really build stress resilience, improve focus, and support recovery in just one minute a day? Yes! And no, you don't need a meditation cushion to do it. In this episode of Making Shift Happen, Coach Jen breaks down simple mindfulness practices for busy professionals, gravel cyclists, and mountain bikers who want better performance on and off the bike. If you've ever thought: “I'm bad at meditation,” “My mind won't stop racing,” or “I don't have time for mindfulness,” then this episode is for you. You'll learn how to incorporate one-minute mindfulness practices, breathing exercises, and somatic tools into your daily routine, including during rides, strength training, meals, and stressful workdays. Mindfulness isn't about clearing your mind; it's about building awareness. Fortunately, that same awareness builds resilience as an athlete. What You'll Learn in This Episode What mindfulness really is (and what it's not) Why you can't “do meditation wrong” How to manage stress with simple breathing techniques How mindfulness improves cycling performance and recovery How to build emotional resilience as a high-performing athlete Easy mindful eating strategies for athletes A powerful legs-up-the-wall recovery practice for better sleep How to reduce stress in one minute or less Mindfulness practice helps reduce stress among other things. Stress impacts your Heart rate variability (HRV), sleep quality, muscle recovery, cortisol levels, and decision-making under pressure (like on a race or bike course). For endurance athletes and strength-focused cyclists, stress management isn't optional; it directly impacts training consistency, power output, and long-term performance. So, by adding short, daily mindfulness exercises, you can help improve your focus during rides, enhance pacing awareness, support nervous system recovery, increase stress tolerance, and reduce reactive decision-making. This is one way you can take your performance and training to the next level. Check out these other relevant episodes: 241. From Mountain Bike trails to Mindfulness with Karen Jarchow 243. Navigating Concussions in Sports: Insights from an Expert 12. 5 Simple Steps to Mindful Eating  Do you have nutrition and fitness goals? I’m your coach!  If you’re ready to finally make some sustainable progress, feel strong and powerful on every climb uphill, feel less pain, perform better, or lose a few extra pounds, then apply to work with me by clicking here. I work with people just like you, and you’ll see results a helluva lot faster than on your own. #ShredStrong: Our Month Starts on Monday, April 3, 2026! #ShredStrong is my year-round strength training program for mountain bikers and gravel cyclists. You can join any time you want, but why not now?! Learn more about the program and sign-up HERE!  Keywords: cyclist-specific training, gravel cycling training, mountain bike strength, cycling recovery, busy athlete training, Shred Strong podcast

What should you do if you have a big game, competition, or tryout coming up—but your recent practices haven't gone well?This is something I see athletes struggle with all the time. When practices go poorly leading up to a performance, confidence drops. Doubt increases. Athletes begin to question whether they can perform well.In this episode, I explain how athletes can mentally prepare for competition even when recent training sessions haven't gone well.I discuss why many athletes base their confidence on their most recent performance, how that can hurt you mentally going into a game, and what you can do instead to compete with more trust, freedom, and present-moment focus.In this episode you'll learn:Why bad practices before a game can damage confidenceHow athletes accidentally use the wrong point of reference before competingHow to mentally reset before a competition or tryoutHow visualization can rebuild belief in your abilityWhy true confidence is about playing freely, not guaranteeing successIf you're an athlete who struggles with confidence, performance anxiety, or performing worse in games than in practice, these strategies can help you compete with more composure and trust in your abilities.I work with athletes from around the world through my 12-week 1-on-1 mental performance coaching program, where I help athletes build confidence, improve focus, and perform better under pressure.Learn more about mental performance coaching here:https://www.successstartswithin.com/mental-performance-coaching/ ➡️ Interested in 1-1 mental performance coaching? Schedule your free introductory call to learn more: https://www.successstartswithin.com/get-coaching

Today, David Charlton explores a powerful but often misunderstood dynamic in sport: the highly confident coach working with an athlete who lacks confidence in their ability. At first glance, this combination might appear positive. A confident leader should inspire belief and clarity. However, when the balance isn't right, the relationship can unintentionally increase anxiety, self‑doubt and disengagement for the athlete. Drawing on Albert Bandura's concept of self‑efficacy and Sophia Jowett's 3+1 Cs coach–athlete relationship model (closeness, commitment, complementarity and co‑orientation), David explains why perception inside the relationship is crucial. Low‑confidence athletes often interpret blunt feedback or high standards as confirmation that they are not good enough. Without awareness, confident coaching can therefore widen the psychological gap rather than close it. David shares practical ways coaches can adapt their approach to create psychologically safe environments where confidence can grow. From shifting towards process goals and asking better questions, to recognising quiet athletes and building ownership, this episode offers practical strategies for coaches who want to support athletes more effectively. Ultimately, great coaching combines high standards with empathy, awareness and strong relationships so athletes feel safe to try, safe to fail and supported to learn. >> Key Takeaways ·         Confidence from a coach doesn't automatically create confidence in an athlete, without awareness it can increase anxiety. ·         Low self‑efficacy athletes often interpret criticism as proof they don't belong, which can lead to avoidance and disengagement. ·         Strong coach–athlete relationships built on trust, communication and psychological safety help confidence grow. If you enjoyed this episode, check out the other parts of this mini-series on the coach-athlete relationship and it's connection with Mental Toughness: Ep307 - Achievement Orientation: When Coaches and Athletes Think Differently Ep306 - Goal Orientation: When Coaches and Athletes Think Differently Ep305 – Emotional Control: When Coaches and Athletes Think Differently Ep304 – David Charlton - Life Control: When Coaches and Athletes Think Differently Connect with David Charlton ·         Sign Up To The Mental Edge ·         Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub ·         LinkedIn

EMG Athlete of the Month, Samantha, went from spiraling after one bad shot to shooting a 76 the very next day. Here's how she did it ➡️ https://trainhergame.com/momSamantha is a middle school golfer and our January Athlete of the Month inside the Elite Mental Game. She came in struggling with confidence, caring too much about what other players thought, and spiraling after mistakes with no way out.What changed? She learned actual tools.✅ The Snapback Routine - a quick breath, reset word, and signal to get her head right after any mistake✅ The What If Flip - turning worst-case spirals into best-case possibilities✅ The 10-Second Rule - her own invention for processing mistakes without getting stuck in them

With so many new sports nutrition brands and supplements hitting the market each year, how do you know what's actually worth using?In Episode 132 of The Eat for Endurance Podcast, I'm joined by Sports Dietitian Meghann Featherstun of Featherstone Nutrition for a timely conversation about sports nutrition trends for 2026. After attending The Running Event (TRE), Meghann brings a behind-the-scenes perspective on where performance fueling seems to be headed, which products stood out, and what felt overhyped.Meghann also wrote an entire blog post on her findings, which you can check out here. In this episode, Meghann and I discuss:What to look for when choosing a gel, chew, sports drink, or other sports fueling product How there's no one "right" way to create a training or race fueling planThe biggest sports nutrition trends showing up across brands right now, including changing amounts of carbs, caffeine, and sodiumNon-US sports nutrition brands that caught her eyeWhy high carb fueling is not appropriate for all athletesThe importance of being intentional with supplementationAnd so much more!

The three point stance features high school kids using AI to generate highlight reels to send to recruiters, this years Celtics being very similar to last years Celtics offensively, and Chicago Bears Drew Dalman retiring at a young age.

Join Steve Cofield and Alex White live from the Findlay Toyota Studio! Sundance Wicks, Wyoming Basketball Head Coach, and Mike LaTulip joined us for the first hour! Jesse Merrick joined us for the second hour! Myles Simmons and Mike Davis joined us for the final hour! Which Las Vegas athletes are leaving and which ones are staying? Listen Now! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does MLB Have the Best Trio Of American Athletes? full 712 Thu, 05 Mar 2026 15:14:50 +0000 IEnb0bjOKDVpkOrrSxSVUE9YSocCK3Nr nfl,mlb,usa,kansas city royals,wbc,kanas city chiefs,sports Fescoe & Dusty nfl,mlb,usa,kansas city royals,wbc,kanas city chiefs,sports Does MLB Have the Best Trio Of American Athletes? Fescoe in the Morning. One guy is a KU grad.   The other is on the KU football broadcast team,  but their loyalty doesn't stop there as these guys  are huge fans of Kansas City sports and the people  of Kansas City who make it the great city it is.   Start your morning with us at 5:58am!   2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Sports False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed

Athletes often struggle with anxiety and overthinking because they focus on results, playing time, or other things outside their control. In this episode, I explain why focusing on controllable actions like preparation, response to mistakes, and present-moment thinking improves confidence, reduces anxiety, and helps you perform better under pressure. ➡️ Interested in 1-1 mental performance coaching? Schedule your free introductory call to learn more: https://www.successstartswithin.com/get-coaching

The Orlando Magic finally pick up a win and Paolo bounces back after some brutal loses. Sometimes you have to face the facts and the truth hurts the Magic are just an average team in the NBA. Athletes make a lot of money but how much is Cameron Brink spending on a chef? Find out on Mic'd Up! Prime Time spits out the hot takes and Kravitz grades them with Grade the Take! Golf betting analyst Len Hochberg, NBA analyst from Rotowire.com Nick Whalen, and college basketball analyst from the Locked on College Basketball podcast joins Game On!

Protein and fiber may not be the trendiest topics in sports nutrition, but they are two of the most impactful nutrients athletes can focus on for better performance and recovery. In this episode, you will learn why protein is essential for muscle repair, recovery, immune function, and maintaining lean mass, and why spreading protein across meals and snacks helps stabilize energy and support muscle protein synthesis throughout the day. We also cover the consequences of underfueling with protein and share simple, practical ways athletes can increase their intake without overcomplicating their meals, while highlighting how fiber supports sustained energy, gut health, and overall performance. Text POWERDUO to 878-877-6787 for recipesTo learn more visit @thesportsnutritionplaybook and thesportsnutritionplaybook.com.Check out our YouTube channel for more sports nutrition tips and tricks. Have questions to ask our sports dietitians? email us at info@thesportsnutritionplaybook.com

Cramping…the bane of many an athlete's existence and performance on the field. So why does it happen? Well it's often multifactorial and very contextual but there are some areas of nutrition and fitness that play a common part.That is why I am going to explain the 3 main reasons you see muscular cramping occur. In this episode, I share 3 possible why's to the question of “why do I keep cramping while playing sports?”. DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is for guidance only and is not individualised advice for you! Your unique situation needs to be taken into consideration and adjusting your dietary intake.____________________________________________DOWNLOAD MY FREE MACRO NUTRITION CHEATSHEET Your Guide To Improving Your Macros & Making Meal Prep Easierhttps://theclimbingdietitian.lpages.co/macro-cheatsheet-the-climbing-dietitian/Apply for Bespoke 1:1 Macro Sherpa Nutrition Coaching Program: https://bit.ly/395QmGsCheck out and SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2Mxqs4WEmail me: aleksa@theclimbingdietitian.com.auTo find me on socials:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclimbingingdietitianTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theclimbingdietitianFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theclimbingdietitianTwitter: https://twitter.com/beardyAPDLink to blog: https://bit.ly/330ULq4Check out my website for more information on me and what I do:https://www.theclimbingdietitian.com.au

