Here is an un-edited transcript of an interview conducted with Sport4Growth Founder, Danny Aronson. Hopefully you find this helpful as a reference for how sports impacted Danny's life in an effort to give you examples for how sports can impact the lives of your kids or kids you coach. Danny built Sport4Growth for each person to figure out their own purpose for participating in youth sports and to help provide them guiding tools to empower them to align their actions with their goals. This is just one example. It's not the right or wrong example. Just an example. Sport4Growth hopes you can impact your kids so they can be impacted by youth sports in the way you want.
Interviewer: "Thank you for joining us today. It's really wonderful to have this opportunity to delve into your experiences with youth sports. Let's begin at the beginning. Could you tell us about the sports you played growing up, the level you reached, and what you feel were your strengths and weaknesses as a young athlete?"
Danny: "It's great to be chatting with you about this. I'm excited to share and hear what you have been working on. I played a lot of sports as a kid. My earliest memories are of swinging a plastic baseball bat while still wearing a diaper. I mainly played soccer and baseball as a kid, starting at age 4 for soccer and probably age 7 for baseball. I also played in the local rec basketball league and I went to tennis camp as well as played roller hockey and pond hockey starting at probably age 8. I was a pretty good athlete, but always really small, but also really fast and had great hand-eye coordination from an early age. I was one of the top draft picks in little league and I played up a year in soccer until a team my age was formed. I was in the local rec league and then also joined the town team that played other towns at a pretty competitive level and I then eventually played on a club team which was the highest level in Massachusetts. My soccer teams ended up winning 3 state championships between age 11 and 18 and I played on all the summer league all-star baseball teams. In high school I was on varsity soccer, hockey and baseball starting sophomore year and I was captain of all 3 in my senior year. I would say I was a really strong athlete and probably could have played Division 1 in soccer or baseball if I had dedicated solely to either one earlier, but I'm glad I played all those different sports. So yeah, I guess sports was a big part of my youth."
Interviewer: "That's a remarkable sports journey you've had, starting from such a young age and excelling in multiple sports through your high school years. It's impressive how you balanced being a multi-sport athlete with achieving high levels in soccer and baseball. Your experience really highlights the value of diversity in sports during youth. Given this diverse background, how do you think playing different sports influenced your development, not just as an athlete, but also in other aspects of your life, like teamwork, discipline, or even academic performance?"
Danny: "Yeah, I think it had a huge impact. I mean, I definitely learned how much each player on the team matters. I remember a coach saying 'we are only as strong as our weakest link.' I think training for the seasons in high school taught me to enjoy the process and look at the pain as a sign of good things to come. I think the constant drive to get better which was driven by a love of the game and a love for being my best instilled in me a desire throughout my life to constantly learn and develop. I think it also helped me develop strategically in how I break things down now problem-solving in business and life as an adult. I think looking at a game tactically and figuring out at halftime why we were losing and finding out a way to turn it around. Things like that. I think learning how to throw a baseball in small pieces of technical movements that when all put together led to a great thrown showed me the power of breaking down processes to fix things. Things like that."
Interviewer: "That's a powerful reflection on how sports have shaped your approach to life and work. The lessons in teamwork, embracing the process, and strategic thinking are invaluable. It's interesting how the tactical aspects of sports have translated into problem-solving skills in your professional life. You mentioned the importance of each team member and the idea of being 'only as strong as our weakest link.' Could you expand on how this concept influenced your interactions with teammates, especially in terms of leadership and collaboration?"
Danny: "I think it's caused me to focus more time on the areas that are broken. It probably played into my sense of focusing on the critical path and the bottleneck in processes. I mean, in soccer, even if the best player is doing great, if the left fullback doesn't learn to not send the ball into the middle of the defensive third, you are going to lose all of the benefit of the star player scoring goals. It's a little hard to say that this one comment had such a huge influence, but it feels like one of many pieces around a related topic of it takes everyone on the team doing their job in order to win."
Interviewer: "That's a valuable insight, emphasizing the importance of every team member's role in achieving success. It's clear how this perspective has influenced your approach to teamwork and leadership, focusing on the collective effort rather than just individual performance. Shifting gears a bit, you've had a successful sports journey through your youth and high school years. How did these experiences in sports transition into your college years and early professional life? Did you continue playing sports, and how did the lessons from your youth sports experiences manifest in your adult life?"
Danny: "I think they had a significant impact, some directly tangible and others it takes a bit of a leap of faith to connect back to sports, but feels like they are. In college I tried out for the Division 1 soccer team and while I didn't make it I had an incredible experience training for the tryouts which really just doubled-down on my love for pushing myself to be in top physical shape and top skill level. To this day I love seeing how hard I can push myself to achieve a higher level. From that experience I also made my first few closest friends in college and that led to having a huge grew of awesome guys through all four years. I also played club soccer in college and so that gave me more connections to people outside of my core friend group including older guys. It also gave me a chance to have high level competitive sports and physical activity that probably kept me healthy. The same theme continued through the rest of my life through today. I think the pushing myself and competitiveness probably led to a lot of business success. I think being a smaller guy when I was younger, being overlooked by some coaches when I was 12-14 years old and then developing in high school to a point where I showed them I was one of the best really stuck with me as proving people wrong if they underestimated me. I think there are some negative things with that as well, like being too driven by what others think of me. But overall, I think my career success and my ability to handle high stress things in high growth businesses and turnaround situations was helped a lot by my sports experiences. Today as an adult, I play in a hockey league so I get to have the benefits like I had with club soccer of making new friends and staying physically fit while also being about to have the rushes and excitement of competitive sports. I wouldn't have this if I hadn't trained and developed physically as an athlete and played all of that pond hockey and high school hockey. I also get to coach my kids sports which gives me so much pleasure, plus I get to meet even more people who are coaches and parents that are outside of my main friend group so I have even more friends it the community. Wow, that's a lot. I guess sports have had a big impact on my life."
