Youth Inc. with Greg Olsen

Greg Olsen kicks off this episode with stories from one of the biggest events of the year, including what it was like attending Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding and the unexpected moment Tom Cruise stopped him to compliment his hat. Then Greg sits down with five-star Alabama quarterback commit Elijah Haven, one of the top high school football recruits in the country. Elijah opens up about w...

Greg Olsen sits down with USWNT legends and lifelong best friends Julie Ertz and Kealia Watt (Ohai), the duo behind the new podcast Style of Play. Friends since they were 13, youth and pro teammates, and now both moms married to former NFL players (Zach Ertz and JJ Watt), Julie and Kealia open up about how youth soccer in America has changed, why the NWSL is rewriting the path for the next generat...

What does it really take to become a great leader and teammate? In this conversation, Jon Gordon joins Alec Ingold to share practical lessons on positive leadership, self-talk, team culture, resilience, and the mindset habits that help athletes grow on and off the field. From the power of encouragement and "I Am" statements to the importance of commitment, gratitude, and connection, Jon explains h...

3x national champ Spencer Lee sits down with his father, Larry Lee, for a conversation about youth sports, parenting, and the long-term approach that helped shape one of wrestling’s greatest champions. Larry shares why fun mattered more than winning, the lessons he learned from judo and coaching, and how parents can support their children without burning them out. From youth tournaments to the wor...

Brandi Chastain joins Shelby Bumgarner on Youth Inc. to reflect on the iconic 1999 World Cup moment that changed women's soccer forever. Chastain shares what was going through her mind before the legendary penalty kick, how injuries and setbacks shaped her career, and why resilience became one of her greatest strengths. She also discusses the future of youth sports, the importance of access for yo...

This episode is brought to you by Players Health. To learn more, visit https://www.playershealth.com/ Greg Olsen sits down with Roger Bennett, founder of Men in Blazers and author of We Are the World (Cup) , as the 2026 World Cup kicks off on home soil. They get into why the U.S. dominates the women's game but lags on the men's side, how over-coaching and win-now youth culture stunt develo...

Jason Williams went viral at the Women's College World Series watching his daughter Mia Williams power Texas Tech to the national championship series. Then he left OKC before the final games. In this exclusive Youth Inc. interview, the former NBA guard known as "White Chocolate" explains why.🔗 RESOURCES📩 Youth Inc. Newsletter — https://www.youth.inc/newsletter🌐 youth.inc — https://www.youth.inc...

How did a program that started from club status turn into the greatest dynasty in women's lacrosse? Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller just won her 9th national championship, and she built it in the Midwest by recruiting unranked athletes and developing them into Tewaaraton winners. Greg Olsen sits down with her to break down the recruiting philosophy, team culture, and player develop...

In this episode of the Youth Inc. Podcast, Greg sits down with Coach Ballgame and Savannah Bananas star Coach RAC to go behind the scenes of the new season of Crashin' Practice. They break down what it's actually like to surprise a team of young players, the hidden coaching lessons built into every drill, and why the moments that look like chaos on camera are some of the most intentional....

The Pitching Ninja joins Greg Olsen for a deep dive into everything youth baseball parents and coaches need to hear — from managing pitch counts on tournament weekends to why he thinks baseball has become too expensive and too specialized. Rob Friedman breaks down how he'd build a young pitcher from scratch, why multi-sport athletes make better pitchers, and the aerospace discovery that changed ho...

Bestselling author Jon Gordon (The Energy Bus, Training Camp, The Carpenter) joins Greg Olsen to unpack what he got wrong as a sports parent and the frameworks he wishes he'd known sooner. From the "two hats" rule that transforms the car ride home to the seven commitments that separate great teams from the rest, this is a playbook for any parent or coach who's ever struggled to f...

Greg sits down with Harvard and Stanford-trained psychiatrist Dr. Paul Conti to talk about the mental side of youth sports — how failure shapes kids' brains, why pre-game anxiety isn't always a bad thing, and what parents and coaches get wrong about confidence, identity, and self-talk. Dr. Conti breaks down the shame reflex, explains why what you see on the outside of a kid isn't alway...

