Raising Empowered Athletes

A Youth Sports Parenting Guide for Raising Happy, Brave, and Resilient Kids

De: Kirsten Jones

Narrado por: Kirsten Jones

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? And, most importantly, how do we ensure our kids both reach their true potential on the playing field and are well-prepared to be successful in life?

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.

Nationally recognized performance coach Kirsten Jones—a former Division I athlete herself—covers wide-ranging topics including the origins of today's hyper-competitive environment, what to insist on for your child’s earliest sports experiences, club and travel teams, best approaches to family conversations and goal-setting, and the transition to high-school sports. Delivered in a conversational and compassionate style, Raising Empowered Athletes will resonate with parents, coaches, and administrators alike.

©2023 Kirsten Jones (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

The type of wisdom you expect to find in a book

For parents who fantasize about their kids being talented and making them rich someday doing what they love, this book offers a grounded perspective. As the author wisely puts it: ‘Raise the child you have, not the child you wish you had.’ A great read—highly recommended if you have kids and love them as much as I love mine.

what a wonderful book!!!

a must read / hear for patents who were athletes or have athletic aspirations for their kids. kudos to the author, she is speaking from good experience!!

A must read for parents

A helpful guide on navigating raising athletic kids in today’s high pressured sports world! I loved it!!!

Must read for all parents of athletes

Love it all. I was doing everything wrong. Corrected myself and my son is finally self-motivated!

Great insight for stressed parent of young athletes

Great insight for a mom of 3 young athletes. As a previous D1 athlete myself, so much has changed, I needed an experienced friend to share their journey. That’s what this book was for me, a good friend who could tell it like it is. Thank you.

Great, succinct representation of youth sports culture

Great book about parenting through this sometimes difficult process with our children. Her stories were poignant and representative of what most of us can identify with, yet have never put words to. Very accurate rendition of this unique culture, yet she offered a welcoming perspective. She provided helpful tips in a simple, meaningful way.

A must read for every parent

This book has made such a lasting impression on me as a parent, and I draw learnings from it on an almost daily basis, as my son navigates high school sports. As the parent of a relatively “new athlete”, who started sports later than most kids, navigating this terrain has been challenging at times. Jones’s book is packed with relatable anecdotes and down to earth, practical advice that has kept us grounded and most importantly supportive of our son having fun while learning many of the new skills (a growth mindset, resilience, discipline, and teamwork) that will carry him through life. The narration is excellent - Jones’s compassion for her student athletes rings true. Can’t recommend this book highly enough, a must read for every parent!

A must read!

Youth sports are booming, and even though that is good, it also comes with the bad too, including injuries and burnout.
This book covers how we got to our overly competitiveness in youth sports and what we can do about it. It also covers questions like when parents should get involved and when they should stay away and let their child handle big decisions, and my personal favorite - if this is your dream or your child's dream. I also loved how to purge relationships without letting someone go all together and the explanation of the five types of coaches. I know my ultimate goal, whether it involves sports or not, is to raise a good human. Every sports parent needs to read this book. Even if your kid is in their last year playing, you will only benefit from this book.

I know my son is very young, but obsessed with his favorite sport, and like most kids, dreams of playing professionally. Obsessed like when he comes home from school, he goes straight to the TV and finds any game on even if his favorite team isn't playing, instead of cartoons. If that will be his dream in ten years, or if he will change his mind, nobody knows, but I do know I'm not going to be the parent who forces their kids to participate, or make him think he has to participate because that's what I want. I'm the parent who will keep herself in check by being mindful of her thoughts and actions by reading books like this and likely rereading this one again.

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF: You have kids in sports. Even if you have one kid who is in sports for two months out of the year, you should still check out this book.

are you a sports parent? read this, now!

Kirsten's book is a must-read for parents. It's easy to get tangled up in the drama of parenting, sports, and kids. The drama does not help your kid have fun, learn fundamentals, or enjoy time with their friends in sports. This book cuts through all of that and helps you see clearly as a parent on the sidelines. Kirsten reads the Audible version and does a superb job (and I'm picky). You'll also learn some strategies for your own goal-setting.

Eye opening

This was suggested to our swim team by the head coach and wow it was a great listen. It was so helpful to reflect on myself as a parent and make adjustments. I realized there were something’s I was doing as a basketball mom that was not helpful, and possibly even hurtful. It led to a good conversation with my child and adjusting on my end. Happy to say we now have many more open conversations about both swim and basketball and his feelings as well as my support. Highly recommend.