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Seattle — When Paul Deines and his son Tanner head to the baseball diamond, they're no longer playing just to win. But it wasn't always that way.
"I was a horrible, horrible parent for many years," said Deines, who used to coach his son's team. "I would follow him around the field."
Tanner said the constant pressure from his dad took a toll.
"And they were just being super hard on me. I made one error and I got a big talking to about it," Tanner said.
Every time he'd strike out in the batter's box, Tanner would look right at his dad, fearing his disappointment, his mom Anna Deines said.
The family knew they had a problem and something needed to change, so they sought help from a real pro.
After a 16-year professional player career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles, Travis Snider now counsels parents to get off their kids backs, hoping to change the culture of youth sports through his Seattle-based company 3A Athletics.
"We want [parents] to have a community of resources and feel like they're not alone, because being a parent is incredibly difficult. And then you throw the pressure of sports, the time, the money, the energy — it just intensifies that emotional attachment that we have to our kids who are the things we love the most," Snider said.
Just 6.6% of high school athletes play in college, and only 2% of them make it to the pros, according to the NCAA.
Snider, now a father of three, brings a unique perspective to coaching kids and parents. As a boy, he was the best youth player in Washington State, but as an adult he was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder after a lifetime of challenging moments.
Snider recalls a time when he was 11-year-old on the pitching mound and had a meltdown in the middle of a game.
"At the time, I was the best player on the team, so that's a lot of pressure. And then when things don't go to plan, it was just too much for my emotional regulation to be able to process that while there's 6,000 people in the stands watching me fail," Snider said.
The Deines family say they benefitted directly from the lessons Snider learned. Tanner is all in on his strategy to make youth sports a learning experience, not an end game.
When asked how important winning is now, Paul Deines said, "I don't care. I just want to see Tanner be happy."
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"I was a horrible, horrible parent for many years," said Deines, who used to coach his son's team. "I would follow him around the field."
Tanner said the constant pressure from his dad took a toll.
"And they were just being super hard on me. I made one error and I got a big talking to about it," Tanner said.
Every time he'd strike out in the batter's box, Tanner would look right at his dad, fearing his disappointment, his mom Anna Deines said.
The family knew they had a problem and something needed to change, so they sought help from a real pro.
After a 16-year professional player career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles, Travis Snider now counsels parents to get off their kids backs, hoping to change the culture of youth sports through his Seattle-based company 3A Athletics.
"We want [parents] to have a community of resources and feel like they're not alone, because being a parent is incredibly difficult. And then you throw the pressure of sports, the time, the money, the energy — it just intensifies that emotional attachment that we have to our kids who are the things we love the most," Snider said.
Just 6.6% of high school athletes play in college, and only 2% of them make it to the pros, according to the NCAA.
Snider, now a father of three, brings a unique perspective to coaching kids and parents. As a boy, he was the best youth player in Washington State, but as an adult he was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder after a lifetime of challenging moments.
Snider recalls a time when he was 11-year-old on the pitching mound and had a meltdown in the middle of a game.
"At the time, I was the best player on the team, so that's a lot of pressure. And then when things don't go to plan, it was just too much for my emotional regulation to be able to process that while there's 6,000 people in the stands watching me fail," Snider said.
The Deines family say they benefitted directly from the lessons Snider learned. Tanner is all in on his strategy to make youth sports a learning experience, not an end game.
When asked how important winning is now, Paul Deines said, "I don't care. I just want to see Tanner be happy."
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Hegseth doubles down on Signal chat texts not being "war plans"
Former National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster reacts to Trump administration leak
Continue reading...
