11% Think Their Kid Will Go Pro
From the fjords to the field, reflections on attention, ambition, and youth sports.
It’s all about TIME.
I’m writing this before sunrise. The house is still, my family’s sleeping, and jet lag is in full swing. We just returned from a few weeks in the Nordic countries—minimal technology, maximum connection to each other.
This summer was dubbed The Summer of Free Fun in our house. My wife and I wanted to recreate something like an '80s summer: riding bikes, jumping off rocks into cold water, playing capture the flag, getting muddy—and ideally, a little lost across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
Looking back, mission accomplished.
I’ll absolutely recommend the fjords—they may be the most magical place my eyes have ever seen. But what sticks with me is this: while we often travel to see something, we always return seeing our lives in a new light.
Our two sons, 10 and nearly 5, went from not wanting to share a bed to becoming best friends. My wife—who runs a pet product company—was able to let go for the first time in a while. And I had space to reflect on a year full of change: calling games in the Big Ten, re-launching my podcast, and starting this very newsletter.
On a quiet train ride, I finished Smart Brevity, a gift from my long-time play-by-play partner and dear friend Ted Robinson. The book is brilliant—and timely. Its core message landed: less content, more meaning.
We’re all flooded with content—notifications, inboxes, screens. So I asked myself: What actually lands? Does our newsletter offer something meaningful? Insightful? Thoughtful?
That book was a well-timed reminder. Every word we send should land. If we earn your time, it should celebrate the game and coach you up. That’s the goal.
A mind blowing stat in Youth Sports
We take the summers off from youth sports. I’m not sure how long we’ll be able to keep that up, but for now it feels right. These days, the youth sports calendar never ends. Games, practices, sign-ups, tryouts. It's a cycle that rarely slows down.
A couple years ago, I was at a UCLA football practice and ended up in a great conversation with a football family—dad was a coach, mom an athlete-turned-entrepreneur, and all their kids were excelling in high school or college sports. They told me: No matter what, we take summers off. That time is sacred. It’s the only true off-season.
As someone who works 7 days a week from late July to early February, that hit home. And I’m so glad we prioritized memory-making this year.
Now—let’s talk youth sports expectations.
I recently came across a study from the Aspen Institute that stopped me in my tracks.
Parents were asked:
“At what level do you believe your child has the ability to play organized sports as they grow?” The responses below shocked me.
Let that sink in: 11.4% of parents believe their kid will go pro.
I’ve coached dozens of youth teams, and if that stat holds true, one in every ten sets of parents believe their child is a future professional athlete. That stat isn’t even true among Elite 11 QBs.
Based on what I hear from parents and observe from coaches, I’m not shocked—but I hope this serves as a reality check. The purpose of youth sports is to expose kids to the joy, the struggle, the camaraderie—the lessons. If they fall in love with the game? Amazing. Stoke that fire. But if we impose our unrealistic expectations, we risk drowning their love for the game.
I’ve watched my friend James Citron in action—he artfully supports and challenges his son without ever overreaching. Will his son go pro? Who knows. But will he continue to thrive in sports because his dad is intentional and grounded? I’d bet on that.
Want more on this topic?
📖 The New Yorker recently interviewed me and others about the rising costs—and pressures—of youth sports:
👉 Read here
🎙 I also joined Dr. Michael Gervais for a Finding Mastery AMA focused on sports parenting. It’s been one of our most talked-about episodes:
👉 Watch here
Media Days & What’s Ahead
It’s Media Day season—and before we dive into the headlines, I want to focus on what really allows elite teams to thrive.
Ashley Adamson and I recently joined Greg Bartalos on Barron’s The Way Forward podcast to talk about the power of connection. Ashley drops absolute gems, and I share what often gets overlooked by even the best teams.
🎧 Listen here
🎥 I also shared a clip on my YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t yet.
And yes—Y-Option was at Big 12 Media Days last week in Dallas. If you missed it, catch the highlights across our social platforms. For a reminder, here is our X page, Instagram page and my TikTok page. We’re ramping up toward Season 2 of Y-Option, and I couldn’t be more excited. More on that soon. In the meantime, thank you for spending TIME with us.
Much love,
Yogi
Good, thought-provoking stuff Yogi, as always. My two boys were young more than a quarter century ago; the younger wrestled with chronic illnesses, but the older was pretty talented athletically and also needed the focus & structure that organized athletics gave him. There was never a point that I strongly believed that he would get a college scholarship, but as a growing kid who was often the best player on his team and sometimes in a game he harbored those dreams. Those dreams were part of the motivation that got him to show up and work harder. As his dad I tried with varying success to let him dream while trying to teach him to "let the future take care of itself." He understood on his own by the end of high school that this was his limit, and has played community basketball into his 40s. I wonder how many stories like mine are out there. I know that as a dad on the sidelines I saw far too many dads who were over-invested in their kid's career. Yikes that can look ugly, as I'm sure you know far better than I.