Surviving Youth Sports is a podcast and platform where athletes, parents, and coaches share real stories and honest perspectives from every level of the game. Our guests include the influential voices behind the superstars, parents, mentors, coaches, and former athletes who have lived the experiences that shape today’s sports culture.
Expect real conversations about the journey behind the scenes, mental health, motivation, recruiting, parenting, and personal growth. Subscribe for weekly episodes that reveal the truth about what it really takes to survive youth sports.
Jonathan Schindel: What If Youth Sports Actually Put Kids Before Profits?
What if youth sports put young people before profits?
Jonathan Schindel, co-president of The Armory Foundation, joins Rhett Parker for a conversation about the business of youth sports and the families it serves. They discuss affordability, reinvesting in athletes and the community, academic opportunities, and why keeping sports fun matters.
Drawing on his experience in finance and nonprofit athletics, Jonathan offers a perspective on what families should expect from the programs they invest in.
Subscribe to Surviving Youth Sports for more conversations about the pressures, relationships, and decisions shaping youth sports.
The Armory Foundation (https://www.armory.nyc/)
28 Oct 2026
Kyle Pless: We’re Building Young Athletes Backwards
Youth sports keeps telling families to move faster. Join the better team. Train more. Get exposure earlier. Start recruiting younger. But Kyle Pless believes we may be building young athletes in the wrong order.
In this episode, Kyle and Rhett talk about the pressure to be “elite” before kids have developed the fundamentals, confidence, and love for the game underneath it. They dig into early specialization, travel sports, money, parent involvement, coaching culture, and the fear that your child will fall behind if you don’t keep spending and doing more.
The conversation comes back to a simple question: what happens when we start building the roof before we’ve finished the foundation?
21 Oct 2026
Rachi Wortham: College Coaches Are Recruiting the Parents Too
College basketball has changed. NIL, the transfer portal, AAU circuits, trainers, and money have made recruiting more complicated and, in many ways, more transactional. Montana basketball coach Rachi Wortham joins the show to talk about what that shift looks like from inside a Division I program and why relationships still matter even when players may only stay for a short time.
But recruiting is not only about the player. Rachi explains why coaches notice how families carry themselves, how parents behave in the stands, and the environment surrounding an athlete. Sometimes, a parent’s actions can become part of the evaluation too.
The conversation also gets into AAU basketball, the rise of individual skill training, and an uncomfortable question: are we developing more skilled players who actually know how to compete and play the game?
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