Better Sports Parents

Scott Rintoul
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

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.

  1. 2d ago

    Hayley Wickenheiser: High Costs Hurting Hockey, Let Your Kids Fail & The Lost Art of Play

    Hayley Wickenheiser says youth sports have lost the art of play, and parents can help bring it back. The five-time Olympic medalist, emergency physician and mom shares what she'd change for youth hockey and every kid in youth sports. Hayley is a pioneer of women's hockey. She won four Olympic gold medals and one silver, plus 13 medals at the Women's World Hockey Championships (seven gold, six silver). She is in the Hockey Hall of Fame, the International Hockey Hall of Fame and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. She also played softball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, played professional men's hockey in Sweden and Finland, worked eight years in the NHL including as an assistant general manager, and now works as an emergency room doctor. She founded Wick Fest, a hockey festival that has reached over 30,000 girls, and the Wick Hockey app. In this episode, Scott Rintoul talks with Hayley about growing up in small-town Saskatchewan, where she played hockey with the boys and heard that girls didn't belong. She explains why that made her resilient, why 70 to 80 percent of her skill came from unstructured play, and what she'd tell any parent worried their child is falling behind. Hayley also explains: Why early specialization, year-round sport and early tiering often backfireHow free play builds hockey sense and decision-makingWhy letting kids fail is one of the best things parents can doHow coaches can skip the practice plan and just let kids playWhy she'd choose the lower tier every timeWhy "movement is medicine" starts in youth sports Chapters: 0:00 Opening 1:35 Introducing Hayley Wickenheiser 3:44 The hardest job of all: Parenting 7:04 Two rules: an instrument and a sport 9:10 Playing hockey with the boys in Saskachewan 10:39 "Girls don't play hockey" 14:14 Why parents lose their minds at the rink 16:50 We've lost the art of play 19:55 Why early specialization backfires 24:19 Early tiering and the Nordic model 27:06 The "little Johnny" pathway myth 29:21 Backyard rink creativity 31:03 Hockey robots 3:51 Why kids need to fail 35:47 Coaches: be brave, skip the practice plan 38:05 What a great youth coach looks like 40:07 Winning, losing and participation medals 44:07 Movement is medicine 47:28 Wick Hockey app and Wick Fest 50:56 Keeping hockey affordable 53:56 Swim, skate and daily school PE 56:45 The 1988 Olympics and the barn ski jump 1:01:07 Why every kid needs an off-season1 03:13 Choose the lower tier 1:05:47 The coaches who believed in her 1:08:07 What would she change in youth sports Resources: ⁠Hayley Wickenheiser⁠ ⁠WickFest⁠ ⁠Better Sports Parents⁠

    Hayley Wickenheiser: High Costs Hurting Hockey, Let Your Kids Fail & The Lost Art of Play

  2. Sep 22

    Geroy Simon: Navigating NIL, Check Your Ego as a Coach & It Always Comes Back to the Child

    Geroy Simon is one of the most decorated players in CFL history: three Grey Cup victories, a Most Outstanding Player award, and a place in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Since retiring, he's built a front-office career that's taken him from scouting to the CFL front office and now back to where it started: Executive Director of Revenue Share and General Manager at his alma mater, the University of Maryland. He's also a father of four with very different journeys through sport: sons who played college football at West Point and in Canada, daughters who pursued gymnastics and their own paths. Combine that with his career, and he's sat in multiple chairs around the recruiting table. Geroy and Scott dig into recruiting in the NIL and transfer-portal era, the difference between coaching other people's kids and coaching his own son, why he wants his kids to experience real failure, and the lessons his parents and grandmothers imprinted on him that still guide how he talks to student athletes today. Geroy also tells the story of a player nobody expected much from who's still in football today, and opens up about the toughest stretch of his own career: getting cut seven times in two years before Winnipeg gave him a second chance. Chapters: 0:00 Opening 1:35 Introducing Geroy Simon 3:12 Being Recruited by Maryland, Then and Now 5:30 The Other Side of the Recruiting Desk 6:18 How NIL Has Changed Recruiting 7:44 Transactional vs. Transformational Athletes 9:23 His Son's Choice: West Point Over the Ivy League 12:50 The Pressure of Carrying the Simon Name 14:12 Coaching His Own Son 17:21 Checking His Ego as a Youth Coach 19:16 His Daughters' Sports Experience 20:11 The Real Impact of Youth Sports on His Kids 21:37 Growing Up a Multi-Sport Athlete 23:39 Is Year-Round Specialization Hurting Kids? 25:29 Why Football Was the Right Fit 27:26 What Made His Love for the Game Endure 32:45 Lessons His Parents Imprinted on Him 34:39 Control What You Can Control 37:16 Giving Back: Lessons From His Grandmothers 38:40 How Family Dynamics Affect Recruiting 40:08 Has He Ever Walked Away From a Recruit? 41:01 Advice for Overly Involved Parents 42:32 NIL, the Transfer Portal, and Free Agency Culture 44:28 Building Culture in the Transfer Portal Era 47:14 Is This Bleeding Into Youth Sports? 49:19 Wanting His Own Daughters to Fail 51:37 How Great Coaches Make Every Player Feel Valued 53:18 Meeting Every Kid's Different "Why" 58:34 Comparison Culture and Highlight Reels 1:01:19 Educating Athletes on Gambling and Money 1:07:00 The Number One Issue in Youth Sports Today 1:08:06 Cut Seven Times: His Toughest Stretch Resources: Geroy Simon Better Sports Parents