Hustle culture is out, and Dr. Michael Gervais is here to tell us why. The world-renowned high-performance psychologist, who works with Olympians, Fortune 50 CEOs, and the Seattle Seahawks, returns to Real Pod for the third time to challenge everything we think we know about success. In this powerful conversation, Dr. Mike breaks down the difference between peak performance and true mastery, why doing more will not make you extraordinary, and how to train your mind to be calm, focused, and unbothered. He shares how to create a compelling future, make a fundamental commitment to your values, and build the psychological agility needed to navigate setbacks without losing yourself. If you are tired of burnout, chasing validation, or feeling behind, this episode will shift your entire perspective. Tune in to learn how to be more so you can finally do less, but better.Resources:Morning Mindset Routine: linked here Website: findingmastery.comInstagram: @michaelgervaisPodcast: Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael GervaisRelated Episodes:Dr. Michael Gervais - Understanding Our Minds: How To Unlock Your Full PotentialStop Worrying About What People Think Of You & Unleash Your Authenticity with Dr. Michael Gervais// SPONSORS //Premier Protein: Find your favorite flavor at premierprotein.com or at Amazon, Walmart, and other major retailers. Quince: Go to quince.com/realpod to get free shipping and 365-day returns.BetterHelp: Visit betterhelp.com/realpod today to get 10% off your first month.LMNT: LMNT is offering a free sample pack with any purchase, that's 8 single serving packets FREE with any LMNT order. This is a great way to try all 8 flavors or share LMNT with a friend. Get yours at DrinkLMNT.com/realpod.Peloton: Let yourself run, lift, sculpt, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ at onepeloton.com. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Keith Murphy and Andy Fales unpack the stunning decision by Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard to eliminate Cyclone Gymnastics - the first sport cut at ISU in 25 years. Why now? And what does it mean for the future of Iowa State athletics? Plus: • What women's sport should Iowa State add? (Flag football, hockey, wrestling?) • Miami (OH) at 30–0 with a weak strength of schedule - could they miss March Madness? • Athletes turned actors • Mr. Movie returns • Throwdowns, Quickie Poll, and the AD2 • MORE! Murph & Andy, Sports and MORE! exclusively on Iowa Everywhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if the real reason your team isn't leveling up has nothing to do with talent, and everything to do with mindset? As NCA approaches, emotions run high. Coaches second-guess their prep. Athletes feel the pressure. Cheer moms navigate the intensity of competition weekends. And everyone is asking the same question: Are we really ready? In this episode, we dive into what actually prepares a team for the big stage, and it's not just full-outs and stunt reps. From mental rehearsal strategies to leadership books shaping team culture, to a behind-the-scenes look at the Pro Cheer League, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what separates good teams from championship teams. If you're heading into a major competition, thinking about tryouts, or simply want to understand what truly elevates athletes, this episode hits home. In this episode, you'll learn: How mental imagery and “self-image” directly impact performance on competition day Why tried-and-true coaching methods often outperform flashy new strategies What really matters at tryouts, including a candid breakdown of skills, attitude, tumbling, and more Plus, we sit down with Maddie Gardner to talk about the evolution of cheer, the launch of the Pro Cheer League, and what's next for the sport. If you want to walk into your next competition, or tryout season, feeling mentally sharper, strategically smarter, and fully locked in, press play now and get ahead before the mat even rolls out. Buy the Jason's Book, Upside Down and Back Again ⁠ Jason's On-Demand Coaches Training Videos⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Code of Points Cheatsheet FREE⁠ Next Gen Cheer Biz Accelerator, March 31st- April 1st - https://nextgenowners.com/cheer-biz-accelerator/ AIA Global Qualifier- ca.themis.events Join the Cheer Mom's Anonymous Facebook Group- https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Zt7hJYgHL/?mibextid=wwXIfr Brittany's Comp Cheer Checklist- instagram.com/stories/highlights/18356656174188077 Jason's Book Recommendations- ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon Affiliate Link⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Let's Talk Cheer on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Question of the Week Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics have just wrapped up, and they were exciting as always.Even more exciting was how much athletes from the Buckeye State showed up during the games.Ohio athletes dominated events like women's and men's hockey.Ohio also had athletes in sports like skiing and snowboarding.Who were the other big winners at the games, and how did Italy compare to the likes of Paris and Tokyo?Looking forward, is Los Angeles ready to bear the torch for the 2028 Olympic Games and what role will Columbus have in the summer games?Guest:Amy Bass, professor of sports studies at Manhattanville UniversityIf you have a disability and would like a transcript or other accommodation you can request an alternative format.(photo: Hassan Ammar / AP)

Is more carbohydrate always better, or does your gut need to be trained like your legs?In this episode, we sit down with Roxanne Vogel, PhD, Director of Research and Education at GU Energy Labs, to unpack what gut training actually means, how carbohydrates use different transport systems, and why carbohydrate tolerance varies so much between athletes. We also explore the "why" behind gut training, high carb feeding, metabolic flexibility, the role of hot environments, and what personalized carbohydrate strategies may look like in the near future.More about our guest:Roxanne Gonzales Vogel is a scientist, athlete, and adventurer. As the Director of Research and Education at GU Energy Labs, she oversees the brand's Performance Lab and works with elite athletes to optimize nutrition for performance, health, and longevity. She holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology from Southern Cross University in Australia, where her research focused on environmental physiology and strategies to improve athletic performance in the presence of environmental stressors, including heat, cold, and hypoxia. Roxanne's research interests are largely inspired by her pursuits as a high-altitude mountaineer and ultra-endurance athlete. In May of 2019, she summited Mount Everest in a fraction of the time it normally takes—two weeks as opposed to two months— using a novel pre-acclimation protocol and custom nutrition products she developed to make the record-breaking ascent possible. Roxanne is also an experienced trail runner, competing primarily in mountain ultramarathons, including the iconic Leadville 100 where she placed 4th in 2022. She has spent the past 15 years studying nutrition and its impact on body composition, athletic performance, and cognitive function. Roxanne currently lives and trains in Mammoth Lakes, CA.-------Drop a question in our free Patreon Community and get access to bonus content with Bob and Dina by upgrading to the Gold Level membership. You'll also be showing your support and helping to keep the podcast free of sponsorship ads. Let's connect on your platform of choice:  Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.The show is brought to you by eNRG Performance and The Nutrition Mechanic. 

Hour 3: KU Jayhawks Bad Streak, Senior Night Is Antiquated, Defense for the Chiefs, KU Paying Athletes With Tax Dollars full 2609 Wed, 04 Mar 2026 15:57:45 +0000 1rlcdcQ1jJSF51Tux7U9EWNZCw2XqELG nfl,mlb,ncaa basketball,kansas city chiefs,ku,sports Fescoe & Dusty nfl,mlb,ncaa basketball,kansas city chiefs,ku,sports Hour 3: KU Jayhawks Bad Streak, Senior Night Is Antiquated, Defense for the Chiefs, KU Paying Athletes With Tax Dollars Fescoe in the Morning. One guy is a KU grad.   The other is on the KU football broadcast team,  but their loyalty doesn't stop there as these guys  are huge fans of Kansas City sports and the people  of Kansas City who make it the great city it is.   Start your morning with us at 5:58am!   2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Sports False

It's March.The January energy has faded. The motivation posts are quieter. And this is where the real long game begins.In this sepisode, I lay out 10 non-negotiables for athletes who plan to keep performing — not just this year, but for decades.This isn't about hype. It isn't about biohacking. And it definitely isn't about chasing trends.It's about durability.Drawing from over 100 conversations with top athletes, as well as, coaches, and scientists on Ageless Athlete,— I unpack what actually holds up.We cover:Why longevity medicine is being over-marketed — and what truly scalesThe role of deliberate novelty in protecting your brainWhy the current nutrition culture war is distracting athletesMuscle as structural insurance after 35The danger of outsourcing discipline to dataHow to use the healthcare you already have (most of it covered by insurance)Why sleep isn't revolutionary — but foundationalIdentity as a performance anchorCommunity as a biological variable, not a luxuryAnd why you have to stop blaming your ageThis episode is less about motivation and more about ownership.You don't stop doing things because you age. You age because you stop doing things.If you plan to stay strong, sharp, and capable in 2026 — this is your reset.---

In this episode, I sit down with John Daniel of the University of Cincinnati to discuss the modernization of one of the most innovative athletic departments in the country. John shares insight into Cincinnati's record-setting financial year, the institution's critical support before full revenue distribution from the Big 12 Conference kicked in, and how the House Settlement has once again reshaped their financial landscape. We also explore his unique reporting line to both the athletic director and the university's CFO—an experience that is clearly preparing him for a future cabinet-level role. JD walks through his preparation and thought process for potential athletic director opportunities and the stops he's had up to this point in his career. I invited JD on the show because as the top deputy in a forward-thinking department like UC, I believe he won't be a deputy much longer.HEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. AD Vantage empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts.Onrise provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue. 0:00 Introduction2:00 Modernization of the Athletic Department5:30 Onrise6:35 Record Financial Year11:35 Reporting Line with University CFO18:50 Projects JD Thinks is Preparing Him to be an Effective AD23:20 AD Vantage27:10 What to Look for in Job Opportunities29:27 Titles Aren't Everything, But the Data Says it Matters32:30 How JD Prepares for Opportunities40:20 Why JD is Ready to Become an AD in the Evolving World of College Athletics

About the GuestKimberly Davis Powell is a distinguished basketball coach and program director with nearly 30 years of experience. She built ESSENCE Basketball into one of the most respected programs in the country, developing WNBA All-Stars, Olympic invitees, and All-American athletes.Currently working within the prep school space, Coach Kim focuses on elite player development, discipline, and building strong community-centered programs that prepare athletes for the next level.Episode SummaryIn this episode of It's Just Different Podcast, Ashley Roberts sits down with Coach Kimberly Davis Powell to break down the evolving landscape of AAU basketball — and what's being lost in the process.From the explosion of exposure events and rankings to the influence of parents and trainers, youth basketball looks very different than it did 10–15 years ago. Coach Kim shares what she believes is missing: fundamentals, discipline, accountability, and long-term development.The conversation dives into:- The real value of playing on a sponsored shoe circuit teamWhy some athletes chase visibility before they're ready- The delicate balance between parents advocating and overstepping- How trainers can better serve athletes through film breakdown and defensive development- The mental and character foundation required to succeed at the college levelIf you're a parent, coach, or serious athlete navigating AAU basketball and the recruiting process, this episode is a must-listen.Key Takeaways- Strong fundamentals and discipline are still the foundation of elite players.- Exposure without development can hurt long-term growth.- Parents play a critical role in shaping recruitment outcomes — positively or negatively.- Film study and defensive skill work are often overlooked but essential.- Shoe circuit teams can provide opportunity — but only if the athlete is prepared.Resources for Basketball ParentsJoin the Basketball Parent Community:https://www.ashleynroberts.com/communityDownload the FREE Guide (Save Time, Money & Stress):https://ashleyroberts.kit.com/subscribeGet the Basketball Parent Toolkit:https://www.ashleynroberts.com/product-page/basketball-parent-toolkitShop DIFFERENT merch (Use code Podcast for 15% off):https://itsjustdifferentapparel.com

