Better Sports Parents

por Scott Rintoul

Temporada 1

Kara Kalin: Smiling While Dying, The Sweaty Head Test & Create Unshakable Confidence

Kara Kalin competed at the national level in artistic swimming, coached the sport from club to the Canadian team, and became a clinical counselor and certified EMDR therapist. She then founded Shift Change, a platform for trauma processing in sport and beyond. Kara is also a mother of four children all active in sport, so she has seen the youth sports environment from every angle. And what she sees concerns her deeply. In this conversation with Scott Rintoul, Kara shares the moment a coach publicly shamed her on a pool deck at eleven years old, and how that single experience planted a seed of "I'm not good enough" that drove her career for decades without her knowing it. She explains what trauma actually is, why sport is full of it, and why policies and documents change nothing if the brain never gets to process what happened. She also shares some of the most practical parenting wisdom on the podcast to date: how she developed the Sweaty Head Test for her son, why she built a program called The Power of the Drive Home, and what parents can do in ten minutes after a game that changes everything. Kara makes the case, plainly and without apology, that threat does not need to be the driving force in sport. If the conditions are right, the greatness comes anyway. Chapters 00:00 Opening 01:35 Introducing Kara Kalin 03:15 Being Inside a System That Resisted Change 04:35 The Olympic Dream 08:22 Choosing Her Kids Over Her Sport 11:29 Training Beside Olympians 13:29 How She Found Synchro Swimming 14:19 One Moment Changed Everything 16:19 Public Shame on a Pool Deck 17:04 Fear of Holding Her Breath 18:07 Smiling While Dying 19:04 Straight Into Coaching at 16 20:02 Finding Joy in Sport Again 20:34 Her Parents: A Quiet Champion, a Pacing Dad 26:07 Should Parents Fight Their Kids' Battles? 28:15 The Sweaty Head Test 30:04 Asking for Feedback After Practice 31:25 Threat Doesn't Need to Drive Us 33:24 Why Sport Is Full of Trauma 35:27 The Car Ride After a Coach Yells 39:48 The Sweaty Head Test 40:28 Recognizing Trauma in Yourself 41:06 The Definition of Trauma That Changed Her Life 44:21 What Unprocessed Trauma Does to the Body 46:40 When Her Body Finally Said "Enough" 48:00 Do We Pass Unprocessed Trauma to Athletes We Coach? 52:13 Children as Mirrors 54:47 Safe Sport: Too Much Talking, Not Enough Doing 56:14 The 90-Day Window for Processing Harm 57:12 How Shift Change Was Born 1:00:00 Mental Health in Sport 1:01:32 Why Sport Is Stuck 1:05:28 Why LTAD Never Took Hold 1:08:08 Kara's Biggest Issue in Youth Sport 1:11:33 What Often Happens to Those Who Try to Change the System 1:15:25 What She Hopes Her Kids Get From Sport Resources ⁠Kara Kalin ⁠ ⁠Shift Change⁠ ⁠ Better Sports Parents⁠

T1 · E45

21 jul 2026

1:18:08

Adam Bighill: From Bullied to Belonging, Misleading Money Grabs & Coaches Build Communities

