The most profound truth about youth sports might just surprise you. For Gary Thrapp, founder of Beyond the Baseline and veteran coach with 40 years of experience, it's not about trophies or championships—it's about relationships. "I don't remember wins, losses, much of anything," Thrapp reveals, "but I remember the commitment and what's really cool is now my kids, who are parents themselves, remember that and are teaching it to their children."
This powerful revelation anchors our conversation with Thrapp, who has witnessed the evolution of youth sports across four decades. Having managed approximately 50,000 games in basketball, volleyball, and wrestling, he brings unparalleled perspective to the challenges facing today's young athletes and their families. His facility, Beyond the Baseline, began with a simple mission: creating local opportunities for kids to compete without extensive travel. That vision has expanded into community-focused programming that ensures sports remain accessible to all children, regardless of financial circumstances.
Thrapp's recently published book, "The Wild World of Youth Sports," distills over 150 strategies for parents and coaches navigating this complex landscape. He emphasizes how coaching approaches must adapt to today's digital environment, advocating communication WITH children rather than AT them. "With the power of social media and the pressure our kids are feeling, youth sports is a great way to release from that," Thrapp explains, highlighting the mental health benefits athletics provide. His innovative events—including a free "Give It a Try" program exposing kids to seven different sports in one morning—exemplify his commitment to expanding athletic opportunities for underserved youth.
What separates exceptional coaches from merely good ones? According to Thrapp, it's understanding that winning games doesn't necessarily indicate heading in the right direction. This "fool's gold" perspective on victory challenges parents to look deeper at their children's athletic experiences. Whether you're a parent considering sports for your child, a coach seeking to make a meaningful impact, or someone passionate about community development, Thrapp's insights offer a refreshing perspective on what truly matters in youth sports: building relationships that last a lifetime.
The Wild World of Youth Sports is available here.
Click or tap here to connect with Gary Thrapp on social media, learn more about Beyo
QC, That's Where is a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities. Through the people, partnerships, and personalities woven throughout the Quad Cities region, you'll meet real Quad Citizens and hear the untold stories of the region.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, at 60 years, 61 years old, I don't remember wins
, losses, much anything, but Iremember the commitment and
what's really cool is now mykids who are two of them now
parents remember that andteaching that to their kids as
well.
(00:20):
So just that commitment that ittook and that is so huge.
So the one thing use U Sportsto build a lifelong relationship
with your child every day.
That's what it's for.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I'm your host,katrina, and today I'm talking
to Gary Thrapp, beyond theBaseline.
Owner and recent author.
So, gary, thank you so much fortalking to me today.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Good afternoon.
So we are talking in early July2025, if you're listening in
the future, hello.
So, gary, you've been in thesports landscape for decades.
You've been a coach for 40years.
You opened Beyond the Baselinewhat 20 years ago or so?
(01:32):
Before we get into anything, Iwant to hear just how did you
get into, like, the sports realm?
What started it all for you?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I actually, when I was at college I was asked by
one of my friends if he wantedto, if I wanted to help him
coach a youth baseball team.
So I had played sports, youknow, but hadn't really coached.
So that was so much fun I wasonly what, 20 years old or
whatever and had so much funcoaching the younger generation
(02:04):
that I wanted to really stickwith that.
So spent, you know, ever sincethen, 40 years later, have
coached a variety of differentsports and a variety of
different kids.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So, yeah, has it been primarily youth collegiate, a
variety that you've been workingwith?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I'm not smart enough to coach college, so I stick
with the kids, because then Ilook more important, don't you
think?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
The kids don't know what they don't know right.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, actually, they teach me more than I teach them,
quite honestly.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That's fair.
I have two little boys of myown and the things I, the things
I learned throughout the dayabout life and everything else
is yeah it's beyond, but sothat's awesome.
So I want to talk a little bitabout beyond the baseline, so
primarily youth sports.
(02:57):
What kinds of groups, whatkinds of coaching all happens
there.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
We really do a lot of community-based stuff there
because we really are trying todig into helping anybody that's
interested in sports participate.
You can spend so much moneythese days, and you know,
looking for differentopportunities to play.
My wife and I personally havespent probably the equivalent of
a college education for each ofour kids, you know, trying to
(03:24):
help them be prepared for highschool and college, so we get
that.
So it's very important to giveevery kid an opportunity to
compete, regardless of whetherthey have the financial backing
or not.
So that's our primary focusright now.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Have you had like a favorite type of sport or
favorite moments in your yearsthat beyond the baseline that
you've been working with?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Wow, do you have like six hours to talk, or what?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
This is our podcast.
Gary, we can talk as long asyou want.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh gosh.
So there's so many moments, Imean you spree, you.
Sports brings out so many coolopportunities and so many, uh,
I've learned so much from kidson you know the right way to do
things, maybe the wrong way todo things.
So yeah, it's, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The people who work within, Beyond the Baseline, you
know, is there like aphilanthropic kind of background
or like just sport, a love forsports Like what?
What are you seeing as far asthe people who are helping you
on this mission?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I have really been, have been able to partner
with people that love kids.
They love helping kids helpthem go from point A to point B.
They're not.
You know we all want to win,right?
That's so much of the purposefor playing is try to help kids
learn how to win at differentthings.
(04:49):
But our group of adults reallyenjoy helping kids improve in a
lot of different ways, not justa sport that they're playing,
but if they're struggling atschool, struggling at home, you
know have different issues thatthey're dealing with.
These days it's so difficult togrow up with social media and
(05:11):
you know so much pressure outthere in the world that we're
trying to be there to help themprogress.
So that's our main focus.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So you've got a ton of experience.
You know, like you said, youlearn just as much, if not more,
from these kids as you're ableto share with them, and so I
have to imagine that all of thisknowledge base was the premise
and crux of the wild world ofyouth sports.
Can you talk about that bookand what's inside?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, I guess I was smart enough to take notes,
starting 30 years ago, ondifferent things that you know.
I was very noticeable and putit all together with the main
purpose of trying to help theyoung parent, young coach, have
(06:11):
strategies to succeed, helpingtheir child use youth sports to
not only to be a great teammate,a great player of the sport,
but also help them develop astrong foundation to live a long
and and a prosperous life.
So that's the main thing.
And then another element of thebook is to really try to solve
(06:34):
that issue.
What can we do to help?
What can we do together aspeople to help youth sports
improve for everyone, not justour child, but every child.
So it has, you know, differentelements of that and I broke it
down into 150 strategies, a fewmore than 150 on specific things
that we can do to succeed atthat.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Not to give away kind of like you know the whole
index of what's inside the book,but like what?
What is the answer?
What is an answer to thatquestion?
What can we do, like you know,as coaches or mentors or just
guardians?
What can we do to help kidsjust succeed and prosper in
whatever sport they're trying toget involved into?
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, I think one of the biggest things these days,
with the power of social mediaand how our kids are baited,
just to watch click after clickafter click.
One thing we need to do betteras adults is to communicate with
them, not to them.
You know, the traditionalcoaching style is do it my way
(07:38):
and I'm going to talk with youon how you do it.
I've been the most successfulcoaching this generation by
asking a lot of questions, bygetting to know them, building
those relationships and thentaking what they're experiencing
if this makes sense and helpthem take that next step in a
simple sport.
So, yeah, it's a wholedifferent approach, I think,
(08:02):
than what I grew up with.
We used to just show up and thecoach told us what to do.
Now we need to work with thekids a little bit more and help
them progress.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So let me ask is that a product of like society
changing and generations beingdifferent from the next?
Or is that a product of like usjust learning better techniques
as coaches?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I maybe a little bit of both, but I will say, with
the power of social media, thepressure that our kids are
feeling right now and the youknow that input of information
they're getting nonstop, a lotof it negative.
I mean, if I grew up today, whoknows where I would be right
now?
Because we were not exposed tothings like that at an early age
(08:50):
and our kids first, second,third grade are getting exposed
to so many difficult things thatyouth sports is just a great
way to release from that andthat's kind of how we have to
look at it as and do a betterjob as adults to use you sports
as a great learning experiencefor our kids.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
That's a cool point.
The thing that, like you know,it's like a mom that scared me
about seeing social media growand change rapidly and expand.
Like, my kids are super youngand they already know how to
like, get on a phone and getinto apps and things that, like,
I didn't even know how theyfunctioned or that I had, you
know, on my phone.
(09:32):
So, like, not only like, arethey accessing things that you
know it's so much harder to lockdown you have to just make sure
that you're on it.