The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics have just wrapped up, and they were exciting as always.Even more exciting was how much athletes from the Buckeye State showed up during the games.Ohio athletes dominated events like women's and men's hockey.Ohio also had athletes in sports like skiing and snowboarding.Who were the other big winners at the games, and how did Italy compare to the likes of Paris and Tokyo?Looking forward, is Los Angeles ready to bear the torch for the 2028 Olympic Games and what role will Columbus have in the summer games?Guest:Amy Bass, professor of sports studies at Manhattanville UniversityIf you have a disability and would like a transcript or other accommodation you can request an alternative format.(photo: Hassan Ammar / AP)

Most high performers treat rest like a prize. Something you earn when the work is done. When the inbox is clear. When there's nothing left outstanding. The problem: there's always something left outstanding. So they never really stop. And they wonder why they've hit a ceiling. In this episode, Tom Foxley breaks down a real coaching case — a business owner running at six days a week, ten-hour days, who couldn't understand why performance felt harder the more effort he put in. The answer wasn't more strategy or better systems. It was simpler and more uncomfortable than that: he was a depleted operator trying to build a high-performing business. One weekend changed everything — not because of what he did, but because of what he didn't do. Tom unpacks the three patterns underneath the never-stop cycle, introduces a practical recovery protocol used by some of the world's top performers, and reframes rest not as the opposite of performance — but as the condition for it. Topics covered: - Why hustle becomes a coping mechanism disguised as dedication - The impossible condition high performers set before allowing themselves to rest - The interval session model applied to business performance - NSDR / Yoga Nidra — what it is, why it works, and how to use it - One action this week to start treating recovery as a performance input

Financial expert Peter Grandich discusses the precarious state of the American economy, emphasizing his deeply bearish outlook on the stock market. He argues that the middle class is eroding due to unsustainable debt, while a small elite holds the vast majority of wealth. Grandich expresses skepticism toward Bitcoin and AI, viewing them as speculative bubbles, while favoring gold and silver as essential assets for capital preservation. Beyond finance, he warns of increasing social and political division in the United States, highlighting risks such as civil unrest and demographic shifts. Ultimately, he encourages a philosophy of “less is more” and a return to faith to navigate a future defined by economic decline. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Listen Ad-Free for $4.99 a Month or $49.99 a Year! Apple Subscriptions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597 Supercast https://geopoliticsandempire.supercast.com ***Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics American Gold Exchange https://www.amergold.com/geopolitics easyDNS (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://easydns.com Escape The Technocracy (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics Outbound Mexico https://outboundmx.com PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis https://societates-civis.com StartMail https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=ngu4nzr Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites Website https://petergrandich.com X https://x.com/PeterGrandich YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/PeterGrandichCompany About Peter Grandich Peter Grandich entered Wall Street in the mid-1980s with neither formal education nor training, and within three years was appointed Head of Investment Strategy for a leading New York Stock Exchange-member firm. He would go on to hold positions as Chief Market Strategist, Portfolio Manager for four hedge funds and a mutual fund that bore his name. His abilities have resulted in hundreds of media interviews, including Good Morning America, Fox News, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Financial Post, Globe and Mail, US News & World Report, New York Times, Business Week, MarketWatch, Business News Network and dozens more. He has spoken at investment conferences around the globe, edited numerous investment newsletters and was one of the more sought-after financial commentators. Grandich has been a member of the National Association of Christian Financial Consultants, The New York Society of Security Analysts, The Society of Quantitative Analysts and The Markets Technician Association. He served on the Boards of Athletes in Action, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Good News International Ministries and Catholic Athletes For Christ. Through Athletes in Action, Grandich assisted with Bible study and chapel services for the New York Giants and New York Yankees from 2002 to 2016. His autobiography, Confessions of a Wall Street Whiz Kid, was first published in the fall of 2011. The second edition was released in 2014, while the third edition, Confessions of a Former Wall Street Whiz Kid, was issued in October 2015. The fourth edition of the book was later released in April 2019, and the fifth edition was issued in May 2021. The fifth edition of the book is currently available on Amazon.com, but you can also read the book for free online. Read the book online. Grandich was the editor and publisher of The Grandich Letter from 1984 to 2014. He was also Senior Commentator for Moneytalks.net from 2013 to 2015. In 2013, Grandich founded the Athletes & Business Alliance (ABA), a private organization of professional athletes and business executives who exchange ideas and build relationships with an emphasis on capitalizing on the talents of all involved. A symbiotic organization, ABA is a network of accomplished individuals in an environment where one can develop personal associations with a structured and supportive system of giving and receiving business. The ABA boasts a select membership of diverse senior-level executives, high net worth business owners, and both active and retired pro athletes. By invitation only, high-level corporate and business decision-makers and prominent athletes intermingle. To achieve success, businesses must utilize effective marketing tools, secure new customers to generate repeat business and provide superior customer service that engenders loyalty. The ABA provides an environment to do this and more. In late 2020, Peter closed all professional athlete related business. Peter Grandich currently resides in New Jersey with his wife, Mary, and they have one daughter, Tara. *Podcast intro music used with permission is from the song “The Queens Jig” by the fantastic “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Is Kyler Murray an option for the Jets? Breece Hall is franchise tagged! And we measure Bart's arms & discuss if certain athletes are corny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your daughter just got pulled after one mistake. Here's exactly what to do. Grab the free training here - https://trainhergame.com/mom

Tier Tuesday: Best Current Athletes in Boston

We've got a grab bag of news about the way Philly sports affect our culture. Listen for predictions about A.J. Brown's future with the Eagles and his heartfelt message to other NFL players. We also discuss which boxer statue should be at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, and why. Host Trenae Nuri, executive producer Matt Katz, and City Cast Philly sports contributor O.J. Spivey bring you all this, plus their list of the most Philly athletes, past and present.  Our newsletter has Philly news & events in your inbox every weekday morning. Call or text us: 215-259-8170 Instagram: @citycastphilly Support our show and get great perks as a City Cast Philly Neighbor: membership.citycast.fm Advertise on the podcast or in the newsletter: citycast.fm/advertise

On this episode of the SeventySix Capital Sports Leadership Show, Wayne Kimmel interviewed Maury Gostfrand, Executive Vice President of The Montag Group.Gostfrand joined The Montag Group in January, 2018 as Partner & Executive Vice President. Prior to joining The Montag Group, Maury was the President and Founder of Vision Sports Group, a New York-based sports management and marketing agency representing primarily sports broadcasters and coaches.Gostfrand graduated from the University of Michigan in 1991 and began his career with the New York-based firm, Athletes and Artists, serving as the Director of Marketing. While at A & A, he was responsible for securing marketing opportunities for the clients, which included broadcasters, professional athletes and Olympic athletes. Gostfrand then attended University of Miami School of Law, and while in law school, worked for Impact Sports in Boca Raton, Florida, representing professional athletes, including NFL and NBA players. In 1996, he joined New York-based RLR Associates, an agency which represents sports broadcasters, where he served as an agent for nine years.Gostfrand dedicates a lot of time to charitable causes including The Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation, where he has served as a board member since it was launched in 2002, and MVP Charity, where he has served as a board member since 2017.Gostfrand and his family reside in Chappaqua, New York.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Maury Gosfran and the Montag Group02:16 Role of an Agent in Sports Media04:52 Client Relationships and Communication13:27 Impact of NIL and Evolving Media Landscape16:31 Transitioning Athletes to Broadcasting Careers21:54 The Importance of Social Media for Talent23:29 Spotlight on Rising Stars in Broadcasting26:19 Advice for Aspiring Broadcasters28:04 Surprises in the Sports Media Industry29:48 Supporting Clients in Podcasting31:04 Reflections on Mentorship and Career Growth

What if winning isn't the point? In this UNLOCKED conversation, Sebastien Page breaks down why the most effective leaders, athletes, and high performers stop obsessing over the scoreboard and start focusing on mastery, resilience, and the long game. From nearly losing his life due to burnout to unpacking the PERMA model of positive psychology, Sebastien shows why health, relationships, and meaning are the real performance multipliers. We talk sports psychology, leadership mistakes driven by fear, goal-induced blindness (Everest makes an appearance), and why knowing when to quit is one of the most underrated leadership skills. If you're tired of chasing short-term wins at the cost of everything else, this episode will recalibrate how you think about success. Timestamps: 00:00 — Cold Open & Intro 03:35 — Nearly Dying from Burnout: The Wake-Up Call 07:10 — Health Is the Baseline for Every Other Goal 08:53 — The PERMA Model: What Actually Drives Long-Term Happiness 12:14 — Why Sports Psychology Obsesses Over Losing 14:39 — Mastery vs Ego: The Shift That Changes Everything 19:35 — Federer's Lesson: Losing Half the Points and Still Winning 23:57 — Goal-Induced Blindness: When Success Becomes Dangerous 27:57 — Fear, Stress, and the Performance Curve Leaders Miss 31:02 — Why Leadership Stops Being About You 34:46 — Strategic Patience and the Skill of Knowing When to Quit 39:10 — Relationships: The One Variable That Predicts Happiness 43:00 — Final Takeaway: Don't Burn Bridges on the Way to Success Instagram: www.instagram.com/sebastienpagebook Substack: substack.com/@sebastienpage LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sebastien-page

Consistency in gymnastics can look so calm from the outside. But if you are the parent in the viewing room or in the car after practice, it often feels anything but calm. In this episode, I sit down with Asia Mape, four time Emmy winning sports producer and founder of I Love to Watch You Play, to talk about how parents can support their gymnasts without adding extra pressure.Asia's whole mission comes from one simple line. I love to watch you play. Gymnasts are not asking for more corrections from their parents. They want you to feed them, be normal, clap, and then tell them you love them. That is it. When we actually ask athletes what they want, the answers are simple. The problem is that parents are often caught in fear about levels, scores, and the future.Asia explains why it is so easy for gym parents to slide into over coaching and stress. We spend money on meets, leotards, and privates. We drive long hours to and from the gym. We care deeply about their dreams. That mix can turn into car lectures, sideline tension, and constant talk about results. Over time, that pressure can feed fear, mental blocks, burnout, and even injuries.We also talk about what to do instead. Asia shares how to ask your gymnast what she actually wants from you, how to remember the little girl who just loved to flip on the bed, and how to calm yourself in the stands so you do not make it about you. She also introduces the idea of positive gossip, using your words to quietly spread good news about coaches and kids in the gym, instead of complaints.If you are a gymnastics parent who has ever walked away from a meet thinking, I talked too much or I was too intense, this conversation will help you reset and show up in a way that protects your gymnast's joy and confidence.In this episode, you will hear• Why “I love to watch you play” is often the only message your gymnast really needs• What gymnasts say they actually want from their parents before and after meets• How pressure, money, and fear around levels can hurt your gymnast's mental health• Simple ways for parents to calm down in the viewing room and in the car• How positive gossip can change the mood on your team in a real wayIn this week's episode of the PerformHappy Podcast, Asia Mape shares how small changes in your words and energy can help your gymnast feel safe, supported, and free to love her sport again.Learn exactly what to say and do to guide your athlete through a mental block with my new book "Parenting Through Mental Blocks" Order your copy today: https://a.co/d/g990BurFollow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/complete_performance/ Join my FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/completeperformancecoaching/ Check out my website: https://completeperformancecoaching.com/Write to me! Email: rebecca@completeperformancecoaching.comReady to help your athlete overcome fears and mental blocks while gaining unstoppable confidence? Discover the transformative power of PerformHappy now. If your athlete is struggling or feeling left behind, it's time for a change. Are you ready? For more info and to sign up: PerformHappy.com

