November 22, 2023 • 25 mins
Emily Jones is an experienced sports broadcaster for the Texas Rangers. From field reporting to Rangers Insider, she has been part of the Rangers’ television broadcasts since 2007 with appearances across Bally Sports Southwest, MLB Network, and MLB.com. In addition, she has served as pre- and postgame anchor for the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and Houston Astros. She’s a mom, volunteer youth softball coach, author of two children’s books, and podcast host. Emily joins Nick to discuss the role parents have to play in regulating their kids training, youth sports advice she got from a few of the professional baseball players she works with, and the three things she tells her softball team every time they play.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
I think sometimes children whether they feel that their parents
expected of them or they just wanted themselves like, it's
up to us as parents to be like, you're going
to cut this off for a little while, and I'm
going to regulate you not to do more.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm going to regulate you.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
To do less because if not, you're going to get
burned out.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
And I want you to enjoy it. I want you
to have fun.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
This is the Reform Sports Project, a podcast about restoring
healthy balance and perspective in all areas of sports through
education and advocacy. Hi, this is Nick Bonacor from the
Reform Sports Podcast. Today, I'm speaking with Emily Jones, sportscaster
from the Texas Rangers. Emily has been a sideline reporter
and pre and postgame maker for the Dallas Mavericks, San
(00:43):
Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Texas Rangers, and the Houston Astros.
She's a mom youth softball coach, big time baseball fan,
and host of the Mom Game podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Emily and I discussed the.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Role parents have to play and regulating their kids training
youth sports. Advice she got from a you of the
professional baseball player she works with, and the three things
she tells her softball team every time they play. Man,
I am I got a really awesome another awesome guest.
She's coming to us from Texas. She's been covering the
Texas Rangers for a heck of a long time. She's
a podcast host, obviously a writer. She is a freaking
(01:20):
sports mom, and she's also a from what I hear,
like the second mom for the Texas Rangers. I read
an article on that which was pretty freaking cool. I
can't wait to dig in, but really so excited to
have her. Emily Jones. Emily, thank you so much for
coming on.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Hey, sure you bet so.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
I want to start here with you.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Obviously, we connected through Todd Walter, who was a guest
on our pod as well. He kind of shared that you,
you know, you have obviously a lot of experience in athletics,
but you know you're a sports mom and you share
a passion for youth sports. I just want to ask
you this, like, when you take a look at the
landscape of youth sports your experience, you know, what are
some things that maybe you have seen, you know, over
the last fifteen twenty years, or that you just see
(01:58):
in general that concern you I guess just want to
start there.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I mean I think, you.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Know, it all came about when I had kids and
they started playing sports. So you kind of see it
on the periphery, you know, for a while when you
don't have kids that are of age to play sports,
and so you kind of like see it and formulate
opinions about it based on that, and then you know,
you kind of get into it and see it firsthand,
and it's I don't know, I mean, it's just so much.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It's just a lot. You know.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I coach my daughter's youth softball team. This is my
third year to coach them, and I absolutely love it,
you know, and my son plays baseball, football, and basketball,
and you know, Patty, my daughter also plays volleyball and
basketball as well.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So we're a huge sports family.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
But I guess just like the intensity level is just
so tremendous, and it's very rarely, if ever, coming from
the kids. It's all coming from the parents, and it's
just kind of, I mean, for lack of a better word,
kind of gross when we're talking about you know, eight, nine, ten,
(03:09):
twelve year old kids that so many adults are clinging
to this as some sort of validation in their lives
that if their kids' sports teams do well, then you
know they're, for lack of a better word, the big
man on campus.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Like I don't know.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
I mean, it's just it's very perplexing and confusing to me.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Honestly, it's not all that way by any stretch, but
there's enough of it to be like, yeah, what's what
exactly is going on here?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So I wrote up, but we wrote a blog going back,
and I kind of I talked about how I am
the lone wolf sports parent, like I love being and
not because I'm anti social. In fact, I like to
think I'm pretty social. But it's like I try to
stay away from the crowd, like I don't want to
get caught up.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
I mean years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
You know I coach as well, but it's like when
I go watch my kids play, I don't want to
get caught up in the riff raff, you know where
parents are talking about. You know, the coach is making
a terrible decision, the umpires suck, or this kid's not
playing well, and like you mentioned eight, nine, ten, twelve, eleven,
you know whatever, your old kids, and it's easy to
get sucked into it, though, and to take part. So
(04:17):
I try to just stay away, you know, I go
and stand by myself or my wife or my kids,
and we just kind of just want to watch the
kids compete and have a good time. But how do
you kind of navigate it right, Like it's like this
line of I don't want to be antisocial, I don't
want this, but like, how do you kind of how
do you navigate it?
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Well?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
So I think it's a little bit of a combination
of a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So first and foremost, I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I think we're all looking out for our children, and
everyone has you know, your child's situation might be different
than my child. And so I am an advocate for
my children in all that they do, whether it be
school or sports or social or whatever it is. I am,
you know, selfishly looking out.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
For the best interests of my children.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
But also too, I have in mind, you know, if
my kids are one A, one B, I have you know,
in mind.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
The kids around them, and you.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Know, so I think I try to stay quiet. There
are times when I get caught up in the moment.
I'm a fan. I'm a sports fan. I want my
kids to do well. Obviously, I want their team to
do well. That's not always going to be the case.
