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<p>Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) even in the domain of high school athletes to heal faster and gain a competitive edge. Betsy Andreu, spokesperson for US Anti-Doping Agency True Sport Campaign for student athletes and the wife of a former teammate of Lance Armstrong, tackles this important and scary topic.</p>
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Performance Enhancing Drugs and Our Kids

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<p>Unruly. Ugly. And it seems to be getting worse. What is "it"? It&#39;s sports fan&nbsp;behavior. Some days you just can&#39;t believe what you&#39;re seeing in the stands at professional&nbsp;sporting events. But, as&nbsp;Justine Gubar explains in her new book, Fanaticus, sports fans have been misbehaving for centuries. So what&#39;s new? This bad behavior has trickled down&nbsp;into youth sports as well, with parents mimicking&nbsp;what they saw&nbsp;on TV last Sunday at their children&#39;s sports events this Saturday.</p>

<p>In this episode, Justine, a seasoned ESPN producer and&nbsp;Emmy award-winning investigative journalist,&nbsp;joins host Emily Cohen for a lively discussion of&nbsp;jaw-droppingly bad fan behavior past and present--and what messages these outbursts&nbsp;send&nbsp;to our kids. It&#39;s a must-listen for parents of young athetes who are concerned about the state of youth sports parent behavior and want to do something about it.</p>

<p>If you like what you hear, go out&nbsp;and grab a copy of her book at&nbsp;<a href="https://fanaticusthebook.com">fanaticusthebook.com</a> (where it&#39;s currently on sale), Amazon.com, Barnes &amp; Noble, Indie Bound, or Powell&#39;s Books. If you&#39;re a sports fan, you won&#39;t be able to put it down!</p>
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Bad Sports Parent Behavior: How Can We Turn the Tide?

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<p>With the U.S. winning the gold in the&nbsp;2015 Women&#39;s World Cup,&nbsp;we&#39;re thrilled to have Brandi Chastain on the podcast! You&nbsp;know her as&nbsp;a two-time Gold Medalist, as an announcer for ABC and ESPN, and&nbsp;for her game-winning goal in the 1999 FIFA World Cup Championship.</p>

<p>In this excellent episode, Brandi and host Emily Cohen discuss&nbsp;youth soccer, professional soccer, and how the two are related. And don&#39;t worry&ndash;&ndash;there&#39;s plenty of talk about the World Cup, too.&nbsp;Topics covered include: how to protect young players from injury, why kids should play more than one sport, why parents shouldn&#39;t spend all&nbsp;their&nbsp;time on youth sports, who has the best national team in the world right now, and the strengths and weaknesses of the United States national team.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Jam-packed with insights and answers, this is a podcast no soccer fan will want to miss!</p>
</div>

Brandi Chastain: Soccer Safety, Youth Development, and the 2015 Women&#39;s World Cup

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<p>Sudden cardiac arrests do happen in children and in young adults. Be more aware of how to prevent it and how to respond if ever it happens in our community.&nbsp;Dr. Cindy Chang, Primary Care Sports Medicine Physician, former Head Team Physician for UC Berkeley and the USA Chief Medical Officer for the 2012 London Olympics educates us on this hard topic to swallow.</p>
</div>

Cardiac Arrest in Young Athletes

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<p>With young athletes playing youth sports, how can you prevent kids&#39; schedules from becoming over-scheduled?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Rich Czeslawski, Communications Director for the <a href="https://www.nhsbca.org">National High School Basketball Coach&#39;s Association</a>, says the answer is simple:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/teams/features/messages">Communicate</a> as honestly and as often as possible. In this podcast, Rich advises parents, coaches&nbsp;and athletes on how to improve <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/teams/features/teamsnap-live">team messaging</a>&nbsp;and how to prevent over-scheduling. If you&#39;re a parent or athlete trying to balance multiple sports, you&#39;ll find some great insights here.&nbsp;</p>
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Communication is Key: Getting Travel Teams and School Teams on the Same Page

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<p>What&rsquo;s that Snapchat thing again? What are some basic rules for us to know about social media etiquette when I push send? What should my role be in all this social media craze?</p>

<p><span style="line-height: 1.6;">Rich Czeslawski,&nbsp;Communications Director for the <a href="https://www.nhsbca.org/">National High School Basketball Coaches Association</a>, tells and tweets all. He treats every post like it&rsquo;s a nationally televised event, knowing that anyone... for the rest of his life... can see it. He warns us not to get a false sense of privacy on any social media post. Listen in and follow Coach Czeslawski at <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachCzes">@CoachCzes</a>.</span></p>
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Do You Have a Social Media Policy for Your Team?

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<p>Young athletes need to be taught how to be a leader. Coaches can&rsquo;t appoint a captain and expect them to innately know what to do in that role. What is a leader like? How can they become a leader? What do you do with a child who is not acting like a leader? Who should you choose to be the captain of your team? How do you create a team of leaders?</p>

<p>Brad Jubin, coach and founder of Always Play IV Each Other (APIVEO), speaks passionately about leadership in youth. He defines leadership as using our talents and lessons to benefit those around us. Leaders seek opportunities to add value around them. They play for the team. Learn more through Brad&rsquo;s podcast and his short and engaging&nbsp;sports leadership lessons for kids. For more information,&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.teamsnap.com/author/bradjubin/">Brad Jubin&#39;s TeamSnap articles on the blog</a>.</p>
</div>

Developing Youth Leaders in Team Sports

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<p>Are there early signs for parents to tell that your child will thrive at the elite level? Dr. Cindy Chang, Primary Care Sports Medicine Physician, former Head Team Physician for UC Berkeley and the USA Chief Medical Officer for the 2012 London Olympics helps parents and coaches to understand the world of elite sports. She brings us a good dose of reality. Adults, she says, must be aware of the emotional and physical development that will still occur in the next 10-15 years in your athletes. You must also be aware of the stats - less than 2% of high school athletes go on to play college sports at any level, and an even smaller amount receive a scholarship. If your athlete is not burned out and has the talent, then Olympic hopefuls must work with professionals for cross training and have a good handle on their own bodies and what it takes to be successful.</p>
</div>