Interviewer: "It's truly remarkable to hear how deeply sports have influenced various aspects of your life, from physical fitness and competitive spirit to forming lasting friendships and professional success. Your journey underscores the long-term benefits of youth sports, extending well beyond the playing field. As you transitioned into adulthood and especially now as a parent, how has your perspective on the purpose of youth sports evolved? Considering your own experiences, what do you believe should be the primary focus of youth sports today?"
Danny: "I hear a lot of people say that sports should be about 'fun.' And I agree it should be fun. But what I always ask myself is what does fun mean? I find it fun to learn, to develop, to get better than I was the game before, to figure out a new move that I can use in the game, to celebrate a goal scored by my team, to run as fast as I can and leave everything on the field and yes, winning. So I think it is about fun, but I think it is more about the things that make sports fun. And really, I think it should be a fun experience, but I don't think that's the purpose. I think there are lots of ways to have fun as a kid. You can go to birthday parties and play games and play at recess and all of that is a great way to have fun and enjoy being a kid. I really think sports, because sports are so fun, can be a place where kids can develop life-long skills. I think it is about developing healthy passions like a love for exercise or developing mentally like growth mindset or developing physically like agility which helps you remain active and enjoy being activity as an adult. I really think it's about development. I think developing a competitive spirit is part of development, but its not necessary. I personally love that I have a competitive spirit. It makes me enjoy sporting events that much more. But I think I could enjoy them just as much with that spirit and could have developed just as well with as much career success and have as good of a life today without that competitive side. I don't think the same is true with the development of things like growth mindset. I just wouldn't be where I am today without that."
Interviewer: "That's a profound perspective, emphasizing that while fun is a component, the true essence of youth sports lies in development – be it physical, mental, or emotional. Your focus on growth mindset and the development of healthy passions really highlights the transformative power of sports beyond just the game itself. Given this emphasis on development, how do you think parents, coaches, and sports organizations are doing in terms of aligning with this purpose? Are there areas where you feel they are succeeding, and perhaps others where there's room for improvement?"
Danny: "I think two conflicting things are true at the same time. One, I think most parents want what's best for their kids in terms of long-term development and they don't truly care about the outcome of the kid's game or season. Two, I think for the most part the actions are not aligned with long-term development and squarely aligned with the performance on the field. I think parents and coaches just don't know what to do for long-term development and they only see the measurement of wins and losses and goals or runs or baskets scored. So they just default to focusing their actions, feelings and communication on those things. It's really sad. That's not everyone of course. There are some really good coaches. But for the most part, parents and coaches don't seem to be doing what is needed to align with what they would say is their most important goals when it comes to youth sports. I think if they could just take the time to holistically assess what it is all about, prioritize what matters and act in alignment with that, we would have much better development taking place for the kids and our communities."
Interviewer: "That's a compelling observation – the disconnect between the intentions of parents and coaches for long-term development and the focus on immediate performance metrics. It sounds like there's a need for a broader understanding and a shift in focus to truly align actions with the developmental goals of youth sports. Considering this gap between intention and action, what do you think are some practical ways that parents and coaches can start to realign their focus towards holistic development? Are there specific strategies or approaches you've seen or can suggest that might help bridge this divide?"
Danny: "I think it start with asking themselves what are the list of things they want to see happening with their kids development, having nothing to do with skills or tactics for that specific sport. I'm not saying those things don't matter. They do if you want to perform at a higher level and so forth. But if parents wrote down a list of a few things, then they would start to look for those things instead of just whether the kid scored a goal. They also would stop doing things like yelling instructions during the game because doing so don't align with their goals and it actually is a negative influence towards goals like intrinsic motivation. I think your website Sport4Growth is a good resource for this. From there, I think parents interacting with their kids about the sports experiences in alignment with the goals is a great way for parents to have an impact and from there, they might even feel comfortable approaching the coach and the organization to get them on board with a purpose that aligns with their own."
Interviewer: "That's a practical and insightful approach. Starting with a clear list of developmental goals beyond the sport's specific skills can indeed help parents and coaches refocus their efforts. It's about nurturing a broader perspective on what constitutes success and growth in youth sports. Your suggestion about constructive interactions with kids and potentially influencing coaches and organizations aligns perfectly with creating a more holistic sports environment. As we near the end of our conversation, reflecting on everything we've discussed, what is one thing you personally plan to do differently, or continue doing, to ensure your actions align with your goals in youth sports, both as a parent and a coach?"
Danny: "I'm going to really be intentional about the development that I am looking for from each kid on the team and make sure that it is as much of my focus as is the technical and tactical development. I think I will remain just as competitive, but I will choose language and actions that aligns the competition with the development goals that I have for the kids."
Interviewer: "That's a commendable commitment. Being intentional about focusing on holistic development, alongside technical and tactical aspects, is a balanced approach that can truly enrich the youth sports experience. Your dedication to aligning your competitive spirit with developmental goals sets a great example for both parents and coaches. Thank you for sharing your insights and experiences with us today. It's been enlightening to hear about your journey in sports and your thoughtful perspective on youth development through sports. Your approach and ideas are sure to inspire many in our audience to reflect on and enhance their own involvement in youth sports."
-- End of Interview --
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