You know the locks, theparental controls and all of
that and stuff.
But, like, the thing that'salways scared me is like they're
going to have access toliterally every bit of
information somewhere somehow,and it's a lot and it's
(09:53):
overwhelming, you know.
So, having that piece of youknow, being able to involve
yourself in a sport at a youngage is is a good way to, like
you said, have a you know, arelease, something to occupy
yourself, to focus on.
But then there's also theelement of social media that's
inevitable.
About the comparison, you know,it's like how magazines used to
(10:13):
be Do I look or do I?
Am I doing the things thatthese models in the magazines
are doing?
It's like you know what arekids my age, or you know people
doing or experiencing, and I'mconstantly in that constant
comparison mode.
You know that's something thatcoaches or you know guardians or
parents have to be able to stepin and go hey, what you're
(10:34):
seeing in all these places maynot be reality.
And even if it is, you knowyou're running your own race, so
to speak.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, and this is where we need to improve greatly
.
And you're right by beingfearful of that.
As a young parent, we need toask more questions than how are
you doing today?
And if they say great, we justkind of okay, let's move on.
No, we need to ask morequestions.
That's one thing I was smartenough to do when I was, you
(11:06):
know, when my four kids wereyounger was not just be happy
with a yeah, everything's greatanswer.
It was more hey, what happenedat school today?
Who'd you talk to?
I asked 20 questions, 10different directions, to find
out what they were thinking andwhat they were experiencing.
What they were thinking andwhat they were experiencing and
(11:26):
with the mental health crisis wehave in our nation now, with
our young people getting exposedto so much information, this is
vital that we use youth sportsto take that approach with our
kids.
Every practice, every game theyattend, what did you see?
I know what I saw if I wasthere, but I want to know what
you saw as a young person.
That can be so different.
(11:48):
And then our teaching momentsthere are.
Ok, now let's take what you sawand let's take that next step,
If that makes sense, rather thanhey, I'm the adult, I know what
I'm doing.
Listen to me and you'll be fine.
That approach does not work.
Maybe as well as it used to.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, that's for sure , Help me break down the title.
So the wild world of youthsports, Tell me, like if I've
not yet, you know, entered theworld of youth sports, my kids
aren't in sports yet.
Or maybe I never had experiencelike what is wild about youth
sports.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
go through that well, one element of is of it is the
adults involved, having Iestimated over the last 19 years
that I've managed about 50,000games both basketball,
volleyball, wrestling in thelast 19 years alone.
So I so I've witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly in youth
(12:47):
sports, and it can get wild.
And one thing in particularthat has become very clear to me
over the years is that whathappens out in our communities,
what happens outside of youthsports our frustrations, our
difficulties so often plays outwhile we're watching our child
compete in a sport, if thatmakes sense.
(13:08):
So you know, when I'm workingdaily with people during events
and something frustratinghappens, or they get an argument
or something of that nature,and I start to deal with that
and try to slow it down.
So often they were mad beforethey walked in, if that makes
sense.
And so those types ofde-escalation strategies are so
(13:33):
huge in youth sports, and sothat's part of the wild world of
youth sports is to learn how todeal with those things when
they happen.
It's very easy to go on socialmedia and hear people
complaining about man.
You know what happened in thatbaseball game this weekend.
These people wouldn't let a15-year-old umpire alone, they
just kept yelling at them.
All right, did you help slow itdown or did you just sit there
(13:57):
and shake your head?
So you know, we have to take alittle bit more active, positive
role to make, to help yousports improve for everyone.
That's not easy to do andthere's, you know, I do include
strategies in there, and it'snot only for the, you know, the
parent, but anybody who'sinterested in helping you sports
improve.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
So yeah, yeah, I could see you know kind of
coming on to whether you're acoach or a ref or something you
know, involving yourself into asport.
I, you know, I can see those.
There's psychology behind itand there's, you know, just
societal differences behind itand I can see people easily
throwing their hands up andgoing.
(14:37):
I didn't sign up for this.
I signed up to help kids learnhow to play soccer or, you know,
or something, something likethat.
And so having a resource fromsomeone like yourself, who you
know is decades in the making ofyou know, experience and
situations and 50,000 events andgrowing, what a great, what a
(14:59):
great tangible resource.
To just go, I'm not alone.
Crack open the book, take alook at someone who's walked the
road before.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, and that's really what I enjoy doing is try
to share, you know, things thathave worked for me and things
that I've seen work for otherpeople.
I do that every time I, youknow, coach a practice with our
kids that you know.
I just try to not be so much apreacher of here's how you do it
, but more they're helpingeveryone head in a good
(15:30):
direction, including myself.
I'm constantly looking in the,looking in the mirror as a
parent, grandparent, coach,mentor.
What can I do better?
My gosh, you know, when youtake that approach number one,
it's amazing how you can changethe world right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I love that.
So have you been in the QuadCities your whole life.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
My wife grew up in the Quad Cities.
We met at the University ofIowa and our plan was she was a
little bit smarter than me,don't tell her I said that but
our plan was whoever got a jobfirst, that's the direction we
would head.
She happened to get a job inthe Quad Cities, so that's where
we stabilized our lives, so tospeak.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
And yeah, Did you know going in?
Okay, we're going to gowherever the first opportunity
strikes.
Did you know that a facilityand a mission like Beyond the
Baseline was going to be in yourfuture, that you were going to
be doing that?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Heck, no, no clue, Literally.
I just got really involved inyouth sports.
Our kids were actively involvedin basketball as one of their
sports and we noticed over thesummer if we wanted to get any
games whatsoever, we had totravel to get them, whether it
was Milwaukee, Chicago or notanywhere much around our area
(16:44):
that offered that.
So you know, when I heard thatour facility came up for sale,
it was an old college.
Then I'm like, well, let's gogive it a try, See, you know,
let's go take a look at it.
So I ended up working out and19 years later, look how smart I
am.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, that's amazing.
What was the college that itused to be?
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Marycrest College yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Oh, okay, gotcha, I'm not a native of the Quad Cities
.
I've lived here basically mywhole adult life and I've got
relatives who we always came andvisited, so I'm very familiar
with all the QC history to anextent.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And I haven't heard of that one, but I wondered if
it was something in my brain,but no, it wasn't.
But, but that's, that's awesome.
So you literally were like itwas like a means to an end.
You you needed to solve aproblem.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That and I was literally just looking for a
place for my kids.
I was looking for a garage Iwould drive around.
My wife and I have been in realestate in our community for
about 30 years, and so I wasliterally going around looking
for a garage to have our ownkids have a place to, you know,
a batting cage and shoot arounda little bit in the wintertime,
and ended up with a 30,000square foot gymnasium.
(18:00):
Smart move right.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
That's.
That's excellent and, like youknow, that investment so many
years ago into a communitythat's only grown since then has
contributed eons to like wewere talking earlier today about
just our group business.
Visit Quad Cities.
You know, recruiting businessrecruiting group business Over
(18:22):
half is sports related and soyour facility has helped boost
that.
You know people can now comehere.
People who are here can stayhere, people who you know want
to have a tournament can comehere thanks to what you've
opened.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, and it's interesting that when you follow
what you do, what's going to beinteresting is to see what the
landscape is like in 20, 30years, because massive youth
sports facilities are developingall across the country, and so
it'll be interesting to see whatthat means.
(19:02):
Does that mean our quality willnecessarily go up?
You know?
Are kids getting better atsports because of it, or you
know it's hard to say.
So it's going to be interestingwhat you know what the
landscape looks like in 20 years.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
What's your take on like how the Quad Cities is
competitively positioned toattract and retain youth sports?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, it's really like any business that you do.
The one thing about youthsports is in business.
It's not like going in andbuying a pair of shoes.
It's one of those things.
Someone, when they leave ourbuilding, either won a game or
lost a game.
Someone, when they leave ourbuilding, either won a game or
lost a game.
So imagine being in businesswhere 50% of your customers tend
(19:50):
to be a little frustrated whenthey leave.
You couldn't run too manybusinesses like that, right.
So you got to do those extrathings to help build
relationships with people and togive them a reason to come back
, and I've been able tocapitalize on that.
Not that we do everythingperfectly, by any stretch of the
imagination, but for anycommunity we're geographically
(20:15):
in a good spot.
How are we taking care of thepeople that come here to play?
That's the huge question.
That's the question anybodyasks in business, right.
How are we taking care of ourcustomers?
