Healthy Sports Parents

Youth sports can feel heavier than it’s supposed to.

Not because parents don’t care.

But because they care so much.

In this episode, Jonathan sits down with former Nike sports marketer Jordan to pull back the curtain on what’s really shaping the youth sports experience today. From the way brands speak to us, to the rise of travel teams, to the pressure to keep up with other families, there’s more going on beneath the surface than most of us realize.

We talk about why so many good parents feel like they’re constantly second-guessing their decisions, how comparison and fear quietly drive a lot of what we do, and why the system feels harder to navigate than it used to.

We also get into:
The difference between being served and being sold to
Why youth sports keeps getting more expensive
What happens when kids don’t make the team
The loss of free play and what that means for kids
The truth about NIL and youth sports social media

This conversation is not about blaming parents but rather understanding the environment we’re parenting in.

When we can name the pressures we're facing, we can start to lead through it in healthier ways.

And that’s where things start to change.

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FROM OUR SPONSORS:

Hour-a-thon
http://www.hour-a-thon.com

Phenom Elite
https://phenomelitebrand.com/

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New episodes every Wednesday.

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Youth sports need more trustworthy adults in kids’ lives.

In this episode, Jonathan talks with Dr. Katlin Okamoto of the U.S. Soccer Foundation about the single biggest thing youth sports needs right now. It’s not better drills, more tournaments, or earlier specialization. It’s adults who understand that their influence goes far beyond the scoreboard.

They explore why coaches often become one of the most influential adults in a young person’s life, how the role of a coach is shifting from instructor to mentor, and why relationships are the foundation of healthy sports experiences for kids.

Dr. Okamoto also shares the thinking behind the Yes, Coach! campaign, a national effort to recruit, support, and celebrate the adults who step up to lead kids through sports in a healthy way.

If youth sports are going to change, it won’t start with policies or platforms. It will start with the adults who show up for kids every week.

In this episode we cover:
Why kids need multiple trustworthy adults in their lives
The hidden influence youth coaches have on young people
Why coaching is as much an art as it is a science
How youth sports have changed and why families feel more pressure
What the Yes, Coach! campaign hopes to change in youth sports

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FROM OUR SPONSORS:

Brite Legacy
https://britelegacy.com/

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New episodes every Wednesday.

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Get your Healthy Sports Parents gear:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/shop

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Get your Weekend Playbook:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/playbook

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Follow us on social:

https://www.instagram.com/healthysportsparents
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https://www.threads.net/healthysportsparents
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Youth sports development often focuses on skills, reps, and results. But there’s a missing piece that determines whether kids actually grow, last, and enjoy the journey.
In this episode, Jonathan sits down with Dr. Jonathan Jenkins, Team Clinical and Performance Psychologist for the New England Patriots and Behavioral Sport Psychologist for the Boston Red Sox, to talk about the mental side of youth sports that too often gets overlooked.

They dig into what kids really need to thrive, motivation versus willpower, why independence at practice matters, how fundamentals lead to confidence and flow, why resilience and finishing strong matter more than early success, and how parents can support their kids without making sports feel heavier than they need to be.
They also break down the four pillars from Dr. Jenkins’ new book Mentality Wins:

Focus. Learning to direct attention and filter distractions
Flow. Playing freely without overthinking
Finish. Responding to mistakes and setbacks with resilience
Flourish. Keeping identity bigger than sport

This conversation is for parents who care about development, not just performance. About raising confident, resilient kids, not just better athletes. And about making sure youth sports actually serve the kid, not the other way around.

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FROM OUR SPONSORS:

Brite Legacy
https://britelegacy.com/

--------
New episodes every Wednesday.

---------

Get your Healthy Sports Parents gear:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/shop

---------

Get your Weekend Playbook:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/playbook

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Follow us on social:

https://www.instagram.com/healthysportsparents
https://www.tiktok.com/@healthysportsparents
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https://www.threads.net/healthysportsparents
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This conversation is an extended version of my interview with Mike Schultz for Parents’ 100-Year Digital Issue, where he’s being spotlighted as one of today’s most inspiring parents.

What actually lasts when the season ends? What happens once you step off the podium and go back to real life?

In this episode, Jonathan sits down with Paralympic gold medalist, inventor, and dad Mike Schultz to talk about what it really looks like to chase something big while raising a 12-year-old athlete.

Mike has competed at the highest level in the world. He’s also spent 170 days on the road in a single year trying to balance training for the Paralympic Winter Games with being present for his daughter’s gymnastics meets and middle school milestones. He knows the pull of ambition and the guilt that can come with it.

We talk about:

What his life-changing injury taught him about identity beyond performance
Why progression, not winning, is what truly motivates long-term success
The difference between supporting your kid and pushing them
How to help kids discover their own internal drive
What he hopes his daughter learns from watching him compete

Mike shares honestly about the tension of being “just dad” at home while also being a world-class athlete. He explains why pushing only works for so long, why losing teaches more than winning, and why the point of youth sports has to go deeper than medals.

If your kid’s sport ended tomorrow, what would you hope remained?

This conversation is about making sure the answer to that question is bigger than the scoreboard.

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FROM OUR PARTNER:

For 100 years, PARENTS has provided millions of caregivers with trustworthy advice and a supportive community as they raise the next generation of confident and compassionate kids.

Read my full feature on Mike Schultz

Read the full Parents 100 Years Issue digital magazine

Learn more about BioDapt

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FROM OUR SPONSORS:

Brite Legacy
https://britelegacy.com/

--------
New episodes every Wednesday.

---------

Get your Healthy Sports Parents gear:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/shop

---------

Get your Weekend Playbook:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/playbook

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Follow us on social:

https://www.instagram.com/healthysportsparents
https://www.tiktok.com/@healthysportsparents
https://www.facebook.com/healthysportsparents
https://www.threads.net/healthysportsparents
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Healthy Sports Parents, Jonathan sits down with Jason D’Rocha from Sportball to talk about what youth sports are actually for and how early experiences shape kids long after the final whistle.

Jason shares why sport can be one of the safest places for kids to do hard things, fail, recover, and grow. They unpack why fun and confidence have to come before competition, what parents should really be looking for in a coach, and how sports function as a powerful social and emotional classroom, not just a physical one.
They also dig into one of the most misunderstood topics in youth sports: starting kids young. Jason explains Sportball’s approach to early childhood sports, why development matters more than age, and how physical literacy, emotional safety, and parent-child connection lay the foundation for a healthy relationship with sports later in life.

This conversation is especially for parents who feel stuck in systems that reward outcomes over process. Jason offers a grounded, realistic way to hold your values even when the league, other parents, or the culture around you pushes in a different direction.

If you care more about raising a confident, resilient human than collecting wins at young ages, this episode is for you.

Topics covered:
Why youth sports are a training ground for life
What matters more than winning at young ages
What parents should actually look for in a coach
Why confidence and competence come before competition
How sports teach social and emotional skills
Navigating youth sports systems that prioritize results
Encouragement for parents who are still figuring this out

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Learn More About Sportball:

https://sportball.com/

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FROM OUR SPONSORS:

PlayPits
https://playpits.com/
HSP15 for 15% off

Brite Legacy
https://britelegacy.com/

--------
New episodes every Wednesday.

---------

Get your Healthy Sports Parents gear:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/shop

---------

Get your Weekend Playbook:
https://www.healthysportsparents.com/playbook

-----------

Follow us on social:

https://www.instagram.com/healthysportsparents
https://www.tiktok.com/@healthysportsparents
https://www.facebook.com/healthysportsparents
https://www.threads.net/healthysportsparents
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.