Adam Bighill made more tackles than all but five players in the history of Canadian football. He won three Grey Cups, was named the CFL's most outstanding defensive player three times, and is a shoe in for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. But the most revealing thing about Adam's relationship with football can't be found on the stat sheet. Born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, Adam was bullied as a kid and used sport to do the one thing it does better than almost anything else: earn respect and build belonging. His proclivity for sport and his relentless work ethic meant he was always one of the first picks. Sport levelled the playing field and gave him a place where he fit. Now retired from the CFL and coaching his three kids in flag football, Adam has a clear-eyed, no-nonsense view of what's wrong in youth sport today: parents with mismatched expectations, a money grab masquerading as development, and coaches who yell instead of teach. His philosophy is simple, and the results speak for themselves. His team went from chaos to competing at the national level on one practice and one game per week, and more importantly, every player improved and contributed to the best of their ability. Adam is very direct on the importance of coaching, the need for more resources, and his belief that sport can help everyone build confidence and self-worth. 🎙️ Better Sports Parents is helping parents positively contribute to the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters 00:00 Opening 02:07 Introducing Adam Bighill 03:32 Why He Retired 04:08 Three Kids, All Multi-Sport 06:03 Early Specialization 07:47 Too Many Games, Not Enough Practice 08:39 The Money Grab 09:25 The Power of the Coach 11:07 His Coaching Philosophy 14:41 How to Make Practice Fun Without Losing the Work 17:27 What Bad Youth Coaching Actually Looks Like 17:43 The Best Coaching Advice He Ever Received 20:08 Managing Parents 21:48 The Context of Team 23:47 The Word Every Coach Needs: "Yet" 23:59 Being a Sports Parent on the Sidelines 24:47 What His Dad Taught Him Just by Showing Up 26:41 Applauding Everyone on the Field 29:12 Conditional Love and What It Does to Kids 30:39 Youth Travel Sports 32:43 What Happens Outside Structured Practice 34:40 How Much Commitment Is Too Much at a Young Age? 37:05 Why Kids Play and Why Parents Should Ask 39:12 How Sport Gave Adam Belonging 41:28 Sport Broke Down Every Barrier 43:43 Sport Builds the People Your Community Needs 45:56 "Some Kids Need Football More Than Football Needs Them" 46:23 Canada vs. the US 48:50 Privatization in Youth Sports 52:33 Sport Should Be a Meritocracy 55:11 The Pressure Parents Feel 57:35 What Adam Expects From His Own Kids 59:02 What 14 Years of Pro Football Built in Him 01:01:29 The Mindset That Lasted Beyond Sport 01:03:45 Adam's Biggest Issue in Youth Sport Today Resources ⁠Adam Bighill⁠ ⁠Operation Smile Canada⁠ ⁠Better Sports Parents

T1 · E44

14 jul 2026

1:06:32

Shannon Winzer: We're Failing Our Coaches, Why Parents Lose the Plot & The Gift of Free Play

Shannon Winzer has coached volleyball at the highest level on two continents:national teams in Canada and Australia, and now as head coach of the Dallas Pulse in Major League Volleyball. She's also a mother of three kids actively playing youth sports and a volunteer lacrosse coach in her community. That combination gives her a perspective on youth sport that very few people have. What she sees frustrates her deeply. Coaches who have lost sight of the developmental needs of young people. Organizations selling dreams to parents who don't know enough to question them. A volunteer coaching workforce that is expected to do everything and supported to do almost nothing. And a youth sports culture so focused on winning, medals, and the next academy program that it has completely forgotten why kids play sport in the first place. In this conversation with Scott Rintoul, Shannon is direct, honest, and at times quietly furious. She talks about talent identification, the myth of early specialization, what the best professional athletes all have in common, the role of school sport, and the one question every parent should be asking their child but probably isn't. Her diagnosis of the biggest issue in youth sport is simple: we've lost perspective on what the purpose of youth sport actually is. Better Sports Parents is helping parents positively contribute to the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters 00:00 Opening 01:58 Introducing Shannon Winzer 03:18 Why She's So Passionate About Youth Sports 03:59 Her View on Youth Sports Today 05:22 Why Parents Lose the Plot 07:17 What Shannon Wants for Her Own Kids 08:44 Do Parents Understand Their Role in Youth Sport? 10:04 Fighting Your Child's Battles vs. Supporting Them Through Their Own 11:44 When a Child Approaches the Coach vs. When a Parent Does 12:01 What Learning Looks Like: Reframing Failure 13:49 Please Don't Coach From the Stands 16:23 Why Coaching From the Sideline Adds Noise, Not Help 20:26 Why Shannon Got Into Coaching 22:03 Shannon's Youth Sports Background 24:03 Academies: When They Help and When They Don't 28:19 Setting Boundaries as a Sports Family 30:09 The Greatest Gift We Can Give Kids: Free Play 33:28 How Coaches Can Create Space for Creativity 36:21 Ask What They Love, Not Just Why They Play 39:27 We Are Failing Our Coaches 42:18 Coach Retention, School Sport and the Teacher Problem 47:02 The Missing Recreational Pathway in Volleyball 51:29 Why Shannon Chose Volleyball Over Basketball 52:28 Multi-Sport at the Professional Level 55:53 People Selling Youth Sports 57:42 Shannon's Biggest Issue: We've Lost Perspective 01:01:08 We Need a Framework, Not Just Funding 01:04:31 The Number One Purpose of Youth Sport 01:08:36 Competition and Participation Can Coexist 01:10:48 The Myth Around Talent ID Resources ⁠Shannon Winzer⁠ ⁠Long-Term Athlete Development⁠ ⁠Better Sports Parents⁠

T1 · E43

7 jul 2026

1:13:29

Brian Johns: The Rat Race of Youth Sports, Parents Need Help & Who is the System Serving?