Cultivating and Coaching Young Elite Athletes

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<p>Dave Wolf promises to try anything in his power to modify an activity so that his disabled athletes CAN DO IT.&nbsp;Wolf, a man with a story, is a disabled veteran who broke his back after falling from a five story building. He now works with disabled youth to get them involved with adaptive sports through cycling, skiing, wheelchair racing, and other sports to enhance these kids&rsquo; lives.</p>

<p>Wolf lives out his life as an inspiration. He now plays basketball for the Denver Nuggets Wheelchair basketball league and is a part of&nbsp;Adaptive Adventures, an organization that brings hope to disabled people throughout the US.&nbsp;Wolf says the athletes he works with inspire him and encourages others to get involved.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen kids that could not move hardly their arms at all, but the fierceness of trying to get it right just to hit a tennis ball&hellip; to see the smile on their face when they do it is just incredible. I think they are all inspiring. I am in awe of any child that is raised with a disability because the cards are stacked against them from the get-go.&rdquo;</p>

<p>&ldquo;If you have an opportunity to volunteer or participate or help with funding in any way with disabled kids or with disabled adults, do it. These are sports that really enhance people&rsquo;s lives. If you were told you couldn&rsquo;t do anything and then something was brought to you to show that you could, it would make a world of a difference in your life.&rdquo;</p>
</div>

The World of Adaptive Sports

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<p>After German player Christoph Kramer took a hit to the head and fell to the ground, World Cup fans could see that something wasn&rsquo;t right, yet team doctors cleared him to continue playing. Kramer fell again without even being touched just 15 minutes later, spurring the debate on head injuries that were ignored in the World Cup this year.</p>

<p>In this episode of the TeamSnap Youth Sports Podcast, Jay Fraga, post-concussion syndrome sufferer by chance, <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/community/concussion-center">concussion awareness</a> fighter by choice, and founder of&nbsp;TheKnockoutProject.org,&nbsp;talks about the warning signs of this &ldquo;invisible injury&rdquo; and suggests some changes for the game and with FIFA. As a former BMX rider who was forced to retire due to multiple concussions, Fraga&rsquo;s personal story will leave you a lot to think about. For more information, read up on <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/community/podcast/episode-13-world-cup-head-injuries-and-the-soccer-concussion-debate">World Cup concussions&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/blog/general-sports/what-message-is-juergen-klinsmann-sending-to-our-youth/">on the TeamSnap Blog</a>.</p>
</div>

World Cup Head Injuries and the Soccer Concussion Debate

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<p>Why do we still see rude, classless and even racist players? How do we teach these young athletes about being a real leader on the field and in life? What&#39;s the role of a coach throughout all this? Brett&nbsp;Basham, Leadership Development Consultant,&nbsp;played collegiate and professional baseball and is the coauthor of the book "The Leadership Clock". Learn from Basham as he helps&nbsp;coaches understand their role in setting the tone in the clubhouse or on the sidelines.</p>
</div>

Top-Down Leadership: The Role of the Coach in Teaching Leadership

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<p>Lillian Jacobson is a girl who played baseball with boys through out high school and part of college. Her story is a series of ups and downs: from little league dads telling her to quit. to high school coaches who encouraged her and taught her how to throw a signature 12/6 curve ball, Lilly will inspire girls to go for their dreams.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When asked what it was like to be a girl playing on boys&#39; teams, she said, &ldquo;It forces you to really be playing at your best all the time. It feels like everyone is watching you and scrutinizing you.&rdquo; Listen in for more stories and inspiration on playing baseball. For more information on this topic, read <a href="https://blog.teamsnap.com/sports-parents-2/should-girls-play-on-boys-teams/">"Should Girls Play On Boys&#39; Teams?" on the TeamSnap Blog</a>.</p>
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What is It Like For Girls Who Play On Boys&#39; Sports Teams?

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<p>Natalie Doyle is a recent graduate of Harvard University, where she was a four-year starter and Senior Captain of the women&#39;s volleyball team. She adjusted to changing on-court roles, demanding classes, and rigorous time constraints. In addition, she earned the prestigious Harvard-Radcliffe Award for Senior Athletics!</p>

<p>Natalie tells high school athletes exactly what they should expect at the next level, from traveling abroad, to coaches, to the dreaded roommate issue. Her guidance is sure to help answer your most pressing questions about Division I college sports.</p>
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College Sports: Everything High School Athletes Need To Know About The Next Level

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<p>Without a doubt, <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/community/sports-science/sports-medicine/vanderbilt-researchers-studying-new-sideline-concussion-testing-system">concussions</a> are a growing concern in hockey and youth sports in general. A wealth of information has emerged regarding this subject, though it&rsquo;s hard to tell what&rsquo;s true and what&rsquo;s not so true. Do concussions really occur more frequently after the first? Do some sports have higher instances of concussions than others? Does protective equipment actually increase an athlete&rsquo;s risk?</p>

<p>In this podcast, <a href="https://www.northshore.org/apps/findadoctor/physicians/elizabeth-m.-pieroth">Dr. Elizabeth Pieroth</a> offers her expert advice on how parents, coaches, and athletes can work together to reduce concussions rates. Pieroth serves as the neurological consultant for the Chicago Bears, Chicago Blackhawks,&nbsp;Chicago Fire and Chicago White Sox.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s a must-listen for anyone involved in youth sports.</p>
</div>