So it's a little bit morechallenging, like I mentioned in
new sports, but it's doable.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
What's an answer to that?
What's an example of what youcan or have done to ease the
pain a little bit on a groupthat came in and did lose or,
you know, didn't have thechampionship experience that
they had hoped.
You know that kind of thingwhether or not, whether or not
they enjoyed their time in theQC is a totally different issue.
(20:57):
But like physically walking outa little disappointed.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Well, that's a challenge, especially if it
costs so much to participate.
Yeah, because you know having ahigh cost might pay the bills,
but it doesn't necessarily.
Well, that's a challenge,especially if it costs so much
to participate.
Yeah, because you know, havinga high cost might pay the bills,
but it doesn't necessarily helpyou build a relationship with
your customer.
And what I see is that thereare so many people out there so
drained of money, they know whatit costs to participate and
(21:29):
they're stretched thin.
And so then, when you combinethat with the uncertainty of,
okay, how do I make sure mychild is in a good situation?
How do I make sure that themoney I'm spending is going
correctly, if I'm spending itwisely?
And that's another reason why Imade the Wild World of Youth
Sports is to try to help theyoung parent give good
(21:50):
strategies to make sure theirmoney is being spent wisely.
So that's one of those things.
It's very difficult because newteams in any sport are
developed twice a year maybe,and these are people that come
together that may not have beentogether, so so many different
(22:10):
things can play out whilethey're watching their kid
compete.
It's a constant challenge.
That's not easy to stay on topof, and it takes a lot of
empathy, takes a lot of care.
People have to trust that youcare about their experience and
that's not easy to do in half aday, right, or in a day.
So this is a huge challengethat we need to be really good
at in a variety of ways to beable to communicate that to
(22:35):
parents and to our customers andto our staffing, be on the same
page on what our purpose is andthat's one of my motivations
now is to help utilize myexperience in a variety of
different ways to help othercommunities.
You know, put on good eventsand what have you so?
Speaker 2 (22:56):
what like speaking in the Quad Cities and the
partnership you know that wehave with Beyond the Baseline
and the relationship thatparents have with Beyond the
Baseline and other facilitiesthat help foster youth sports.
What can I do as a parent and acommunity member or a Quad
citizen do to help support thegrowth and success of youth
(23:21):
sports in this region?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Well, that's a tricky question.
Number one you want to focus onhelping your child be in good
situations.
Number two we need leaders incharge of events to understand
what our purpose is.
It's not just grabbing themoney when it walks in and then
paying our bills.
(23:45):
It's more okay.
What are we doing here?
What's the purpose of this?
And are we taking care of ourcustomer properly?
And defining what that means isdifficult.
How are we handling issues whenthey happen?
That's another question.
Another huge thing we've got tofocus on as well or at least I
(24:06):
do, when you know I'm confrontedwith a variety of different
situations.
So it's really buildingrelationships a lot.
It's understanding what ourpurpose is in youth sports, why
we're doing it that type ofthing.
Now you got me all wound up.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Me too.
Tell me now about the threeevents before we started
recording.
You were telling me a littlebit about the three events that
you helped put on the, the, theshootout, the all-star and then
the give it a try event.
So start with with the shootout.
Tell me all about that and whatthat?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
yeah uh, it's, uh, it's a varsity girls basketball
uh event and it's in january ofevery year and my two daughters
actually played in it whenblackhawk college uh used to
manage it, used to run it.
They started it several yearsago and, uh, all of a sudden I
heard maybe I don't evenremember seven or eight years
(25:07):
ago that they were going todiscontinue doing it.
So then, since my daughtersplayed, and it was such a huge
event for our area, I felt forfemale sports that I decided to
reach out to the schools andreach out to, you know,
augustana, mike Sapolsky overthere, and keep it going.
So I literally got that tohappen within a couple of weeks,
(25:29):
thankfully.
So that's one event.
We're up to now, 28 teams intotal, 14 games.
We play at Augustana Collegeand Wharton Fieldhouse and it's
awesome, I love, I love doing it.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Logistically.
There's so much that goes intoit and the fact that you were
able to kind of pick it up andrun with it and make it happen
so quickly, seeing the need, issuper impressive and it just
goes to show like the passionand the heart that you had
behind that.
And so the all-star event wasthat kind of a similar situation
(26:04):
.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, it was basically when I started at
beyond the baseline.
I looked for needs that we hadout in our community.
What, uh, what is missing?
What can we add?
I didn't try to take businessfrom other places, I just tried
to say, hey, what could we use?
Yeah, and one thing that wasn'thappening was an Iowa versus
Illinois all-star volleyballevent.
(26:26):
So I started that about 10 or11 years ago just to highlight,
you know, more female athletesthat were striving to be the
best, and it's been verysuccessful and just love having
watching the best compete.
I not only love having our freeprograms where we help kids who
may be in second, third, fourthgrade that don't have the money
(26:47):
to compete at a high level yet,but I love watching the best
compete as well.
So we try to combine that allin one location a little bit and
it's awesome.
I just love doing it.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I bet that one's high energy like competitive rivalry
wise.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
It really, really is now.
I was one, every one of them.
Illinois has never won, in factillinois I think it's only won
a couple sets.
So illinois, we got to get.
We got to do a better job overthere.
But it is amazing how muchbetter volleyball has gotten in
our community over the years.
But at the same, at the sametime, it's also amazing and I
(27:27):
keep saying this just becauseit's true Uh, we need to do a
better job at helping ourathletes who don't have a lot of
money to get involved in theelite programs um have an
opportunity to compete.
So that's why I started.
Which is even my bigger passionis our free programs to help
our kids get started in a sportand try to prime that pump and
(27:50):
and plant those seeds to begreat.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
And that that piece aligns with the give it a try
event.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Tell me about that one, that one.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Well, see, one thing I love doing is is researching
what other areas do across thecountry, and if we're missing it
, I'll start it.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
I feel like I can and I noticed in some other areas
that people were doing give it atry events for kids who don't
have an opportunity to try stuff.
So I'm like, hey, let's see,I've got a location.
Now I just got to get somesports in there.
We ended up having seven oreight sports, about 70 kids
there in our first one here lastMarch.
So we're doing that every year,Worked with some quality local
(28:33):
groups.
I didn't come up with anythingnew necessarily myself in that
regard, but we had some awesomepeople doing great things that
we got them all together and putkids, give them the opportunity
to play seven different sportsin one morning.
So it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I literally they, they come to a location and like
it's like like stations you dothis for a certain amount of
time.
Go to the next one.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Yep, we had archery, we had golf, we had boxing, we
had track.
We had archery, we had golf, wehad boxing, we had track, we
had basketball, volleyball, alittle workout, yeah, it was, it
was awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Yeah, you see, any kids come into that, or parents
come into that with oneexpectation, thinking I'm here
to try X and I left loving Y andZ.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
A little bit.
Yeah, kids, you could reallysee.
Having worked with kids for solong, you could really see their
minds kind of trying to figurethis out.
They had never swung a clubbefore, sure, or pulled an arrow
back before.
They're like what is going tohappen and just watching the
young mind experience.
That was so cool and whatmotivates me the most, of course
(29:46):
, is to that you might bepriming one person to be great
at it sometime down the road.
That's just how this works,right, so that's so much fun.
So we look forward to doingthat, all you know, every year.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
That's.
That's a really interestingtype of outreach because, like
the you know, the school's PEclasses can really only cover so
much, right.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Like.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
I'm from Michigan, but I'm fairly certain they
don't teach archery or boxingfor that matter.
You know, at the public schools.
I mean I could be wrong, so nohate mail please.
But you know there's all thesedifferent interesting types of
sports and there's all theseinteresting groups and clubs and
like leagues in the communityand in other.
You know other communities too.
(30:31):
Like you said, you research allthe time but like it's all out
there and you just you'll neverknow if you or your child or you
know someone that you uhguardian over would like it or
take to it, unless they get achance to go and do something
like give it a try.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, absolutely, and we just try to add two things.
We have so many good PEteachers in our community that
do different things.
I was over at the East MolineSchool at Glenview and the PE
teacher there had the kidsplaying just little short
pickleball little game and theywere having the greatest time,
and you know.
So there is that element outthere, especially with the
(31:06):
creative PE teachers.
But at the same time you cannever do enough of this stuff
for kids and it was just so muchfun yeah for sure Is there.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Is there a sport you kind of mentioning pickleball
got me kind of on this Is therea sport that you are seeing
creeping up as it's gettingbigger?