Brian Johns is a three-time Olympian and was a world record holder in the pool. He also thought he knew what youth sport looked like — until he became a parent. What he found when he put his daughters into youth sports was an eye-opener even for someone who has spent decades in sport at every level. Sports operating in silos, parents left to figure everything out alone, nine-year-olds being tiered into competitive groups without equal resources. He started writing and speaking about it because the problems were obvious but the solutions felt stuck. In this conversation with Scott Rintoul, Brian draws on his background as an Olympian, a coach, and Head of Coaching Science at Form Swim to make the case that youth sport isn't failing because people don't care, it's failing because organizations are just trying to survive, and nobody is coordinating the bigger picture. He argues that the answer isn't just more funding or more facilities. It's collaboration, purposeful programming, and a willingness to put the child in front of the organization. 🎙️ Better Sports Parents is helping parents positively contribute to the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters 00:00 Opening 02:09 Introducing Brian Johns 03:05 What Made Him Start Writing About Youth Sport 05:57 The Biggest Revelation: Everything Is Siloed 08:23 Brian's Youth Sports Background 09:33 His Parents' Approach: Let Him Choose 11:07 Why He Kept Playing Other Sports Despite Excelling at Swimming 12:55 How the Culture of Swimming Has Changed 15:45 Purposeful Practice vs. Empty Volume 16:06 Peak Performance Ages in Swimming: A Unique Challenge 19:55 Managing Young Phenoms: Communication Is Everything 24:14 Creating Community in an Individual Sport 27:41 Competing Against Other Sports for Kids' Time 32:26 You're Not Just Competing With Other Clubs 37:45 Can Sports Organizations Work Together? 43:00 The Death of School Sport and What It Cost Us 45:13 Reframing Sport: Accessibility vs. Competition Is a False Choice 48:29 Pathways for Kids Who Don't Make the Team 53:21 Zoom Out: We All End Up at the Rec Center 54:11 Unprecedented Funding: Can Canada Actually Deliver? 56:10 The Infrastructure Problem Nobody Talks About 01:01:24 Free Swimming Lessons: Vancouver's Experiment 01:03:09 Who Is the Youth Sport System Actually Designed to Serve? 01:07:07 Who Needs to Step Back and Why 01:11:17 Brian's Biggest Issue in Youth Sport: Lack of Collaboration 01:13:59 Identity Beyond Swimming: How Coaches Can Help 01:16:48 Performance vs. Learning: The Flip Turn Story Resources ⁠Brian Johns ⁠ ⁠Vancouver's Free Swimming Proposal ⁠

T1 · E42

30 jun 2026

1:19:25

Radha Balani: Canada at a Crossroads, Affordability First & Building Healthier Nations