They're young, Mistakes happen. I mean, I cover a major
League baseball team and have for the last twenty years,
and errors happen on a regular basis. And these are
big leaders getting paid millions of dollars to play this game.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
That practice you know no less than you know.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Two three hours a day for nine months out of
the year. I mean, so you know all of that
weighing into it. I also realize at the end of the.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
Day, I'm a fan and I'm their mom, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Into it, but I think that there's there's a very
for me.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I try to make it a very tempered enthusiasm and
tempered involvement.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Because, first of all, I respect the people.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That do take their time to coach, to pour into
these kids. Most of the time it's completely voluntary. They're
not being compensated, and I'm grateful for that. Same way
with the umpires. I mean, obviously they are and referees
and officials, they're being compensated, but let's be real, it's
not great and.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
They're not at the level you know of a big
league umpiring crew or.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Any sort of equivalent, and so I try to keep
all of that in perspective.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And in mind.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I just think that with parents, by and large, the
vast majority just don't have that. They don't have that
to kind of fall back on those experiences and different
things like that, and so they're completely and totally invested
into these youth sports, which is great to support your children,
but there has to be some sort of balance, and
(06:49):
it's a balance for me.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I mean, I try to keep my mouth shut.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Especially when it's a team I'm not coaching, but you know, like,
for example, I have an issue with a team my
son played on, you know, a couple of years ago,
and they brought in replacement player, Like not replacement, that
sounds about guests players, right, because we had injuries or whatever.
And then those guests players were batting at the top
of the lineup, and I was like, that to me,
(07:13):
doesn't seem right, Like.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
That doesn't seem that to me doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Just having the sports background that I do and knowing
how a big leaguer who is a grown man feels
when he gets bumped down in the lineup or whatever,
knowing how that affects him mentally and psychologically as a
part of the game.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I had a question.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
About that, like, hey, I don't think that you know,
ten eleven twelve year olds are their.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Psyche is going to take a hit.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
And I feel like so much of the game at
this stage in kids' lives developmentally is so much is
so much tied to that, like the confidence that a
coach would have in them, and that the belief that
someone would have in them.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
They feed off.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Of that so much, and it's such an impressiable age
that I felt like I had a question about that,
and so that was, you know, something that I took
into account and addressed and you know, all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But you know, you have to kind of, I guess,
pick and.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Choose where you want to be vocal and.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Where you think it's appropriate.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
But I try to remain you know, level headed and
not question you know, coaches, umpires, all that kind of stuff.
But you know, there is certain times when you know,
I haven't kept my mouth shut. I have said something,
and I try to do it in a respectful and
kind manner, and you know, go from there.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
But you know, it's just it's very much.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
A personal thing and everyone kind of navigates their way
through it differently. And I think with me and my
background in sports and the things that I've done through
my job, I have a kind of maybe kind of
a different perspective, you know than some parents do. And
I don't knock other parents for having, you know, their
way of dealing with things, but it just is overall,
(08:53):
it's very intense, and it seems a little over the top, honestly.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
That's that's a very interesting point that you just made
as far as you know, a big leader having their
psyche kind of you know, you know, messed up temporarily,
you know, for you know, get moved down to the back.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
People forget.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
They often dehumanize professional athletes like, oh yeah, you know,
and no one has a front row seat at that.
Not many have a front row seat of that like
you do. I have friends that have played in professional
sports and and you know, so I've had some pretty
intimate conversations with.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
With those with those folks, and I get it.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But you've been doing it for years and years and
years and really seeing the you know, the energy like
and mental health is such a big thing. You know,
it's such a big thing that thankfully is now being
talked about without that scarlet letter. You know, you're seeing
more and more athletes get vulnerable, open up and show
what I think is strength, which years ago used to
be considered weakness and it's not.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
It's a real strength to be able to talk about that.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And if twenty one, you know, thirty year old grown
men or women, depending on the sport, struggle with the
mental you know, reject or you know, the struggles the
failures that go along with sport, how the hell do
you expect a nine, ten, eleven year old to just
go through it with you know, prancing around, right? So,
so how can I guess if you can talk a
(10:12):
little bit about some of the mental grime and the
struggle that these athletes that you cover go through and
maybe correlate it to like, hey, we can't have because
I often argue Emily that a lot of times some
of these organizations, you know, youth organizations, will put together
like the practice plans of like college and pro athletes
and try to put it on like nine ten year
olds and expect them to have the same type of enthusiasm.
(10:34):
It's like there's a difference there isn't there?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, And I think it's just like everything answer I
feel like we might we might be forcing things a
little a little too soon. And you know, and listen,
I've got a twelve year old boy that like lives
and breaths baseball, like he wants to do something baseball
related every day, and I love that and I appreciate that,
but there are times when we literally have to tell him,
(10:59):
you have got to take a break. Your mind needs
a break. You're trying so hard, which I love and appreciate,
but you need to reset. You need to have some
time away to not be thinking about baseball. And I
think that that's on us as parents to make our kids,
even if they want it, you know, they want to
do something every day, week in, week out. You're in,
(11:20):
you're out, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
That's great, and I love the passion and the commitment.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I love that, but also too, Like I tell Henry
my son didn't want to go to camp next year
because he's like, that's two weeks I'm not going to be,
you know, training, And I'm like, you're twelve, you don't
need to be training. You're around, you're gonna go to camp,
You're gonna not have devices, you're not playing video games,
you're gonna not have a phone. You're gonna go to camp,
(11:46):
you're gonna sweat your nuts off, and you're gonna play
with your friends and you're gonna have a great time,
and you're gonna.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Come home and baseball is still going to be there.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
We're not planning our lives when you're twelve around baseball.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
We're just not doing it. And I love that you
love it.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And trust me, no one loves this sport more than me,
like in our family, like I love baseball.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Obviously, I've made my you know, living my career around it.