You know, something that maybea decade ago wasn't really on
people's radar.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Girls wrestling, oh okay, that seems to be doing
pretty good and it's prettyawesome to see these kids, you
know, and now that's a goodthing, but at the same time it's
you know, you see, girlsbasketball maybe not doing as
well as it used to 10 years ago,so it's kind of a give and take
a little bit.
But yeah, that pickleball isdoing really well.
(31:53):
I mean, we have a group ofretired people that come in and
play pickleball regularly.
So I mean that's something,that's one of those lifelong
sports that once you enjoy ityou can play the rest of your
life.
So that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
So walk me through.
You know beyond the baseline.
Tell me about the facility Likewhat's?
How has it evolved over thelast?
You know 19, 20 years and what.
What do you guys have if I'mwalking in for the first time?
Speaker 1 (32:25):
I have the need to have somebody mop the floor.
Can you do that?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yes, I'll be right there.
I use Swiffers, but I'll seeyou at four.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Wait, is it four o'clock?
No, it's just an old building.
Quite honestly, it's in a partof the community that I love
being in.
A lot of our kids can walkthere and participate there and
participate it's, you know, justfour courts of.
(32:55):
You know madness sometimes, butI like to use it to help kids.
The thing about youth sports,like basketball, like volleyball
we have a little bit of anadvantage over, maybe, school,
because kids who may not want togo to school want to come and
play a sport, if that makessense.
So now, while they're coming in, we have their ear a little bit
(33:16):
more and we motivate them to bethe best student, and so youth
sports is an awesome way to usekids' enthusiasm to help them
become the complete teammate, soto speak that I like to say and
also a great student, a greatcitizen with a future that they
(33:36):
feel like they're in charge of.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
If you could offer one piece of advice to you know,
say, a young parent who'sthinking about getting their
kids into sports, or a youngcoach who is kind of coming
online trying to teach somethingthat they love, what would that
piece of advice be?
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Buy that book behind me.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Now, that's the answer I was looking for, that's
all you need.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
In fact, gosh, darn it.
I might have one for you if youwant one, ben.
But yeah, seriously, that'swhat that was designed for.
But I will say probably thebiggest thing that, because
there's a lack of knowledge onwhat approaches to take in youth
sports, so often we rely onwhether we won the last game or
(34:28):
not to decide whether we'reheading in a good direction.
And that's like fool's gold inyouth sports.
Winning a game or losing a gamedoes not mean you're heading in
a good direction.
Now, obviously, if you won agame, you feel a little bit
better, right, but who'd youplay?
I mean you can ask a variety ofdifferent questions.
There's so many teams out there.
(34:48):
So, unfortunately, with thelack of knowledge that we have
out there on what good coachingis, what bad coaching is, what
our best approach is, then wewill rely on whether we want our
game or not, on whether we wantto keep going that direction,
and that's one of those thingsthat I try to steer people away
(35:09):
from.
Some people have the absolutebest coach right now and they
lose half their games, and soit's hard, and then so many
parents are willing to drop thatbecause they think they can win
more games than another team.
So that's a difficult thing,that's not an easy.
That's not an easy thing toovercome.
That's not an easy, that's notan easy thing to overcome.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
There's so many like life lessons that I think
coaches accidentally leavebehind in their, in their kids.
Like you know, I was a runner,basically from middle school on
through college and had avariety of coaches.
Some I clicked with, some Ididn't, and that's all fine.
But regardless of you knowwhether I always respected them,
(35:53):
you know whether they, whetherI felt like they were giving me
advice I wanted to hear or not,you know it's like I feel like I
could pluck something from eachof them that they literally
accidentally left behind.
And you know one, one of mycoaches in college, he, just he
really, and you know we we wouldpractice early in the morning
(36:14):
but he would really just houndus like this is so simple.
But like, be on time, be ontime, be early.
If you're not 10 minutes early,you're late in my eyes and you
know it was like 6am so we'regoing like okay, sure, but you
know that translated not justinto sports and not just into
preparedness and working hard.
It translated into, like youknow, your first job interview.
(36:36):
It translated into he wasreally instilling a life lesson,
that he was just trying to getus to practice on time, you know
and to get things started andjust to really show us, like,
(36:57):
how can we be a solid team inthis very simple way, and it's
something I draw from constantlytoday.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
And that's awesome, because now look at you as a
young parent.
You can take things thatcoaches may not have done very
well and you can fix that foryour child a little bit better.
You can take the things thatmotivated you and transfer that
to your kids as well.
So it gives you that extra edgewhen you were so dug in to use
(37:24):
sports and that's what I'vealways tried to do.
I can remember to this day andI'm old who motivated me when I
was young to get better and whodemotivated me, and I could look
down on the ones whodemotivated me.
But I don't.
I stay positive and I say I'mgoing to use that experience to
(37:45):
help the next generation.
And the more we take thatapproach, you know, the more
opportunity we have to makepositive impact in a variety of
different ways.
So not everybody's going to becoachable the same way.
There are so many differentapproaches out there.
We have to take that mentality,that we take any experience
(38:07):
that we had whether we're aparent watching our kids play
and try to turn that into apositive learning experience for
our kids.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
So I asked you a question earlier that you didn't
quite answer, and I'm gonna askyou again and we're not getting
until you answer my question.
Decades of decades of coachingexperience, things that you've
seen, tens of thousands ofevents.
Do you have that one moment,that one highlight, that's just
like, ah, this is why we're here.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
It's now looking in the eyes of my kids and knowing
I was there every day, workingwith them to get better.
That's the only thing.
Now, at 60 years, 61 years old,I don't remember wins, losses,
much anything, but I rememberthe commitment and what's really
cool is now my kids who are twoof them now parents remember
(39:04):
that and teaching that to theirkids as well.
So just that commitment that ittook and that is so huge.
So the one thing use youthsports to build a lifelong
relationship with your childevery day.
That's what it's for.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
That is so true.
And now that you say that, likeI think back to the, I think I
was a, you know, competitiverunner for, like you know, a
dozen years or so and, yeah,like hundreds of meets, you know
hundreds of races, track, crosscountry.
Out in my mind is when I was inhigh school, particularly like
(39:48):
freshman, sophomore year, beforeI could drive, before I could
do things on my own, we hadsummer running schedules we had
to do to prepare and my dad,like two, three times a week,
would drive me up to the trackand we would run three miles
together and if he didn't wantto do the three miles with me,
he would do his own sprints orwhatever workout in the middle.
(40:10):
But he was there with me whileI was doing my runs and getting
my miles in.
And that's the first thing thatcomes to mind, which is so cool
.
It was that commitment, it wasthat very hands-on one-on-one.
I'm with you, I'm supportingyou approach.
That is the first thing Iremember.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Isn't that awesome.
I mean, you may not rememberthat many wins or losses while
you were running, but youremember that love and that
commitment.
And this is what motivates meeven more as a quad citizen is
to provide opportunities forkids who may not have a strong
adult at home, a strong dad athome, and still give them
(40:54):
opportunities to succeed.
And that's not easy to do,because nothing replaces a
parent that's there every singleday and that's a tough part,
but I'm inspired and motivatedto work with any kids that and
it's so much fun to share asmile with a kid when they
achieve something and you helpthem do it, regardless of whose
(41:16):
child it is.
And that motivates me now to noend is just helping kids smile.
And you know probably the mostdifficult thing that youth
sports helps you achieve I don'tknow if it's difficult or not,
but the amazing thing I'm goingto warn you when you help a lot
(41:38):
of kids, you know what it endsup having you do.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
What.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Say I love you to more people.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Now I'm going to cry.
Look what you did.
I got to slow down.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
That makes so much.
I mean your capacity to loveand see the other side and help
and help people grow isexpanding.
The more kids, the morefamilies that you touch yeah the
more kids, the more familiesthat you touch.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Yeah, and I wouldn't change it for anything.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
It's so much fun helping kids, helping families
and what have you.
So this was so great, gary.
Seriously, I can't thank youenough for for giving us the
time, and I am very, veryexcited to check out the wild
world of youth sports.
I definitely.
If you can't, if you're notwatching the YouTube version, if
you're listening to this onaudio it's behind Gary's right
shoulder and I've been staringat it this entire podcast so
excited to read it.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
I'm not so stupid, am I?
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I see this setup.
It was very it was veryprofessional.
It's the details that matter.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
I'm slowly learning.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
So, gary, I have a tradition at the end of this
podcast you may or may not beaware of.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I'm going to have you fill in the blank QC.