Concussions and Head Injuries in Youth Hockey

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<p>Should kids specialize in one sport at an early age, or should they play pick up sports for fun? We do know kids who specialize ealy get hurt at a much higher rate than those who play multiple sports.&nbsp; John O&rsquo;Sullivan, speaker and writer on sports science topics, gives us these facts and more. For more information, read up on <a href="https://blog.teamsnap.com/general-sports/changing-the-game-an-interview-with-john-osullivan/">John O&#39;Sullivan on the TeamSnap Blog</a>.</p>
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Talent Identification vs. Talent Development in Young Athletes

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<p><span style="line-height: 1.6;">In our latest podcast, TeamSnap sits down with Dick Gould, one of the most successful colligiate coaches of all time. As coach of the Stanford tennis team, Gould led his program to 17 (yes, 17!) NCAA team championships over his 38-year career. Host Emily Cohen covers a variety of topics with Coach Gould, including the state of U.S. tennis, line calls in junior tennis, and what junior players can do to prepare for the next level. This podcast is jam packed with insights for athletes, parents, and especially coaches.</span></p>
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Dick Gould: Coaching Elite Tennis Players

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<p>Some parents feel a bit wary when it comes to strength training with young athletes. They worry about overuse injuries, weight lifting accidents, general burnout, and more. Furthermore, parents often wonder when it&#39;s safe for young athletes to begin weightlifting in the first place.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Fortunately, Alan Stein has answers to these questions and more. Stein, owner of <a href="https://www.strongerteam.com">Stronger Team</a> and Strength &amp; Conditioning Coach for the DeMatha Catholic High School basketball program, discusses topics such as the distinction between strength training and weight lifting, how often a young athlete should train, and the most common causes of ACL tears.</p>

<p><span style="line-height: 1.6;">If your athlete is approaching the strength training/lifting stage (or is already at it), this is a podcast you&#39;ll definitely want to hear.</span></p>
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Alan Stein: Strength Training and Conditioning

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<p>Every athlete, parent, and coach knows that sports are about far more than just physical ability. During those high-pressure moments, confidence and mental toughness can make all the difference.</p>

<p>But what exactly is mental toughness, and how can an athlete develop it?</p>

<p>Nationally recognized mental toughness expert and accomplished author <a href="https://www.mentaltoughnesstrainer.com">Craig Sigl</a> shares his advice on how to stay focused, confident, and determined under pressure. In addition, Sigl tells us how parents can support their athlete(s), how to stop dwelling on past mistakes, and how to deal with &ldquo;old-school&rdquo; coaching. If you&#39;re looking to improve your mental toughness, start here.</p>
</div>

Craig Sigl: They Say Sports are 90% Mental

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<p>If you know softball, then you know Jennie Finch. As a former pro softball player, a College World Series Champion, and an Olympic Gold Medalist, Finch has inspired us all.</p>

<p>Jennie and host Emily Cohen dive into the world of women&#39;s sports: what messages are being sent to young female athletes, the state of a slow game in a fast-paced world, how to change D-I sports for the better, and the future of women&#39;s professional sports. As an added bonus, she tells us why she loves the color pink.</p>

<p>If you&#39;re a fan of softball, women&#39;s sports, or youth sports in general, take a listen.</p>
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Jennie Finch: Softball, Women&#39;s Sports, and Professional Athletics

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<p>Which is it: natural ability or a strong work ethic?</p>

<p>When we watch great athletes perform, we might sometimes assume that they were born with all that talent. Though that may be true to a certain extent, we also don&#39;t see the hard work and dedication that got them there in the first place. So which is more important: natural ability or a strong work ethic?</p>

<p>If you ask David Epstein, he&rsquo;ll probably tell you it&rsquo;s a little bit of both. As a former senior writer for Sports Illustrated, a former track standout at Columbia University, and the author of&nbsp;<a href="https://thesportsgene.com">The Sports Gene</a>,&nbsp;David knows sports inside and out. In this podcast, he and host Emily Cohen discuss single sport specialization and why talent doesn&#39;t necessarily precede training. It&#39;s a fascinating conversation you won&#39;t want to miss.</p>
</div>

David Epstein: Talent, Genetics, and Practice in Youth Sports

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<p>Nutrition, like practice, is an essential ingredient in sports performance. However, it seems that many young athletes don&#39;t have healthy eating habits. Some skip breakfast, others eat junk and call it breakfast, and still others just don&#39;t know enough about how to structure a healthy diet. What is a youth sports parent to do?</p>

<p>Allison Maurer is here to rescue you and your athlete! Allison is the Sports Dietitian for the University of Tennessee Athletics. She explains why healthy food doesn&#39;t have to be boring food, how parents can get their young athletes involved in their own nutrition, and why pickle juice isn&#39;t as great a hydrator as some people seem to think. It&#39;s an informative listen for parents and youth athletes alike.</p>
</div>

The Role of Nutrition in Your Young Athlete&#39;s Success

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<p>When it comes to statistics in youth sports, things can get a little iffy. Some parents fear that recording stats will only intensify an already competitive environment. Others are concerned about the inconsistencies and subjectivity inherent in scorekeeping. Whatever the case may be, keeping track of stats in youth sports is at best a controversial practice. Do you use TeamSnap&#39;s <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/teams/features/statistics">sports team statistics software</a>?</p>

<p>Brett Law is here to clear the air. Brett is the founder of <a href="https://iscoresports.com">iScore</a>, a popular scoring app that tracks individual and team stats for numerous sports. A sports dad himself, Brett explains how stats can help players improve their games, at what age players should begin to record their stats, and why stats should be used as a tool, not a means to an end. Don&#39;t miss it!</p>
</div>

What Role Do Statistics Play in Youth Sports?