Canada needs change in its sport system; Radha Balani has seen this before. As an expert partner in strategy and leadership at Think Beyond, she spent decades inside the UK's sport system, including its radical 2015 overhaul. Since then, she's worked with several countries and companies directly, including Jumpstart and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. She knows exactly what it takes to change a national sport system at scale because she's lived it. In this conversation, Radha traces her own youth sports journey growing up in a small English village, playing every sport she could find, and the progressive PE teacher who simply refused to put kids in boxes. She's candid that her own success was luck, not design — the system wasn't built for someone who looked like her, and she knows it. Radha breaks down exactly why the UK's 2015 reform worked, why Canada's current moment looks similar but lacks a critical component that made the difference, and what it actually means to measure outcomes instead of outputs. She makes the case for a mixed economy of public, private and community sport, explains why affordability is the single biggest barrier in Canadian sport today, and lays out what model nations like Norway and Australia got right by treating sport as a vehicle for health and wellbeing rather than the end goal itself. Better Sports Parents is helping parents positively contribute to the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters 00:00 Opening 02:04 Itroducing Radha Balani 03:11 Liverpool, Her Father & John Barnes 05:09 Youth Sport Was Luck, Not Design 07:18 Injury, Identity & Losing Sport at University 09:39 Why She Loved Sport: Safety, Repetition & Belonging 11:59 Inclusion, Exclusion & Growing Up Different 16:00 Survivor Bias and Realizing How Lucky She Was 18:48 The UK's 2015 Turning Point 21:27 Canada in 2026: Similar Crossroads, Missing Piece 23:52 Why NSOs Can't Carry This Alone 27:14 The System Is Fractured — Can It Be Fixed or Rebuilt? 30:05 Is Sport in Canada Truly Unaffordable? 34:16 What's Missing: A Strategy, Not Just Recommendations 40:26 Norway, Sport as a Vehicle, Not the End Goal 43:55 The UK Tied Funding to Changing the Rules 45:15 Outcomes vs. Outputs: What Actually Changes Lives 49:01 Travel Teams, Sport Sampling & the Cliff Edge 53:32 Duty of Care: The Governance Piece Missing in North America 56:36 Paying Coaches for Training 59:14 Trauma-Informed Coaching 1:03:09 The Mixed Economy: Public, Private & Community Sport Together 1:06:14 Canada's Biggest Issue: Affordability 1:07:00 What Progress Actually Looks Like Resources ⁠Think Beyond⁠ ⁠Future of Sport in Canada Commission Report⁠ ⁠Jumpstart⁠ ⁠Kick4Life

T1 · E41

23 jun 2026

1:10:46

Greg Stewart: Do All the Sports, Encourage Failure & The Power of Self-Acceptance

Greg Stewart spent the first 25 years of his life trying to prove to people that he wasn't disabled despite being born without half of his left arm. Once he changed his mindset, he found the sport of shot put and won two Paralympic gold medals. Greg is a three-time world champion in para standing volleyball, a U Sports Defensive player of the Year in able bodied basketball, and he stands seven foot two. But the most interesting thing about him isn't his resume. It's the path he had to walk to get there. A path that ran through able-bodied sport, university, rock bottom, two lost jobs, and an eventual breakthrough: accepting himself exactly as he was. In this conversation, Greg talks about what sport means when you spend years doing it for the wrong reasons, why failure is one of the most important things we can teach young athletes, and what the word inclusion actually means when you strip away the box-ticking. He shares the three values he brings to young athletes — trust, ownership and integrity — and makes a compelling case that the real problem in youth sports right now isn't the coaches or the kids. It's the parents... who he also believes are the solution. Greg is 40 years old, newly married, a brand new father of a three-month-old daughter, and studying for his master's in counseling. He has more to say about sport, identity and mental health than almost anyone we've had on this show. 🎙️ Better Sports Parents: helping parents positively contribute to the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters 00:00 Opening 01:36 Introducing Greg Stewart 03:46 How Greg Got Into Sport 05:03 "You Can't Coach Height" — Using What You've Got 05:38 Starting in Grassroots: Soccer, Lacrosse and Everything Else 07:15 What His Parents Got Right: Encouragement Without Force 08:41 Did Sport Feel Like a Place He Belonged? 11:43 25 Years Trying to Prove He Wasn't Disabled 13:09 Leaning Into Able-Bodied Sport: What He Was Really Chasing 15:02 Having Success Without Having Joy 16:51 Chasing External Validation for 25 Years 17:16 Rock Bottom: Almost Failing Out, Fired From Two Jobs 19:36 How He Found Joy in Sport Again 20:26 Failure Is Important 22:26 How He Discovered Shot Put 25:24 Physical Health and Mental Health Are the Same Thing 28:12 Finding Flow State in Sport 30:07 What Greg Tells Young Athletes: Trust, Ownership and Integrity3 3:15 Are Parents Owning the Right Things? 35:19 Your Discomfort Is Leading the Way: A Message for Parents 38:17 Mental Health Support in Sport: What's Changed and What Hasn't 39:23 Why We Need to Let Kids Fail 41:20 Do All the Sports 43:18 Youth Sport Has Become Too Commercialized 44:13 The Coaches Who Shaped Greg 46:04 Ownership and Trust: Who Really Runs the Team? 48:38 What Inclusion Actually Means 52:03 Where Does Healthy Competition Belong in Youth Sport? 55:56 The Objective vs. The Purpose: A Crucial Distinction 57:42 Greg's Biggest Issue in Youth Sport Today: Parent Involvement 01:00:04 How to Bring Parents Along: Lead by Vulnerability 01:02:32 The Listeners We Really Need to Reach 01:03:30 The Mindfulete Resources Greg Stewart The Mindfulete Jumpstart

