KidFirst Sports

Refugees from war torn and conflict-ridden nations the world over land on American shores. They join communities in small towns and large cities. They go to school, they work, they shop for groceries. The parents wonder if their kids will be accepted. Will there be a friend group they can belong to? Adam Miles founded Refugee Soccer in a profound answer to this question in so many worried hearts....

Ryan's book, ⁠Wounds⁠ Ryan's podcast, ⁠Authentic Conversations The true power of sports is not the exhilaration of success, but the learning, growing, and confidence that come from overcoming the obstacles that stand in our way. Today, I'm excited to share a conversation I had with Ryan Miller, a sales and life coach who knows the lessons of failure deeply. Ryan and I delve into how sp...

Can officials and referees impact the kids in the competitions they oversee? Only if they can say "every player is my favorite player" and mean it. Referees have a powerful opportunity to be KidFirst. Both to the players, the parents, and the coaches. James is trying to show how.

Junior Seau. Aaron Hernandez. Frank Gifford. CTE. A terrifying brain disease that drastically alters the personality of the victim, often ending tragically. Sadly, it's not confined to the NFL. Dr. Kathleen Bachynski , Assistant Professor of Public Health at my alma mater, Muhlenberg College , thinks that our kids need us adults to protect them from serious injuries health issues like CTE. You...

Winning can be a curse. How? Pay too high a price for it. Dallin Anderson is a regular dad who is extraordinary at striking the right balance for his 7 kids. This balance is based on the family's 4 foundations: love of God, kindness to others, love of learning, and physical challenges through sports.

Once we were athletes. Then we got injured, or old, or distracted by life. What were we then? Antone Wilson faced this question three times in his journey from star running back to HealthTech founder and leader. Each time, he heard the voice in his head of coaches who had shaped his young life. Discipline, structure, preparation, self-belief. Antone wants to wake up the rest of the American footba...

Not Good Enough An executive with the Kansas City Royals and longtime youth baseball coach was shocked into silence. After a game, his son said, "Dad, I sit behind the drivers seat in the car ride home because then you can't see me." Tony Snethen was crushed. And he knew he had to change. In partnership with the Kansas City Royals and BlueCross Blue Shield of KC, he helped write and...

What could a person who has played and coached at the very highest levels possibly have to gain by running an all-girls youth soccer club? For Allison Gibson, that was entirely the wrong question. Her transition from D-1 coach to president of the Indie Chicas FC wasn't about glory or accomplishment. She wanted to build confidence in young girls. Shape them to be leaders. You can feel the perso...

Young Tom Peterson waffled between badminton and volleyball - thankfully for the 1994 Penn State and 2004 BYU men's volleyball national championship teams, he picked the latter. Now the coach at Southern Virginia University, Tom has seen it all and still loves practicing what he preaches. Some nuggets of wisdom from Tom's decades of coaching young people (and their parents): if you don&#39...

Baumgartner, Idaho , humbles you with the raw natural power of a river carving its path through stone for thousands of years. A perfect setting for 3 sports dads - and brother in laws - to talk about coaching wrestling, mountain biking, the Harlem Globetrotters, and a kid named Cooper. There are some absolute nuggets of KidFirst wisdom from Adam Buchanan ( First Generation Bowhunter podcast ) and...

Imagine the conversation with your son after he falls just short of making his dream college soccer team. Now imagine that you are on the coaching staff. Casey Waldron faced this heartbreaking situation with his son, Maxwell. Thank goodness Casey is the kind of dad and coach who has taught the Heart Lessons to his players - especially when they are his own children. Casey and I were college soccer...

Nationally known journalist and author of the paradigm-shifting book, "Never Pay the First Bill", Marshall Allen has spent a lifetime finding ways to help people. His dad taught him that what he does is more important than what he says. As a Sports Dad whose son could have played more on his club volleyball team, Marshall got to practice his dad's lesson. The next generation of Allen...