But we are not going to do this.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And so I think sometimes children, whether they feel that
their parents expected of them, or they just want it themselves,
like it's up to us as parents to be like,
you're going to cut this off for a little while,
and I'm going to regulate you not to do more.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I'm going to regulate you to do less because if.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Not, you're going to get burned out. And I want
you to enjoy it. I want you to have fun,
Like this game has brought me joy over the last
twenty years of my life and I wouldn't trade it
for anything. But you're going to get to a point
where if you do it too much and you overexpose yourself,
it's going to be too much. And so you know
it's on us as the adults to kind of be
the regulators in this whole thing. You know, It's it's
(12:50):
harder to do, I feel like, because now there's so
many more opportunities, you know, for.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
These kids to be involved, and they.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Feel like if they're not doing every.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Single thing that's presented to them and they're falling behind.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
When we return, Emily and I discuss what she's learned
about youth sports from her professional baseball player colleagues. Where
we left off, Emily and I were about to discuss
the importance of playing multiple sports the car ride home
and the three things she tells her softball team every
time they play the piggyback off that Alums was like,
(13:25):
Oh my god, does she just listened to my interview
with Tim Corban because he literally Tim corbman, of course,
head baseball coach at Vanderbilt University. He was episode one,
and he literally said the almost verbatim exact same thing
that you said, is like, you know, the kids don't
need to have a bat and ball in their hand,
you know, twelve months out of the year, like we
have to we take it away from him. And he
used the exact word that you did. The body needs
(13:47):
to reset, the brain needs to reset. He's like, even
for just a little bit, and that's so important. And
we often you know, here a reform sports project and
I we talk about balance, you know, and no more
Garcia Parr, who I know obviously you know, I read
a quote from him. He talked about how, you know,
my kids want to eat ice cream every single meal,
all the day. But I got to be the parent
(14:08):
to say no, I got to be the one who
doesn't allow that to happen. And it's it's interesting because
you hear people say, oh, my kids want to sit
inside and play video games or you know, why are
we going to tell him to stop going?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So like, let me ask you this question, your son.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
You tell him you want to shut it down, do
baseball training, like you need to take a break.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
What if him and his boys just want to go
play wiffleball? Like that's right, I mean, totally different thing. Right.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
You ever talked to big leaguers who talk about how
whiffleball might have Like, have I ever had conversations about
that stuff, how free play might have helped them.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Oh yeah, And a lot of the reason why I
have to stand that I do is because of conversations
with guys like Ian Kinsler, Joey Gallo, Michael Johann, like
guys that I've gotten close with over the years, you know,
talking about when we you know, when I was starting
to have kids and when they were entering the stage
where they were going to start playing sports.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And how did you navigate.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I mean, we all kind of went do these things,
you know, at similar times when I first started having kids,
And to a man, the number one piece of advice
I got in terms of sports and children is let
them play multiple sports. Do not let them just play
one sport too early on in their you know, in
(15:19):
their youth careers.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Were talking about you talked to Ian Kinsler.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You talked to Michael Young, you talked to Joey Gallow,
you talked to you know, like I'm trying to think
of conversations with people I had, like when I was
starting to have kids, like uh, you know, even.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Ryan Rua, Will Middlebrooks, Like I mean, I would ask guys,
you know, what did you do? You know, what did
you play as a kid and like, oh, spread.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
It around like you play it all like you you know,
you don't focus on one thing until you know, maybe
late junior high, eighth grade, you know, high school maybe
because that's kind of you kind of have to pick
at that point.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
But like, no, it's it's so good for you.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I mean, you talked to successful you know, baseball coaches.
You talk to Chris Woodward who was with us for
a long time. You talked to Mike Maddox. I mean,
all these guys, they're all.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Saying the same things.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I mean, I've never talked to one player that I
had a relationship with that's been like yep, get Henry
and baseball from jump and make sure he plays.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
Around and make sure he doesn't play any other sport.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Like never in my twenty years of doing this, have
I heard anybody say that.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Do you think that there's like a you know, we
often talk about over you, so like, what do you
think about Tommy John When you first started covering baseball,
was it as prevalent as it is today?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
No, no, no, I mean, and I think a lot
of it is because dudes are they're throwing their arms
off like they're throwing at such high velocity that your your.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Arm can only withstand so much.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
And especially if you're a if you're you know, a
guy that's a you know, slider build. And I'm not
trying to say Jacob de Gram is of slighter build,
but Jake de Grom is a tall, slender man with
very little like he doesn't have a lot of cushion, right,
I mean, he's not a big guy. He's I mean,
you look at Bartolo Cologne and Jacob Degram are completely
(17:12):
different human beings right the way they're built.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
And I think when you don't have a.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Ton of muscle and for black a better word, cushion
to support what your arm is doing, you know, every
five days, and gearing out for that every fifth day,
you're more susceptible to it.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I mean, I don't think it's any sort of coincidence
that the number of Tommy.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
John's that we've seen has increased, you know, correspondingly to
the fact that VLO has gone up, not just in
the big leagues, but across the board. Guys are kids
are trying to throw harder, and it's it's the problem
My has been pitched for one year at a junior college,
you know, back twenty or how many every years ago,
(17:56):
and he is very very adamant and vigilant about him
he's throwing program and how often he can throw pitch,
and the recovery and the icing and all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
But I know that not all parents are like that.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I'm grateful that he is because he's very cognitive of it,
because he you know, he pitched in high school and
he pitched you know, like I said, one year and
junior college, and it's not like he's any sort of expert.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
But he's also very.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Mindful of it with our son to make sure that
he stays in check and he's not being overused or overexposed.
And also too, I think just trying to teach them
how to pitch instead of just you know.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Throw the whiz out of the ball. There's something to
be said.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
For that, where you see that a lot of times
with guys laid in their careers that they don't have
the velocity that they had and they have to kind
of learn and find ways to learn how to pitch
instead of just how to throw really hard. And I
think those are the ones where you see those are
the most fun to watch to me.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
I mean, it's fun to see the oldest Chapman light
up the radar.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Done at one o three.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Absolutely, I'm all in. But he's coming in for an
inning at a time.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Every two or three days.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's completely different than a parent's starting pitcher, and you're
trying to sustain that for seven innings every fifth day.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
You know the fact that you have your experience in
athletics in your career, and your husband obviously you know,
your your family you're a sports family, and your husband's
obviously you know, involved, and you know, regulating your your
son's output as far as you know, pitch count and
all that type of stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
What is the car ride home for you guys?