That's where, okay, I'msupposed to do that.
You got to help me, don't worryabout it.
You help me, okay?
Okay, so I'll start it.
Qc, that's where we have somuch diversity.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
And opportunity.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
We did it.
That's a good team effort.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
We're a good team, gary.
Thank you so much.
Where can people get the bookfrom, or is it Amazon?
Speaker 1 (43:25):
Yes, it's on Amazon, Yep.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Okay, amazing.
I will link that in thisdescription.
If you want to check it out,click that link, and if you want
to learn more about Beyond theBaseline, I'll have the listing
also linked in the descriptionhere, whether you're on YouTube
or you're listening to the audioversion, and that's all from me
, gary, is there anything thatwe didn't touch on that you
wanted to mention?
(43:47):
We could talk for hours but youcan't change the world all in
like.
One hour right, you can solveall the world's problems.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when A podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C one wordto 38314.
(44:14):
Message and data rates mayapply.
Now, at 60 years, 61 years old, I don't remember wins
, losses, much anything, but Iremember the commitment and
what's really cool is now mykids who are two of them now
parents remember that andteaching that to their kids as
well.
(00:20):
So just that commitment that ittook and that is so huge.
So the one thing use U Sportsto build a lifelong relationship
with your child every day.
That's what it's for.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I'm your host,katrina, and today I'm talking
to Gary Thrapp, beyond theBaseline.
Owner and recent author.
So, gary, thank you so much fortalking to me today.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Good afternoon.
So we are talking in early July2025, if you're listening in
the future, hello.
So, gary, you've been in thesports landscape for decades.
You've been a coach for 40years.
You opened Beyond the Baselinewhat 20 years ago or so?
(01:32):
Before we get into anything, Iwant to hear just how did you
get into, like, the sports realm?
What started it all for you?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I actually, when I was at college I was asked by
one of my friends if he wantedto, if I wanted to help him
coach a youth baseball team.
So I had played sports, youknow, but hadn't really coached.
So that was so much fun I wasonly what, 20 years old or
whatever and had so much funcoaching the younger generation
(02:04):
that I wanted to really stickwith that.
So spent, you know, ever sincethen, 40 years later, have
coached a variety of differentsports and a variety of
different kids.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So, yeah, has it been primarily youth collegiate, a
variety that you've been workingwith?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I'm not smart enough to coach college, so I stick
with the kids, because then Ilook more important, don't you
think?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
The kids don't know what they don't know right.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, actually, they teach me more than I teach them,
quite honestly.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That's fair.
I have two little boys of myown and the things I, the things
I learned throughout the dayabout life and everything else
is yeah it's beyond, but sothat's awesome.
So I want to talk a little bitabout beyond the baseline, so
primarily youth sports.
(02:57):
What kinds of groups, whatkinds of coaching all happens
there.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
We really do a lot of community-based stuff there
because we really are trying todig into helping anybody that's
interested in sports participate.
You can spend so much moneythese days, and you know,
looking for differentopportunities to play.
My wife and I personally havespent probably the equivalent of
a college education for each ofour kids, you know, trying to
(03:24):
help them be prepared for highschool and college, so we get
that.
So it's very important to giveevery kid an opportunity to
compete, regardless of whetherthey have the financial backing
or not.
So that's our primary focusright now.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Have you had like a favorite type of sport or
favorite moments in your yearsthat beyond the baseline that
you've been working with?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Wow, do you have like six hours to talk, or what?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
This is our podcast.
Gary, we can talk as long asyou want.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh gosh.
So there's so many moments, Imean you spree, you.
Sports brings out so many coolopportunities and so many, uh,
I've learned so much from kidson you know the right way to do
things, maybe the wrong way todo things.
So yeah, it's, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The people who work within, Beyond the Baseline, you
know, is there like aphilanthropic kind of background
or like just sport, a love forsports Like what?
What are you seeing as far asthe people who are helping you
on this mission?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I have really been, have been able to partner
with people that love kids.
They love helping kids helpthem go from point A to point B.
They're not.
You know we all want to win,right?
That's so much of the purposefor playing is try to help kids
learn how to win at differentthings.
(04:49):
But our group of adults reallyenjoy helping kids improve in a
lot of different ways, not justa sport that they're playing,
but if they're struggling atschool, struggling at home, you
know have different issues thatthey're dealing with.
These days it's so difficult togrow up with social media and
(05:11):
you know so much pressure outthere in the world that we're
trying to be there to help themprogress.
So that's our main focus.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So you've got a ton of experience.
You know, like you said, youlearn just as much, if not more,
from these kids as you're ableto share with them, and so I
have to imagine that all of thisknowledge base was the premise
and crux of the wild world ofyouth sports.
Can you talk about that bookand what's inside?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, I guess I was smart enough to take notes,
starting 30 years ago, ondifferent things that you know.
I was very noticeable and putit all together with the main
purpose of trying to help theyoung parent, young coach, have
(06:11):
strategies to succeed, helpingtheir child use youth sports to
not only to be a great teammate,a great player of the sport,
but also help them develop astrong foundation to live a long
and and a prosperous life.
So that's the main thing.
And then another element of thebook is to really try to solve
(06:34):
that issue.
What can we do to help?
What can we do together aspeople to help youth sports
improve for everyone, not justour child, but every child.
So it has, you know, differentelements of that and I broke it
down into 150 strategies, a fewmore than 150 on specific things
that we can do to succeed atthat.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Not to give away kind of like you know the whole
index of what's inside the book,but like what?
What is the answer?
What is an answer to thatquestion?
What can we do, like you know,as coaches or mentors or just
guardians?
What can we do to help kidsjust succeed and prosper in
whatever sport they're trying toget involved into?
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, I think one of the biggest things these days,
with the power of social mediaand how our kids are baited,
just to watch click after clickafter click.
One thing we need to do betteras adults is to communicate with
them, not to them.
You know, the traditionalcoaching style is do it my way
(07:38):
and I'm going to talk with youon how you do it.
I've been the most successfulcoaching this generation by
asking a lot of questions, bygetting to know them, building
those relationships and thentaking what they're experiencing
if this makes sense and helpthem take that next step in a
simple sport.
So, yeah, it's a wholedifferent approach, I think,
(08:02):
than what I grew up with.
We used to just show up and thecoach told us what to do.
Now we need to work with thekids a little bit more and help
them progress.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So let me ask is that a product of like society
changing and generations beingdifferent from the next?
Or is that a product of like usjust learning better techniques
as coaches?
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I maybe a little bit of both, but I will say, with
the power of social media, thepressure that our kids are
feeling right now and the youknow that input of information
they're getting nonstop, a lotof it negative.
I mean, if I grew up today, whoknows where I would be right
now?
Because we were not exposed tothings like that at an early age
(08:50):
and our kids first, second,third grade are getting exposed
to so many difficult things thatyouth sports is just a great
way to release from that andthat's kind of how we have to
look at it as and do a betterjob as adults to use you sports
as a great learning experiencefor our kids.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
That's a cool point.
The thing that, like you know,it's like a mom that scared me
about seeing social media growand change rapidly and expand.
Like, my kids are super youngand they already know how to
like, get on a phone and getinto apps and things that, like,
I didn't even know how theyfunctioned or that I had, you
know, on my phone.
(09:32):
So, like, not only like, arethey accessing things that you
know it's so much harder to lockdown you have to just make sure
that you're on it.
You know the locks, theparental controls and all of
that and stuff.
But, like, the thing that'salways scared me is like they're
going to have access toliterally every bit of
information somewhere somehow,and it's a lot and it's
(09:53):
overwhelming, you know.
So, having that piece of youknow, being able to involve
yourself in a sport at a youngage is is a good way to, like
you said, have a you know, arelease, something to occupy
yourself, to focus on.
But then there's also theelement of social media that's
inevitable.
About the comparison, you know,it's like how magazines used to
(10:13):
be Do I look or do I?
Am I doing the things thatthese models in the magazines
are doing?
It's like you know what arekids my age, or you know people
doing or experiencing, and I'mconstantly in that constant
comparison mode.
You know that's something thatcoaches or you know guardians or
parents have to be able to stepin and go hey, what you're
(10:34):
seeing in all these places maynot be reality.
And even if it is, you knowyou're running your own race, so
to speak.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, and this is where we need to improve greatly
.
And you're right by beingfearful of that.
As a young parent, we need toask more questions than how are
you doing today?