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<p>Coaching youth sports is no easy task. Coaches must assemble their staffs, coordinate practice times, deal with unsatisfied players and parents, organize travel tournaments&mdash;and that&rsquo;s before they even start coaching.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;re a youth sports coach, this podcast is for you. Youth soccer coach and commercial litigator Brian Hafter joins the show to give us tips on how to be a better coach. Are pro coaches really necessary at recreational levels? What&rsquo;s the best way to prepare for coaching? How can you set ground rules for parents before the season begins? For answers to these questions and more, take a listen.</p>
</div>

The Rec Coach&#39;s Guide to Youth Sports Success

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<p>Did you know that over 750,000 athletes played lacrosse&nbsp;last year alone? With numbers like that, it&rsquo;s no surprise that lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the nation. Though it was&nbsp;once&nbsp;a largely&nbsp;regional game, it&rsquo;s now played all over, in places like California, Texas, Colorado and Canada.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Mike Ryder, head lacrosse&nbsp;coach at IMG Academy, tells us exactly what makes lacrosse such a popular sport. Topics covered include the roots of the game, the differences between men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s lacrosse, college lacrosse recruiting, injuries, and the creativity of the sport. It&rsquo;s the perfect&nbsp;podcast for current and future lax fans.</p>

<p><em>If you&#39;re looking for a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/teams/sports/lacrosse">lacrosse app</a> that&#39;ll save you time this season, try TeamSnap free for 21 days!</em></p>
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Lacrosse: The Fastest Growing Sport in the U.S.

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<p>In 1983, Cyndi Lauper famously sang, &ldquo;Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.&rdquo; Surprisingly, her pop song wasn&rsquo;t too far off from psychological findings.</p>

<p>Joan Steidinger, author of the new book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sisterhood-Sports-Athletes-Collaborate-Compete/dp/1442230339"><em>Sisterhood in Sports: How Female Athletes&nbsp;Collaborate and Compete</em></a>,&nbsp;explains exactly what makes female athletes different than their male counterparts. What do male coaches need to know about their female players? Why are girls sometimes considered more emotional than boys? How important are teammate relationships to females? Listen in and&nbsp;learn more!</p>
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Sisterhood in Sports: Coaching Girls is Different

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<p>In a youth soccer&nbsp;world where competition is always increasing and pressure on&nbsp;athletes is always rising, how can coaches keep things fun?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tony Waiters thinks we should give the game back to the kids. Over the course of his soccer&nbsp;career, he&#39;s been&nbsp;an&nbsp;English National Goalie, a&nbsp;Men&#39;s National Head Coach, and a&nbsp;youth soccer&nbsp;coach. Currently, his company, <a href="https://www.worldofsoccer.com">World of Soccer</a>, works to improve the youth game. Tony and host Emily Cohen cover many topics, such as how to deal with overbearing parents,&nbsp;the best ways to coach young soccer players, and what rules need to&nbsp;change. If you call yourself a soccer fan, you&#39;ll love this podcast!</p>
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Tony Waiters: Changes in Youth Soccer

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<p>If you&rsquo;ve been around sports for even a little bit, you&rsquo;ve probably heard of an&nbsp;ACL injury. It happens to professional, recreational, and competitive athletes in various sports, and it&rsquo;s becoming more and more common.</p>

<p>The good new is, you can help your young athlete avoid ACL injuries!</p>

<p>Holly Silvers is the Director of Research at the Santa Monica Sports Medicine&nbsp;Foundation/ISS and the inventor of the PEP warmup, designed to help athletes avoid suffering ACL injuries. Holly tells us why these&nbsp;injuries are 2-10 times more prevalent in women than in men, why&nbsp;ACL tear rates&nbsp;seem&nbsp;to be increasing among NBA players, and how to warm up and cool down before and after workouts.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For all that information and more, take a listen!</p>
</div>

The Benefits of the PEP Warmup

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<p>To specialize or to sample, that is the question! Some young athletes specialize, which means they choose one sport and focus only on that sport. Others&nbsp;try sport sampling, which means they sample a few different sports until they find their favorites.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Which is more beneficial to a young athlete and why?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Steve Boyle prefers sport sampling. Steve is the <a href="https://241sports.com">Director of 2-4-1 Sports</a>, a camp where kids try many different sports until they find many&nbsp;to love, not just one. In this podcast, Steve explains why emotional burnout happens for single sport athletes, how young athletes can connect skills from one sport to another, and what coaches can do to become better teachers. Listen in!</p>
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Sport Sampling: How Young Athletes Can Find Multiple Sports to Love

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<p>Mental toughness is one of those vital intangibles that no successful athlete can do without. It&rsquo;s about being able to translate preparation to performance, and it&rsquo;s a skill that needs constant development.&nbsp;</p>

<p>So, what&rsquo;s the best way to develop it?</p>

<p>In this podcast, Youth Sports Psychology Consultant <a href="https://www.jamesleath.com">James Leath</a> is on the hot seat to answer all your questions about mental toughness. No, literally&mdash;we&rsquo;ve collected questions directly&nbsp;from our fans, all the way from California to New York! If you&rsquo;ve ever wanted to know what makes an athlete mentally tough, this is the podcast for you!</p>
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Mental Toughness Training for Young Athletes

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<p>Did you know that competitive cheerleading is the fastest growing sport among girls in the U.S.? The funny thing is, some people can&rsquo;t seem to agree on whether cheerleading is a sport or not!</p>

<p>Kimberly Archie joins our podcast to put that topic to rest, once and for all. After spending time as both a&nbsp;cheerleader&nbsp;and&nbsp;cheer mom, Kimberly is now&nbsp;the founder of&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.nationalcheersafety.com">National Cheer Safety Foundation</a>. In this episode, she and host Emily Cohen discuss cheerleading injuries, cheer in pop culture, the different types of cheerleading, and much more.</p>