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Like after a game, Let's say you're you're you know,
Henry goes over four and you know he's on the
bump and you know, gives up a bunch of you know, hits,
just doesn't have a great day like every human being
does from time to time. And on the other side,
what if he goes for for four and throws a
one hit, shutout, complete game and it's on top of
the world. What's it like in the car with mom
(19:48):
and dad? Because I know, for me there the back
before I was the quote unquote reform sports parent. There
were times where I was definitely better of a parent
when my kid was doing good versus not. Now how
to stay middle of the row. I'm proud of you,
great job, you know, I love watching you play. But
how what is it like for the Jones group?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So I will tell you this, I've received one of
the best piece of advices ever from Michael Young. And
Michael Young Rangers hall of famer, you know, played for
you know how many of her years in the big leagues,
ultimate professional, like just such a level headed, great dude
and a dear friend. And he told me when his
kids started playing sports, as long as they're in uniform,
you don't talk about the game.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
That way, You're not talking about on the car right
on the way home.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Let them get home, get showered, and if they want
to talk, if they want to talk about it, that's
if they want to bring it up, they want to
talk about it, that's fine, But you don't talk about
the game as long as they're in their uniform. And
so once they get out of their uniform, that means
everybody's had the chance to cool down, to process everything.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
To have some more clear thoughts.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But there's just there's no reason to talk about the
game while they're in their uniform.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
And I thought such a great piece of advice.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Now, if they if if Henry wants to talk about
it on the way home, then let's.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Talk about it. If he brings it up.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
But if I'm not bringing we're not bringing it up.
If he's in his uniform, we're on our way home,
he's probably already if he didn't do well, he's no doubt,
no question beating himself up, you know whatever. If they
want to talk about it, great, but I don't. We
don't bring up that game until until they're out of
their uniforms because a lot of times with these kids, a.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Lot of them, you know, will flush it, they completely
flush it, and they're not even to think about it.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
So there's no reason to talk about it, no reason
to make it a bigger deal than it is. If
they're you know, nine, ten, eleven years old, if they've
already flushed it, then you flush it too. And so
if they're in their uniform, you don't talk about it.
And then if they're once they get home and they
take a shower and they come in and want to
talk about it, then let's chop it up.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
But if not, then we're just going to stay away
from it.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
You know, you're someone like I keep saying, you're in
the trenches. You're on a professional ballfield, you know, almost
every night, and more importantly, you're you're running around with
your own.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
Kids to their sporting events.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
So you know, what would be some advice that you'd
give to just sports parents?
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Say?
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You know, parent will listen to this, and you know
their kids are entering in like you were twenty plus.
You know, however many years ago, what would you be
saying to them on how to navigate it?
Speaker 1 (22:09):
So I feel like the best thing that I did
was coach my daughter's softball team. So this is my
third year coaching Hattie softball team, the Dirt Vis and
these girls, I mean none of them knew anything about
softball going in or baseball.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Much for that matter, and they have so much fun.
They love it.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You know, they try hard, but they're good teammates to
each other. And so we break down every game, every
practice with three things, the three things that I want
them to do each and every practice, in each and
every game, and that's play hard, have fun, be a
good teammate.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Everything else will take care of itself. I don't care
if you at a home run.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
I don't care if you strike out five times. I
want you to play hard, I want you to have fun.
I want you to be a good teammate.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
And I will tell you that coaching has given me
a completely different perspective because I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I'm not perfect.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
It's not like I'm that little miss perfect sitting on
her hands in.
Speaker 5 (22:59):
The state while my kids are playing.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I will safe, stuff, cheer sometimes true, not that I'm
proud of it.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
But when you.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Coach, I know those girls are looking at me. I
know they're looking to see how I react to certain situations,
how I react to a bad call, how I react
to another parent yelling at me, how I react to
a coach yelling at me. They're watching me to see
how I respond. And so, for me, the best thing
I ever did as a sports parent was to coach,
(23:27):
because I knew that I better.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Clean my bess up, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
If these girls are going to be looking to me,
I can't act like a jackass. I've got to be
I've got to be something that they can look at
and model their behavior after. And so for me, coaching
Hattie's team for the last three years has been the
best thing that I've ever done, and it's given me
a whole different perspective on the entire youth sports scene.
And I would highly encourage you, even if you're not
(23:54):
going to head coach assistant coach, be on that field
and know that those boys and girls that are so
young that are taking air cues from you are looking
at you, and how do you want them to act?
And how do you want them to react to certain
situations because they are looking at you.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
And when you've.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Got a head coach or an assistant coach or a
group of parents that are acting a full it's just
it's gross and it's embarrassing, and it's like, hey, hey, guys,
remember us, we're the adults, like we need to do better.
So these kids aren't jackasses, you know what I mean?
But I just people get competitive, and I get it, but.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
For the love, like, we're not.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
This is this is sports, and not only just sports,
it's youth sports.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Like, let's just have fun, play hard, have fun, be
a good teammate.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
I love it Emily, Where can people find you? I
know you're on Twitter? Where are your handles and your
pod and all that?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
So on Instagram at Emily Jones nineteen seventy seven, which
we'll tell you exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
How old I am. Let's go because that's the year
I was born.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And then the Mom Game podcast, so that I do
with Julie Dobbs and we talk about all just stuff,
just like this parenting stuff sports. Our tagline is not
just moms, not just sports, so it's kind of a
little niche thing we've had a lot of fun with.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
We're three and a half.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Years into that, so yeah, lots of different ways to
find me.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
But it's been great talking to you, and we're going
to have you on the Mom Game soon.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
I've got to get the Rangers figured out before.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
We can do any planning of that kind because they've
kind of got me held hostage, which I'm not complaining
about at this point.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
I love it. I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I'd be honored to be a guest, and thank you
so much for coming on.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
You're awesome.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Absolutely, Thanks Bill, having a great day.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
That's Emily Jones, sportscaster and Texas Rangers Sideline reporter. Thanks
for listening to the Reform Sports Podcast. If you've enjoyed
this episode, we would appreciate it if you took a
moment to rate and review our podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
As we work to grow our community of.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Supporters and advocates for more reform sports content, please subscribe
to our newsletter and blog at Reformsports Project dot com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
I think sometimes children whether they feel that their parents
expected of them or they just wanted themselves like, it's
up to us as parents to be like, you're going
to cut this off for a little while, and I'm
going to regulate you not to do more.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm going to regulate you.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
To do less because if not, you're going to get
burned out.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
And I want you to enjoy it. I want you
to have fun.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
This is the Reform Sports Project, a podcast about restoring
healthy balance and perspective in all areas of sports through
education and advocacy. Hi, this is Nick Bonacor from the
Reform Sports Podcast. Today, I'm speaking with Emily Jones, sportscaster
from the Texas Rangers. Emily has been a sideline reporter
and pre and postgame maker for the Dallas Mavericks, San
(00:43):
Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Texas Rangers, and the Houston Astros.