T1 · E40

16 jun 2026

1:05:36

Jay Triano: Learning from Steve Nash, Practicing in a Parking Lot & Fun is Fundamental

Jay Triano has spent almost all of his 67 years in sport. He's a former captain of Canada's Men's Basketball Team, the first Canadian head coach in NBA history with the Toronto Raptors, and a current assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. He's also the son of a high school basketball coach and the father of three kids who all played youth sports, which means he's seen every side of the equation. In this conversation, Jay draws direct lines between how he was raised in sport in Niagara Falls and the NBA coach he became. He talks about playing basketball, volleyball, baseball and track until he was nearly 18, why Steve Nash never acted like the best player in the room despite being exactly that, and what a parking lot practice with no hoops taught him about fundamentals that individual skill sessions never could. Jay is direct about what he sees wrong in youth sports today: parent-driven environments that prioritize exposure over development, social media that skips all the steps, and a growing culture of selfish play filtering down from the professional game. And he's equally clear about the fix: fun, teamwork, open communication, and coaches who understand that they're coaching twelve kids, not just yours. 🎙️ Better Sports Parents: helping parents positively contribute to the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters 00:00 Opening 01:35 Introducing Jay Triano 03:18 A Life in Sport: 67 Years and Still Going 04:16 How Jay's Dad Shaped His Love of the Game 05:37 Multi-Sport Until 17: Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball & Track 06:44 Unstructured Play: Street Hockey and Stats in the Front Yard 07:20 How Multi-Sport Cross-Training Made Jay a Better Athlete 08:21 Raising His Own Kids: Let Them Love What They Love 10:00 What Youth Sport Looked Like When His Kids Were Young 11:32 What Jay Looked for in a Youth Coach 12:31 Youth Sport Today: Parent-Driven and Overspecialized 13:55 NIL, Agents at Young Ages & Money Changing the Game 14:17 Higher Skills, Lower IQ 15:47 Too Many Games, Not Enough Practice 18:25 Multi-Sport and Learning to Fill a Role 19:08 Steve Nash: The Best Player Who Never Acted Like It 22:14 The European Model: Growing Together 24:15 Canadian Basketball's Rise and the Affordability Problem 26:14 If You're Good Enough, You Will Be Found 28:04 What Jay Wanted His Kids to Get Out of Sport 29:51 Learning From Bad Coaches Too 29:58 The Coaches Who Shaped Jay 33:32 The Biggest Mistake Jay Made as a Young Coach 36:11 Number One Advice for New Coaches: Make It Fun 38:19 How to Recognize and Reward Every Role on a Team 40:16 Phil Jackson's Rule: Acknowledge the Screen, Not Just the Bucket 44:54 What Jay's Dad Said After the Games 47:15 The Volunteer Coach and Referee Crisis 48:07 No Secrets: Jay's Rule on Parent Communication 52:10 He Wasn't Going to Cut a Kid in Grade Seven 53:51 What a Good Youth Environment Actually Looks Like 58:23 Developing Canadian Coaches: A Missed Opportunity 01:00:14 A Simple Thank You Can Keep a Coach Coming Back 01:02:16 The Parking Lot Practice That Built His Fundamentals 01:04:06 Social Media Is Skipping All the Steps 01:06:01 Are We Over-Parenting? Kids Need Difficult Situations 01:07:38 Learning to Be Coached Hard 01:09:06 Jay's Biggest Issue in Youth Sports Today Resources Jay Triano

T1 · E39

9 jun 2026

1:10:55

Brock McGillis: The Locker Room Should Be Disneyland, Vulnerable is Brave & Why Words Matter