<p>If you love cheerleading or want to learn more about it, start here!</p>
</div>

Cheerleading: Athleticism, Injuries, and Why It Should Always Be Considered a Sport

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<p>Did you know that&nbsp;professional rugby leagues are emerging all over the U.S.? Did you know that rugby is actually safer than American football in many ways, despite the lack of pads? Did you know that rugby will be in the Olympics next year for the first time since 1924?</p>

<p>All these facts indicate one thing: rugby is a sport on the rise.</p>

<p>Dominic Wareing, Youth Development Director at&nbsp;<a href="https://playrugbyusa.com">Play Rugby USA</a>, joins our&nbsp;podcast to discuss what makes rugby such a great sport. Dominic and host Emily Cohen&nbsp;discuss&nbsp;the basics of the game, the upcoming reintroduction of rugby to the Olympics, and why he calls rugby &ldquo;a hooligan&rsquo;s sport played by gentlemen.&rdquo; Whether you&rsquo;re an avid fan or a novice, we guarantee you&rsquo;ll learn something new!</p>
</div>

The Facts on Olympic and U.S. Rugby

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<p>No matter what sport your young athlete plays, safety is a concern at every level of competition. Young athletes wear helmets, pads, and braces, but who makes certain all that equipment is safe?</p>

<p>Thomas Healy, founder of <a href="https://www.headsmartlabs.com">HeadSmart Labs</a> and current college football player, joins the show to give parents the lowdown on youth sports equipment. Exactly how do companies determine how safe helmets are? What role do pro leagues play in adhering to these safety standards? What tests haven&rsquo;t been done but should be done to improve safety? For any parents of young athletes out there, this is a must-listen.</p>
</div>

Youth Sports Equipment: How Can Parents Be Sure Their Kids Are Safe?

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<p>How can we stop bad sports parent behavior? John Engh, COO of the National Alliance of Youth Sports (NAYS), discusses parents on the sidelines and how we can keep youth sports positive and beneficial to its athletes.</p>
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Bad Sports Parenting

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<p>Let&#39;s face it: no matter how great&nbsp;a coach might be, some&nbsp;just aren&#39;t good matches for their players.&nbsp;Your young athlete&#39;s coach might yell, might be impossible to reach, might have an agenda off the field&ndash;&ndash;whatever the case may be, sometimes it&#39;s tough to find the right fit. And&nbsp;just as coaches choose which players get to&nbsp;play, shouldn&#39;t players choose their coaches?</p>

<p>Craig Haworth of <a href="https://www.winningyouthcoaching.com">Winning Youth Coaching</a>&nbsp;joins the podcast for a lively discussion on what it means to be a youth sports coach. If you&#39;re a parent, what&#39;s the best way to find out if a coach is right for your child? If you&#39;re a young athlete, how do you decide when to work with a coach and when to find a better fit? And if you&#39;re a coach, how can you&nbsp;improve your skills? Spoiler: podcasts might help...</p>
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How to Select the Right Coach for Your Young Athlete

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<p>If the college recruiting process seems a little confusing to you, you&#39;re not alone. Not only are there are differences in recruiting among different sports, but there are even more differences depending on Division I, Division II, and&nbsp;Division III sports. And what&#39;s the deal with verbal commitments versus actually signing? And how does a player get noticed in the first place?</p>

<p>Whew. There sure is a lot to this stuff...&nbsp;</p>

<p>The best way to understand college recruiting is to learn as much about it as you can.&nbsp;Mary Beth Haggerty, founder of&nbsp;college recruiting consulting company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.motheronthesidelines.com">Mother on the Sidelines</a>, joins the show to shed a little light on the whole subject.&nbsp;If you&#39;re a parent in need of some assistance with your young athlete&#39;s recruiting process, this is the podcast for you.</p>
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College Recruiting Advice for Parents

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<p>Let&#39;s face it. Being a referee is a tough job. No matter what the level, no matter what the sport, refs are challenged, screamed at, and booed&nbsp;by players and spectators alike. In fact, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnra.net">California North Referee Administration</a> more than 5,500 refs from 2014 haven&#39;t registered for 2015, probably because of the treatment they receive on the field.</p>

<p>Clearly, something&#39;s not right here.</p>

<p>Randy Vogt, referee of over 9,000 soccer games and author of <a href="https://www.preventiveofficiating.com/author.html">Preventative Officiating</a>, joins us to discuss this growing trend of disrespect. How much does arguing with refs at the pro level influence similar behavior in the youth game? Why is it that the people who seem to know the least about the sport heckle the most? What role can coaches play in preventing this kind of treatment?</p>

<p>For a look into the life of a soccer referee, it doesn&#39;t get any better than this podcast.</p>
</div>

The Challenges of Refereeing Soccer

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<p><span style="line-height: 1.6;">They say defense wins championships. Few coaches know that better than Joe Daniel. </span></p>

<p><span style="line-height: 1.6;">As the defensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Prince George High School, Joe knows a thing or two about keeping offenses&nbsp;out of the end zone. He&#39;s also been writing about the game for years on&nbsp;<a href="https://joedanielfootball.com">joedaniel.com</a>&nbsp;and discussing&nbsp;it on <a href="https://joedanielfootball.com/144-2/">The&nbsp;Football Coaching Podcast</a>. So yeah. He&#39;s a busy guy.</span></p>

<p>In this episode, Joe answers some of the&nbsp;toughest questions about coaching youth football.&nbsp;How can you get players to think of themselves as a team rather than&nbsp;an individual? What&#39;s it like trying to deal with parents? How can coaches become more proactive about concussion prevention?&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you&#39;ve been waiting for a podcast with a football coach, you&#39;ve found it!</p>
</div>