She's a mom youth softball coach, big time baseball fan,
and host of the Mom Game podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Emily and I discussed the.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Role parents have to play and regulating their kids training
youth sports. Advice she got from a you of the
professional baseball player she works with, and the three things
she tells her softball team every time they play. Man,
I am I got a really awesome another awesome guest.
She's coming to us from Texas. She's been covering the
Texas Rangers for a heck of a long time. She's
a podcast host, obviously a writer. She is a freaking
(01:20):
sports mom, and she's also a from what I hear,
like the second mom for the Texas Rangers. I read
an article on that which was pretty freaking cool. I
can't wait to dig in, but really so excited to
have her. Emily Jones. Emily, thank you so much for
coming on.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Hey, sure you bet so.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
I want to start here with you.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Obviously, we connected through Todd Walter, who was a guest
on our pod as well. He kind of shared that you,
you know, you have obviously a lot of experience in athletics,
but you know you're a sports mom and you share
a passion for youth sports. I just want to ask
you this, like, when you take a look at the
landscape of youth sports your experience, you know, what are
some things that maybe you have seen, you know, over
the last fifteen twenty years, or that you just see
(01:58):
in general that concern you I guess just want to
start there.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I mean I think, you.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Know, it all came about when I had kids and
they started playing sports. So you kind of see it
on the periphery, you know, for a while when you
don't have kids that are of age to play sports,
and so you kind of like see it and formulate
opinions about it based on that, and then you know,
you kind of get into it and see it firsthand,
and it's I don't know, I mean, it's just so much.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It's just a lot. You know.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I coach my daughter's youth softball team. This is my
third year to coach them, and I absolutely love it,
you know, and my son plays baseball, football, and basketball,
and you know, Patty, my daughter also plays volleyball and
basketball as well.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So we're a huge sports family.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
But I guess just like the intensity level is just
so tremendous, and it's very rarely, if ever, coming from
the kids. It's all coming from the parents, and it's
just kind of, I mean, for lack of a better word,
kind of gross when we're talking about you know, eight, nine, ten,
(03:09):
twelve year old kids that so many adults are clinging
to this as some sort of validation in their lives
that if their kids' sports teams do well, then you
know they're, for lack of a better word, the big
man on campus.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Like I don't know.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
I mean, it's just it's very perplexing and confusing to me.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Honestly, it's not all that way by any stretch, but
there's enough of it to be like, yeah, what's what
exactly is going on here?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So I wrote up, but we wrote a blog going back,
and I kind of I talked about how I am
the lone wolf sports parent, like I love being and
not because I'm anti social. In fact, I like to
think I'm pretty social. But it's like I try to
stay away from the crowd, like I don't want to
get caught up.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
I mean years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
You know I coach as well, but it's like when
I go watch my kids play, I don't want to
get caught up in the riff raff, you know where
parents are talking about. You know, the coach is making
a terrible decision, the umpires suck, or this kid's not
playing well, and like you mentioned eight, nine, ten, twelve, eleven,
you know whatever, your old kids, and it's easy to
get sucked into it, though, and to take part. So
(04:17):
I try to just stay away, you know, I go
and stand by myself or my wife or my kids,
and we just kind of just want to watch the
kids compete and have a good time. But how do
you kind of navigate it right, Like it's like this
line of I don't want to be antisocial, I don't
want this, but like, how do you kind of how
do you navigate it?
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Well?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
So I think it's a little bit of a combination
of a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So first and foremost, I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I think we're all looking out for our children, and
everyone has you know, your child's situation might be different
than my child. And so I am an advocate for
my children in all that they do, whether it be
school or sports or social or whatever it is. I am,
you know, selfishly looking out.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
For the best interests of my children.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
But also too, I have in mind, you know, if
my kids are one A, one B, I have you know,
in mind.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
The kids around them, and you.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Know, so I think I try to stay quiet. There
are times when I get caught up in the moment.
I'm a fan. I'm a sports fan. I want my
kids to do well. Obviously, I want their team to
do well. That's not always going to be the case.
They're young, Mistakes happen. I mean, I cover a major
League baseball team and have for the last twenty years,
and errors happen on a regular basis. And these are
big leaders getting paid millions of dollars to play this game.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
That practice you know no less than you know.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Two three hours a day for nine months out of
the year. I mean, so you know all of that
weighing into it. I also realize at the end of the.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
Day, I'm a fan and I'm their mom, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Into it, but I think that there's there's a very
for me.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I try to make it a very tempered enthusiasm and
tempered involvement.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Because, first of all, I respect the people.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That do take their time to coach, to pour into
these kids. Most of the time it's completely voluntary. They're
not being compensated, and I'm grateful for that. Same way
with the umpires. I mean, obviously they are and referees
and officials, they're being compensated, but let's be real, it's
not great and.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
They're not at the level you know of a big
league umpiring crew or.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Any sort of equivalent, and so I try to keep
all of that in perspective.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And in mind.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I just think that with parents, by and large, the
vast majority just don't have that. They don't have that
to kind of fall back on those experiences and different
things like that, and so they're completely and totally invested
into these youth sports, which is great to support your children,
but there has to be some sort of balance, and
(06:49):
it's a balance for me.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I mean, I try to keep my mouth shut.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Especially when it's a team I'm not coaching, but you know, like,
for example, I have an issue with a team my
son played on, you know, a couple of years ago,
and they brought in replacement player, Like not replacement, that
sounds about guests players, right, because we had injuries or whatever.
