Nothing is off limits in the world of youth sports. Listen as we offer our insight on issues that plague sports from the youth level and beyond. We will discuss solutions and offer coaching tips to help improve the coaching landscape.
Who is to Blame? Part 2: When youth sports became a business.
In Part 2 of “Who Is to Blame?” we take a deeper look at the club sports industry, coaching, and the system shaping today’s youth athletes. From the rise of the pay-to-play model to the illusion of “A teams,” we unpack how youth sports has become a marketplace—and what that means for families, coaches, and kids. We challenge the idea that paying more leads to better opportunities, expose the reality behind recruiting promises, and question whether showcase culture is helping or hurting development. Along the way, we dive into why many youth coaches are never trained to lead, how the focus on winning can override real growth, and how schools are being forced to adapt to a system they no longer control.
At its core, this conversation isn’t about blaming one group—it’s about understanding a system that’s slowly drifting away from what youth sports is supposed to be.
17 Mar 2026
Who’s to blame? Part 1: The state of youth sports
Youth sports is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Families are spending more than ever.
And 70% of kids quit by age 13.
So… who is to blame?
In the Season 3 premiere of the Colorado CoachEm Up Podcast, we tackle one of the biggest questions in sports today. Parents, clubs, coaches, schools, communities — nobody is fully off the hook.
We also talk multi-sport athletes, old school coaches vs. new school athletes, and introduce our new segment: Get Off My Lawn.
20 Feb 2026
Hope, Opportunity and the kids getting left behind.
We’re back behind the mic — and this time, it’s personal.
What started as a debate about Bad Boys vs. Rush Hour quickly turned into something deeper: why we launched this podcast in the first place.
Youth sports are changing. The cost is rising. Kids are getting priced out. Recreation leagues that once gave us opportunity — PAL, Parks & Rec, Boys & Girls Club — are shrinking or disappearing. And by the time athletes reach high school, many want to compete… but don’t feel prepared enough to stay.
This episode revisits the “why.”
We talk about:
• The growing access gap in youth athletics
• Confidence, development, and why private training is now the norm
• The difference between paying fees and building people
• Why coaching with purpose matters more than ever
And for the first time, we introduce Concrete Sports — a nonprofit built to bring development and mentorship back to underserved communities.
Because sports didn’t just give us games.
They gave us people.
They gave us direction.
They pulled us back.
We’re not here for clicks.
We’re here for impact.
We’re back.
13 Apr 2024
Problem solving: We do not perform well on game day…help
In this episode Bubba and Jesse dive into women’s basketball and greater effect on women’s sports. They talk about high school baseball in Colorado and the complexities of weather and rescheduling games. Then they offer advice to coaches who are struggling to get performance out of their teams on game days.
29 Nov 2023
The Co$t of Sports
In the return episode of the Colorado Coachem Up podcast Bubba and Jesse discuss the cost of sports and how it affects the youth in the inner city.
28 Mar 2023
Lead follow or get out of the way
Jesse and Bubba kick off season 2 with a discussion about leadership and offer some tips to become a better leader. They also bring in softball coach, Claude Vigil who has 30 years coaching experience ranging from youth to high school
16 Feb 2023
The Coach and the AD
Bubba makes a big announcement and asks Jesse some difficult questions from a coaches perspective to an athletic director
13 Jan 2023
Mr. 60 Minutes
We invite our good friend Eric Duran to add some new flavor to the Coachem Up podcast. Eric engages us by bringing up relevant sports topics that will tug at your heart and make you laugh.
20 Dec 2022
Practice plan or plan to lose
Have a plan for practice or plan to fail. Jess and Bubba go into detail about quality practice planning and structure. They also answer questions about the way they want to be remembered, coaching their own kids and when they fell in love with their sport.
8 Dec 2022
The Three Sport Athlete
This episode we are talking about what happened to the three sport athletes, the dangers of specializing too soon, diminishing participation numbers and more.
17 Nov 2022
Core Covenants
We discuss the importance of establishing core covenants and how they are more important than strategy. We also share our best and worst moments as coaches.
2 Nov 2022
“They call me coach”
Being called coach is a great honor. And it comes with tremendous responsibility. We discuss some issues that we are seeing currently with youth coaches and offer some coaching tips to help.
23 Oct 2022
The influence of parents in sports
We dive into the most important people in a child's athletic success. We will talk about the good, the bad and the ugly sides of parenting in sports.
9 Oct 2022
The Wrangler Boyz
Get to know Jesse and Bubba as they set the stage for the podcast. A relationship built on competition and a shared determination to over come adversity. There is 40 years of coaching experience between the two of them. The majority of that experience is from Jesse being a high school football coach and Bubba being a high school baseball coach. Listen as they take aim to use their experience to influence the next generation of coaches.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
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