    Geroy Simon: Navigating NIL, Check Your Ego as a Coach & It Always Comes Back to the Child

  3. Sep 18 ·  Bonus

    What's Working: Free Play for Kids with Tim Adams

    When Tim Adams noticed an abundance of siblings watching their brothers play on an after school soccer team, he started to design a program that would accommodate childcare and physical activities. Nearly 20 years later, that simple idea has become a citywide program called Free Play for Kids that serves more than 5,000 children and their families in greater Edmonton every year. In the opening episode of What's Working, Tim explains the importance of providing accessible sports programming, why collaborative partnerships with schools and community centres are essential for our youth, and what other cities can learn from the approach Edmonton has taken in leveraging many of its public facilities to serve its population. For more information on Free Play for Kids, visit ⁠www.freeplayforkids.com⁠ and email Tim at tim@freeplayforkids.com. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:24 Welcome Tim Adams 1:56 What Is Free Play for Kids? 4:02 The Origin Story: From CBC Journalist to Coach 6:45 From a Volunteer Club to a Staffed Program 8:24 The COVID Pivot That Changed Everything 9:49 Training Coaches and Volunteers 11:10 What Is Social-Emotional Learning in Coaching? 13:26 Why This Model Works for Families 15:36 Getting Schools and Facilities on Board 17:45 Solving the Transportation Barrier 21:18 How the Program Is Funded 23:47 Advice for Replicating This in Other Communities 26:48 How to Get in Touch With Free Play for Kids

    What's Working: Free Play for Kids with Tim Adams

  4. Sep 15

    James Paxton: Baseball's Velo Culture, Backyard to Big League & I Wouldn't Get Recruited Now

    James Paxton pitched on some of baseball's biggest stages, battling through injuries to become one of only two Canadian pitchers to ever throw a no-hitter in the big leagues, and the only one to do it on Canadian soil. Earlier this year, he came out of retirement to pitch for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic. However, these days, most of his innings are as a husband to Katie, a father to two young kids, and co-host of The Pitch podcast. James and Scott dig into the catch-in-the-backyard relationship with his dad that shaped his love of the game, how getting cut from an all-star team at 10 years old became one of the best things that happened to him, and why he doubts the 2026 recruiting version of James Paxton would even get looked at today. They talk through the "allostatic load" youth athletes are carrying with school, friendships, and training stacked on top of each other without the recovery time James had as a kid. They also discuss why velocity gets over-indexed in youth baseball and what are we actually trying to teach kids through sport knowing that most will never become high performance athletes. James also opens up about untangling his identity from his performance on the mound, why he sought out a therapist, and the simple parenting shift he believes matters most: praise the effort, not the result. If you've ever wondered how a former big-league starter thinks about raising his own kids through sport, this conversation is full of hard-earned, honest perspective. Chapters: 0:00 Opening 1:35 Introducing James Paxton 4:11 Childhood Friendships Rooted in Youth Sports 5:33 Late Physical Growth 6:41 Getting Cut From the All-Star Team at 10 8:24 Baseball Was Always His Choice 9:25 Unstructured Backyard Play vs. Skills Clinics 12:05 Where Creativity Actually Comes From 16:12 Recruited to Division I Without Elite Velocity 18:28 Why Late Developers Outperform at the Pro Level 19:38 Why Velocity at 13 Doesn't Predict Anything 20:18 Building the Mental Game With a Sports Psychologist 21:13 Are We Over-Indexing on Velocity? 22:06 Baseball's Many Paths to the Pros 23:10 The Sacrifices of a Pro Career 24:22 "Treating Young Athletes Like Professionals" 25:35 Protecting Actual Childhood as a Parent 26:45 The Line Between Joy and Serious Development 28:00 What His Parents Actually Talked About After Games 30:36 His Dad Catching Bullpens in Steel-Toe Boots 32:57 Allostatic Load: Why Kids Are Burning Out 34:37 The Fear of Not Being Seen 36:39 Less Than 1% Go Pro, So What's the Real Goal? 37:11 What Youth Sports Actually Taught Him 38:22 Travel Sports and the "Free Agent" Problem 39:32 Is Money Driving the Pressure? 41:04 Why Every Kid Needs an Off-Season 42:50 Coming Out of Retirement for the World Baseball Classic 45:36 The Calm That Defined His Career 48:08 Teaching Kids to Reach Their Own Conclusions 48:56 Why You Learn More From Failure Than Success 50:47 The Mentors Who Shaped His Career 52:34 The Value of Playing Across Age Groups 53:46 Small Steps and Delayed Gratification 55:36 Growing Up Without Social Media Comparison 58:53 Separating James Paxton the Person From the Player 1:02:10 The Number One Issue in Youth Sports Today 1:03:53 Praise the Effort, Not the Results 1:05:03 Control the Controllables Resources The Pitch Pod Better Sports Parents