And then those guests players were batting at the top
of the lineup, and I was like, that to me,
(07:13):
doesn't seem right, Like.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
That doesn't seem that to me doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Just having the sports background that I do and knowing
how a big leaguer who is a grown man feels
when he gets bumped down in the lineup or whatever,
knowing how that affects him mentally and psychologically as a
part of the game.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I had a question.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
About that, like, hey, I don't think that you know,
ten eleven twelve year olds are their.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Psyche is going to take a hit.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
And I feel like so much of the game at
this stage in kids' lives developmentally is so much is
so much tied to that, like the confidence that a
coach would have in them, and that the belief that
someone would have in them.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
They feed off.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Of that so much, and it's such an impressiable age
that I felt like I had a question about that,
and so that was, you know, something that I took
into account and addressed and you know, all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But you know, you have to kind of, I guess,
pick and.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Choose where you want to be vocal and.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Where you think it's appropriate.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
But I try to remain you know, level headed and
not question you know, coaches, umpires, all that kind of stuff.
But you know, there is certain times when you know,
I haven't kept my mouth shut. I have said something,
and I try to do it in a respectful and
kind manner, and you know, go from there.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
But you know, it's just it's very much.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
A personal thing and everyone kind of navigates their way
through it differently. And I think with me and my
background in sports and the things that I've done through
my job, I have a kind of maybe kind of
a different perspective, you know than some parents do. And
I don't knock other parents for having, you know, their
way of dealing with things, but it just is overall,
(08:53):
it's very intense, and it seems a little over the top, honestly.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
That's that's a very interesting point that you just made
as far as you know, a big leader having their
psyche kind of you know, you know, messed up temporarily,
you know, for you know, get moved down to the back.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
People forget.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
They often dehumanize professional athletes like, oh yeah, you know,
and no one has a front row seat at that.
Not many have a front row seat of that like
you do. I have friends that have played in professional
sports and and you know, so I've had some pretty
intimate conversations with.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
With those with those folks, and I get it.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
But you've been doing it for years and years and
years and really seeing the you know, the energy like
and mental health is such a big thing. You know,
it's such a big thing that thankfully is now being
talked about without that scarlet letter. You know, you're seeing
more and more athletes get vulnerable, open up and show
what I think is strength, which years ago used to
be considered weakness and it's not.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
It's a real strength to be able to talk about that.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And if twenty one, you know, thirty year old grown
men or women, depending on the sport, struggle with the
mental you know, reject or you know, the struggles the
failures that go along with sport, how the hell do
you expect a nine, ten, eleven year old to just
go through it with you know, prancing around, right? So,
so how can I guess if you can talk a
(10:12):
little bit about some of the mental grime and the
struggle that these athletes that you cover go through and
maybe correlate it to like, hey, we can't have because
I often argue Emily that a lot of times some
of these organizations, you know, youth organizations, will put together
like the practice plans of like college and pro athletes
and try to put it on like nine ten year
olds and expect them to have the same type of enthusiasm.
(10:34):
It's like there's a difference there isn't there?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, And I think it's just like everything answer I
feel like we might we might be forcing things a
little a little too soon. And you know, and listen,
I've got a twelve year old boy that like lives
and breaths baseball, like he wants to do something baseball
related every day, and I love that and I appreciate that,
but there are times when we literally have to tell him,
(10:59):
you have got to take a break. Your mind needs
a break. You're trying so hard, which I love and appreciate,
but you need to reset. You need to have some
time away to not be thinking about baseball. And I
think that that's on us as parents to make our kids,
even if they want it, you know, they want to
do something every day, week in, week out. You're in,
(11:20):
you're out, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
That's great, and I love the passion and the commitment.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I love that, but also too, Like I tell Henry
my son didn't want to go to camp next year
because he's like, that's two weeks I'm not going to be,
you know, training, And I'm like, you're twelve, you don't
need to be training. You're around, you're gonna go to camp,
You're gonna not have devices, you're not playing video games,
you're gonna not have a phone. You're gonna go to camp,
(11:46):
you're gonna sweat your nuts off, and you're gonna play
with your friends and you're gonna have a great time,
and you're gonna.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Come home and baseball is still going to be there.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
We're not planning our lives when you're twelve around baseball.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
We're just not doing it. And I love that you
love it.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
And trust me, no one loves this sport more than me,
like in our family, like I love baseball.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Obviously, I've made my you know, living my career around it.
