Sasha Graham: How Sports Will Save Us All, And How To Navigate Today's Overpressurized Youth Sports Culture

Please welcome Sasha Graham, the host of the Sports Will Save Us All podcast!

What a great name for a show, and I had a great time being a guest on it—we had a wide ranging conversation and really hit it off as she hit me with some surprise questions, trying to put me on the spot…it was wonderful that I said, you know what—how about I bring you onto the B.rad podcast? We turned the tables and while I didn’t put her on the spot too badly, we did talk about some really interesting and thought provoking topics in this episode—one of them was her description of herself as overly competitive, especially in her youth, and how she had to learn the hard way to manage that natural competitive intensity.

I asked her if it was inherent or environmental, which led to a really interesting discussion about that and how, as she matured as a person and an athlete over the years, she realized that the most important thing was to have fun and appreciate the journey rather than obsess about the outcome. 

I think you're going to love some of that commentary, which might get you thinking about your own competitive mindset and the relative importance of appreciating the process versus setting and achieving goals. Sometimes we can get out of hand with that stuff, especially these days. Our conversation then transitions into a discussion about the overly pressurized, overly competitive youth sporting experience that seems to be the norm today, and what we can do about it as well-meaning, devoted parents who want the best for our kids and want to give them all the opportunities they deserve. But we also touch on some of these disturbing phenomenons that have been really highlighted these days, like the expense, the pressure, and the selectivity of competitive sports and how so many kids end up dropping out of them, so it’s also sort of an all or nothing approach.

We also get into some parenting and some kid topics, like the potential solution of bringing back the emphasis and the promotion of recreational sports. I also asked Sasha what her relationship with sports means to her today and throughout her life. We had such a fun conversation and I think, after listening to it, you will be inspired to go listen to some of her great content on the Sports will Save us All podcast. You can start with my interview, but for now, here we go with Sasha Graham.

Sports Will Save Us All is an award-winning weekly podcast from Sasha Graham and is available on every major podcasting platform.

 

TIMESTAMPS:

We explore many aspects of sport itself, looking at competition intensity and youth sports. [01:03]

In a children's book, Sasha writes about a girl who is not invited to a party because she is always so competitive. She learns a good lesson. [06:09]

Is an overly competitive nature inherent? [09:05]

Endurance athletes might be different. [14:04]

How do you categorize where the healthy competitive drive can drift into something that is not wholesome or has a negative aspect on your life? [16:47]

Happines can be complicated but also deliciously simple. Have fun. Just don't focus so much on the outcome. [23:54]

Look around your work or at your peers. Are they having a life like you want to have or are they so absorbed in their careers that they don't have family or other sources of happiness. [28:48]

The state of today's youth sports is arguably overly competitive and pressurized. [32:43]

Parents, let your kids play sports to have fun. [38:40]

How can we guard against those negative repercussions in high level competitive in youth sports? [42:16]

Why are parents so invested in what they perceive as success for the kids? [45:44]

There's a kid at community college who is happy and a kid at an Ivy League who is merable.  Which kid is the most suc