And if they say great, we justkind of okay, let's move on.
No, we need to ask morequestions.
That's one thing I was smartenough to do when I was, you
(11:06):
know, when my four kids wereyounger was not just be happy
with a yeah, everything's greatanswer.
It was more hey, what happenedat school today?
Who'd you talk to?
I asked 20 questions, 10different directions, to find
out what they were thinking andwhat they were experiencing.
What they were thinking andwhat they were experiencing and
(11:26):
with the mental health crisis wehave in our nation now, with
our young people getting exposedto so much information, this is
vital that we use youth sportsto take that approach with our
kids.
Every practice, every game theyattend, what did you see?
I know what I saw if I wasthere, but I want to know what
you saw as a young person.
That can be so different.
(11:48):
And then our teaching momentsthere are.
Ok, now let's take what you sawand let's take that next step,
If that makes sense, rather thanhey, I'm the adult, I know what
I'm doing.
Listen to me and you'll be fine.
That approach does not work.
Maybe as well as it used to.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, that's for sure , Help me break down the title.
So the wild world of youthsports, Tell me, like if I've
not yet, you know, entered theworld of youth sports, my kids
aren't in sports yet.
Or maybe I never had experiencelike what is wild about youth
sports.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
go through that well, one element of is of it is the
adults involved, having Iestimated over the last 19 years
that I've managed about 50,000games both basketball,
volleyball, wrestling in thelast 19 years alone.
So I so I've witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly in youth
(12:47):
sports, and it can get wild.
And one thing in particularthat has become very clear to me
over the years is that whathappens out in our communities,
what happens outside of youthsports our frustrations, our
difficulties so often plays outwhile we're watching our child
compete in a sport, if thatmakes sense.
(13:08):
So you know, when I'm workingdaily with people during events
and something frustratinghappens, or they get an argument
or something of that nature,and I start to deal with that
and try to slow it down.
So often they were mad beforethey walked in, if that makes
sense.
And so those types ofde-escalation strategies are so
(13:33):
huge in youth sports, and sothat's part of the wild world of
youth sports is to learn how todeal with those things when
they happen.
It's very easy to go on socialmedia and hear people
complaining about man.
You know what happened in thatbaseball game this weekend.
These people wouldn't let a15-year-old umpire alone, they
just kept yelling at them.
All right, did you help slow itdown or did you just sit there
(13:57):
and shake your head?
So you know, we have to take alittle bit more active, positive
role to make, to help yousports improve for everyone.
That's not easy to do andthere's, you know, I do include
strategies in there, and it'snot only for the, you know, the
parent, but anybody who'sinterested in helping you sports
improve.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
So yeah, yeah, I could see you know kind of
coming on to whether you're acoach or a ref or something you
know, involving yourself into asport.
I, you know, I can see those.
There's psychology behind itand there's, you know, just
societal differences behind itand I can see people easily
throwing their hands up andgoing.
(14:37):
I didn't sign up for this.
I signed up to help kids learnhow to play soccer or, you know,
or something, something likethat.
And so having a resource fromsomeone like yourself, who you
know is decades in the making ofyou know, experience and
situations and 50,000 events andgrowing, what a great, what a
(14:59):
great tangible resource.
To just go, I'm not alone.
Crack open the book, take alook at someone who's walked the
road before.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Yeah, and that's really what I enjoy doing is try
to share, you know, things thathave worked for me and things
that I've seen work for otherpeople.
I do that every time I, youknow, coach a practice with our
kids that you know.
I just try to not be so much apreacher of here's how you do it
, but more they're helpingeveryone head in a good
(15:30):
direction, including myself.
I'm constantly looking in the,looking in the mirror as a
parent, grandparent, coach,mentor.
What can I do better?
My gosh, you know, when youtake that approach number one,
it's amazing how you can changethe world right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I love that.
So have you been in the QuadCities your whole life.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
My wife grew up in the Quad Cities.
We met at the University ofIowa and our plan was she was a
little bit smarter than me,don't tell her I said that but
our plan was whoever got a jobfirst, that's the direction we
would head.
She happened to get a job inthe Quad Cities, so that's where
we stabilized our lives, so tospeak.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
And yeah, Did you know going in?
Okay, we're going to gowherever the first opportunity
strikes.
Did you know that a facilityand a mission like Beyond the
Baseline was going to be in yourfuture, that you were going to
be doing that?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Heck, no, no clue, Literally.
I just got really involved inyouth sports.
Our kids were actively involvedin basketball as one of their
sports and we noticed over thesummer if we wanted to get any
games whatsoever, we had totravel to get them, whether it
was Milwaukee, Chicago or notanywhere much around our area
(16:44):
that offered that.
So you know, when I heard thatour facility came up for sale,
it was an old college.
Then I'm like, well, let's gogive it a try, See, you know,
let's go take a look at it.
So I ended up working out and19 years later, look how smart I
am.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, that's amazing.
What was the college that itused to be?
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Marycrest College yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Oh, okay, gotcha, I'm not a native of the Quad Cities
.
I've lived here basically mywhole adult life and I've got
relatives who we always came andvisited, so I'm very familiar
with all the QC history to anextent.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
And.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And I haven't heard of that one, but I wondered if
it was something in my brain,but no, it wasn't.
But, but that's, that's awesome.
So you literally were like itwas like a means to an end.
You you needed to solve aproblem.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That and I was literally just looking for a
place for my kids.
I was looking for a garage Iwould drive around.
My wife and I have been in realestate in our community for
about 30 years, and so I wasliterally going around looking
for a garage to have our ownkids have a place to, you know,
a batting cage and shoot arounda little bit in the wintertime,
and ended up with a 30,000square foot gymnasium.
(18:00):
Smart move right.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
That's.
That's excellent and, like youknow, that investment so many
years ago into a communitythat's only grown since then has
contributed eons to like wewere talking earlier today about
just our group business.
Visit Quad Cities.
You know, recruiting businessrecruiting group business Over
(18:22):
half is sports related and soyour facility has helped boost
that.
You know people can now comehere.
People who are here can stayhere, people who you know want
to have a tournament can comehere thanks to what you've
opened.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, and it's interesting that when you follow
what you do, what's going to beinteresting is to see what the
landscape is like in 20, 30years, because massive youth
sports facilities are developingall across the country, and so
it'll be interesting to see whatthat means.
(19:02):
Does that mean our quality willnecessarily go up?
You know?
Are kids getting better atsports because of it, or you
know it's hard to say.
So it's going to be interestingwhat you know what the
landscape looks like in 20 years.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
What's your take on like how the Quad Cities is
competitively positioned toattract and retain youth sports?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, it's really like any business that you do.
The one thing about youthsports is in business.
It's not like going in andbuying a pair of shoes.
It's one of those things.
Someone, when they leave ourbuilding, either won a game or
lost a game.
Someone, when they leave ourbuilding, either won a game or
lost a game.
So imagine being in businesswhere 50% of your customers tend
(19:50):
to be a little frustrated whenthey leave.
You couldn't run too manybusinesses like that, right.
So you got to do those extrathings to help build
relationships with people and togive them a reason to come back
, and I've been able tocapitalize on that.
Not that we do everythingperfectly, by any stretch of the
imagination, but for anycommunity we're geographically
(20:15):
in a good spot.
How are we taking care of thepeople that come here to play?
That's the huge question.
That's the question anybodyasks in business, right.
How are we taking care of ourcustomers?
So it's a little bit morechallenging, like I mentioned in
new sports, but it's doable.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
What's an answer to that?
What's an example of what youcan or have done to ease the
pain a little bit on a groupthat came in and did lose or,
you know, didn't have thechampionship experience that
they had hoped.
You know that kind of thingwhether or not, whether or not
they enjoyed their time in theQC is a totally different issue.
(20:57):
But like physically walking outa little disappointed.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Well, that's a challenge, especially if it
costs so much to participate.
Yeah, because you know having ahigh cost might pay the bills,
but it doesn't necessarily.
Well, that's a challenge,especially if it costs so much
to participate.
Yeah, because you know, havinga high cost might pay the bills,
but it doesn't necessarily helpyou build a relationship with
your customer.
And what I see is that thereare so many people out there so
drained of money, they know whatit costs to participate and
(21:29):
they're stretched thin.
And so then, when you combinethat with the uncertainty of,
okay, how do I make sure mychild is in a good situation?
How do I make sure that themoney I'm spending is going
correctly, if I'm spending itwisely?