What sport should your kid play? How do you keep it fun and avoid burnout? Shelby Bumgarner sits down with Nicki Marie (@nickimarieinc) — mom content creator with 1M+ followers on Instagram and 2M+ on TikTok — for her unfiltered youth sports hot takes. They talk about the youth sports landscape in 2026, what Nicki wants her kids to play, her friendship with Kylie Kelce and their shared field hocke...

Learn more at https://www.youth.inc/lovb Greg Olsen sits down with two of the most important voices in women's volleyball for back-to-back conversations on the rise of League One Volleyball, the state of the women's game, and what it means for the next generation of girls coming up through club and college. First, Greg talks with two-time Olympic medalist and LOVB Head of Player Experience...

Kevin Clancy — better known as KFC from Barstool — went viral last week with a video about his eight-year-old son Keegan's baseball journey, and the reaction from parents across the country told him everything he needed to know. In this episode, KFC sits down with Greg Olsen to unpack the full story: putting his kid on a travel team where the competition was elite but the fit was wrong, watchi...

Greg kicks things off with a new round of Youth Sports This or That before sitting down with ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike for a wide-ranging conversation on raising young athletes, the WNBA's explosive new era, and the remarkable sibling story behind one of the most unlikely stat lines in sports: she and her older sister Nneka are the only siblings in major American sports history to both be d...

What happens when a kid has every excuse to fail and chooses not to? Derek Anderson grew up without parents, raised himself in Louisville project housing, and became a dad at 15. He still made it to Kentucky, the NBA, and a world championship. In this conversation with Greg Olsen, Derek shares why he requires parents to attend his practices, how coaches are the first business leaders kids ever mee...

Three-time Olympian and Magnificent Seven gold medalist Dominique Dawes sits down with Greg Olsen for one of the most honest conversations we've ever had on Youth Inc. Dominique opens up about the emotional and physical toll of elite gymnastics, the coaching culture she grew up in, why she started the Dominique Dawes Academy to do things differently, and why she doesn't want her four child...

IMG Academy CEO Brent Richard joins Greg Olsen to break down what's really happening at the intersection of youth sports and college athletics. Beyond IMG's world-class boarding school and development platform, Brent dives into the supply-and-demand crisis squeezing high school athletes out of college roster spots — from extended eligibility and the transfer portal to why Olympic sports ar...

This week: Greg recaps a trip to LA that somehow ended with a 5:30 AM workout alongside Christian McCaffrey. Then Daniel Jones joins the show to open up about life off the field and the cause closest to his heart. Plus, listener questions and the debate everyone's been waiting for — what's the greatest youth sports movie of all time?

Kerri Walsh Jennings is the most decorated beach volleyball player in history. Three Olympic gold medals, a decade alongside Misty May-Treanor, and a competitive fire she'll be the first to tell you made her insecure. In this episode, digital host Shelby Bumgarner sits down with Kerri to trace the full arc: a childhood in the Santa Cruz mountains, a multi-sport path that built grit before it b...

Shelby Bumgarner sits down with US Women's Hockey gold medalists Hayley Scamurra and Kelly Pannek. They break down what winning gold was really like, growing up as female hockey players, playing multiple sports as kids, and whether young athletes should specialize early.

Bestselling author David Epstein joins Greg Olsen to discuss the science behind what actually drives long-term athletic development in young people. Drawing from his books The Sports Gene and Range — and previewing his upcoming release Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better — Epstein breaks down why trainability matters more than raw talent, how early specialization undermines the athletes...

Best-selling author Michael Lewis (Moneyball, The Blind Side, Going Infinite) joins Greg Olsen to talk about the youth sports industry — how it got so expensive, why parents keep spending, and what his own family's journey through travel softball taught him about the system. From coaching his daughters in Berkeley to watching the business side explode, Lewis breaks down what's really drivi...

Greg Olsen sits down with Jim Craig — the goalie who backstopped the 1980 Miracle on Ice team to gold — to talk about what it really takes to win at the Olympics. Jim breaks down his journey from community college to Lake Placid, what Herb Brooks did that no other coach could, and why he believes this American team has what it takes. A must-watch for any hockey fan following the U.S. Olympic run.