Coaching Football: Tips from a Pro

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<p>Whether for his accomplishments in the pool or his personality outside of it, Gary Hall Jr. is simply unforgettable. You probably remember him as a U.S.&nbsp;swimmer for the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics, where he won a total of 10 medals, five of them gold. And if you don&#39;t remember him for that, then you probably remember his pregame warmups, which included shadow boxing and plenty of bicep flexing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Gary joins the show to give us an inside look at the Olympics. What&#39;s it like to be born into a family of hugely successful swimmers? What&#39;s the deal with athletes using nutritional supplements all the time nowadays? Do they actually work? Does early specialization really help kids achieve greatness at higher levels?&nbsp;</p>

<p>It&#39;s a fun, informative, and fast-paced interview you won&#39;t want to miss. Listen in to see why Gary says,&nbsp;"It&#39;s the athlete who has fun that&nbsp;wins, not the athlete that wins who has fun."</p>
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What It&#39;s Like to Be an Olympian with Gary Hall Jr.

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<p>Let&#39;s face it. Being a young athlete isn&#39;t always easy. Whether it&#39;s pressure from your parents, from coaches, or even from yourself, there&#39;s a lot to deal with. And at such a young age, it can be hard to deal with all that pressure without folding. Luckily, athletes who&#39;ve been there and done that can help. That&#39;s where&nbsp;Peter Cipollone and&nbsp;Tommy O&rsquo;Hare come in.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Peter and Tommy join the show to talk about <a href="https://instaviser.com/">InstaViser</a>, the company they founded to connect athletes with mentors. As former high-level athletes,&nbsp;Peter (a gold medalist in crew) and Tommy&nbsp;(an Olympic speed skater and U.S. record-holder)&nbsp;both know the value of mentors. Topics covered include: how mentors help young athletes overcome stress, some common issues young athletes are facing these days, and what age athletes&nbsp;need mentorship the most.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Whatever your involvement in youth sports, we think you&#39;ll get a lot out of this episode. Take a listen!</p>
</div>

The Value of Mentors for Young Athletes

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<p>If the&nbsp;weather outside is frightful,&nbsp;the sprinters and cross-country runners in your house are probably&nbsp;going crazy. But it doesn&#39;t have to be that way, if you take advantage of one&ndash;&ndash;or more&ndash;&ndash;of the&nbsp;many cross-training options available in the winter months. In fact, some common running problems, including runner&#39;s knee and iliotibial (IT) band syndrome,&nbsp;can actually be <em>helped </em>by cross-training with a winter sport.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Listen in as Dr. Monica Rho,&nbsp;director of the Women&rsquo;s Sports Medicine Program at the <a href="https://www.ric.org/">Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago</a> and&nbsp;attending physician in the RIC Sports and Spine Rehabilitation Center, talks about the advantages of figure skating, hockey, downhill and cross-country skiing, and skate skiing for runners of all ages. She also provides some valuable advice about exercises to help prevent and rehabililate common running injuries, as well as some tips for training at elevation.</p>

<p>This is one episode in which&nbsp;parents, coaches, and youth athletes alike can find something to use. So let&#39;s get moving!</p>
</div>

Cross-Training for Young Athletes

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<p>It&rsquo;s Super Bowl Week and all eyes will be on Santa Clara, California as the Carolina Panthers meet the Denver Broncos. And with the increased <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/community/concussion-center">awareness of concussions</a>, all eyes will also be on&nbsp;the sideline staff&nbsp;evaluating&nbsp;the players for concussions and determining whether they can return to the action. While the players in the Super Bowl are professionals, what do parents of youth football players&mdash;and of other young&nbsp;athletes&mdash;need to know about concussions? And what about CTE, which has recently entered mainstream conversations thanks to the film, <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322364/">Concussion</a>?</em>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Listen in as&nbsp;Chris Nowinski,&nbsp;co-founder and executive director of the <a href="https://concussionfoundation.org/">Concussion Legacy Foundation</a> and co-director of&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bu.edu/cte/about/">BU CTE Center</a>, explains what&nbsp;you need to know about concussions, Second-impact Syndrome, Post-concussion Syndrome, and CTE. If you&#39;re the parent of a youth athlete, this is one podcast you won&#39;t want to miss!</p>
</div>

Concussions and CTE: Everything Sports Parents Need to Know

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<p>Can my athlete make it to the pros? Keith Van Horn, former professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks NBA Championship team and more, gives a healthy perspective on work ethic, maximizing talent, and what else it takes to become a professional athlete. For more information, read <a href="https://blog.teamsnap.com/general-sports/teamsnap-customer-profile-colorado-premier-basketball-club/">Keith Van Horn on the TeamSnap Blog</a>.</p>
</div>

Keith Van Horn: What Does it Take to Become a Professional Athlete?

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<p>How do you judge the success of a youth sports team? Is it the win/loss record? Is it the number of tournament championships won or the amount of hardware on the coach&#39;s shelf? Or is it something else,&nbsp;something intangible? And what challenges do&nbsp;youth athletes, parents,&nbsp;and coaches face in today&#39;s overly-competitive youth sports world?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Listen in as podcast host Emily Cohen talks with&nbsp;Jenn Starkey of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FastpitchFit/">Fastpitch Fit</a>, a former college softball player and author of the a book for teens on leadership called&nbsp;&ldquo;<a href="https://loyobook.com/">A League of Your Own</a>,&rdquo; a compilation of leadership lessons from all-star athletes in many sports. While Jenn&#39;s area of expertise is softball, her&nbsp;strategies for success on and off the field are applicable to all youth sports. Game on!</p>
</div>

How Do You Judge Your Team&#39;s Success?