(0:00-20:10) Critiquing the Top 25 Philly athletes list(20:10-32:22) Philly Mag's Bradford Pearson joins the show on his top 25 Philadelphia athletes (32:22-43:13) Top Philly athletes tallyPlease note: Timecodes may shift by a few minutes due to inserted ads. Because of copyright restrictions, portions—or entire segments—may not be included in the podcast.For the latest updates, visit the show page Kincade & Salciunas on 975thefanatic.com. Follow 97.5 The Fanatic on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Watch our shows on YouTube, and subscribe to stay up-to-date with all the best moments from Philly's home for sports!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 Timothy 4:8 NIV “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”   *Transcription Below*   Brian Smith, author of The Christian Athlete: Glorifying God in Sports, is a staff member with Athletes in Action and a cross-country coach at Lowell High School. A former collegiate runner at Wake Forest University, he earned a BA in Communications and Journalism before completing his MA in Theology and Sports Studies at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary. Brian lives in Lowell, MI with his wife and three children. You can find him on Twitter @BrianSmithAIA.   Ed Uszynski is an author, speaker, and sports minister with over three decades' experience discipling college and professional athletes. With a heart for reconciliation and justice, he also works as a racial literacy consultant and marriage conference speaker, blending Biblical wisdom with practical living in the midst of complex cultural realities. He has two theological degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. He and his wife Amy have four children and live in Xenia, Ohio.   The Christian Athlete Website   Thank You to Our Sponsor:  Sam Leman Eureka   Questions and Topics We Cover: What is one of kids' greatest game day complaints?  Is it true that young athletic success is a predictor of adult athletic success? What are a few tips for instilling a heart of gratitude in our young athlete, rather than entitlement?   Related Savvy Sauce Episode: 230 Intentional Parenting in All The Stages with Dr. Rob Rienow   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:11)   Laura Dugger: (0:12 - 1:51) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   The principles of honesty and integrity that Sam Leman founded his business on continue today, over 55 years later, at Sam Leman Chevrolet Eureka.   Owned and operated by the Bertschi family, Sam Leman and Eureka appreciates the support they've received from their customers all over Central Illinois and beyond. Visit them today at lemangm.com.   Brian Smith and Ed Uszynski are my guests for today.   They are co-authors of this recent amazing book entitled, A Way Game, A Christian Parents Guide to Navigating Youth Sports. And from the very beginning, I was captivated, even with one of the endorsements from Matt Martens, who's the president and CEO of Awana, and he summed it up this way, A Way Game provides a much needed perspective shift on one of the most sacred idols in our culture, youth sports. So, Brian and Ed are all for youth sports, and yet you're going to hear there's a different way to approach it than what we've been trained in culture.   And they're going to share some wonderful and very practical insights. I can't wait to share this with you. Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Ed and Brian.   Ed Uszynski & Brian Smith: (1:51 - 1:54) Thanks for having us, Laura. Yeah, good to be here, Laura.   Laura Dugger: (1:54 - 2:04) So, excited about this chat. And will the two of you just start us off by sharing your family's stage of life and your involvement in sports?   Brian Smith: (2:05 - 3:29) Yeah, there could be a lot on the back end of that question. I'll start with sports, then get into family. I've been involved in sports my entire life, played every sport imaginable growing up, got cut from just about every single sport my freshman year of high school, ended up running track and cross country because it was the only sports that you could not get cut from at my high school.   And I ended up being pretty good at it by the time I was a senior, won some state championships, ended up getting a scholarship to run at Wake Forest University. So, I did that for four years right out of college. I coached a little bit collegiately.   Soon after that, I joined staff with a sports ministry called Athletes in Action that Ed and I have a combined 50 years with Athletes in Action. And really, that's been my life ever since. I've been ministering to college and pro athletes, discipling them, helping them figure out what does that actually look like to integrate faith in sport.   Even today, I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I coach high school cross country while I'm still on staff with Athletes in Action. I have a middle school Bible study that I run on Wednesday mornings.   Been married to my wife, who I actually met in high school. She was a distance runner too, and she ran at Wisconsin. So, we've been married for 20 years.   We have three kids, a high schooler, a middle schooler, and an elementary schooler who are all involved in sport at some level, some way, shape, or form.   Laura Dugger: (3:30 - 3:34) Wow, that's incredible. Thank you, Brian. And Ed, what about you?   Ed Uszynski: (3:34 - 5:04) Well, my story is very parallel to Brian's, just different sports and some different numbers. Just tack on 15 years. Yeah, I was a basketball player.   Grew up on the west side of Cleveland with a high school football coach. My dad was, but I was a basketball player. I played at high levels all the way through my 20s, got to play overseas.   I mean, this was a long time ago, but I got everything I could out of that sport. And as soon as I graduated from college, though, I started to work with that Athletes in Action ministry that Brian mentioned. So, I've been working with college and professional athletes for 34 years now.   And same, coached at different levels, have four kids. Amy and I have been married for 26 years. We have four kids, three are in college, and one's in ninth grade, who has a game this afternoon, actually.   So, we've just been going to games and have been involved in going to sports stuff for the last 20 years with our kids. And really what happened with Brian, and I is that we looked up a decade ago and realized this youth sports thing was a fast train that was moving in directions that we weren't used to ourselves, even though we've been around sports our whole life. It's like, there's something different happening now.   And then thinking about it as Christians, like, how do we do this well as Christ followers? We don't want to separate from it. We don't want to just go for the ride. How do we do this as Christian people? And that's what got us talking about it and eventually led to this book.   Laura Dugger: (5:05 - 5:23) Well, the book was easy to read and incredible. And I'd like to start there where you begin, even where you go back before going forward. So, when you're looking back, what are the factors at play that changed youth sports over time?   Ed Uszynski: (5:26 - 6:17) Well, I'll say this and then Brian, maybe you jump in and throw a couple of them out there. I mean, youth sports is a $40 billion industry today, which is wild to think about. It's four times how much money gets spent on the NFL, which is just staggering.   I can't even hardly believe that that's true, but it is. And it's really just in the last 20 years that that's happened. I mean, 50 years ago, you couldn't have had the youth sport industrial complex, as we refer to it.   You couldn't have had it. There were a bunch of things that had to happen culturally, as is true with any new movement or any paradigm shift that happens in culture. You've got to have certain things be true all at the same time that make it possible.   So, Brian, what were a couple of those? Again, I'll throw it over to you. There's six of them that we talk about in the book. And I think it's really fascinating because I'm a history guy.   Brian Smith: (6:18 - 8:40) Yeah. And we can obviously double click on any of these, Laura, that you want to, but we talk about how the college admissions process became an avenue where youth sports parents saw, man, if we can get our kids involved in some extracurriculars and kind of tag on high level athlete to their resume, it actually helps with the college admissions process. And so even the idea of college scholarships became an opportunity for youth sports parents to get their kids involved.   And then, yeah, maybe sports can actually get them into college. We talk about the economic shifts that happen, the rise of safetyism and helicopter parenting. ESPN was a massive one in 1979.   This thing called ESPN starts, and we get 24-7 coverage of sports, which they started exploring even early on. What does it look like to give coverage to something like Little League World Series and saw that it didn't really matter how young the sport was, it's going to draw a national audience. And so, we've almost been discipled by ESPN really over the last 50 years with this consistent coverage.   We talk about the rise of the sports complex. This one to me is like the most fascinating out of all of them. In 1997, Disney decided to try to get more people to come to their parks.   They built a sports complex, just a massive sports complex. The idea was, are the older kids getting sick of the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Disney princesses? So, let's build a sports complex and maybe it'll be something else that will draw this older crowd too.   And what happened was, I mean, a lot of people started coming to it, but kind of the stake in the ground game changer was when 9-11 hit. In the months and years after that, they saw a lot less people go to their parks, but population actually doubled going to the sports complex, which is wild to think that people were afraid to go to theme parks for a vacation, but they were willing to travel across state lines to play sports at the Disney complex. So other cities and municipalities took notice of that.   Today, there's over 30,000 sports complexes like Disney's, which again, this is all adding to the system of the youth sports industrial complex. Did I miss any, Ed?   Ed Uszynski: (8:41 - 10:47) Well, no, and that's good. And the reason why we even put all that on the table, again, everybody kind of intuitively knows if you're involved, you know, something's not right. But I think it's important to say this is not normal what's happening.   It's a new normal that's been manufactured by a bunch of cultural trends, by a bunch of entrepreneurs that are doing what entrepreneurs do, and they're taking advantage of the moment, and they are generating lots of money around it. So, it should be encouraging. If it's not normal, that means actually there's a counter way of going about this.   There really can be reformation. But when all this money gets involved, the two biggest consequences that come out of that is our kids start getting treated like commodities, which they are, and we could talk the whole time even just about what that means. But maybe even more importantly, or what comes out of that is that beyond their physical development, most coaches and clubs are not paying any attention to their emotional development, their psychological development, their spiritual development, all the different aspects of what it means to be human that, frankly, used to be paid quite a bit more attention to in youth leagues when I was growing up.   I'm 58 now, so I was playing in the 70s and the 80s. And it used to be expected, at least at some level, even among non-Christian people, that you would take those aspects of a kid's life seriously. And now those just aren't prioritized.   And so, what do we do about that? Again, that's kind of our whole point is, well, as Christian people, we're really supposed to be our kid's first discipler anyways. And part of that role and part of taking on that identity is that we would be asking, what is God trying to do in the wholeness of their life, the entirety of their life, even in the context of sports?   So again, I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but that's why we're trying to poke into that to say, oh, we could actually make change. We may not change the whole system. In fact, we won't. Most of us won't be expected to do that, but we can make significant change in our corner of the bleachers and what happens with our kids.   Laura Dugger: (10:48 - 11:05) That's good. And just like you said, to double-click on a few places, first of all, real quick, the 30,000 number, I remember that shocking me in the book, but I'm forgetting now, is that worldwide, the amount of sports complexes or is that just in America?   Brian Smith: (11:05 - 11:06) That's domestically in the US.   Laura Dugger: (11:07 - 11:52) Yeah. That is staggering. And then one other piece, all of this history was new to me as you brought it all together, but it was also fascinated.   This is from page 32. I'll just read your quote. The American youth sports ball began rolling when a British movement fusing spiritual development with physical activity made its way across the Atlantic Ocean at the turn of the last century.   And Ed, that's kind of what you were touching on, that they were mixing, I'm sure, spiritual, psychological discipleship, physical. Can you elaborate more on what was happening and where it originated? Because we've come very far from our origins.   Ed Uszynski: (11:53 - 13:18) Yeah. And there's been a bunch of really great books written about this topic called muscular Christianity. This idea, like you just said, Laura, of wedding physical activity through sports with our spiritual development and expecting and anticipating that somebody that was taking care of their body and that was engaging in sport activity, that was the closest thing to godliness.   That opened up the door for you to also be developing spiritually. And there was an expectation that both of those are going on at the same time. A bunch of criticism about that movement, but it was taken seriously.   The YMCA is actually a huge byproduct of the muscular Christianity movement. The Young Men's Christian Association created space for sports and for athletic activity to take place under the banner of you're also going to grow spiritually as you're doing this. So again, that was a hundred years ago.   And that's not really what AAU stands for today. The different clubs and leagues that we get involved in just don't talk that way anymore. Of course, culture just in general has shifted away from sort of a Judeo-Christian ethic guiding a North Star for us.   Even if we're not Christian people, that used to be more of a North Star. That's gone now. And so, it really is not expected in sports anymore.   Brian Smith: (13:18 - 13:55) And what we're saying is we cannot expect organizations to own that process for our kids. We can't outsource the discipleship of our kids to the youth sports industrial complex or the YMCA or the AAU. It really does start with us as Christian parents to be the primary discipler of our kids.   And there is a way to take what's happening on the field or the court or the pool and turn it into really amazing discipleship opportunities. But it means, and Ed is starting to tease this out, it means we need to change our perspective as parents when we sit in the bleachers or on the sidelines of what we're looking for and even the conversations we have with our kids on the back end.   Laura Dugger: (13:57 - 15:29) And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Sam Leman Chevrolet Eureka has been owned and operated by the Bertschi family for over 25 years. A lot has changed in the car business since Sam and Stephen's grandfather, Sam Leman, opened his first Chevrolet dealership over 55 years ago.   If you visit their dealership today though, you'll find that not everything has changed. They still operate their dealership like their grandfather did, with honesty and integrity. Sam and Stephen understand that you have many different choices in where you buy or service your vehicle.   This is why they do everything they can to make the car buying process as easy and hassle-free as possible. 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Do you want to give us just a taste or an example or story of what that might look like?   Brian Smith: (15:32 - 16:54) We keep saying, we keep talking about the importance of the car ride home that it's tempting for us and not us broadly in the U.S., tempting for us, Ed and I, as people who have done this for 50 plus years and who should know better, it's tempting for us as discipled by an ESPN over analyzing everything culture and want to talk about sports to get in the car ride home with our kids and all we want to talk about is how game went, what they did right, what they did wrong, what they could fix next time.   Maybe instead of passing to Tim, they should take the shot next time because they're wide open. They just hit three in a row. So, and what our kids need from us in those moments is less coaching, less criticizing, less critiquing, and they just need us to connect with them.   The stats on kids quitting youth sports is crazy right now. Its 70 percent are quitting before the age of 13, in large part because it's not fun, and a lot of kids are attaching this idea of it not being fun to the car ride home with their parents who, let's say this too, most of us are well-intentioned parents. We're not trying to screw our kids up.   We want what's best for our kids, but the data and the research and the lived experience continues to tell us what our kids need from us is just to take a deep breath, connect with them, less coaching. Ed keeps saying less coaching, more slurpees.   Laura Dugger: (16:55 - 17:07) I like that. And that ties in. Is it called the peak-end principle that you discovered why kids are resisting that critique on the way home?   Brian Smith: (17:07 - 18:17) Yeah, absolutely. The peak-end rule in psychology is known as this: we, just as humans in general, not just kids, we largely remember things in our lives based on the peak moment of that event, but also how the event ends. And so, the peak moment in sport can be anything from something that goes really well, like they scored a goal or made a basket or something that did not go well, just like a massive event that took place that they're going to remember.   But then it's also married to how that event ends. So, if you think for kids, how does every youth sport experience end? It ends with the car ride home.   So, if they're experiencing the car ride home as I did not live up to mom and dad's standards, or there's fear getting into the car because they don't know what their parents are going to say, how are they remembering the totality of their youth sport experience? It is, I didn't, I didn't measure up. I wasn't enough.   It felt like sports was a place that I needed to perform for my parents or my coach. And I always feel a little bit short. We want to help parents see like there's a different path forward that can be more joyful for you, but hopefully more joyful for your kid as well.   Ed Uszynski: (18:17 - 21:37) Well, and, and I'll just, let me keep going with that, Brian. I thought you really articulated all that so well. I can just imagine a parent maybe thinking, was there never a time to correct?   Is there never a time to give input? And we would say, well, of course there, there is, they need far less of it from us than we think they need when it comes to their sport. And again, we can talk about that.   They need far less of that from us. They need us to be their parents, not to be their coaches. Even if we are their coach, they need us to be more their parents.   But there is a time to do it. We're just saying the car ride home is the worst time to do it. And that's usually the time that most of us, you know, we've got two hours of stuff to download with them.   And that's just, it's not a good time. But the other thing that Brian and I keep talking about is how about, what if we had some different metrics that we were even trying to measure? So, most of the time our metrics have to do with their performance.   Like what, what are we grading them on? Again, depending on what the sport is, there's these different things that we're looking for to say, how you did today is based on whether you did this or you didn't do that and whatnot. And we're saying as parents, and again, starting with us, we needed some other metrics that were actually more concerned about what was going on in their soul.   So again, I'm sure we'll talk more about this, but the virtues, how did love show up in the way they competed today? Where that usually is tied to them noticing somebody else. Do I, am I even asking them any questions about that?   Are they experiencing peace in the midst of all this chaos and anxiety that shows up at every game? How do we teach them to experience peace? How do they become other-centered instead of just self-centered all the time in a culture, a sport culture that's teaching them to always be the center of attention and try to be?   So, we just have needed to exchange some of what we had on that performance list, like tamper that down a little bit and maybe expand the list of categories that we're looking for that actually will matter when they're 25. And we keep saying this, our goal is that they'd come home for Thanksgiving when they're 25. And so, we need to stay relationally connected to them and how we act on the car ride home day after day after day after day, year after year is doing something to our relationship.   But we also are recognizing that it's really not going to matter whether Trey finishes with his left hand at the game today when he's 25, it's not going to matter. It's not going to matter probably a year from now, but how he goes through the handshake line after the game and the way he addresses other people, and whether or not he's learning to submit to authority, whether or not he's learning to embrace other people's humanity. Yes, even in the context of sports, that's really going to matter when he's 25.   It's going to matter when he's married. Those are the things that will matter. And we say that as people who are older and have been involved in ministry and have worked with college athletes and see what happens in their lives even after they're finished, and they have no idea who they are anymore.   And this thing that's dominated their life has not actually prepared them well to do life. And that's a problem that we say, let's start changing that when they're six and not hope they're figuring it out when they're 22.   Laura Dugger: (21:38 - 22:11) I love that because that's such a theme throughout those virtues that you talked about, but discipleship and sports are a tool or a way that we can disciple our kids. I also love that you give various questions throughout the book and even quick phrases. So to close that conversation on the car ride home, if we say, okay, that's what I've been coaching the whole way home, what is a question we could ask our child afterwards and a statement we could say and leave it at that and do it a better way?   Brian Smith: (22:12 - 23:56) The question I have consistently asked my kids after learning that I've been doing this the wrong way for a long time, I tweet my question to they get in the car and I say, is there anything that happened today from the game that you want to talk about? And it's frustrating to me because 99% of the time they say, no, can we listen to the radio? And we listen to the radio, or they play a on my phone, but I'm respecting their desire that they're done with what just happened and they're ready to move on to the next thing, even though I really want to talk about what just happened.   And then the statement that I want to make sure that I'm consistently saying that they're hearing is I love you and I'm proud of you. So, game didn't go well. Yeah, you did play well today.   That's okay. Hey, I love you and I'm proud of you. Game went well today.   Awesome. Great job. Hey, I love you and I'm proud of you.   So I want that to be the consistent theme that they're hearing for me, which is hopefully going to help them better understand the gospel later in life, that as they get older and older, hopefully they'll begin to realize it seemed like the way that my mom and dad interacted with me when I was performing in sport, but their love was not attached to my performance. That seems really similar to what I'm learning more and more that Jesus does for me, that I'm trying to do all these things that are good. But from what I'm understanding about the gospel, it seems like Jesus loves me in spite of what I do.   He loves me just because He's connected to me, that God loves me because I'm a son or daughter, not because I'm performing as a son or a daughter. So, in a very real way, I really am hoping that I'm giving a good teaser for my kids now for when they fully experience the gospel as they go through the life.   Ed Uszynski: (23:56 - 24:47) Another really good connecting question. I love how you said all that, Brian, is if they don't want to talk about the game, is it okay, did you have fun today? And they can only go in one of two directions.   No. Well, tell me about that. Why not?   And it opens up the door to talk about, well, because I didn't get to play or because something bad happened. And again, tell me more about that. Tell me more about that.   Or they say, yes, great. What happened that was fun? And it creates a very different conversation in the car.   And it opens up, again, relational possibilities that go way beyond, why do you keep passing it when you should be shooting it? Wow. And just all the different ways that that comes out of us, depending on sport, depending on their age.   But those are great questions. Go ahead, Brian.   Brian Smith: (24:47 - 25:41) I just asked my son this morning. He's a freshman. His wrestling season is almost done.   And I just asked, like, what has been most fun for you in wrestling this year? And his first thing was, I feel like I'm learning a lot. And that's really fun for me, which he's on a really good team.   He's had a lot of success. He's made a lot of good friends. But even that gave me a window into his characters.   My son enjoys and I knew this is true about him. But my son enjoys learning, which means he enjoys the process of getting better and better and better, which can happen in school, it can happen doing stuff in the yard, it can it can also happen in sport. But for me to remember moving forward, yeah, he he's probably going to have a different metric for what's fun in sport than I often do for him.   Yeah, like I wanted to learn. I want him to win though, too. He's happy with learning right now.   So, I need to be happy with that for him.   Ed Uszynski: (25:41 - 26:34) If I can say this, too, again, I don't want to be vulnerable on your behalf. But then knowing this, he's lost a lot this year to really good kids. Yeah.   And so much of the learning has been in the context of losing. So, you as a dad, actually, you could be crushing him because of those losses and what he needs to do to fix that and what he needs to do so that that doesn't happen again. And it's like he's already committed to learning.   How do you just how do you celebrate the loss? Like he took the risk to try something new in this movie. He tried to survive an extra period.   That's a process when and it's we just need to get better at that. Like you genuinely can celebrate that. That's not just a that's not like a participation trophy.   It's acknowledging now, do you're taking you're taking the right steps that are actually making you a winner, even if you don't have more points at the end of the game right now.   Laura Dugger: (26:34 - 26:54) Yeah. Yeah. And that long term win that you're talking about, even with character and you've talked about fun and asking them about fun.   Is it true that that's the main reason kids are dropping out of sports at such a rapid rate before age 13 is that it's just not fun anymore?   Ed Uszynski: (26:55 - 28:58) Yeah. Yeah. And why is it not fun?   And again, this is where Brian and I are always getting in each other's business. And we know that this conversation gets in all of our business as adults. But why is it not fun?   It's not fun because of the coaches and it's not fun because of the parents. We are creating stress. We are creating again collectively because we're all in different places on the on the spectrum on this in terms of what we're actually doing when we show up at games.   But if you even just go to any soccer game and you be quiet and just listen to what's happening and everybody's shouting and screaming things and there's contradictory messages being sent and there's angst at every turn and there's an incredible celebration because this eight year old was able to get the ball to go across the line for another goal. And what that's doing inside the kids is it is creating a not fun atmosphere. Let's just say it like that.   That's a not fun atmosphere when you're eight, when you're 10, when you're trying to figure out how to make your body work. You're trying to learn the game that you're unfamiliar with and you're trying to do what this coach is telling you to do. And you're also trying to do what all the parents are telling you what to do.   And if it's a team sport, you're trying to interact and play with other kids who are all in that same state of disarray, which is very stressful and frustrating. And we're just adding to it. So instead of removing it, instead of playing a role that says, we're going to keep diffusing that stress.   And again, I'll speak for myself. Too often, I have been the one that's actually adding to it. And so, kids are just like, why would I do this?   Why would I want to get in that car again with you? It's not fun. This is a game.   And so, there's a million other things that I can do with my time where I don't have everybody yelling at me and I don't have to listen to you correct me for two hours.   Laura Dugger: (29:00 - 29:21) Well, and one other thing that surprised me, maybe why kids are dropping out, you share on page 47, a quote that research reveals a strange correlation. The more we spend, the less our kids actually enjoy their sport. So, did you have any more insight into that?   