Explícito

⚠️ This episode deals with serious topics including mental health, self-harm, and abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, contact Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868) or the Suicide Crisis Helpline (988). Brock McGillis became the first openly gay player to have played professional hockey, but the path to that moment nearly cost him everything. Depression. Daily drinking. Self-harm. A sport culture that told him, in a thousand small ways every day, that he couldn't be himself. Today Brock runs the Shift Makers tour, visiting over 250 hockey teams across Canada in a single season. What he finds in those rooms is alarming: over a thousand players disclosing thoughts of self-harm or suicide, thousands more sharing mental health struggles, and more than 50 who had never told anyone they'd been sexually assaulted — until they told him. In this conversation, Brock talks about why sport culture continues to silence young people, what true inclusion actually looks like versus what organizations claim it looks like, and why the answer isn't more analysis — it's action. He also shares the story of Brendan Burke, whose friendship and tragic death became the catalyst for everything Brock does today. This is one of the most important conversations Better Sports Parents has had. Better Sports Parents is helping parents positively impact the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week Chapters 00:00 Opening 01:36 Introduction & Content Warning 03:17 The Shift Makers Tour: 250 Teams in 200 Days 04:11 How Locker Room Culture Programs Kids to Conform 08:13 How Do We Go From Thinking the Right Things to Actually Doing Them? 09:15 The Push-Up Story: How Shift Makers Was Born 10:06 Challenging Bravery: "Tell Me Something You Wouldn't Tell a Teammate" 12:10 "The Locker Room Should Be Disneyland" 15:04 Why Kids Won't Talk to Parents and What Brock Does Differently 19:17 The Real Reason Kids Don't Come Forward 22:14 Why Brock Becomes the First Person They Ever Tell 23:11 Parents Need to Humanize Themselves Too 30:38 What to Do When Your Teenager Won't Talk to You 34:19 Why "I Didn't Mean It Like That" Is Not Good Enough 35:08 How the Culture Became Brock's Identity and His Prison 38:11 Who or What Finally Made Him Be Himself 43:27 Brendan Burke: The Friend Who Changed Everything 43:58 What True Inclusion Actually Looks Like in Sport 46:36 Why "We're a Family" Is Often Hollow 51:26 Stop Talking. Start Doing. 54:21 The Vicious Cycle: Coaches Doing What Was Done to Them 58:51 Talk to Them as People, Not as Hockey Robots 1:00:47 Resources for Self-Harm and Mental Health Support 1:04:14 The Biggest Issue in Youth Sport Today: Affordability 1:07:21 Why Sport Can Still Be Great Resources Brock McGillis' advocacy and speaking platform Kids Help Phone ⁠Jumpstart

T1 · E38

2 jun 2026

1:11:25

Chris Pronger: It Has to be Fun, Embrace Adversity & Monetization is Destroying Youth Sports

Explícito

Chris Pronger's NHL resume reads like a fairy tale: second overall pick, Stanley Cup champion, two Olympic gold medals, Hart Trophy, Norris Trophy, Hockey Hall of Fame. But ask him what the hardest thing he's ever done is, and the answer isn't hockey. It's parenting. In this conversation with Scott Rintoul, Chris draws a direct line between the low-pressure, multi-sport, creativity-driven childhood he had in Dryden, Ontario and the Hall of Fame career that followed. He talks candidly about the two rules he gave his own kids — work hard and have fun — and what happened when one of his sons stopped doing the second one. Chris doesn't mince words on the state of youth sport. He believes we've monetized and commoditized childhood sport to the point where the kids have been forgotten entirely. He's watched joy get extracted from talented players at every level, seen parents chase triple-A status for the wrong reasons, and watched super teams steamroll opponents while teaching kids nothing about adversity. His message is simple: fun comes first. The passion, the work ethic, the resilience... it all comes later. If it isn't fun, the rest of won't matter. 🎙️ Better Sports Parents: helping parents positively impact the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters 0:00 Opening 01:35 Introduction: Chris Pronger 03:40 The Hardest Job of His Career: Parenting 04:48 Being a Parent vs. Being a Friend 06:00 How Chris Was Parented in Sport 08:08 Low Pressure, High Support: What His Parents Got Right 09:29 Unstructured Play and Why It Made Him Better 11:01 Multi-Sport: Why Chris Played Everything 12:41 Taking Breaks From Hockey, Even as a Pro 13:49 Are Kids on the Ice Too Long? 16:28 When It Should Be About Fun, Not Wins 19:22 Travel Sports: How Much Is Too Much, Too Soon? 23:31 His Two Rules as a Sports Parent 24:07 The Conversation He Had With His Son Who Wasn't Having Fun 26:12 Pressure to Have Kids in Hockey? 29:04 Studying the Game as a Kid 32:40 Passion vs. Fit: Follow What You Love 39:08 Parents: Who Are You Doing This For? 41:13 Triple-A or Bust: The Stigma That Kills the Joy 42:27 Even NHL Scouts Get It Wrong 48:58 Standards: Where Do They Come From? 49:37 Victimhood, Accountability and When His Game Turned Around 51:39 Blame Culture in Youth Sport and How to Fix It 53:33 The Monetization and Commoditization Problem 56:28 FOMO and the Genie That Won't Go Back in the Bottle 58:34 Super Teams: Why Chris Hates Them in Any Sport 59:01 Adversity as a Gift 01:05:07 What Youth Sport Teaches Future CEOs 01:09:44 Chris's Biggest Issue in Youth Sport Today Resources ⁠Chris Pronger's Book: Earned⁠ ⁠Chris Pronger: Hockey Hall of Fame⁠