And that's another reason why Imade the Wild World of Youth
Sports is to try to help theyoung parent give good
(21:50):
strategies to make sure theirmoney is being spent wisely.
So that's one of those things.
It's very difficult because newteams in any sport are
developed twice a year maybe,and these are people that come
together that may not have beentogether, so so many different
(22:10):
things can play out whilethey're watching their kid
compete.
It's a constant challenge.
That's not easy to stay on topof, and it takes a lot of
empathy, takes a lot of care.
People have to trust that youcare about their experience and
that's not easy to do in half aday, right, or in a day.
So this is a huge challengethat we need to be really good
at in a variety of ways to beable to communicate that to
(22:35):
parents and to our customers andto our staffing, be on the same
page on what our purpose is andthat's one of my motivations
now is to help utilize myexperience in a variety of
different ways to help othercommunities.
You know, put on good eventsand what have you so?
Speaker 2 (22:56):
what like speaking in the Quad Cities and the
partnership you know that wehave with Beyond the Baseline
and the relationship thatparents have with Beyond the
Baseline and other facilitiesthat help foster youth sports.
What can I do as a parent and acommunity member or a Quad
citizen do to help support thegrowth and success of youth
(23:21):
sports in this region?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Well, that's a tricky question.
Number one you want to focus onhelping your child be in good
situations.
Number two we need leaders incharge of events to understand
what our purpose is.
It's not just grabbing themoney when it walks in and then
paying our bills.
(23:45):
It's more okay.
What are we doing here?
What's the purpose of this?
And are we taking care of ourcustomer properly?
And defining what that means isdifficult.
How are we handling issues whenthey happen?
That's another question.
Another huge thing we've got tofocus on as well or at least I
(24:06):
do, when you know I'm confrontedwith a variety of different
situations.
So it's really buildingrelationships a lot.
It's understanding what ourpurpose is in youth sports, why
we're doing it that type ofthing.
Now you got me all wound up.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Me too.
Tell me now about the threeevents before we started
recording.
You were telling me a littlebit about the three events that
you helped put on the, the, theshootout, the all-star and then
the give it a try event.
So start with with the shootout.
Tell me all about that and whatthat?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
yeah uh, it's, uh, it's a varsity girls basketball
uh event and it's in january ofevery year and my two daughters
actually played in it whenblackhawk college uh used to
manage it, used to run it.
They started it several yearsago and, uh, all of a sudden I
heard maybe I don't evenremember seven or eight years
(25:07):
ago that they were going todiscontinue doing it.
So then, since my daughtersplayed, and it was such a huge
event for our area, I felt forfemale sports that I decided to
reach out to the schools andreach out to, you know,
augustana, mike Sapolsky overthere, and keep it going.
So I literally got that tohappen within a couple of weeks,
(25:29):
thankfully.
So that's one event.
We're up to now, 28 teams intotal, 14 games.
We play at Augustana Collegeand Wharton Fieldhouse and it's
awesome, I love, I love doing it.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Logistically.
There's so much that goes intoit and the fact that you were
able to kind of pick it up andrun with it and make it happen
so quickly, seeing the need, issuper impressive and it just
goes to show like the passionand the heart that you had
behind that.
And so the all-star event wasthat kind of a similar situation
(26:04):
.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Yeah, it was basically when I started at
beyond the baseline.
I looked for needs that we hadout in our community.
What, uh, what is missing?
What can we add?
I didn't try to take businessfrom other places, I just tried
to say, hey, what could we use?
Yeah, and one thing that wasn'thappening was an Iowa versus
Illinois all-star volleyballevent.
(26:26):
So I started that about 10 or11 years ago just to highlight,
you know, more female athletesthat were striving to be the
best, and it's been verysuccessful and just love having
watching the best compete.
I not only love having our freeprograms where we help kids who
may be in second, third, fourthgrade that don't have the money
(26:47):
to compete at a high level yet,but I love watching the best
compete as well.
So we try to combine that allin one location a little bit and
it's awesome.
I just love doing it.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I bet that one's high energy like competitive rivalry
wise.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
It really, really is now.
I was one, every one of them.
Illinois has never won, in factillinois I think it's only won
a couple sets.
So illinois, we got to get.
We got to do a better job overthere.
But it is amazing how muchbetter volleyball has gotten in
our community over the years.
But at the same, at the sametime, it's also amazing and I
(27:27):
keep saying this just becauseit's true Uh, we need to do a
better job at helping ourathletes who don't have a lot of
money to get involved in theelite programs um have an
opportunity to compete.
So that's why I started.
Which is even my bigger passionis our free programs to help
our kids get started in a sportand try to prime that pump and
(27:50):
and plant those seeds to begreat.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
And that that piece aligns with the give it a try
event.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Tell me about that one, that one.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Well, see, one thing I love doing is is researching
what other areas do across thecountry, and if we're missing it
, I'll start it.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
I feel like I can and I noticed in some other areas
that people were doing give it atry events for kids who don't
have an opportunity to try stuff.
So I'm like, hey, let's see,I've got a location.
Now I just got to get somesports in there.
We ended up having seven oreight sports, about 70 kids
there in our first one here lastMarch.
So we're doing that every year,Worked with some quality local
(28:33):
groups.
I didn't come up with anythingnew necessarily myself in that
regard, but we had some awesomepeople doing great things that
we got them all together and putkids, give them the opportunity
to play seven different sportsin one morning.
So it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I literally they, they come to a location and like
it's like like stations you dothis for a certain amount of
time.
Go to the next one.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Yep, we had archery, we had golf, we had boxing, we
had track.
We had archery, we had golf, wehad boxing, we had track, we
had basketball, volleyball, alittle workout, yeah, it was, it
was awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Yeah, you see, any kids come into that, or parents
come into that with oneexpectation, thinking I'm here
to try X and I left loving Y andZ.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
A little bit.
Yeah, kids, you could reallysee.
Having worked with kids for solong, you could really see their
minds kind of trying to figurethis out.
They had never swung a clubbefore, sure, or pulled an arrow
back before.
They're like what is going tohappen and just watching the
young mind experience.
That was so cool and whatmotivates me the most, of course
(29:46):
, is to that you might bepriming one person to be great
at it sometime down the road.
That's just how this works,right, so that's so much fun.
So we look forward to doingthat, all you know, every year.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
That's.
That's a really interestingtype of outreach because, like
the you know, the school's PEclasses can really only cover so
much, right.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Like.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
I'm from Michigan, but I'm fairly certain they
don't teach archery or boxingfor that matter.
You know, at the public schools.
I mean I could be wrong, so nohate mail please.
But you know there's all thesedifferent interesting types of
sports and there's all theseinteresting groups and clubs and
like leagues in the communityand in other.
You know other communities too.
(30:31):
Like you said, you research allthe time but like it's all out
there and you just you'll neverknow if you or your child or you
know someone that you uhguardian over would like it or
take to it, unless they get achance to go and do something
like give it a try.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, absolutely, and we just try to add two things.
We have so many good PEteachers in our community that
do different things.
I was over at the East MolineSchool at Glenview and the PE
teacher there had the kidsplaying just little short
pickleball little game and theywere having the greatest time,
and you know.
So there is that element outthere, especially with the
(31:06):
creative PE teachers.
But at the same time you cannever do enough of this stuff
for kids and it was just so muchfun yeah for sure Is there.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Is there a sport you kind of mentioning pickleball
got me kind of on this Is therea sport that you are seeing
creeping up as it's gettingbigger?
You know, something that maybea decade ago wasn't really on
people's radar.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Girls wrestling, oh okay, that seems to be doing
pretty good and it's prettyawesome to see these kids, you
know, and now that's a goodthing, but at the same time it's
you know, you see, girlsbasketball maybe not doing as
well as it used to 10 years ago,so it's kind of a give and take
a little bit.
But yeah, that pickleball isdoing really well.
(31:53):
I mean, we have a group ofretired people that come in and
play pickleball regularly.
So I mean that's something,that's one of those lifelong
sports that once you enjoy ityou can play the rest of your
life.
So that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
So walk me through.
You know beyond the baseline.
Tell me about the facility Likewhat's?
How has it evolved over thelast?
You know 19, 20 years and what.
What do you guys have if I'mwalking in for the first time?
Speaker 1 (32:25):
I have the need to have somebody mop the floor.
Can you do that?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yes, I'll be right there.
I use Swiffers, but I'll seeyou at four.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Wait, is it four o'clock?
No, it's just an old building.