Brian Smith: (29:21 - 30:50) Yeah, this was a real study that was done at Utah State. Researchers found that the more money parents are spending, again, let's say well-intentioned parents, the more we're spending in sports, the less our kids are enjoying. And the more they have dug into it, they're finding, and intuitively it makes sense.   If you buy your kid a $600 baseball bat, what's the expectation that they're supposed to do with this really expensive bat? When they swing, they better hit the ball, and they better get on base. If we're going to buy you this expensive of a bat, you can't just have process goals with it.   You better swing and hit it. And that's causing stress for kids. If you travel across state lines and you go to Disney to play at their sports complex, you're not there for vacation.   You're there to perform. So even if parents are saying we're trying to have fun, kids know when you're traveling and you're getting all this good equipment and you're on the elite team and you're receiving the best of the best stuff, they know it comes with some sort of an expectation. College athletes can barely handle that type of pressure and expectations, but we've placed this professional on youth sports from fifth five-year-olds to 15-year-olds, and it's just crushing them.   It's crushing them. Again, college athletes and professional athletes can barely handle it. They need mental health coaches for sports, but we're expecting that our five-year-olds can handle it, and they can't.   Ed Uszynski: (30:51 - 31:19) And they may not even be able to articulate it. So that's the other thing. They may not be able to identify what's actually going on inside and put it into words.   So again, that's why we're trying to sound the alarm for ourselves and for others who are listening, because we can do it different. Again, just to even keep spinning it back in an encouraging direction, we can do this different. We can change this this week in our corner of the bleachers.   We can start over again.   Laura Dugger: (31:21 - 31:48) Absolutely and make a difference. And before we talk about even more of the pros with sports, I think it's also necessary to reflect and maybe even grieve a few things. So, what would you say are some things families are missing out on when they choose youth sports to overfill their calendar, that that's all that they make time for?   What do you think they're missing out on?   Brian Smith: (31:51 - 33:16) Yeah, I think a couple that come to mind are family dinners are a big one. That's big for us in the Smith house, is just having the ability after a long day to sit at the dinner table together, to eat food together, and to process the day and be with one another. But when my kids' practice goes late, it means we're either eating almost towards bedtime or we're eating in different shifts.   And so that's something that we grieve. I think for me, when my schedule is full, I'm tempted to adopt the mindset that what's happening on the wrestling mat or on the track matters more than it actually does. And it robs me of the ability to just take a deep breath and smile and enjoy watching my kids play sports.   That without an intervention or a pregame devotional in the car for myself, I risk sitting in the stands or being on the sidelines, being stressed out and putting pressure on myself and pressure on my kids and gossiping about why the coach didn't put this kid into the people next to me, instead of just enjoying the gift that is sports and watching my kid try and succeed and try and fail. That is a gift available to me as a dad to watch my kid do that. But the busyness often robs me of that perspective.   Ed Uszynski: (33:17 - 36:06) Well, and the busyness robs, again, if you're married, that busyness eventually wears away at your relationship. And it's not just sports. I mean, busyness, we can fill our schedule, overfill our schedules with any number of things.   We can overfill our schedules with church stuff to a point where it becomes detrimental to our relationship. If we don't set boundaries so that we're making sure we're doing what we need to do to be face-to-face and to be going to areas beneath the surface with each other in our relationship and being able to do that with our kids as well, eventually there's negative consequences to that. It may not happen right away, but I've definitely experienced that.   We've experienced that in our home where it's easy to maybe chase one kid around for a while, but what happens when you add three into the mix and you haven't really done a time budget or paid attention to the fact that when we sign up for all these things, you get a month into it and you realize, oh, we have to be in different places at the same time. So, we're not even watching stuff together anymore. We're just running.   I can endure anything for a season, but what youth sports wants now in every sport from the youngest ages is that it becomes a year-round commitment. So, you're not even signing up to play a season anymore. You're signing up for a year in most cases because after the games, then they're going to have training.   They're going to have this other thing going on. And so again, can we say, well, we'll play the actual season, but then we're not going to do the additional training over these next three months. Again, we want to give parents' permission that you can say no to that.   Well, we paid for it. Well, it's okay. If you want your kid to be on that team and you like this club or whatever, then you pay the money and you just say, we're going to sit those three months out and we're going to use those three months actually to have people over our house for dinner.   Again, whatever's on the list, Laura, that you said about being more holistic and not letting sport operate like an idol in our life where it's taken on, it's washed out everything else in our life. We can get back in control of that by just saying no a little bit. You can go to church on Sunday.   Even if there's tournament games going on on Sunday, you can go to the coach early and say, hey, we just, in our family, we just don't want to be available before 12. Are you okay with that? And most of the time coaches will be.   The kid might have to sit extra maybe for not being, whatever. Okay. That's not going to be the end of the world that they had to sit out an extra game or had to sit out a half because they weren't available on Sunday morning.   It might actually make a huge difference that they weren't at church for two and a half years in the most formative time of their life.   Laura Dugger: (36:07 - 37:36) And a lot of times the way of wisdom includes reflection, getting alone with the Lord and asking, have we overstuffed our schedule this conversation today? Let's talk specifically with youth sports. Is that trumping everything else?   Because what if we're putting it in a place it was never intended to be as an idol where we sacrifice hospitality or discipleship or community or even just a more biblical way of life? I think we have to bring wisdom into the conversation for what you've mentioned. Whether it's worth it, if they're even enjoying it, how much we're spending on it, and do we have the budget to allocate our finances that way and evaluating the time just to see and make sure that it's rightly ordered.   Did you know you could receive a free email with monthly encouragement, practical tips, and plenty of questions to ask to take your conversation a level deeper, whether that's in parenting or on date nights? Make sure you access all of this at thesavvysauce.com by clicking the button that says join our email list so that you can follow the prompts and begin receiving these emails at the beginning of each month. Enjoy!   But if we flip that to if youth sports are rightly ordered, then what are some things that we can celebrate or reasons that you would want families to give this a try?   Brian Smith: (37:37 - 40:09) The massive positive that we keep coming back to is we have a front row seat to see our kids go through every possible emotion in sport, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And then if we have the right perspective, we are armed with awesome opportunities and awesome information that we're seeing. We get to see what our kids are really good at.   We get to see their character gaps. And then we get to be the ones who, again, who are their primary response, primary disciplers. It really goes back to like, are we trusting youth sports for too little in our kids' lives?   Like many of us are trusting that our investment is going to get them a spot on a team, or maybe they get an opportunity in high school, maybe in college. And what we're saying is, yeah, that maybe. And that's not a bad end goal.   But if that's everything that you're investing into youth sports, it's not enough. Like what you have available to you every single day is to ask your kid if they showed somebody else's dignity on the field. You don't know if your kid's going to hit a home run today.   That may not be available to them their entire life. What's available to them every single day is to ask a question to their teammate, to see somebody and show dignity to them. And that's really, it's like, it's almost the opportunity of a lifetime for us as parents who, when our kids get home from school, we really don't know what happened most of the day.   We asked them how it went and we get the one-word answer. In sports, we don't have to guess. We get to see everything that happens.   And again, if we are actually trusting youth sports for discipleship investment, that's a good ROI. That's a good return on our investment. But we need a consistent intervention almost daily to say, no, this is why they're in sports.   Yes, I want to see them get better. I want to see them have fun, but Holy Spirit, would you help me see things today that I normally don't see? Holy Spirit, would you put them in circumstances and relationships today and in the season that's going to help them look more and more like Jesus by the time the season's done?   Holy Spirit, would you convict me in the moment when I am being a little too mouthy and saying things that I shouldn't? Would you help me to repent? And God, in those moments where I'm actually doing wrong on behalf of my kid, would you help me to humble myself and apologize to them?   And God, would you repair our relationship that way? So again, all of these options are available just because our kid's shooting a ball or they're on the field with somebody else tackling other people. We're trusting youth sports for too little.   Ed Uszynski: (40:10 - 41:10) That's all big boy and big girl stuff. It just is. I don't normally naturally do any of that.   I have to be coached into that. I have to be discipled myself. I have to work through my own issues, my own baggage, my own fears about the future, my own idolatrous holding onto this imagined future that I have for my kid, irrespective of what God may or may not want.   I've got my own resentment. I've got my own regrets from the past. I wish things had gone differently for me, so I'm going to make sure they go different for you when it comes to sports.   And it's hard to look in the mirror and admit that I have anger issues. I mean, youth sports create a great opportunity for me to get up all my pent-up frustration from the day. We've given ourselves permission to do that, in most cases, to just yell and yell at refs and gripe about coaches and yell at kids.   Brian Smith: (41:10 - 41:31) Because that's what we do at the TV, right? When our favorite team is playing, we've conditioned ourselves to say, awful call, that was terrible. Then we get on social media and we complain about it.   We are discipling ourselves to this is how it's normative to respond within the context of sports. Then we carry all that baggage to our six-year-old soccer game.   Laura Dugger: (41:33 - 42:02) Well, I love how you keep pointing it back toward character and discipleship. You clearly state throughout the book, sports don't develop character, people do. But could you maybe elaborate on that a little bit more and share more now that we've listed pros and cons, you still list a completely different way that we can meaningfully participate while also pushing back?   Brian Smith: (42:04 - 43:49) I'll start with the first part, and then you can answer the second. We use the handshake line as a great example of why character needs to be taught to our kids. If you just watch a normal handshake line left without coaching, the kids are going through it, especially the ones who lose with their head down, they have limp hands, there's no eye contact, and they're mumbling good game, good game.   Sometimes they don't even say it, they'll say GG stands for good game. They don't just learn character by going through the handshake line. If anything, that's going through it like that without any sort of intervention or coaching, that's malforming their character.   That's teaching them when things don't go well, that it's okay for them not to be a big boy or a big girl and look somebody in the eye and congratulate them. What needs to happen? An adult needs to step in and say, hey, as we go through the handshake line, whether you win or lose, here's how we do it with class.   We shake somebody's hand, we look them in the eye, and we say good game. Even if in those moments we don't actually mean it, we still show them dignity and honor. And then when we're done going through the handshake line, guess what we're going to do?   We're going to run down the refs who are trying to get in their car and get out of here, and we're going to give them a high five and say, thank you so much for reffing today. That stuff needs to be taught. Our kids don't just come out of the womb knowing how to do that.   We have to teach them how to do it. Sometimes good coaches will do that, but the more and more we get sucked up into the sports industrial complex, we're getting well-intentioned coaches, but we're getting coaches who care more about the big W, the win, than the character formation stuff that happens.   Ed Uszynski: (43:49 - 45:27) They need to keep hearing it over and over again. I have a ninth grade Bible study in my house the other day with athletes and a whole bunch of my son's basketball team. Exactly what Brian just said, I actually was like, wow, I've got them here.   There was a big blow up at a game the other day, and we wound up talking about it. I said, I'm going to take this opportunity actually to say what Brian just said. When you go through a handshake line, this is how you go through it.   I watched what happened in the game a couple days later. Basically, they did the exact opposite of what I told them to do, and they lost. It was just what Brian said.   They went through limp handed. They didn't look anybody in the face, and they weren't even saying anything. I just chuckled to myself, and you know how this is as a parent.   They may or may not do it. Of course, those aren't my kids. I have more stewardship over my child, who actually, he is doing what I've asked him to do because I've re-emphasized it across time now.   It's not a failure because they didn't do what I said. Again, the pouty side of me wants to be like, forget it. I'm just not even going to try anymore.   It's like, no, they're kids. That was the first time they've heard that. They're going to do what their patterns have, the muscle memory that's been created by their patterns, just like we do as adults.   The next time I have a chance to bring that up again, I'm not going to shame them. I'm just going to go over it again with them. Here's how we do it.   It's super hard to do this, guys, when you just want to be violent with people or you want to cry. You got to pull yourself together. That's what big men do.   That's what big women do in life. They pull themselves together in those moments and do the right thing.   Brian Smith: (45:28 - 46:01) You don't know whether the fifth time you say it is going to stick or the 50th time. Your responsibility as the Christ-following parent is to do it the sixth time and the seventh time and the seventh time and trust that God is going to take those moments and do what he does. We're ultimately not responsible for our kids' behavior.   We're responsible for pointing them in the right direction, and then hopefully, yeah, the Holy Spirit steps in and transforms and changes and convicts in those moments, but it might take some time.   Ed Uszynski: (46:02 - 47:47) Tom Bilyeu So that's how you push back, Laura. You were asking that. How do we push back without being just completely involved in it or going for the same ride that everybody else is going for?   There's just little moments like that scattered throughout. Literally, every day that my kids are involved in youth sports, the car ride over, what happens on the way home, how we talk about it, what happens during the game and what we wind up talking about out of that, the side conversations that happen that just get brought up apart from games of how we interact with people and so-and-so looks like they're struggling. What do you know about that?   That's how we push back, that in our corner of the bleachers, oh, how we interact with other parents. We haven't even talked about that yet, that I can take an interest in more than just my own kid in the bleachers and spend way more energy actually in cheering for other kids and just trying to give them confidence and spend way less time trying to direct that at my own child who knows that I'm there. In fact, my side kid has said he doesn't want to hear my voice during the game.   It distracts him. He's like, I'd much rather that you cheer for other people. It's like, okay.   Having questions ready for other parents during timeouts and as you sit there for hours together, what do you talk about? Well, I could be the one that actually initiates substantive conversations over time with them and asks them about what's going on in different parts of their life. And in having done that, people want to talk.   They want a safe place actually to share what's going on in their So let me be the sports minister. Let me take on that identity and actually care about other people.   Laura Dugger: (47:49 - 49:47) I love that. Even that practical idea of just coming to each game, maybe with a different question, ready to open up those conversations. And I'll share a quick story as well.   Our two oldest daughters recently just gave cheerleading a try at a local Christian school that allows homeschool kids to participate. And this is an overt way that somebody chooses the different way. So, it's the coach of the basketball team.   His name is Cole. And at the end of every game, we saw him consistently throughout this season when it was a home game, whether their team won or lost, he would ask them, okay, shut off the scoreboard. It's all blank.   He gathers both teams. As soon as the game is over teams, cheerleaders, the stands stay filled with all the parents. And he says, this is not our identity.   The world and Satan, our enemy, who's very real. He wants us to put our identity here, but it's not here. You made us better tonight by the way that you played and you were able to shine Jesus.   And we're going to go a step further and we're going to do what we call attaways. So, he's like, all right, boys, you open it up. And his team is trained.   They say to the other team, Hey, number 23, what's your name? I loved how you pushed me so much harder tonight and says, my name's Ben. And so, their Attaway is, Hey, Ben.   And everybody goes, Hey, Ben. Yeah, Ben. Yeah, Ben Attaway.   And everybody just erupts in clapping. And the other team is always blown away and they are just grinning, whether they just lost. So, the boys go through that for a while and then they open it up to the other team and they start sharing Attaways.   And then they open it up to the crowd and the parents are able to say, I see the way you modeled Jesus by being selfless with the ball or whatever it is. So, Cole said that his college coach did that many years ago and he's passed that on. And I love that's one way to redeem the game.   Ed Uszynski: (49:47 - 51:39) Wow. Beautiful. Beautiful.   Yeah. That's amazing. And, you know, I, so Brian and I talk about this too.   And I coached at a Christian school. So, we, we think that it's really important if you're going to play sports and you're going to be a Christian coach that you actually take the game seriously. And that we actually are here to compete and we are here to try to win.   There's nothing wrong with that. And we're going to pursue excellence when we show up with our bodies, and we train for this sport and we're going to try to win. Cause I think sometimes we end up kind of going all or nothing, especially within our Christian circles.   We're uncomfortable with that. And it's like, yes, do that. And on the backside of that to do what that coach did is amazing.   It's that, that is, that is exactly what we're saying. We're also going to try to form our souls in the midst of this. We're going to try to win on the scoreboard.   Okay. The game's over, we lost, we won, whatever. There's more going on here than just that. And can we access that together? And again, that's so rare. Probably everybody listening has never even heard of anything like what you just said.   It would be amazing if a bunch of people did, but that's what we're saying. Let's do more of that. Let's find ways to have more of those conversations in our sphere of influence.   Maybe we're not the coach, but we can do that in our car. We can do that when we're at dinners with the other, with other players and other team, you know, we, we can do that. We can take that kind of initiative.   If we have those categories in our mind, instead of just being frustrated that my kid didn't get to play as much tonight. And I'm that bugs me. It's like, okay, it can bug you.   And now I gotta, I gotta be a big boy and get more out of this than just being frustrated that he or she didn't get to play as much. It's hard.   Laura Dugger: (51:40 - 52:11) Absolutely. Well, and like you guys are doing having Bible studies outside of the, the team that you can instill values in that way and share scripture that they're memorizing to go out there with excellence for the Lord. So, I love all of that.   And I've got just a few quick questions, just kind of for perspective. I want to draw out something from the book. Is it true that young athletic success predicts adult athletic success?   Brian Smith: (52:13 - 53:51) It is not true. This is, this is not a hot take. This is researched back more and more research they're doing on this.   And they're finding that there's not a direct correlation between a young elite athlete and them continuing that up into the right trajectory and being an elite athlete later in life in large part, because when puberty hits, like everything is a game changer. So, this is, I found this fascinating and this is probably going to be new to you too. This just came out today.   At the time we're doing this podcast, the winter Olympics is going on in Norway. It's just like, they're killing it. Nor Norway's youth sports system.   This is wild. They give participation trophies for all the kids. They don't keep score until 13 years old.   They don't do any national travel competitions, no posting youth sports results online. So, there's no online presence of youth sport results. And their country motto is joy of sport for all.   And they're, they're killing it right now in the Olympics. So, like, that's not to say, like you got to follow their model and then you're going to win all these gold medals, but it is, there is something to just let the kids have fun. And the longer they play sport, because it's fun, the better opportunity you're actually going to have to see them blossom and develop some of these God-given gifts that they might have.   Don't expect it to come out before they're 13. Even if it does, there's no guarantee that it's going to continue on until they're 23. Just let them have fun.   Ed Uszynski: (53:52 - 55:55) Brian, we, Brian and I got to speak at a church the other day about this topic. And there was a couple that came up afterwards and they asked the question of what, so when do you think we should let our kids play organized sports or structured sports? And so again, Brian and I are careful.   Like I, there's no, there's no one size fits all answer to that. We would suggest as late as possible, wait as long as possible. Because once you start doing structured sport where there's a coach and you have to be at practices and the games are structured and there's reps, it just cuts away all the possibility they have to just play and just to go up to the YMCA and just play for three hours at whatever it is that they like to do.   And they said, well, it's encouraging to hear that they said, because we, we actually are way more into just developing their bodies physically. And so, we do dance with them, and we do rock climbing and they were kind of outdoorsy people, and they just started listing off all these things they do because we want them to become strong in their bodies, and learn to love activity like that. And I just thought, again, that's, that probably would cause a lot of people to freak out to hear that, that they have eight, nine-year-olds that aren't on teams yet.   They're just, they're training their bodies to appreciate physicality and to become coordinated and to, you know, to get better at movement. And it's like, what sport is that not going to be super helpful in five years from now, even when they're 12, 13 years old. And now they really do want to play one sport, and they do want to be on a team.   They're going to be way ahead of the kids actually that just sat on benches or stood in the outfield, you know, day after day after day at practices. Again, that's maybe hard to hear, but maybe there's some adjustments that need to be made again; to give ourselves permission to say, we don't have to get on that train right now. You don't have to, your kid's not going to be behind.   They actually could be ahead. If you do the kinds of things we just talked about.   Laura Dugger: (55:56 - 56:11) I love that. And even that example with what it looks like played out with Norway and also, do you have any other quick tips just for instilling and cultivating a heart of gratitude and youth sports rather than entitlement?   Brian Smith: (56:13 - 57:33) I'm a high school cross country and track coach, and I have kids on my team who want to get faster at running, but instead of running, they want to lift weights and they want to do plier metrics. So, there's, yes, there's a spot for that. But the way you get better at running is to run.   You got to run more miles and more miles. And I think gratitude is similar. That gratitude, part of it is a, it's a feeling, but it's also a muscle that we can flex even if we don't feel it.   And so, I would encourage parents who are trying to instill gratitude into their kids to give them practical things like, hey, after practice, just go shake your coach's hand or give them a fist bump and tell them, thanks for practice today, coach. That that's a disciplined way to practice gratitude that will hopefully build the muscle where they're, they're using it later in life. After a game, I taught my kids this when they were young and they still do it today.   Go shake a ref's hand. I mentioned this earlier, just a really, really practical way to show thankfulness and gratitude to somebody who really doesn't get a whole lot of gratitude pointed at them during a game or after a game. If anything, they have people chasing them through the parking lot for other reasons.   I want my kids to be chasing them down to give them a fist bump or a high five. And so, gratitude is something that we can just practice practically. And hopefully the discipline practice will lead to a delight and actually doing it.   Ed Uszynski: (57:34 - 59:39) And how do we cultivate an inner posture? Cause I tend to be a cup half empty type person. I'm a, I'm a whiner by nature and a continuous improvement.   There's always something wrong. And I'm, it's easy for me to find those things just as a person. I'm not even saying that as a dad or a coach or anything.   And it's been super helpful to me in the last decade, even to just like, I can choose to shift that. There, there is, there's a list of things that are broke, but there is always a list of things that are good. There's always something good here to be found.   And even as I've tried to like, again, tip the scales more in that direction, I can keep pushing that out of my kids. So, so this, you know, my ninth-grade son tends to just like, he doesn't like a whole bunch of what's going on in basketball right now. So, I keep asking him if he's having fun.   He says, no, like, why not? Or like, who did, why did you not have fun today? So, it's just the same thing every day.   I'm like, okay, who did you enjoy even being with today? Nobody. And I'm like, dude, I don't believe that actually.   I just, I don't believe that. There was somebody that you had some moment with today that you enjoyed, or you wouldn't want to keep going back up there because, and he does. So, give me a name.   Okay. Lenny. What happened with Lenny that was fun? And I make him name it. Like I'm, I'm, I'm trying to coach him through it. And sure enough, he does have some sentences of what was fun today.   And it's like, good, let's, let's at least hold onto that in the midst of all the other stuff that's not right. Let's choose to see the thing that was good and that you enjoyed and that we could be thankful for. Not everybody got to have that today.   Again, I have to have my, I have to be the parent. I have to be the discipler. I have to be in, you know, in charge of my own soul that wants to be negative all the time and say, nope, we're going to, we're going to choose gratitude today because the Bible tells us to do that.   There's something about that posture that opens the door for the gospel to be expressed through us. So, let's practice.   Laura Dugger: (59:40 - 59:50) Well said, and there's so much we could continue learning from both of you. Where can we go after this chat to learn more from each one of you?   Brian Smith: (59:52 - 1:00:14) Yeah, we do a lot of our writing online at thechristianathlete.com. And so, if you go there, you can see articles that are specifically written for parents, for coaches, for athletes, all around this idea of what does it look like to integrate faith and sport together? So, the