But we are not going to do this.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And so I think sometimes children, whether they feel that
their parents expected of them, or they just want it themselves,
like it's up to us as parents to be like,
you're going to cut this off for a little while,
and I'm going to regulate you not to do more.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I'm going to regulate you to do less because if.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Not, you're going to get burned out. And I want
you to enjoy it. I want you to have fun,
Like this game has brought me joy over the last
twenty years of my life and I wouldn't trade it
for anything. But you're going to get to a point
where if you do it too much and you overexpose yourself,
it's going to be too much. And so you know
it's on us as the adults to kind of be
the regulators in this whole thing. You know, It's it's
(12:50):
harder to do, I feel like, because now there's so
many more opportunities, you know, for.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
These kids to be involved, and they.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Feel like if they're not doing every.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Single thing that's presented to them and they're falling behind.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
When we return, Emily and I discuss what she's learned
about youth sports from her professional baseball player colleagues. Where
we left off, Emily and I were about to discuss
the importance of playing multiple sports the car ride home
and the three things she tells her softball team every
time they play the piggyback off that Alums was like,
(13:25):
Oh my god, does she just listened to my interview
with Tim Corban because he literally Tim corbman, of course,
head baseball coach at Vanderbilt University. He was episode one,
and he literally said the almost verbatim exact same thing
that you said, is like, you know, the kids don't
need to have a bat and ball in their hand,
you know, twelve months out of the year, like we
have to we take it away from him. And he
used the exact word that you did. The body needs
(13:47):
to reset, the brain needs to reset. He's like, even
for just a little bit, and that's so important. And
we often you know, here a reform sports project and
I we talk about balance, you know, and no more
Garcia Parr, who I know obviously you know, I read
a quote from him. He talked about how, you know,
my kids want to eat ice cream every single meal,
all the day. But I got to be the parent
(14:08):
to say no, I got to be the one who
doesn't allow that to happen. And it's it's interesting because
you hear people say, oh, my kids want to sit
inside and play video games or you know, why are
we going to tell him to stop going?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So like, let me ask you this question, your son.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
You tell him you want to shut it down, do
baseball training, like you need to take a break.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
What if him and his boys just want to go
play wiffleball? Like that's right, I mean, totally different thing. Right.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
You ever talked to big leaguers who talk about how
whiffleball might have Like, have I ever had conversations about
that stuff, how free play might have helped them.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Oh yeah, And a lot of the reason why I
have to stand that I do is because of conversations
with guys like Ian Kinsler, Joey Gallo, Michael Johann, like
guys that I've gotten close with over the years, you know,
talking about when we you know, when I was starting
to have kids and when they were entering the stage
where they were going to start playing sports.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And how did you navigate.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I mean, we all kind of went do these things,
you know, at similar times when I first started having kids,
And to a man, the number one piece of advice
I got in terms of sports and children is let
them play multiple sports. Do not let them just play
one sport too early on in their you know, in
(15:19):
their youth careers.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Were talking about you talked to Ian Kinsler.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You talked to Michael Young, you talked to Joey Gallow,
you talked to you know, like I'm trying to think
of conversations with people I had, like when I was
starting to have kids, like uh, you know, even.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Ryan Rua, Will Middlebrooks, Like I mean, I would ask guys,
you know, what did you do? You know, what did
you play as a kid and like, oh, spread.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
It around like you play it all like you you know,
you don't focus on one thing until you know, maybe
late junior high, eighth grade, you know, high school maybe
because that's kind of you kind of have to pick
at that point.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
But like, no, it's it's so good for you.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I mean, you talked to successful you know, baseball coaches.
You talk to Chris Woodward who was with us for
a long time. You talked to Mike Maddox. I mean,
all these guys, they're all.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Saying the same things.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I mean, I've never talked to one player that I
had a relationship with that's been like yep, get Henry
and baseball from jump and make sure he plays.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
Around and make sure he doesn't play any other sport.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Like never in my twenty years of doing this, have
I heard anybody say that.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Do you think that there's like a you know, we
often talk about over you, so like, what do you
think about Tommy John When you first started covering baseball,
was it as prevalent as it is today?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
No, no, no, I mean, and I think a lot
of it is because dudes are they're throwing their arms
off like they're throwing at such high velocity that your your.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Arm can only withstand so much.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
And especially if you're a if you're you know, a
guy that's a you know, slider build. And I'm not
trying to say Jacob de Gram is of slighter build,
but Jake de Grom is a tall, slender man with
very little like he doesn't have a lot of cushion, right,
I mean, he's not a big guy. He's I mean,
you look at Bartolo Cologne and Jacob Degram are completely
(17:12):
different human beings right the way they're built.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
And I think when you don't have a.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Ton of muscle and for black a better word, cushion
to support what your arm is doing, you know, every
five days, and gearing out for that every fifth day,
you're more susceptible to it.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I mean, I don't think it's any sort of coincidence
that the number of Tommy.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
John's that we've seen has increased, you know, correspondingly to
the fact that VLO has gone up, not just in
the big leagues, but across the board. Guys are kids
are trying to throw harder, and it's it's the problem
My has been pitched for one year at a junior college,
you know, back twenty or how many every years ago,
(17:56):
and he is very very adamant and vigilant about him
he's throwing program and how often he can throw pitch,
and the recovery and the icing and all that kind
of stuff.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
But I know that not all parents are like that.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I'm grateful that he is because he's very cognitive of it,
because he you know, he pitched in high school and
he pitched you know, like I said, one year and
junior college, and it's not like he's any sort of expert.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
But he's also very.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Mindful of it with our son to make sure that
he stays in check and he's not being overused or overexposed.
And also too, I think just trying to teach them
how to pitch instead of just you know.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Throw the whiz out of the ball. There's something to
be said.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
For that, where you see that a lot of times
with guys laid in their careers that they don't have
the velocity that they had and they have to kind
of learn and find ways to learn how to pitch
instead of just how to throw really hard. And I
think those are the ones where you see those are
the most fun to watch to me.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
I mean, it's fun to see the oldest Chapman light
up the radar.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Done at one o three.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Absolutely, I'm all in. But he's coming in for an
inning at a time.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Every two or three days.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's completely different than a parent's starting pitcher, and you're
trying to sustain that for seven innings every fifth day.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
You know the fact that you have your experience in
athletics in your career, and your husband obviously you know,
your your family you're a sports family, and your husband's
obviously you know, involved, and you know, regulating your your
son's output as far as you know, pitch count and
all that type of stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
What is the car ride home for you guys?