T1 · E37

26 may 2026

1:11:39

Adam Van Koeverden: The Alignment Issue, Fund Physical Literacy & Canada Wants to Win

Adam Van Koeverden has paddled over 120,000 kilometres in his lifetime. He's a four-time Olympian, a multiple world champion, and one of the most decorated kayakers Canada has ever produced. He's also Canada's Secretary of State for Sport, and that may be where his biggest race is being run. In this conversation, Adam traces the full arc of a sporting life that began with a mom who needed somewhere for her kid to go after school. The Oakville canoe club was affordable, it was welcoming, it ran on volunteers, and it changed everything. Adam wants every Canadian kid to have access to that same kind of experience, and he's now in a position to do something about it. He talks candidly about the $755 million federal investment in sport recently announced, and what it's actually designed to do. As Adam puts it, every world champion Canada has ever produced started out splashing around in swimming lessons or kicking a ball at a community center, and the foundation for elite sport is an active society. He also weighs in on the issues sports parents know too well: early specialization, the pressure to travel at young ages, the cost of living squeezing family budgets, and the gap between what the research says about youth development and what's actually happening on the ground. He shares his honest view on what a good youth coach looks like, what his own parents did right, and why the Norwegian model keeps coming up as the gold standard. And he makes the case that physical activity and play are human rights. Chapters 0:00 Opening 1:35 Introducing Adam Van Koeverden 5:11 The $755M Announcement: Largest Sport Investment in Canadian History 8:00 How Will the $755M Show Up in Your Community? 8:28 National Sport Organizations & the Alignment Problem 12:37 Hockey Canada and the Trust Deficit in Governance 14:30 Do We Need to Overhaul National Sport Organizations? 15:38 Underfunded at Every Level 16:39 Nation Building Through Sport: Why Adam Put His Name on a Ballot 18:24 What Parents Are Telling Him 21:46 The Case for Coed Sport Until Age 12 23:19 Can Government Incentivize Multi-Sport? 26:18 School-Based Sport vs. Club Sport: The Balance We've Lost 27:31 Not-for-Profit vs. For-Profit Sport 29:20 Sport Saves Kids 30:42 Adam's Youth Sports Journey 32:45 Why Kayaking? 34:12 Physical Literacy for All Canadians 37:12 Screens and the Generation That Stopped Moving 39:44 Competition vs. Participation 41:49 What Adam's Parents Did Right 43:05 The Norwegian Model: Kids Are Not Olympians 45:43 The Foundation for Success in Sport 46:39 What a Positive Sporting Environment Actually Looks Like 49:08 Valuing Coaching 54:48 Cost of Living, Sideline Pressure and Sport on the Chopping Block 56:05 What Does Success Look Like for Canada in 5, 10, 15 Years? 59:48 Adam's Biggest Issue: Declining Participation 1:00:46 Reasons for Optimism Resources ⁠Canada's $755M Investment⁠ ⁠Future of Sport in Canada Commission Report⁠ ⁠Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities

T1 · E36

19 may 2026

1:02:17

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