Katelyn sat down with Mark Haverland to talk about his unconventional journey into fitness and OCR. They dive into his wild idea to bear crawl an entire Spartan Sprint and how what started as a "stupid idea" and challenge quickly grew into something far more meaningful and far bigger than Mark ever expected! Mark also shares details about upcoming events supporting the Teddy Bear Crawl Foundation and how you can get involved with a foundation that truly gives back to the local community  whether completing the Teddy Bear Challenge Wave at a variety of Spartan Races, attending the New England OCR Expo, or checking out Obstacle Wonderland! Check out the Teddy Bear Crawl Foundation website, Facebook, and Instagram! Start – 3:21 – Intro 3:21 – 8:18 – Quick News 8:18 – 9:06 – Content Preface 9:06 – 1:41:36 - Interview with Mark Haverland 1:41:36 – End – Outro Next weekend we will be hearing about HartFit in Colorado Springs! ____ News Stories: New England OCR Expo USAOCR Elite Athletes: Short and Standard, 100 Meter, and 400 Meter USAOCR Age Group Athletes: Short and Standard, and 100 and 400 Meter USAOCR Para-Adaptive Athletes Lunge a Marathon Women's 100 Mile World Record Bear Crawl OCR World Obstacle Recognizes OCRWC Jeff Galloway Death Butter by Running Ry Claxton is a Canadian Citizen Spartan Jacksonville Super South Series Podiums Spartan Jacksonville Sunday Sprint Podiums Drunk Level Secret Link Arnold Alphabet Secret Link Wiggles Months Secret Link Zebra's Exist Secret Link Humilitality Finisher Secret Link ____ Related Episodes: 432. New England OCR Expo 2025! (Part 1: Vendors) 433. New England OCR Expo 2025! (Part 2: Athletes, Speeches, and Awards) ____ The OCR Report Patreon Supporters: Jason Dupree, Kim DeVoss, Samantha Thompson, Matt Puntin, Brad Kiehl, Charlotte Engelman, Erin Grindstaff, Hank Stefano, Arlene Stefano, Laura Ritter, Steven Ritter, Sofia Harnedy, Kenny West, Cheryl Miller, Jessica Johnson, Scott "The Fayne" Knowles, Nick Ryker, Christopher Hoover, Kevin Gregory Jr., Evan Eirich, Ashley Reis, Brent George, Justin Manning, Wendell Lagosh, Logan Nagle, Angela Bowers, Asa Coddington, Thomas Petersen, Seth Rinderknecht, Bonnie Wilson, Steve Bacon from The New England OCR Expo, Robert Landman, Shell Luccketta Jules Estes, and Alan "Muddy Duck" Moore. Sponsored Athletes: Javier Escobar, Kelly Sullivan, Ryan Brizzolara, Joshua Reid, and Kevin Gregory! Support us on Patreon for exclusive content and access to our Facebook group Check out our Threadless Shop Use coupon code "adventure" for 15% off MudGear products Use coupon code "ocrreport20" for 20% off Caterpy products Like us on Facebook: Obstacle Running Adventures Follow our podcast on Instagram: @ObstacleRunningAdventures Write us an email: obstaclerunningadventures@gmail.com Subscribe on Youtube: Obstacle Running Adventures Intro music - "Streaker" by: Straight Up Outro music - "Iron Paw" by: Dubbest

