We're Raising a Generation That Moves Less, Hurts More, and Needs Us More Than Ever

Why youth athlete development is about far more than sports—and what parents can do about it.

Let me be straight with you.

America just received a D-minus on its national physical activity report card for children and youth, for the second report cycle in a row. More than 40% of school-aged kids already have at least one chronic health condition like asthma or obesity. Nearly 1 in 5 children aged 2 to 19 are living with obesity right now. And it gets worse as they get older, the rate climbs from 12.7% in early childhood all the way to 22.2% by adolescence.

This is the world your kids are growing up in.

And here’s what makes it worse, the people positioned to help aren’t always qualified to do so. The barrier to entry in the fitness industry is almost nonexistent. A weekend certification, a thousand dollars, and suddenly someone is calling themselves a youth performance coach. Meanwhile, most summer camps and sport programs are built around profit, not actual development. Parents are left trusting their kids to people who’ve never studied how a young body actually grows, adapts, or gets hurt.

I’ve spent the last 10 years working with athletes from age 4 all the way up to professionals in the military, NFL, NBA, and NHL, Division I programs, and top high schools in between. I hold a master’s degree in exercise science and a bachelor’s in sports science and sports performance. I’ve served in the United States Army. I’ve deployed overseas. I’ve collected certifications, and I keep learning every single day.

But honestly? None of that is what separates me from most coaches in the Valley.

What separates me is that I care about the kids more than anything else in this work.

I know what it feels like to be a kid who needed someone to believe in him. When I was 12, I got kicked out of school. I was a knucklehead, I’ll own that. What saved me wasn’t just sports. It was the Police Activity League giving me a place to train, to compete, and most importantly, to learn what it means to have character. The physical training was huge. But the values, the discipline, the standard of how to carry yourself? That changed my life.

That’s exactly what’s missing right now.

Research is clear, youth programs focused on early specialization and high-intensity training produce higher rates of burnout, injury, and kids quitting sport altogether before they ever find their stride. We are literally training the love of movement out of our children.

I’ve played Division I sports. I’ve worked alongside some of the best athletes on the planet. I’ve seen what elite looks like up close. And none of it fully prepared me for what real life teaches you. The discipline, the failure, the getting back up, that’s the actual curriculum. And it starts way earlier than most people think.

That’s why I built a Youth Athlete Development Program for kids ages 4–18.

Not to churn out highlight reels. Not to make a quick buck off your summer. To genuinely bridge the gap between where our kids are and where they’re capable of going, physically, mentally, and as human beings.

The program is simple, effective, and built to last. Your kid will get stronger. They’ll move better, compete harder, and reduce their risk of injury. But more than anything, they’ll build the kind of confidence that walks into every room with them for the rest of their life.

Because here’s the truth, our kids are watching us. They learn far more from what we do than what we say. When a family commits to health, growth, and showing up, everyone gets better.

This is more than training. It’s an investment in who your child is becoming.

If you’ve been looking for something real this summer, not a babysitting service dressed up as a camp, not a program run by someone with a six-week cert, I want to invite you to take a look at what we’ve built.

Check out the program here

The question isn’t whether your kid is ready.

The question is whether you’re willing to invest in what actually matters while there’s still time to shape it.

See you out there.

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