Parenting Athletes

Your athlete does not need a perfect parent. They need a parent who knows when to push, when to listen, and when to step back. Youth sports can test confidence, motivation, discipline, relationships, and judgment—often all at once. The Parent’s Playbook gives you 24 practical plays for the moments sports parents face most: bad games, playing time, coaches, pressure, setbacks, motivation, training, burnout, recruiting, and more. The goal is not to control the journey. It is to help your athlete become more confident, disciplined, resilient, independent, and capable of owning it.

Today's youth-sports experience provokes countless questions for well-intentioned parents. How young should kids start playing sports? Should they specialize—and when? What should a parent do when their kid is not getting the playing time they think their child deserves? How do parents encourage children without overwhelming them? Raising Empowered Athletes has answers for every youth-sports situation with an overarching goal of not only helping parents raise strong athletes but also nurture great human beings who are empowered to succeed on and off the playing field.

There comes a time in every competitive athlete's life when the cheering stops, and it's time to move on to other pursuits. Written by a former Division 1 football player and Academic All-American, The Way of the Athlete argues that sports prepares athletes for this transition by instilling qualities that contribute to academic, business, and personal success.

The most important moment in youth sports happens in the car ride home —not on the field. As a sports parent, you know the feeling. Your child walks off the field quieter than usual, shoulders tight, and you want to help. But what should you say? Most parents don't realize that the invisible work —how you respond to failure, when you stay quiet, and what you reinforce in those small moments —shapes whether your child builds real confidence or carries pressure that follows them off the field. Raising An Athlete is not about developing professional players.

As one of Australia's most celebrated athletes, Michael Klim's impact extends far beyond the pool. Klim's journey to greatness began behind the Iron Curtain, in communist-era Poland. His family made a bid for freedom in the 1980s and immigrated to Australia, where swimming became his passport...

Parenting Champions is a book designed to help parents of competitive children/teens learn how they can be better mental coaches for their children. Parents are the first and most important mental coach a child has in their life, yet parents are not taught how to help their competitive child build their mental toughness for sport, or any other competitive environment. This book helps equip parents with understanding the mental game, and how they can better help their children grow.

The power to become better, greater, more refined versions of ourselves is something that each one of us possesses. It is a power with which we are born, like infinite gold inside the equally infinite mine shafts that are our minds. Now, to get at that gold - there is the rub. Since time immemorial people have struggled to manage the darkness within themselves. How do we reckon our possibilities with our capabilities? How do we overcome the difficulties within? How do we shake off the invisible sandbags that seem to drag us down and run faster, jump higher, push harder?

Are you tired of watching your young athlete struggle under pressure or lose confidence after setbacks? The difference between those who thrive under stress and those who crumble isn’t raw talent—it’s mental toughness and discipline. This audiobook isn’t another shallow pep-talk or rehashed list of clichés. It’s a down-to-earth, actionable playbook packed with real exercises, relatable stories, and proven strategies for competitive young athletes.

In this groundbreaking book, Rebecca Smith, M.A.A, sought after Mental Performance Coach, former fearful gymnast, gymnastics coach, and mom demystifies the process of guiding your athlete through a mental block, without being too controlling or too involved.

The law of attraction is based on the idea that everything in the universe has a polarity, meaning that everything - from the food you eat to the people you talk to the things you say to the things you think - contains either a positive or a negative kind of energy. Notice that being with people who complain or rant a lot tends to make you feel bad, even though you're not exactly experiencing what they're going through - that's the law of attraction working its magic.

Parenting a young athlete can be inspiring, exciting, and deeply stressful — sometimes all in the same season. Close games, tough losses, coach decisions, injuries, and post-game conversations can bring out strong emotions for both kids and parents. It’s easy to feel pressure on the sidelines, even when your goal is simply to support your child. Emotional Regulation for Athletes’ Parents offers practical, science-informed strategies to help you stay calm during competition, respond thoughtfully after games, and guide your athlete through challenges with confidence and connection.

The most important moment in youth sports happens in the car ride home—not on the field. As a sports parent, you know the feeling. Your child walks off the field quieter than usual, shoulders tight, and you want to help. But what should you say? Most parents don't realize that the invisible...

Transform youth sports anxiety into mental toughness with practical sports psychology tools for parents and coaches. Whether you are commuting to practice or navigating the tense car ride home after a tough loss, this uplifting guide provides a clear roadmap for resilience. You will easily learn...

This book is for all the athletes out there, especially the millions like me, who want to be their very best and hope that someone or something can aid them in reaching their potential. One vital lesson I have learned since is that the one person you are looking for, the most crucial person in your athletic development, is YOU! You will need help along the way, and others will contribute. However, you must be the majority investor in your athletic aspirations.

Parents shape their young athletes' mental strength through everyday interactions, creating the foundation for both athletic success and life skills. This comprehensive guide gives parents the tools they need to build resilience, confidence, and mental toughness in their young athletes.

Put fitness into practice with this balance-driven guide from cyclist, CEO, and coach Art Trapotsis. Do the demands of your career, family, and life constantly sabotage your efforts to improve your fitness? Exercise is vitally important for good health, but it usually takes a back seat when life becomes busy. You might prioritize your work and family relationships out of what seems like necessity, but before you realize it, your fitness goals are pushed aside, and you feel stressed out and unbalanced. The bright side? It doesn't have to be that way.

Humtown has created a revolutionary and proven game plan to increase individual, team, and organizational performance. A strong interest in their innovation has already been made at some of the most recognized industrial organizations and academic institutions. MIT and Fraunhofer Institute have visited Humtown to understand the critical success factors inherent in this system.

Teen Athlete Excellence is your game plan. This isn’t just another sports nutrition book; it’s a proven guide to building lasting habits through teamwork and trust. In just six weeks, you’ll learn how to guide your athlete’s nutrition choices without power struggles or micromanagement.

Challenges, losses, and stressors are impossible to avoid in life. They sneak up on you when you least expect it and pull the rug from under your feet mercilessly. You can’t avoid them, but you can decide how you respond to them. They don’t have to end your goals or stop you from dreaming big. Consider this book to be your guide for a journey of continuous movement. Its aim is to keep you firmly focused on your life’s purpose, so you can achieve a state of constant evolution.

Athletic success comes from a strong mindset more than strong muscle power. You don’t have to be born mentally tough–you can develop this vital trait with hard work and consistency. Loaded with simple, actionable strategies, this guidebook will help you build mental strength, become resilient, and achieve the top spot in your game.