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Like after a game, Let's say you're you're you know,
Henry goes over four and you know he's on the
bump and you know, gives up a bunch of you know, hits,
just doesn't have a great day like every human being
does from time to time. And on the other side,
what if he goes for for four and throws a
one hit, shutout, complete game and it's on top of
the world. What's it like in the car with mom
(19:48):
and dad? Because I know, for me there the back
before I was the quote unquote reform sports parent. There
were times where I was definitely better of a parent
when my kid was doing good versus not. Now how
to stay middle of the row. I'm proud of you,
great job, you know, I love watching you play. But
how what is it like for the Jones group?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So I will tell you this, I've received one of
the best piece of advices ever from Michael Young. And
Michael Young Rangers hall of famer, you know, played for
you know how many of her years in the big leagues,
ultimate professional, like just such a level headed, great dude
and a dear friend. And he told me when his
kids started playing sports, as long as they're in uniform,
you don't talk about the game.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
That way, You're not talking about on the car right
on the way home.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Let them get home, get showered, and if they want
to talk, if they want to talk about it, that's
if they want to bring it up, they want to
talk about it, that's fine, But you don't talk about
the game as long as they're in their uniform. And
so once they get out of their uniform, that means
everybody's had the chance to cool down, to process everything.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
To have some more clear thoughts.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But there's just there's no reason to talk about the
game while they're in their uniform.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
And I thought such a great piece of advice.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Now, if they if if Henry wants to talk about
it on the way home, then let's.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Talk about it. If he brings it up.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
But if I'm not bringing we're not bringing it up.
If he's in his uniform, we're on our way home,
he's probably already if he didn't do well, he's no doubt,
no question beating himself up, you know whatever. If they
want to talk about it, great, but I don't. We
don't bring up that game until until they're out of
their uniforms because a lot of times with these kids, a.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Lot of them, you know, will flush it, they completely
flush it, and they're not even to think about it.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
So there's no reason to talk about it, no reason
to make it a bigger deal than it is. If
they're you know, nine, ten, eleven years old, if they've
already flushed it, then you flush it too. And so
if they're in their uniform, you don't talk about it.
And then if they're once they get home and they
take a shower and they come in and want to
talk about it, then let's chop it up.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
But if not, then we're just going to stay away
from it.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
You know, you're someone like I keep saying, you're in
the trenches. You're on a professional ballfield, you know, almost
every night, and more importantly, you're you're running around with
your own.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
Kids to their sporting events.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
So you know, what would be some advice that you'd
give to just sports parents?
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Say?
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You know, parent will listen to this, and you know
their kids are entering in like you were twenty plus.
You know, however many years ago, what would you be
saying to them on how to navigate it?
Speaker 1 (22:09):
So I feel like the best thing that I did
was coach my daughter's softball team. So this is my
third year coaching Hattie softball team, the Dirt Vis and
these girls, I mean none of them knew anything about
softball going in or baseball.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Much for that matter, and they have so much fun.
They love it.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You know, they try hard, but they're good teammates to
each other. And so we break down every game, every
practice with three things, the three things that I want
them to do each and every practice, in each and
every game, and that's play hard, have fun, be a
good teammate.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Everything else will take care of itself. I don't care
if you at a home run.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
I don't care if you strike out five times. I
want you to play hard, I want you to have fun.
I want you to be a good teammate.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
And I will tell you that coaching has given me
a completely different perspective because I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I'm not perfect.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
It's not like I'm that little miss perfect sitting on
her hands in.
Speaker 5 (22:59):
The state while my kids are playing.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I will safe, stuff, cheer sometimes true, not that I'm
proud of it.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
But when you.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Coach, I know those girls are looking at me. I
know they're looking to see how I react to certain situations,
how I react to a bad call, how I react
to another parent yelling at me, how I react to
a coach yelling at me. They're watching me to see
how I respond. And so, for me, the best thing
I ever did as a sports parent was to coach,
(23:27):
because I knew that I better.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Clean my bess up, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
If these girls are going to be looking to me,
I can't act like a jackass. I've got to be
I've got to be something that they can look at
and model their behavior after. And so for me, coaching
Hattie's team for the last three years has been the
best thing that I've ever done, and it's given me
a whole different perspective on the entire youth sports scene.
And I would highly encourage you, even if you're not
(23:54):
going to head coach assistant coach, be on that field
and know that those boys and girls that are so
young that are taking air cues from you are looking
at you, and how do you want them to act?
And how do you want them to react to certain
situations because they are looking at you.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
And when you've.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Got a head coach or an assistant coach or a
group of parents that are acting a full it's just
it's gross and it's embarrassing, and it's like, hey, hey, guys,
remember us, we're the adults, like we need to do better.
So these kids aren't jackasses, you know what I mean?
But I just people get competitive, and I get it, but.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
For the love, like, we're not.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
This is this is sports, and not only just sports,
it's youth sports.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Like, let's just have fun, play hard, have fun, be
a good teammate.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
I love it Emily, Where can people find you? I
know you're on Twitter? Where are your handles and your
pod and all that?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
So on Instagram at Emily Jones nineteen seventy seven, which
we'll tell you exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
How old I am. Let's go because that's the year
I was born.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And then the Mom Game podcast, so that I do
with Julie Dobbs and we talk about all just stuff,
just like this parenting stuff sports. Our tagline is not
just moms, not just sports, so it's kind of a
little niche thing we've had a lot of fun with.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
We're three and a half.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Years into that, so yeah, lots of different ways to
find me.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
But it's been great talking to you, and we're going
to have you on the Mom Game soon.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
I've got to get the Rangers figured out before.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
We can do any planning of that kind because they've
kind of got me held hostage, which I'm not complaining
about at this point.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
I love it. I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I'd be honored to be a guest, and thank you
so much for coming on.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
You're awesome.
Speaker 5 (25:29):
Absolutely, Thanks Bill, having a great day.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
That's Emily Jones, sportscaster and Texas Rangers Sideline reporter. Thanks
for listening to the Reform Sports Podcast. If you've enjoyed
this episode, we would appreciate it if you took a
moment to rate and review our podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
As we work to grow our community of.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Supporters and advocates for more reform sports content, please subscribe
to our newsletter and blog at Reformsports Project dot com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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