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<p>Mentors can be some of the most influential positive forces for young athletes. The best of them are sort of like teachers, role models and advisors all rolled into one.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, great mentors aren&#39;t easy to come by. So then the question becomes this: how can you connect your young athlete with a good mentor?</p>

<p>For some parents, the answer might be <a href="https://www.coachup.com">CoachUp</a>, an online network that connects coaches with athletes for sport-specific training. In this episode, CoachUp CEO John Kelley and host Emily Cohen discuss exactly what makes a good mentor. How do they alleviate pressure on their young athletes? How do they keep motivating their young athletes? What about the "fun" aspect?&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;re looking for a mentor for your young athlete, listen in!</p>
</div>

How to Find a Mentor for Your Young Athlete

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<p>What makes a great coach?</p>

<p>Not an easy question, is it? From teaching mechanics to inspiring their players, great coaches do a whole lot. We went to Jill Kochanek, Head Girl&#39;s Soccer Coach at Oldfields School in Baltimore, Maryland to discuss this subject. Jill is a recipient of the prestigious Positive Coaching Alliance <a href="https://www.positivecoach.org/our-awards/double-goal-coach-awards/">Double-Goal Coach Award</a> presented by TeamSnap, so it&rsquo;s safe to say that she knows a thing or two about great coaching.</p>

<p>Where does passion for coaching come from? How do we help our players balance academics with athletics? How important is it for young female athletes to have female coaches? And what can we do about problem parents? Whew. That&#39;s just a few of the topics we cover!&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you&#39;re a coach, thinking about becoming a coach, or want to know what it&#39;s like to be a coach, this one&#39;s for you!</p>

<p>(This is part one of a four-part series with select winners of the Double-Goal Coach Award. Stay tuned for more!)</p>
</div>

What Does It Take to Be a Great Coach?

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<p>The introduction of technology into physical fitness has fundamentally&nbsp;changed how people work out. We track steps taken, calories burned,&nbsp;heart rates, distances, feet climbed, and more. It seems&nbsp;that everyone is wearing a Fitbit or using another fitness tracking technology when they exercise, giving quantifiable information during and after the workout.&nbsp;But when youth athletes train during practice or play in a game, no one tracks data that could improve player&nbsp;performance and&nbsp;prevent injuries.</p>

<p><a href="https://fitfor90.com/">Fit for 90</a> aims to change that. Focused on preventing injuries and&nbsp;increasing performance, Fit for 90 is cutting-edge, science-driven technology that coaches can use to optimize the training of youth athletes. Listen in as Dr. John Cone, founder and CEO of Fit for 90, talks with Emily Cohen about bridging the worlds of science and sport.</p>
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Using Technology to Improve Youth Athlete Fitness

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<p>Finding the right coach for your young athlete is never easy. Throw money into the equation and you&#39;ve got yourself one tricky situation. That&#39;s right&ndash;&ndash;we&#39;re talking about professional coaches and <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/teams/features/assignments">volunteer</a> coaches. How can parents decide which type of coach is right for their young athlete?</p>

<p>John O&#39;Sullivan, founder of <a href="https://changingthegameproject.com/">Changing the Game Project</a>, joins host Emily Cohen to discuss the pros and cons of both professional coaches and volunteer coaches. What can parents do to compare them? Do some volunteer coaches prevent their players from moving on to higher levels? Is there an age group for which professional coaches aren&#39;t needed?&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you&#39;re a parent, this is an episode you won&#39;t want to miss. Listen in!</p>
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Professional or Volunteer Coaching: Which is Right for Your Young Athlete?

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<p>It&rsquo;s no secret that great coaches have a profound impact on their players. No matter the sport or the age, great coaching can&rsquo;t be ignored.&nbsp;</p>

<p>That&rsquo;s why we invited Tampa Preparatory School Varsity Baseball Head Coach A.J. Hendrix to join the show. As a winner of the prestigious <a href="https://www.positivecoach.org/awards-programs/double-goal-coach-awards/">Positive Coaching Alliance Double-Goal Coach Award</a>, A.J. is an expert on what it takes to motivate young athletes. Topics covered include reduce overuse injuries to players, how coaches influence players off the field, how coaches influence other coaches and even a little story time. If you&rsquo;re a coach, this is an episode you won&rsquo;t want to miss.</p>

<p>(This episode is part two of a four-part series with select winners of the Double-Goal Coach Award. Check out part one with <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/community/podcast/episode-52-what-does-it-take-to-be-a-great-coach">Jill Kochanek</a>, and stay tuned for more!)</p>
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Coaching Youth Baseball: Tips from an Award Winner

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<p>We&#39;ve all heard the phrase "practice makes perfect." But is it possible to construct&nbsp;the perfect practice?</p>

<p>Well, nothing&rsquo;s perfect. But that doesn&#39;t&nbsp;mean your&nbsp;practice can&rsquo;t be a resounding success!</p>

<p>We asked volunteer&nbsp;coach Clint Schumacher for his thoughts on what makes a successful practice. Clint has extensive experience in youth sports, coaching all three of his sons in two different sports. Topics covered include: Does the definition of a successful practice vary across sports? What are the common elements of a great practice? Are full-team scrimmages good for players or not? Is the post-game ice cream party an appropriate&nbsp;reward for a hard practice?</p>

<p>If you&#39;ve got practice coming up, this is the episode for you!</p>
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What Makes a Successful Youth Sports Practice?