    James Paxton: Baseball's Velo Culture, Backyard to Big League & I Wouldn't Get Recruited Now

  5. Sep 8

    Manny Malhotra: Don't Be That Parent, Coaching Your Own Kid & We're Just Buying Memories

    Manny Malhotra is the Head Coach of the Vancouver Canucks and a central piece in a family that has an incredible amount of perspective and opinion on youth sports. Drafted seventh overall in 1998, Manny played nearly 1,000 NHL games across seven organizations, and built a reputation as one of the league's most respected leaders. His coaching career has seen him move from an NHL assistant to a Calder Cup winner as head coach of the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks to the bench boss of the NHL franchise he helped lead to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final as a player. He's also a father of four, including son Caleb, who was drafted by the Canucks this past summer, putting Manny on the verge of coaching his own son in the NHL. Manny and Scott dig into the youth sports household that shaped him, and how that same philosophy now guides how he and his wife Joann, the younger sister of Steve and Martin Nash, raise their own four kids. They talk through the real challenges of coaching your own child, why he and Joann deliberately keep their kids multi-sport despite living in a city with ice available year-round, and why they believe producing good people through sport matters more than producing great players. Manny also shares the story that changed how he thinks about pressure in youth sports today, and closes with a simple truth every sports parent should hear: most of what your kid remembers won't be the score. If you've ever wondered how a former first-round pick and now NHL head coach actually parents through youth sports, this conversation is full of practical perspective. Chapters: 0:00 Opening 2:05 Introducing Manny Malhotra 3:45 Growing Up in a Competitive Household 6:52 Why His Parents Made Sports Central to Family Life 8:53 Never a Forced Issue 10:36 Passing These Lessons to His Own Four Kids 13:59 The Challenges of Coaching His Own Children 16:17 The Conversation That Changed His Coaching Approach 18:33 Stepping Back From Coaching Caleb 21:36 Coach Hat vs. Dad Hat 24:20 Why "He Was So Polite" Means More Than Stats 27:41 Growing Up the Youngest of Four 29:47 Married Into an Even More Competitive Family 32:08 How Monetization Changed Youth Sports 33:01 Intentionally Raising Multi-Sport Kids 37:25 "Don't Be That Parent" 41:29 The Foundational Lessons: Don't Be Late, Work Hard 43:21 Why Kids Specialize So Early Today 44:59 Steve Nash's Warning About Individual Training 45:57 Skill Level Is Up, Hockey IQ Is Down 48:00 The Lost Art of Pickup Shinny Hockey 50:28 What Should a Youth Coach's #1 Priority Be? 54:47 Chasing Plastic Trophies 57:17 Becoming a Role Player at the NHL Level 59:38 What Coaches Should Actually Praise 1:02:31 The Matheny Manifesto 1:04:38 Why Youth Sports Pressure Is Heavier Today 1:07:31 The Number One Issue in Youth Sports Today 1:07:43 "We're Just Buying Memories" Resources Manny Malhotra Better Sports Parents