His home life as a kid pushed him to do whatever it took to make sure he could do better for his own future children. Trevor Baker thought it would be through his first sporting love, soccer. At age 9 he set his sights on becoming a professional. Just 5 years later he walked away from the game that brought him joy - and respite - to run track. His heart broke to lose his dream. Then he met a coach...

Andrew McNerlin has chased a ghost since his early teens. Along the way, he has battled D-1 soccer studs, Napoleonic coaches, and his own health choices. He thought that ghost was a poster on his wall of an athlete training alone in the rain. But it is really his lesser self. The self that entices him to quit working so hard, quit setting goals, quit holding himself and his family to high standard...

Bennett Candland is a professional strength and conditioning coach. Also a former college basketball player. Now in his mid-20s, he wants to make sure that every player, every serviceman, every person who works with him believes in themselves. Even a small victory can be enough to shift the momentum and brighten their hope. Collegiate athletes bring their personal struggles to their sports. Bennet...

"DadBodSoccer" is now " KidFirst Sports "! Hear the story of my greatest mentor and the Patron Saint of KidFirst Coaches, Mike Merenda. The need for KidFirst adults is so much greater than just soccer, so it is time to bring a new name and logo and purpose to the podcast. Being KidFirst means that adults set aside their egos, their goals, financial incentives, and even their ow...

Justin Batt has taken the parenting world by storm with his book " Daddy Saturdays ". His work is to help dads be more present and to beef up the 4 "F's" - faith, family, fitness, and finances. What does "Daddy Saturdays" and KidFirst Coaching have in common? 90% or more of youth coaches are parents of the kids. And huge numbers of kids who play lack a father figu...

For James Sukhan, life as a kid was tough. No dad at home. Feeling unvalued. Then he got to junior high basketball and two coaches showed him his true worth. Every team or group will have kids from divorced homes, lack of resources, special needs family members, and other challenges. We might think we're running a practice. But those kids are having way more of an experience than just sports....

The world's biggest problems present the world's greatest opportunities. That's what Dave Chase - founder of Health Rosetta and former high school track coach - believes. Youth athletes aren't all that different than former athlete adults. We want our strengths to be seen by coaches and coworkers, and to be helped to progress and improve by those same people. Whether it's resto...

Participation trophies?! Everyone gets a medal? No winners or losers? That's un-American. Preposterous! Or is it? Ewa Lindquist, Swedish former professional player and top level coach, makes a compelling argument that maybe the US is doing it wrong in youth sports. And if the biggest number of kids were encouraged to play for the longest possible time, we just might be surprised at how good they b...

If you are the mayor of a rural Utah town of 1600 people, would you build a soccer complex? You would if your mantra was "Doing good is low hanging fruit". Meet Byron Ames, attorney, varsity soccer coach, former mayor, and full-time visionary. You want to hear his stories, his passion for helping others, and his love for the "lost kids" in his little town who gain community, purpose, and friendshi...

Josh Beers hates losing. He wants to win as much as any competitor I have known. How does he square that fierce drive to win with his lifelong commitment to loving and guiding kids? He changes the definition of "winning". Or, perhaps better said, he EXPANDS the definition. Think of it like having 2 scoreboards for every game. The one that everyone sees and goes into the record books, and...

Mental strength. Getting back up. Trust. Protection. Orienting to something bigger than ourselves. If you are a 'keeper Mom or Dad or coach, or play in that loneliest of positions, this episode is for you. If it feels strange that's because you are used to not getting much attention - until you make a mistake. You deserve way, way better. Garrett Weldon says the things that you have felt a...

College soccer is all about the wins and losses, right? That's the big time, and all that matters is the W. Wrong. At least according to Coach Dan "Wags" Wagner, the winningest coach in the Division III Centennial Conference. Feels a little backwards for a winner to say it's not all about winning. So I asked him to explain. And along the way I learned about how Franklin & Marshall's almost fanatic...

Thousands of parents and family members volunteer to coach youth sports every season. What's the most important thing to know? That coaching kids is 90% about helping them have an extraordinary experience, and 10% is teaching them to be better at that sport. Coaching children is a sacred honor. And even if you know nothing about the sport you're coaching you have the opportunity to change their li...