If you ever wonder how lessons learned in sports translate to life, look no further than to former NAVY SEAL Commander Rorke Denver. Rorke couldn't have led missions all over the world and become the leader of every phase of training for the SEALS, including the infamous BUDS, without the grit, team-first orientation, and leadership skills he began developing in youth sports. Denver shares his youth sports story, which led him to become an All-American lacrosse player at Syracuse University, helping his team win two national championships and propelling him to a life of serving his country and teammates. After his decorated military career, Rorke played the lead character in the 2012 film Act of Valor, became a NYT best-selling author, and a sought after keynote speaker. Our time with Rorke includes his compelling stories from his SEAL experiences, as well as his insights for young athletes, parents, and coaches, and his thoughts from his current experience as a sports parent.

As we celebrate our 100th episode AND kick off 2025, we welcome back five of our previous guests - Dan Orlovsky, Rece Davis, Misty May-Treanor, Mark DeRosa, and Inky Johnson. Each of them share their thoughts and experiences as youth sports parents and coaches, as well as their hopes and ideas for how youth sports can be better in the coming year. This episode provides some great insights for parents and coaches, as well as offers reminders about how to make youth sports a great experience for our kids.

Whether you never heard this or it's been a long time, David's insights into youth sports, from a parent, coach, and player perspective are spot on. So good, that we wanted to replay if for all out listeners, especially the newer ones. And oh yeah, it's fun to listen to Pollack and Francoeur relive their games playing against each other in Georgia high school football. Enjoy.

Softball icon Jennie Finch-Daigle is our guest on this episode of The Pure Athlete Podcast. Jennie shares her youth sports story with us as a multi-sport athlete, and how that helped her develop her softball skills and abilities. She talks about the role her parents played in her development, how she developed as a young pitcher, and compares her college recruiting experiences to those of today. Jennie also shares about playing travel softball as a high schooler, and shares some incredible stories and memories from her Olympic experience, including a profound story from standing on the podium receiving her gold medal. Finally, as a mom of three young athletes trying to navigate the crazy world of travel baseball/softball, football, club volleyball, and more, Jennie gets very real about the challenges and the fun of making this journey as a parent, and provides advice to today's young athletes and parents.

One of the top players in MLB, Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr is this week's guest, and you don’t want to miss it. In 2024, Bobby was the runner-up in the American League MVP voting, posting incredible offensive numbers and winning a Gold Glove at shortstop for the Kansas City Royals in only his third big-league season. Not long ago, Witt was playing travel and high school ball in Colleyville, Tx. The son of a MLB pitcher, Witt bucked current trends and never had a private hitting lesson until after high school, and instead of focusing on launch angles and hitting bombs (which he did plenty of), he focused on hitting the ball hard to all fields and eliminating strikeouts. Bobby shares some of his approach to hitting, his commitment to getting better which led to a Gold Glove in 2024, what his mom and dad taught him about character and humility, and much more.

How can we help our kids develop grit? How do parents help, or hinder, their kids from reaching their full potential, in sports, or life? What are the keys to developing mental toughness in our kids? Do your kids suffer from FOMU (Fear of Messing Up) and how can you help them overcome it, in sports and life? These are just some of the questions we explore this week as we welcome Dr. Tim Elmore, founder and CEO of Growing Leaders, Inc. and a sought-after expert on parenting and leadership development of Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids. The author of more than 30 books, Dr. Elmore is a sought-after speaker and expert, appearing on numerous news shows, TED, dozens of Fortune 500 companies, and has worked with numerous professional sports teams in the MLB, NBA, and NFL, as well as some of college’s top programs. Parents and coaches don't want to miss this episode.

Future first-round NFL draft pick, Inky Johnson’s life changed forever with a single tackle at the University of Tennessee. A ruptured artery left his right arm paralyzed, almost taking his life, and Inky shares the challenges he faced to even get to the University of Tennessee, as well as his story coming back from the life-altering injury. You will be inspired as he shares about his faith and determination, the importance of character, and his own experiences as a sports dad.

This week's guest is 2024 Olympic Gold Medalist and 2019 World Cup Champion MALLORY PUGH SWANSON. As the USWNT’s leading scorer in the 2024 Olympics, including scoring the only goal in the gold medal game, Mal has overcome injuries, doubt, and much more along her journey to the top of the soccer world. Her journey began like many young girls today, playing youth soccer from an early age, as well as playing basketball, and running track until high school. Mal talks about the areas she excelled from the beginning, as well as the areas she had to work hard to develop in her teen years. She also authentically shares about various periods of adversity she faced, including a time when she thought she had lost her passion for the game. She talks about the pivotal moments of life that helped her regain her belief, the role her faith has played in her journey, and the joy of winning a gold medal.

At the end of the day, Youth and High School sports should always be fun, but what if a young athlete has big goals and aspirations? What if they want to become the best athlete they can be, pursing a dream of playing for their high school varsity team, at the college level, or even becoming a professional athlete? Many sports families are pursuing those goals from a young age, and we think that’s fantastic. But you should be aware of the challenges you’ll encounter. You should have a roadmap to help your young athlete become the best version of themselves on the field, court, pool, or track. On this episode the guys discuss all of this...Britt as an "all in" dad of a D1 athlete, Brad as an "all-in" sports dad and high school AD, and Jeff as a former highly accomplished athlete and current sports dad and coach.

Join us today as we welcome former 6x Silver Slugger and 7x MLB All-Star catcher Brian McCann! Brian shares his experiences growing up as the son of a college baseball coach and how his dad played a key role in helping shape his sports journey, which ultimately led to a very successful career in the MLB. Brian gives his thoughts on the current state of youth baseball today and sheds some light on some of the struggles that he has with the evaluation process of youth baseball players.

Brian also dives into his thoughts on the 2024 World Series as well as shares some entertaining stories during his own MLB career, including some of his favorite moments playing alongside Pure Athlete's own Jeff Francoeur. You don't want to miss this one!