Hosted by veteran broadcaster Scott Rintoul, Better Sports Parents is a weekly video and audio podcast aimed at parents who are navigating the complicated world of youth sports. The intent is to provide parents with an easy to consume resource that delivers important perspectives on how to help create a better youth sports experience for their children. Those messages are delivered by recognizable professional athletes, coaches, executives, and experts who will offer insight into their own experiences in youth sports, their approaches with their own children, and their views on relatable issues that parents encounter in youth sports.
What's Working: Antigonish Multisport with Steph Spencer
Most parents know multiple sports are good for kids, but rising costs, time commitments and travel make it hard to offer them. In Antigonish, Nova Scotia, one community built a very affordable program that introduces young kids to a wide range of sports. Steph Spencer joins What’s Working to explain how Antigonish Multisport works and why it’s still thriving.
Steph talks about what the program offers five- and six-year-olds, how local sport groups and community stakeholders came together instead of working in silos, and how a program that began in 2015 has maintained itself and grown since. They cover how many families it serves, what it costs and who helps fund it, whether schools could adopt something similar, and advice for communities that want to start their own.
For more information on Antigonish Multisport, email antigonishmultisport@gmail.com (mailto:antigonishmultisport@gmail.com).
Know of something working well in youth sports? Tell us in the comments or email info@bettersportsparents.com (mailto:info@bettersportsparents.com).
Chapters
0:00 Opening
1:26 What is Antigonish Multisport?
2:51 The sports five- and six-year-olds try
5:18 Getting the whole community on board
8:34 How the program started in 2015
11:41 Replication and capacity
12:01 How many kids take part
14:30 What families pay
15:35 Funding and outside support
18:03 Expanding beyond ages five and six
19:47 Retention and moving into other sports
22:14 Bringing multisport into schools
25:16 How to start your own program
27:51 Closing
Resources
Antigonish Multisport (https://playfinder.ca/Org/AntMltiAMS)
27 Oct 2026
Dr. Travis Dorsch: Chum in the Water, The Disneyland Test & Model What You Value
Dr. Travis Dorsch says parents should ask one question first: what are we judging success on? The former Purdue punter, Ray Guy Award winner and NFL draft pick is now a leading youth sport researcher, and he explains what the data says about parents, money, specialization and what kids actually need.
Travis is a professor and founding director of the Families in Sport Lab at Utah State University, with more than 80 articles, book chapters and technical reports. He has conducted research for the NCAA and Olympic organizations. He’s also a husband and a father of two young ski racers who play other sports year-round, so he lives what he studies.
In this episode, host Scott Rintoul talks with Travis about when to hand kids the keys, why talent isn’t the same as love, the real odds of playing college or pro sports, and why kids feel the pressure when families spend more money. He shares findings from his study of mic'd-up sideline parents, explains why emotional regulation is a parent’s first job, and discusses where hard coaching crosses into abuse. He also covers the dramatic rise in cost for youth sports, what Norway gets right, and the first thing he’d fix if he had the opportunity.
Chapters
0:00 Opening
1:35 Introducing Dr. Travis Dorsch
3:16 Book smarts vs. street smarts
5:17 Success beyond the scoreboard
7:01 When to hand kids the keys
9:02 Good at it vs. loves it
10:46 Why we double down on talent
12:03 Why specialization is rewarded
14:41 The “chum in the water” effect
16:05 The real odds of going pro
17:26 His kids’ return on investment
19:22 Treat the money as lost forever
21:01 Why kids feel the cost
23:01 Commitment without guilt
24:54 Does parent education work?
26:47 Sideline mistakes parents miss
29:48 Model what you value
30:46 His multi-sport childhood
33:20 Giving up baseball for football
34:16 Keeping up with the Joneses
37:18 Life after football
38:57 Nine Ironmans and lifelong movement
41:06 The sports parent identity
43:00 Most parents get it right
45:06 The mic'd-up sidelines study
47:37 The emotional light switch
49:56 Emotional abuse in sport
52:26 Where hard coaching crosses the line
54:09 The athlete owns the plan
54:51 How parenthood changed his coaching
56:19 Child-first vs. parent-first clubs
58:48 The rising cost of youth sports
1:00:38 Access and affordability
1:02:45 What Norway gets right
1:05:16 His magic wand fix
1:06:45 Too much focus on competitive pathway
1:08:35 Why he founded the Families in Sport Lab
Resources
Travis' Tedx Talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/travis_dorsch_sport_and_the_commodification_of_america_s_youth)
Better Sports Parents (https://www.bettersportsparents.com/)
20 Oct 2026
Steve Kerr: Lessons from Broadway Singers, How Steph Maintains Joy & Why He Waited to Coach
Steve Kerr says every kid needs free play, multiple sports and coaches who build joy into the work. The five-time NBA champion as a player, four-time champion as Warriors head coach and 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning coach of Team USA shares what he’d tell every sports parent.
Steve played for the Bulls and Spurs, worked as a broadcaster and NBA general manager, but calls himself a son, brother, husband, father and grandfather first. In this episode, Steve talks to host Scott Rintoul about the wear and tear of early specialization, why late specializers catch up fast, and what Steph Curry and Steve Nash show about multi-sport athletes.
Steve also shares sports parenting stories like why his parents never said a word during his games, why he and his wife told their kids to fight their own battles, and how one club volleyball coach handled playing-time talks. He also covers building team culture with joy, lessons from Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich and Pete Carroll, making the 12th player feel valued, coaching alongside his son Nick, why the cost of youth sports leaves kids behind, and his one piece of advice for parents.
It's a must listen episode with one of the most respected people in all of sport.
Chapters
0:00 Opening
1:34 Introducing Steve Kerr
3:26 Growing up playing everything
4:18 Why multi-sport athletes thrive
6:28 Broadway singers and soft tissue injuries
7:28 Why parents choose early specialization
8:35 Steve as a sports parent
9:44 Hand-eye coordination and scouting
13:22 Lessons from Cairo
14:50 Choosing basketball over baseball
17:02 The lost art of free play
19:03 Parents who never said a word
21:59 The coach who banned playing-time talk
23:29 Coaching his son’s team
24:10 Coachable and approachable
25:37 Coaches who shaped him
27:04 Building culture with joy
31:21 Music, celebration and competition
32:41 Phil Jackson vs. Gregg Popovich
35:13 Be yourself as a coach
36:23 Valuing the last player on the bench
39:28 How Phil Jackson made players feel valued
41:35 What Steph Curry taught him
43:11 Steph’s joy
44:23 Watching Macklin Celebrini grow up
47:15 Coaching with his son Nick
51:14 Why he waited until 49 to coach
53:46 Lifelong learning and books
57:12 What he wants for his grandkids
59:15 The biggest challenge: burnout
1:00:06 When sports become a rich man’s game
1:01:18 His one thought for parents
1:02:19 Recess in Hawaii
1:03:01 Message for Canada
Resources
Steve Kerr (player) (https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kerrst01.html)
Better Sports Parents (https://www.bettersportsparents.com/)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
18 ratings
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