Episode #5: Ownership of my Raising Young Athletes podcast examines the powerful impact that ownership has your children's enjoyment, performance, and success in their sports lives. Ownership means that they participate because they are doing entirely for themselves, love their sport, and have goals they want to achieve, rather than because of their parents' goals [...]
I just read a fascinating article by David Epstein, the author of The Sports Gene, that further supports my position that early specialization in sports (or any achievement area, for that matter) is not the path to later success. He recounts research and anecdotes in which children who didn't specialize early went on to have [...]
In addition to working with young athletes in many sports, I also consult with sport parents to help them to provide to their young athletes the most positive support they can. Being a great sport parent is no small feat or easy task these days for several reasons. First, we live in a youth-sport culture [...]
I’ve been involved in youth sports for—Yikes!—more than 50 years. As a child, I played Little League baseball and soccer, but my main sport was alpine ski racing (I know, not your typical suburban sport). Since then, I’ve been actively involved in youth sports as a mental coach. In these capacities, it seems as if [...]
Like I said, sports parents, we have a problem. Want to know the problem? Well, look in the mirror. I don’t mean to insult you by indicting you as being the problem as an individual parent. I don’t know you or how you are with your children in their sports lives. I’m talking about the [...]
Like I said, ski racing parents, we have a problem. Want to know the problem? Well, look in the mirror. I don’t mean to insult you by indicting you as being the problem as an individual parent. I don’t know you or how you are with your children in their ski racing lives. I’m talking [...]
My last blog post about over-invested sports parents caught fire with more than 14,000 views. With the winter-sports season just around the corner, I get the feeling that parents are hungry for helpful tips on how best to support their young athletes this season. So, to keep that mo’ going, this week’s post will focus [...]
One of your most essential goals as a sport parent in your children's lives as athletes is to have them gain ownership of their participation. They need to feel that their sport is their thing. But ownership isn’t just something that they can gain on their own. Rather, it is a gift you give them [...]
I was recently interviewed by John O'Sullivan, the founder of Changing the Game Project. about my new sport parenting book, Raising Your Athletes: Prepare Your Children for Victory in Sports and Life. The wide-ranging discussion explores many topics focused on helping parents be the best sport parents they can be. To listen to or download the [...]
I'm excited to announce the publication of my latest parenting book, Raising Young Athletes: Parenting Your Children to Victory in Sports and Life. Here's what the book is about: Sports are an amazing environment in which to raise children. The benefits they gain from athletic participation are many including physical (e.g., health, fitness, mastery), personal (e.g., passion, [...]
