Kelsey Chittick , wife of NFL Super Bowl Champion, Nate Hobgood-Chittick, a former D1 swimmer herself at University of North Carolina, spoke with us this week about her journey falling in love with her dream partner, who happened to also love football. They had a wonderful journey with him playing seven years in the NFL. Nate ended up making the ultimate sacrifice for his sport. Kelsey’s recently released book, Second Half, shares her family’s journey and her feelings about having her son follow in her husband’s footsteps.
In this week’s episode of the #RaisingAthletes Podcast, we spoke with Kyle Weindel, the Associate Club Director and Coach for the Sunshine Volleyball Club. Sunshine is the #1 club in Southern California and is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the country. If you have a young athlete who is considering playing club and/or has dreams to play volleyball in college, you’ll want to hear this episode where we discuss what age to start playing, when to specialize and how to navigate club volleyball. For those who think they may want to play in college, listen in for what coaches are really looking for in a student/athlete.
Weindel is a former DI collegiate All-American from Ball State University who pursued a coaching career at the collegiate assistant and head coach level at the University of New Mexico, Montana State University and the University of Southern California. He is now focused on coaching and leading one of the top girls’ volleyball clubs in the country.
Four ways you can support your athlete through the pressures of youth sports
Parenting is tough and responding in a way that is not only supportive but beneficial to your child can be tricky some times. Understanding WHY your teen plays is so helpful in supporting him on his journey.
Today Susie and Kirsten discuss four ways to support your athlete as adversity occurs. When we have the tools as parents to support them, it can make for a much more enjoyable ride for both YOU and your child. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Let’s do this!
Dan Mavraides is a top-ranked FIBA 3x3 professional basketball player and a 2020 Olympic hopeful. Prior to playing 3x3 professionally, he played in the top 5x5 leagues in Greece and Italy. He graduated from Princeton University in 2011 where he was the two-time team MVP and let the Tigers to an Ivy League Championship and NCAA tournament birth.
But for all of Dan’s success, which is tremendous, the most impressive part of his story is that he is a self-professed “late bloomer” and what gifts that gave him. It has taught him to be curious, become resilient and be grateful for every opportunity. He says he has probably more than compassion for others because his path wasn’t a straight line and the insight that he’s gained has helped him, now at the age of 30 continue to pursue his hoops dreams, one more time.
Dan’s personality is infectious. He’s also a motivational speaker, so anyone looking for inspiration for high school or college kids, he is outstanding at sharing his story and how never giving up is the key to success.
Austin Hatch is a survivor. A two-time plane crash survivor, he epitomizes what it means to be resilient. In 2003, at the age of 8, Austin’s mother, sister and brother were tragically killed plane crash. Eight years later, with many hours of hard work, the 6’6” basketball phenom was offered a college scholarship from his dream school, University of Michigan. Just nine days later, Austin would be aboard a plane with his father and “second mother” (he never considered her a step-mom) and this plane too would go down, killing both his parents and leaving Austin in a coma with severe injuries including traumatic brain injury.
Today, I was so honored to speak with Austin and hear him talk about how he made it to the University of Michigan through tireless work, unrelenting positivity that “a miracle is going to happen” and belief that he was truly blessed to have had all of his amazing family members in his life.
We can learn so much from Austin’s outlook as we parent and raise adults about what it means to be optimistic, even in darkest of times and what the belief in yourself and gratitude for the gifts you have been given can do for you.
Are you a sympathetic parent or an empathic parent? When your child “falls in a hole”, ie, he gets cut from a team, didn’t get the playing time he hoped he get, had a bad game, lost, do you “jump in the hole” with him or do you stand near “the hole” (proverbially hole, of course), ask good questions and see how you could help by witnesses his pain.
In today’s episode, Kirsten and Susie talk about several tools we find helpful when parents contact us to ask how best to help their child in a moment of crisis. Kirsten also shared a four step process to help your teen learn ANY NEW SKILL. Check it out, try it out and please, let us know how it goes!
We love hearing from you. Please feel free to rate and share this podcast on iTunes. Do you know another sports parent who could use some support in their journey to raising not only strong athletes but extraordinary kids. We’d be so grateful if you shared it with them.
Derek Cox was a D1 athlete who had never really considered playing pro football until a scout came to see him play in his senior year in college and told him he could become a “Priority Free Agent”…. Derek said he wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but liked the sound of it.
Because he wasn’t a First Round pick, Derek worked tirelessly with the hopes of landing a spot in the NFL…which he did. We spoke about the journey and and through the pro’s and now that he’s retired and raising his son with his wife, how have his ambitions and dreams shifted and what did he learn along the way which is helping him with his current dream of finishing his MBA and becoming an agent for players who are just arriving into the league.
It’s all about Balance is a theme for Derek. And while he talks about pursuing excellence with such clarity in everything he does from how he works out, to what he eats to who he surrounds himself with, he also is very aware that it takes balance to make it all happen.
For anyone with a teen athlete who aspires to make the team at the next level, whatever that may be— MS, High School or college, this is worth the listen.
Sue Enquist was UCLA Softball’s first All-American, National Champion, and Hall of Famer. In 2006, Enquist wrapped up a 27-year career as head coach of the UCLA Bruins with a 887-175-1 (.835) record, making her the winningest softball coach among all active coaches.
On today’s episode we discussed how twelve years after retirement, softball is still her passion and through her business OneSoftball.com, they are helping inspire the player, organize the parent and educate the coach.
She is a wealth of knowledge on what “micro behaviors” as she calls them, make athletes successful and has tips for parents on how best to support their athletes at every stage of their development. You’ll love learning from Sue, we sure did!
My kid got cut- now what!?
Kirsten and Susie discuss what happens when our athlete gets cut… no matter what the level, whether it’s the middle school team or the varsity team or even at the college or pro level. They discuss the three different approaches we can take as parents to support them, which will give him/her the opportunity to feel the pain and move through it, together.
This week on the #RaisingAthletes Podcast, we are excited to have United States Navy SEAL veteran, Jason Booher on. While he is currently the leader of the management consulting firm, Northwest Harbor Solutions, Booher served 23 years as a commander in the SEALS, leading teams in everything from basic SEAL training, i.e., BUD/S to commanding hundreds of combat operations as well as driving integration of cross-functional intelligence teams. He currently serves as an advisor to the local Southern California public sector as well as at the most senior levels of U.S. Congress, professional teams including the LA Dodgers and at RedBull High Performance, as well as is a guest lecturer at Harvard and MIT on Leadership.
Jason's life experience as a leader in one of the US military's most exclusive and rigorous branches makes him the perfect person to talk to when we want to know more about raising resilient, gritty, hard-working kids. He shares some incredible insights which are completely transferrable to the coaching/playing world for how to build peak performance teams! (Hint: it starts with accountability from within.)
