Healthy Sports Parents

In this episode of Healthy Sports Parents, Jonathan Carone sits down with psychiatrist and author Dr. Curt Thompson to explore why sports parenting can feel so personal and why a child’s performance can bring out emotions parents never expected.

Dr. Thompson explains how parents carry their own family history, insecurities, shame, and unfinished business into their children’s sports experiences, often without realizi...

Youth sports have become increasingly all-or-nothing. Make the team. Commit more time. Play at a higher level. Keep up, or eventually there may not be a place for you anymore.

Amanda Carey believes there’s another way.

Amanda is the President of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) and a multi-time professional mountain biking champion. In this conversation, she talks with Jonathan Carone about what h...

Coach Travis Hudson has spent 32 years building Western Kentucky volleyball into one of the best mid-major programs in the country. Along the way, he’s learned a lot about what actually matters in developing athletes and raising kids through sports.

In this episode, Coach Hudson and Jonathan Carone talk about why parents feel so much pressure to rush their kids to the next team or level, why development matters more than t...

Every kid develops on their own timeline. The challenge for parents is believing that when it feels like everyone else's kid is getting ahead.

Former NFL quarterback and longtime quarterback coach Jordan Palmer has worked with some of the best quarterbacks in football, including Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Trevor Lawrence. But as a dad of four, he's also navigating the same questions the rest of us are: When should we push? When...

David Epstein has spent years making the case for range, exploration, and giving kids time to discover what fits. His new book, Inside the Box, makes what initially sounds like the opposite argument: sometimes we need more constraints, not more options.

David joins Jonathan Carone to explore what happens when you put those two ideas together in youth sports and parenting. They wrestle with some of the messier questions pare...

What does it actually take for a kid to love sports for the long haul?

World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach joins Jonathan Carone for a conversation about what happens when adults stop trying to manufacture motivation and give kids the space to discover what they actually love. They talk about the pressure inside modern youth sports, why a kid's desire has to come from within, and why reaching the h...

Youth sports is one of the most influential institutions in childhood.

It teaches teamwork, resilience, leadership, confidence, and community. Millions of families invest thousands of dollars and countless hours into it every year.

Yet unlike schools, parks, or public health, no one is really in charge.

In this episode, Jonathan sits down with Renata Simril, president and CEO of LA84 Foundation and founder of the Play Equity F...

Some of the healthiest things we can do as sports parents feel completely wrong in the moment.

We want to correct every mistake. We want to protect our kids from failure. We want to solve their problems, give them feedback after every game, and keep them from feeling disappointed.

But what if those instincts are actually getting in the way of what our kids need most?

In this episode, sports psychologist Dr. Joey Case retur...

Youth sports are supposed to help kids grow, compete, fail, learn, and have fun. But somewhere along the way, a lot of adults started acting like fun and hard can’t both exist at the same time.

In this episode of Healthy Sports Parents, Jonathan Carone sits down with former player, coach, and creator Jake Savickifor a conversation about what kids actually need from the adults around them in sports.

Jake shares stories...

Congressman Chris Deluzio and Senator Cory Booker join Healthy Sports Parents creator Jonathan Carone for a conversation about the newly introduced Let Kids Play Act and why they believe youth sports in America are becoming inaccessible for too many families.

Instead of focusing only on the details of the legislation, this conversation explores the bigger questions underneath it all: Why do youth sports matter so much? What happ...

Youth sports can feel like they’re all about the next game, the next season, or the next level. But what if the bigger opportunity has nothing to do with any of that?

In this episode of Healthy Sports Parents, Jonathan Carone sits down with Lisa Willis to talk about what sports are really meant to give our kids. From her journey through UCLA and the WNBA to her work as a coach today with Texas Sports Academy, Li...

Youth sports are not about winning. They’re about helping our kids become the best version of themselves possible.

In this episode of Healthy Sports Parents, Jonathan sits down with Dr. Jeremy Alland, team doctor for the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, for a practical and honest conversation about injuries, overuse, and what parents need to understand about their child’s long-term health.

They discuss why k...

A lot of families hit a point where rec league doesn’t feel like enough anymore, and the next step seems obvious: move to club (travel) sports where kids will get more games, more training, and more opportunity.

But before making that jump, it’s worth slowing down and understanding what actually changes when you leave rec behind.

In this episode, Jonathan is joined by author Karen Scholl – a mom who navigate...

A lot of families start the youth sports journey with the same goal in mind: play at the highest level possible and see where it goes.

But what happens when you actually get there… and realize it wasn’t what you thought it would be?

In this conversation, Jonathan sat down with Britt Lee, co-founder of Pure Athlete and a dad who’s walked the full path. His son reached Division I tennis. He also had another ...

Youth sports can quickly take over family life, leaving parents feeling pressure to specialize early, chase opportunities, and keep up with everyone else. But what if taking youth sports back starts with one simple shift at home?

In this episode of the Healthy Sports Parents podcast, ESPN college football reporter and sports mom Heather Dinich joins the conversation to talk about balancing youth sports, family life, and ambition...

What happens when we stop trying to control our kids' sports experience and start helping them own it?

In this episode, retired USWNT player and current youth coach / pro team owner Leslie Osborne shares why the healthiest sports journeys are the ones driven by kids, not adults. From playing multiple sports growing up to navigating injuries and life after soccer, Leslie reflects on how ownership, passion, and perspective shaped ...

Youth sports matter. We care because our kids care.

But somewhere along the way, it’s easy for that care to turn into pressure, stress, and taking things way more seriously than we ever intended.

In this episode, Jonathan sits down with comedian and sports dad Dustin Nickerson to talk about the realities of being a sports parent – the long tournaments, the awkward sideline dynamics, the pressure we feel...

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

Not because parents don’t care.

But because they care so much.

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

Youth sports need more trustworthy adults in kids’ lives.

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

They explore why coaches often become one of th...