Quite honestly, it's in a partof the community that I love
being in.
A lot of our kids can walkthere and participate there and
participate it's, you know, justfour courts of.
(32:55):
You know madness sometimes, butI like to use it to help kids.
The thing about youth sports,like basketball, like volleyball
we have a little bit of anadvantage over, maybe, school,
because kids who may not want togo to school want to come and
play a sport, if that makessense.
So now, while they're coming in, we have their ear a little bit
(33:16):
more and we motivate them to bethe best student, and so youth
sports is an awesome way to usekids' enthusiasm to help them
become the complete teammate, soto speak that I like to say and
also a great student, a greatcitizen with a future that they
(33:36):
feel like they're in charge of.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
If you could offer one piece of advice to you know,
say, a young parent who'sthinking about getting their
kids into sports, or a youngcoach who is kind of coming
online trying to teach somethingthat they love, what would that
piece of advice be?
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Buy that book behind me.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Now, that's the answer I was looking for, that's
all you need.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
In fact, gosh, darn it.
I might have one for you if youwant one, ben.
But yeah, seriously, that'swhat that was designed for.
But I will say probably thebiggest thing that, because
there's a lack of knowledge onwhat approaches to take in youth
sports, so often we rely onwhether we won the last game or
(34:28):
not to decide whether we'reheading in a good direction.
And that's like fool's gold inyouth sports.
Winning a game or losing a gamedoes not mean you're heading in
a good direction.
Now, obviously, if you won agame, you feel a little bit
better, right, but who'd youplay?
I mean you can ask a variety ofdifferent questions.
There's so many teams out there.
(34:48):
So, unfortunately, with thelack of knowledge that we have
out there on what good coachingis, what bad coaching is, what
our best approach is, then wewill rely on whether we want our
game or not, on whether we wantto keep going that direction,
and that's one of those thingsthat I try to steer people away
(35:09):
from.
Some people have the absolutebest coach right now and they
lose half their games, and soit's hard, and then so many
parents are willing to drop thatbecause they think they can win
more games than another team.
So that's a difficult thing,that's not an easy.
That's not an easy thing toovercome.
That's not an easy, that's notan easy thing to overcome.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
There's so many like life lessons that I think
coaches accidentally leavebehind in their, in their kids.
Like you know, I was a runner,basically from middle school on
through college and had avariety of coaches.
Some I clicked with, some Ididn't, and that's all fine.
But regardless of you knowwhether I always respected them,
(35:53):
you know whether they, whetherI felt like they were giving me
advice I wanted to hear or not,you know it's like I feel like I
could pluck something from eachof them that they literally
accidentally left behind.
And you know one, one of mycoaches in college, he, just he
really, and you know we we wouldpractice early in the morning
(36:14):
but he would really just houndus like this is so simple.
But like, be on time, be ontime, be early.
If you're not 10 minutes early,you're late in my eyes and you
know it was like 6am so we'regoing like okay, sure, but you
know that translated not justinto sports and not just into
preparedness and working hard.
It translated into, like youknow, your first job interview.
(36:36):
It translated into he wasreally instilling a life lesson,
that he was just trying to getus to practice on time, you know
and to get things started andjust to really show us, like,
(36:57):
how can we be a solid team inthis very simple way, and it's
something I draw from constantlytoday.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
And that's awesome, because now look at you as a
young parent.
You can take things thatcoaches may not have done very
well and you can fix that foryour child a little bit better.
You can take the things thatmotivated you and transfer that
to your kids as well.
So it gives you that extra edgewhen you were so dug in to use
(37:24):
sports and that's what I'vealways tried to do.
I can remember to this day andI'm old who motivated me when I
was young to get better and whodemotivated me, and I could look
down on the ones whodemotivated me.
But I don't.
I stay positive and I say I'mgoing to use that experience to
(37:45):
help the next generation.
And the more we take thatapproach, you know, the more
opportunity we have to makepositive impact in a variety of
different ways.
So not everybody's going to becoachable the same way.
There are so many differentapproaches out there.
We have to take that mentality,that we take any experience
(38:07):
that we had whether we're aparent watching our kids play
and try to turn that into apositive learning experience for
our kids.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
So I asked you a question earlier that you didn't
quite answer, and I'm gonna askyou again and we're not getting
until you answer my question.
Decades of decades of coachingexperience, things that you've
seen, tens of thousands ofevents.
Do you have that one moment,that one highlight, that's just
like, ah, this is why we're here.
Speaker 1 (38:39):
It's now looking in the eyes of my kids and knowing
I was there every day, workingwith them to get better.
That's the only thing.
Now, at 60 years, 61 years old,I don't remember wins, losses,
much anything, but I rememberthe commitment and what's really
cool is now my kids who are twoof them now parents remember
(39:04):
that and teaching that to theirkids as well.
So just that commitment that ittook and that is so huge.
So the one thing use youthsports to build a lifelong
relationship with your childevery day.
That's what it's for.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
That is so true.
And now that you say that, likeI think back to the, I think I
was a, you know, competitiverunner for, like you know, a
dozen years or so and, yeah,like hundreds of meets, you know
hundreds of races, track, crosscountry.
Out in my mind is when I was inhigh school, particularly like
(39:48):
freshman, sophomore year, beforeI could drive, before I could
do things on my own, we hadsummer running schedules we had
to do to prepare and my dad,like two, three times a week,
would drive me up to the trackand we would run three miles
together and if he didn't wantto do the three miles with me,
he would do his own sprints orwhatever workout in the middle.
(40:10):
But he was there with me whileI was doing my runs and getting
my miles in.
And that's the first thing thatcomes to mind, which is so cool
.
It was that commitment, it wasthat very hands-on one-on-one.
I'm with you, I'm supportingyou approach.
That is the first thing Iremember.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Isn't that awesome.
I mean, you may not rememberthat many wins or losses while
you were running, but youremember that love and that
commitment.
And this is what motivates meeven more as a quad citizen is
to provide opportunities forkids who may not have a strong
adult at home, a strong dad athome, and still give them
(40:54):
opportunities to succeed.
And that's not easy to do,because nothing replaces a
parent that's there every singleday and that's a tough part,
but I'm inspired and motivatedto work with any kids that and
it's so much fun to share asmile with a kid when they
achieve something and you helpthem do it, regardless of whose
(41:16):
child it is.
And that motivates me now to noend is just helping kids smile.
And you know probably the mostdifficult thing that youth
sports helps you achieve I don'tknow if it's difficult or not,
but the amazing thing I'm goingto warn you when you help a lot
(41:38):
of kids, you know what it endsup having you do.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
What.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Say I love you to more people.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Now I'm going to cry.
Look what you did.
I got to slow down.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
That makes so much.
I mean your capacity to loveand see the other side and help
and help people grow isexpanding.
The more kids, the morefamilies that you touch yeah the
more kids, the more familiesthat you touch.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
Yeah, and I wouldn't change it for anything.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
It's so much fun helping kids, helping families
and what have you.
So this was so great, gary.
Seriously, I can't thank youenough for for giving us the
time, and I am very, veryexcited to check out the wild
world of youth sports.
I definitely.
If you can't, if you're notwatching the YouTube version, if
you're listening to this onaudio it's behind Gary's right
shoulder and I've been staringat it this entire podcast so
excited to read it.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
I'm not so stupid, am I?
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I see this setup.
It was very it was veryprofessional.
It's the details that matter.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
I'm slowly learning.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
So, gary, I have a tradition at the end of this
podcast you may or may not beaware of.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I'm going to have you fill in the blank QC.
That's where, okay, I'msupposed to do that.
You got to help me, don't worryabout it.
You help me, okay?
Okay, so I'll start it.
Qc, that's where we have somuch diversity.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
And opportunity.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
We did it.
That's a good team effort.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
We're a good team, gary.
Thank you so much.
Where can people get the bookfrom, or is it Amazon?
Speaker 1 (43:25):
Yes, it's on Amazon, Yep.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
Okay, amazing.
I will link that in thisdescription.
If you want to check it out,click that link, and if you want
to learn more about Beyond theBaseline, I'll have the listing
also linked in the descriptionhere, whether you're on YouTube
or you're listening to the audioversion, and that's all from me
, gary, is there anything thatwe didn't touch on that you
wanted to mention?
(43:47):
We could talk for hours but youcan't change the world all in
like.
One hour right, you can solveall the world's problems.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when A podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C one wordto 38314.
(44:14):
Message and data rates mayapply.
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