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<p>Did you know that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.specialolympics.org/">Special Olympics</a>&nbsp;has&nbsp;been active&nbsp;for almost 50 years? Or that Special Olympics serves athletes with and without disabilities? Did you know that Special Olympics hosts athletic events year round, not just every four years?</p>

<p>If you think that&#39;s interesting, you&#39;re in luck. We&#39;ve got a whole podcast on the subject!</p>

<p>In this episode, Sam Miller, Mile High regional manager of Special Olympics Colorado, joins host Emily Cohen to discuss this amazing organization. How do athletes qualify to attend national events? What does&nbsp;Sam think of ESPN&#39;s coverage of the World Games this past summer? What can athletes without disabilities learn from athletes with disabilities? What does the future hold for Special Olympics?</p>

<p>This is an inspiring and informative episode you won&#39;t want to miss. Listen in!</p>
</div>

Everything You Need to Know About Special Olympics

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<p>Why do girls have a higher chance for <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/community/sports-science/sports-medicine/vanderbilt-researchers-studying-new-sideline-concussion-testing-system">concussions</a> than boys? What exactly is a concussion? When did doctors and the media began to recognize the seriousness of head trauma? Learn the history of concussion discovery and find out more head injury answers with Dr. Robert Cantu, Advisor to the NFL, author of &ldquo;Concussion in Our Kids&rdquo;, contributor to the film &ldquo;Head Games&rdquo;, and one of the world&rsquo;s leading experts on mild traumatic brain injuries for over 30 years.</p>
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The Serious Problem of Concussions and Other Brain Injuries in Youth Sports

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<p>There is a clash of visions: pro sports focus on entertainment value, while youth sports should be focused on development. Yet why are were trying to have youth sports emulate the pro sports mentality?</p>

<p>Jim Thompson, founder of Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) at Stanford University, tackles this topic and more. &nbsp;PCA has models for coaches, parents and athletes that has the support of Greats like Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson, Judy Foudy, and many more. As the author of 9 books, including his latest titled &ldquo;Developing Better Athletes, Better People&rdquo;, Thompson asserts that the more positive we are, the better our athletes will do. "Here are practical tools coaches and parents can use, based on research and sports psychology, in order to practice positivity and ultimately win more games."</p>
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Is Youth Sports Emulating Pro Sports Culture in all the Wrong Ways?

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<p>Why are elbow injuries in youth sports on the rise? What is the Tommy John surgery, and why should coaches, athletes and parents care? &nbsp;We asked Tommy John himself, the Major League Baseball Veteran who damaged his elbow mid-season in 1974 and received the surgery that has now been coined after him. He explains why young athletes who pitch year round are prone to these surgeries at alarming rates. Find out more on why and how to stop them.</p>
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Tommy John: Why Elbow Injuries Are a Problem in Youth Baseball

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<p>What makes a great coach? They are positive, supportive and inspire others to do their best every single time. Great coaches can also be empathetic leaders. Venessa Barnard, Head girls varsity volleyball coach and club coach in Georgetown, TX, knows how to empower her athletes by lifting them up. Barnard was recently honored with Positive Coaching Alliance&rsquo;s (PCA) highest national coaching award for her empathetic approach in coaching. Barnard has the ability to understand the feelings and motivations of her athletes and uses that understanding to make her players better. Hear her story and be motivated to be an award-winning and courageous coach like her who knows how to change the tone of disappointing scenarios and gets rid of team tension in a crucial moment.</p>

<p>&ldquo;When you are coaching, you have to be fearless. I am completely out there. If it motivates my team, I will do a forward roll on the sidelines&hellip;You have got to be fearless. You just have to care so much for them, you lay aside yourself. You should never see yourself; you only see them. And that gives you the clarity to lift them up in whatever they need.&rdquo;</p>
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Coaching Techniques: Coaching Youth Sports with Empathy

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<p>What should we do when an athlete is complaining of an injury? Dr. Dev Mishra, a team physician for US Soccer Federation and founder of&nbsp;sidelinesportsdoc.com, educates us on being aware of overuse injuries in young athletes. Learn about the most common injuries, how the trend toward single sports specialization is causing problems, and what we can do in youth sports to prevent such overuse injuries.&nbsp;&nbsp;For more information, read mentions of <a href="https://www.teamsnap.com/blog/sports-parents-2/preventing-concussions-is-it-possible">Dr. Mishra on the TeamSnap Blog</a>.</p>
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How Can We Prevent Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports?

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<p>Have youth sports become not a game of skill or&nbsp;athleticism, but a game of money?</p>

<p>Sometimes it might look that way. More parents than ever are encouraging their kids to pursue D-I&nbsp;scholarships, which&nbsp;means travel teams, new equipment, personal trainers...in short, lots of money. Where does that leave the kids whose parents can&#39;t&nbsp;afford all those resources?</p>

<p>Tom Farrey,&nbsp;Executive Director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/people/tom-farrey">Aspen Institute&#39;s Sports and Society Program</a>, joins the show to answer these questions and more. You might also know him&nbsp;as a reporter on ESPN&#39;s&nbsp;Outside the Lines,&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Game-On-All-American-Champions-Children/dp/1933060468">Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children</a>,&nbsp;or as the founder of <a href="https://aspenprojectplay.org">Project Play</a>, a multi-stage effort to reimagine American youth sports&nbsp;that has identified eight strategies for the eight sectors that touch our&nbsp;children&#39;s lives.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tom gives us the inside&nbsp;scoop on some of the biggest economic issues in youth sports. Why is our definition of an athlete so&nbsp;narrow? Why are only 40% of kids today regularly active in team sports? Why won&#39;t parents let their kids have ownership over their own games?</p>

<p>Check it out!</p>
</div>

Are We Leaving Behind Kids Who Can&#39;t Afford Sports?

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<p>If you had to guess the #1 concern of college athletes, what would you say? It&rsquo;s not concussions. It&rsquo;s not injury. For most college athletes, mental health, which really can be described as&nbsp;stress in this case,&nbsp;is more concerning than all else. But what causes stress to athletes, and, at the youth level?</p>

<p>In this podcast, marriage and family therapist Ann DeWitt shares her key insights on sports-related stress. Ann discusses why making certain mistakes in sports is good, why single sport specialization raises a lot of concerns, and how to know when a sport has taken over a young athlete&rsquo;s life. Listen in!</p>
</div>

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