A concise, practical newsletter helping families and youth sports leaders navigate youth sports with more perspective, less pressure, and greater purpose.
Before the Schedules Take Over
Before the Schedules Take OverIssue 001 - Fall Lead-In Series Schedule announcements, equipment lists, a team group chat already. Fall sports move fast once they start. Before the schedules take over, it helps to slow down long enough to ask what kind of season your athlete is entering. Not just what team they're on or what the calendar looks like. What they're carrying into it. 1 IdeaYour athlete may need a different scoreboard than the one everyone else is watching. Wins, stats, team placement, and playing time are easy to see. Other things are easier to miss:
Performance matters, but it is not the only scoreboard worth watching. 1 Resource🎙️Youth Sports United Podcast: Kayla Buck on Normalizing Parent Uncertainty in Youth Sports Buck says out loud what many sports parents feel: I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. Athletes get coached, coaches get trained, but parents are often left to figure it out as they go. The move worth borrowing: Treat this season as something to learn, not something you're supposed to already have mastered.
1 Conversation StarterAsk your athlete: "What would make this a good season for you?" Then listen longer than feels natural. Skip the fixing, correcting, and coaching tips for a moment. Just listen. Worth RememberingA good season is not only measured by what your athlete accomplishes. It is also measured by who they are becoming while they are in it. From Rising Athlete ProjectRising Athlete Project creates parent field guides and free resources for families navigating key youth and school sports transitions: the first season, middle school athletics, and the jump to high school. The goal is to help families slow down, ask better questions, and understand what actually matters before they are trying to figure it out mid-season.
Stephen Anderson Founder, Rising Athlete Project P.S. Know a parent, coach, AD, or youth sports leader who would appreciate this? Feel free to forward it along. |
Rising Athlete Report
A concise, practical newsletter helping families and youth sports leaders navigate youth sports with more perspective, less pressure, and greater purpose.
When Reality Doesn't Match Expectations Issue 007 - Fall Lead-In Series A few weeks ago, much of the fall sports season existed mostly on paper. There were schedules, open gyms, summer workouts, and plenty of expectations about what the months ahead might look like. Now, for many families, the picture is starting to become a little clearer. Maybe your athlete is playing exactly the role they expected. Maybe they're playing a different position, competing against stronger teammates, or finding...
The Ride Home Matters Issue 006 - Fall Lead-In Series There are two very different versions of the ride home in youth sports. After a game, parents have often seen almost everything. We watched the great play, the missed opportunity, the interaction with the coach, the questionable call, and the body language on the bench. By the time our athlete gets in the car, we may have spent the last hour accumulating things we'd like to talk about. After a practice, tryout, or open gym, the opposite...
Don't Let Pressure Set the Agenda Issue 005 - Fall Lead-In Series The season has a way of speeding everything up. For some families, this is the first week of official practices. Others have already started settling into the rhythm of games, carpools, and evening routines. Still others are counting down the days until the season begins. Wherever your family falls on the calendar, this is often the point where youth sports start asking for more of your attention: schedules fill up,...