    Manny Malhotra: Don't Be That Parent, Coaching Your Own Kid & We're Just Buying Memories

  6. Aug 25

    Duff Gibson: Real Tools for Coaches, Mindset Matters Most & Lean Into the Love of the Game

    Duff Gibson won a World Championship and Olympic gold in skeleton, a remarkable achievement at the end of a winding athletic path that took him through wrestling, speed skating, and rowing before he ever touched a sled. He also spent 25 years as a Calgary firefighter, and since retiring from competition has built the Community Coach Program (contact duffgibson@icloud.com) and the multi-sport kids' program Dark Horse Athletic. Duff unpacks the phrase that shaped his entire relationship with sport — "it's just sport" — and how his parents held that belief alongside a genuine passion for competition. They talk through the real difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset, why youth sport is quietly manufacturing the wrong one, and the story of a coach yanking a child by the jersey that led directly to the founding of Dark Horse Athletic. Duff also shares what a landmark German study of Olympic athletes actually proves about early specialization, why the cost of youth sport is a bigger barrier than most people realize, and why he believes the ultimate measure of a youth sport program isn't pro athletes or Olympic medals. If you've ever wondered whether taking sport "too seriously" actually helps kids perform better, this conversation offers a rare, research-backed answer from someone who's lived it at the very top. Chapters: 0:00 Opening 01:35 Introducing Duff Gibson 03:15 From Wrestling and Rowing to Olympic Gold 04:04 Raised on "It's Just Sport" 08:47 Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset 14:30 Helicopter Parenting and the Physical Literacy Decline 17:52 Building the Community Coach Program 18:46 Purpose: The Missing Piece in Youth Sport 22:59 The Rising Cost of Youth Sport 25:02 Beckie Scott and the Coach Who Didn't Interfere 30:55 Watching His Own Kids Choose Fun Over Obsession 33:03 The Lake Placid Story: Two Mindsets, One Team4 0:04 Why His Son Walked Away From Baseball 40:51 The Moment That Started Dark Horse Athletic 49:59 Personal Challenges Over Competition 50:58 The State of Physical Education Today 54:17 Coaching Kids With ADHD 56:33 From Wrestler to Rower to Skeleton Champion5 7:28 Handling Olympic Pressure 59:37 Kyle Shewfelt on Trusting His Coach 1:01:47 Is a "Failed" Sports Career Really Wasted? 1:02:38 The Common Upbringing of Olympic Medalists 1:07:44 The Number One Issue in Youth Sports Today 1:09:33 What a German Olympic Study Really Proves 1:11:28 Roger Federer, Late Specialization & Genetics Resources Duff Gibson Dark Horse Athletic Better Sports Parents

    Duff Gibson: Real Tools for Coaches, Mindset Matters Most & Lean Into the Love of the Game

  7. Aug 18

    Jamie Huscroft: Conscious of Cost, The Ever-Shrinking Offseason & Develop People Not Players

    Jamie Huscroft played more than 350 NHL games with seven organizations, won a Memorial Cup with the Medicine Hat Tigers, and was drafted in the 9th Round after starting out as, in his own words, the worst player at every level he ever played. Since retiring in 2001 after suffering 13 concussions as a pro, he's spent nearly 25 years building community hockey in the greater Seattle area, where he's now Director of Facilities for Sno King Ice Arenas. Jamie and Scott dig into what's changed and what hasn't in youth hockey: rising costs, shrinking off-seasons, and the pressure to specialize early despite Jamie's own multi-sport upbringing in tiny Creston, BC. Jamie shares how his parents' hands-off, "how was your day" approach shaped him, why his own kids never played hockey and he never pushed them to, and how Sno King's philosophy puts character development ahead of chasing the NHL. He also opens up about the toll of his concussions, how hockey has evolved on safety, and why cost — not talent or dedication — is the number one barrier keeping kids out of the game today. Whether your child is just starting out or already deep in the travel-team grind, Jamie's perspective as both a pro-hockey veteran and a rink operator offers a rare, grounded view of youth sports from the inside. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 02:06 Introducing Jamie Huscroft 03:13 Why He Chose Community Hockey Over the Pros 03:59 Concussion Number 13 Ended His Career 06:12 Watching Former Youth Players Become Coaches 08:32 How the Kraken Changed Seattle Hockey 10:29 Rising Costs and Shrinking Off-Seasons 13:24 The Norway Model vs. Choosing Earlier 14:21 Top Teams, Early Specialization, and "The Outlier" 15:14 Why He Never Pushed His Own Kids 17:35 Character Development Over Chasing the NHL 19:22 Turning Teenagers Into Mentors 20:38 The Worst Player in Camp, Every Step of the Way 24:35 His Parents' Hands-Off, Car-Ride Philosophy 27:12 A Multi-Sport Childhood in Creston, BC 28:17 Is Early Specialization the System's Fault? 29:59 "If I Don't Do It, Someone Else Will" 32:13 Where Win-at-All-Costs Culture Actually Lives 33:34 Pond Hockey: Letting Kids Coach Themselves 35:22 Parents Coaching From the Stands 36:48 Building a Mentorship Pipeline for Referees 39:18 Has Parent Behavior Really Changed? 41:50 Are There Really Only a Few Paths to the Top? 43:41 The Attrition Rate of Elite Hockey 44:58 How He Defines Success Through Sport 48:01 Staying in Hockey after 13 Concussions 49:25 How Hockey Has Changed on Safety 54:55 The Number One Issue in Youth Sports Today 55:54 Keeping Hockey Affordable at Sno King Resources ⁠Jamie Huscroft⁠ ⁠Sno King Arenas⁠ ⁠Better Sports Parents⁠

