For those of you who have a goal to play sports in college, or for your kid to play in college, how much do you really know about what that entails? What will each day look like in-season or during the off-season? What will my “college experience” be like? What are the biggest challenges, and why do more than 30% of college athletes quit early? Yes, playing college ball can be super fun, offering some major benefits. But for some, the expectations differ from the realities they experience. On this episode, the guys discuss these realities to help young athletes and parents gain a better understanding and an accurate view of the life of a college athlete.

On this episode, the guys welcome our first current college athlete to the pod to discuss his journey to become one of college football's leading quarterbacks going into the 2025 season. Cade discusses why he has turned down transfer portal offers for several years, and the value he has placed on staying at a place like Clemson for his entire college career. Cade authentically discusses the adversity he faced in his sophomore year at Clemson, how he faced it and grew from it, and how much he values going through the fire with his teammates. His discussion of the commitment to hard work every single day that athletes must embrace to achieve their goals is inspiring, and he shares his take on what true leadership looks like, especially when things aren't going well. In addition, Cade talks about what it was like to grow up and play ball at Westlake HS in Austin Texas, where he never lost a game, even in middle school. He also share his recruiting story and offers advice to high school kids today regarding what they should be considering when selecting a school to play at. Whether you are a Clemson fan (like Jeff Francoeur) or not, you will likely become a Cade Klubnik fan after listening to this inspiring episode.

On this episode, we provide a sneak peek into our upcoming, new Parent Spotlight Series as Britt interviews Todd Peterson. Todd was an NFL kicker for 13 seasons, but more importantly, is a sports dad whose son played D1 college football. Todd shares his experiences and insights as a sports dad, how he and his wife Susan approached parenting to keep sports in balance, help their kids, Zach and Hannah, set and achieve their goals, overcome adversity, and leverage the lessons learned in sports and other activities to become healthy, productive people. Todd and Susan’s faith, wisdom, and commitment to helping their kids grow and thrive is relevant, informative, and inspiring for sports parents everywhere.

10:00 Todd's high school transition from soccer to football

12:15 Transferred from Annapolis to the University of Georgia

20.50 Start of an NFL career

23.55 Todd and Susan's Parenting Journey with Hannah and Zach

34.00 Parenting through Zach's sports journey to College

This week’s special episode will definitely have you laughing as we welcome former Division 1 college tennis player—who then became one of America’s funniest stand-up comedians, John Crist! Find out how @johnbcrist ’s tennis “career” prepared him to take the stage as a comedian, the lessons he learned playing sports, hilarious takes on youth sports, vacationing on 30A, his hate for the University of Georgia, his thoughts on Pickleball and so much more!

Are parents raising kids to be too soft? Some high school and college coaches think so…and they are speaking out. Are they right, or does the older generation always believe the younger generation lacks toughness? And if they are right, why are kids softer? Is it possible that today's environment is, in some ways tougher for young athletes to navigate than it was for past generations? On this episode, Jeff, Britt, and Brad fully discuss this topic, sharing their own experiences as dads and coaches. They discuss how parents and coaches can help our kids develop toughness and resilience, within the context of providing support and belief in them. While other episodes include mental health experts to speak into this topic, this episode provides valuable insights and perspectives from fellow parents.

Credits: UCLA Athletics

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.