Youth Sports Insider

About Youth Sports Insider

Got a youth sports question you can't ask in the group chat? Text me. I'll answer it on the show. Playing time, quitting mid-season, that one coach, the parent on the sideline who won't stop — every week I answer the real questions sports families are actually dealing with. Ten minutes. Every week. No judgment. I'm Sammi. Ask me anything.

Publisher

Sammi

Category

kids & family · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Apr 2025

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

53 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   Episode 53: Why Does She Beg to Sign Up, Then Fight Me About Every Practice?

   https://heysammi.com What do you do when your kid loves games but fights going to practice? A mom in Grand Rapids wrote to me about her 8 year old: begs to sign up, beams on game day, and turns the front hallway into a hostage negotiation on practice nights. In this episode I start with the reassurance: both kids are real. Games are dessert, practice is dinner, and negotiating against dinner is just being eight. Then the detective work, because the fight has information in it. Is it a launch problem, fighting the leaving, not the practice, fine four minutes after arrival? Those have boring fixes: car snacks, packed bags, warning rituals, small choices. Or is it something inside the practice, a dreaded drill, a mean kid, a too-loud coach? Her shoulders in the first five minutes will tell you which letter you're in. And the straight answer on pushing: push on logistics, we signed up so we go, calm and boring like brushing teeth. Never push on love, no wasted-money lectures, no wanting-it-more speeches, because that's what actually kills sports for kids. Grumbling is not quitting. Plus the boundary: dread, tears, and stomachaches are a different language, and they get listened to, not pushed through. Got a question for the show? Email me at hey@heysammi.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2. 

   20 Oct 2026

   Episode 52: What Do I Do When My Daughter Is Great at a Position She Hates?

   https://heysammi.com What do you do when your kid is good at a position she hates? A mom in Charleston wrote to me caught between her daughter's talent and her daughter's misery, wondering when development outranks the team. In this episode I reset the frame: at the youth level, development is what's best for the team. That's the whole point of the level, and a coach who locks an eleven year old into one spot to win Saturdays has borrowed a philosophy from a league he's not in. First, the digging, because hate has flavors: boredom, identity, pressure, or a friend at the fun position, and each points somewhere different. Then the warning inside the situation: girls get very good very young at performing what's asked instead of naming what they want, and delivering in silence is a skill that hurts later if nobody interrupts it. So the ask comes from her: coach, I'll play where you need me, but what would I need to show you to earn time at the other spot? That's a player a coach falls in love with. Plus the compromise that usually works, strong position when the team truly needs it, real reps at the spot she loves elsewhere, and the long game: only the love saves the talent. Got a question for the show? Email me at hey@heysammi.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Episode 51: Why Does My Late-Blooming Son Think He's Not Athletic Anymore?

   https://heysammi.com What do you do when your late-blooming kid decides he's not athletic anymore? A dad in Indianapolis wrote to me because his son, still waiting on puberty, is suddenly playing against kids who look two years older, and it's eating his identity. In this episode I correct the data first: puberty timing is not talent, it's scheduling, and nothing about his athleticism changed. Some opponents just got a temporary hardware upgrade. Then the longer story a thirteen year old can't hold on his own: skilled kids who mature late come out the other side dangerous, because they were forced into an apprenticeship in craft, angles, timing, anticipation, while the early bloomers won on horsepower. When the hardware finally arrives, it lands on top of all that skill. I cover the daily language work, moving praise to what he owns, the pros who were small at fourteen and make good wall posters, the coach conversation about craft-first roles, the locker room watch, and the one promise never to make: the growth spurt you don't control. Anchor him to what's guaranteed instead. Skills compound, and bodies all arrive eventually. Got a question for the show? Email me at hey@heysammi.com. https://heysammi.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who has been a guest on Youth Sports Insider

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Shripal Shah
• Mark Kossick
• Zoya Lehrer
• Nick Lawson
• Justin Bredeman

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

3,119

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

46

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

32