This week Carl Kinsella and I have a lot of ground to cover, from the worrying expansion of bombing in the Middle East, to Ireland's new rent rules as well as the erection and removal of a giant statue of St. Patrick in Temple Bar.To support the podcast and access bonus episodes, join the community on Patreon here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Staci Mannella and Dr. Andrea Bundon dive deep into the nuanced world of Paralympic sports. With the Paralympics starting this Friday, what do you need to know to learn from and support these amazing athletes?Manella and Dr. Bundon challenge common para-athlete misconceptions, discuss the vital guide-athlete relationship, and explore the structural barriers that still exist. Key Takeaways:Visibility vs. Support: Understand why merely increasing visibility for para-athletes isn't enough to address their actual needs and challenges.How does the guide-athlete relationship work?Understand the misconceptions around Paralympic inspiration narratives that minimize athletes' experiences.And how can you really get behind these athletes as an active supporter!Staci Mannella is a former Paralympic skier turned sport psychology doctoral student and researcher, dedicated to advocating for the mental health and support of athletes with disabilities.Dr. Andrea Bundon is a sports sociologist with extensive experience in researching disability in sports, focusing on the experiences of female athletes and the guide-athlete partnership.If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share it with your network. Your support helps us bring more insightful conversations to the forefront. Join us as we continue to explore meaningful topics in sports and beyond!Episode ResourcesStaci Mannella's websiteAndrea Bundon's Work at UBC's Centre for Sport and SustainabilitySign up to Receive The Feisty Women's Performance Newsletter:https://feisty.co/newsletters/feisty-womens-performance/Follow us on Instagram:@feisty_womens_performanceVisit the Feisty website at https://feisty.co/ for info on all of our events and podcastsSupport our Partners:PILLAR Performance: use code FEISTY for 15% off first-purchases at https://pillarperformance.shop/, or https://thefeed.com/ for North American listeners. Hettas: Use code STAYFEISTY for 20% off at https://hettas.com/ Wahoo: Use the code FEISTY2026 to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo KICKR RUN at https://shorturl.at/WVhdr