  8. Aug 11

    Ilya Orlov: Why Kids Quit Sports, Breaking Bad Coaching Habits & Dollars Over Development

    Ilya Orlov almost quit soccer at 13 due to pressure from well-meaning parents, punishing coaches, and a body that developed later than his peers. On the brink of leaving the game he loved, his father gave him one piece of advice that changed everything: drop down a level. That decision, and the years of reflection since, shaped how Ilya now coaches as head coach of the University of Toronto men's soccer program, a role he's held for over seven years after playing at York University and captaining them to a national championship. Ilya holds a master's in developmental psychology and has trained as a coach across Europe, giving him a research-backed, data-driven lens on what's actually broken in youth sports. In this conversation, he and Scott dig into the relative age effect, why year-round training without recovery is quietly injuring kids, the real odds of making it to university or pro sport, and why coach education in North America is dangerously subjective. Ilya also opens up about the traumatic coaching moment from his own youth that he vowed never to repeat, what he actually looks for in recruits and their parents, and his blunt take on social media, private coaching, and the number one issue facing youth sports today. If you've ever wondered whether your child should specialize, drop down a level, or just be allowed to have fun, this episode offers a coach's rare combination of lived experience and research. Chapters: 0:00 Opening 01:35 Introducing Ilya Orlov 03:32 From Player to Coach at 24 04:56 His Soviet-Influenced Sporting Roots 06:21 Relative Age Effect and Late Puberty 07:34 On the Brink of Quitting at 12 09:36 When Parental Pressure Really Starts 14:01 Pushed Out of a Team by a Coach 16:28 Free Play and a Multi-Sport Childhood 17:10 Should More Kids Drop Down a Level? 18:29 The "Overload" Theory of Development 20:11 Tiering, Late Bloomers, and False Perceptions 26:02 Year-Round Training and Missing Recovery 26:51 The Real Odds of "Making It" 28:39 Private Academies and the Pressure to Specialize 30:49 Kids as Revenue Tools in a Money-Driven System 32:03 Overuse Injuries and "Any Given Monday" 33:38 Why Coach Education Needs to Be Evidence-Based 35:18 The Volunteer Coaching Problem 37:42 The Foundation of Coaching: "What" vs. "How" 42:36 The Punishment Run That Changed How He Coaches 46:24 Pro Coaches as Role Models for Bad Behavior 48:45 What a Parent's Role Should Really Be 51:11 Support Them, Don't Coach Them 53:49 The Real Odds of Playing University Soccer 57:25 Why Parent Behavior Factors Into Recruiting 1:00:11 The Real Goal: Raising Good Humans 1:04:33 Social Media in Youth Sports 1:06:09 How Private Coaching Leads to FOMO 1:08:20 The Number One Issue in Youth Sports Today Resources ⁠Ilya Orlov⁠ ⁠Any Given Monday ⁠ ⁠Better Sports Parents⁠

    Ilya Orlov: Why Kids Quit Sports, Breaking Bad Coaching Habits & Dollars Over Development
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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Scott Rintoul
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    81
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Better Sports Parents

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