How much privacy should athletes get with their health in todays day?

American Commissioner Tim Pernetti could be on the move, the future of the Summit League, Boise State AD Jeramiah Dickey & Athletes.org Founder Jim Cavale talk collective bargaining and more.We would love to know what you think of the show and you can let us know on social media @D1ticker.If you are not subscribed to D1.ticker, you can and should subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.d1ticker.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In this conversation, Luke Gromer and Javier Miller-Estrada explore the modern approach to skill acquisition in sports, emphasizing adaptability, the role of constraints, and the importance of practice design. They discuss how traditional views of skill focus on repeatability, while modern perspectives prioritize problem-solving and adaptability in athletes. The conversation also highlights the significance of creating representative learning environments, providing appropriate feedback, and fostering a coaching philosophy that encourages exploration and creativity among athletes.—RYG x NIKE SPORTS CAMPS: Become a Camp DirectorThe Better Coaching Podcast is powered by RYG Athletics, a proud provider of NIKE Sports Camps.If you're interested in becoming one of our NIKE Sports Camp directors, fill out the form below.- Director interest form:⁠⁠ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFXxRUOb9-pdYbDkRktNiCTD1PDwm4zisPexHCLH0341YlRg/viewform?usp=dialog- RYG Website:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rygathletics.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠—FREE PODCAST NOTES, NEWSLETTER, & COACHES COMMUNITY

https://teachhoops.com/ Constraint-Based Learning is a coaching method that moves away from traditional "command-and-control" instruction and toward environmental manipulation. Instead of telling a player exactly where to move, you change the "rules" of the drill to force them to discover the solution themselves. By adding constraints—such as limiting dribbles, shrinking the court, or changing the point value of certain shots—you create a "representative" environment where the athlete must develop their own "feel" for the game. This approach is rooted in ecological dynamics; it recognizes that the best way to learn how to drive to the basket isn't by practicing against air, but by being forced to navigate a "cluttered" paint with specific limitations that demand a high-level read. One of the most powerful aspects of constraints is that they make your drills "self-correcting." If your team is struggling with "ball-watching" or stagnant offense, you don't need a 10-minute lecture. Instead, implement a "Two-Pass Minimum" or a "Must Touch the Post" rule before a shot can be taken. The environment becomes the teacher. If the players don't follow the constraint, the drill stops or the other team gets the ball. This "external focus" allows athletes to develop functional movement patterns that are more resilient under the pressure of a game. In the mid-season January grind, when players can become "numb" to a coach's voice, changing the constraints of your staple drills can instantly re-engage their brains and restart their growth. Finally, constraints allow you to target specific "leaks" in your team's execution without adding complex new plays. If your defense is giving up too many baseline drives, run a 4-on-4 scrimmage where any baseline drive results in an automatic 5 points for the offense. Suddenly, your defenders will become hyper-aware of their positioning and "closeout angles." Use your TeachHoops member calls to "audit" your drills: are you over-explaining, or are you letting the constraints do the work? By becoming an "architect of the environment" rather than a "micro-manager of movement," you develop high-IQ players who can solve problems in real-time when you aren't there to call a timeout. Constraint-based learning, basketball drills, coaching philosophy, player development, basketball IQ, ecological dynamics, small-sided games, youth basketball, high school basketball, defensive rotations, offensive efficiency, coach development, team culture, basketball strategy, skill acquisition, game-based learning, practice planning, coach unplugged, teach hoops, basketball success, athletic leadership, mental toughness. Would SEO Keywords Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices