Best-Selling Author John O’Sullivan Talks About the ‘Joy’ in Sports and Developing Athletes

Best-selling author, longtime coach and renowned youth sports expert John O’Sullivan recently joined Greg Olsen on the Youth Inc. flagship podcast for a wide-ranging and enlightening conversation, touching on everything from bringing joy and fun back into sports to how to properly develop young athletes.

“Practices and games can be both competitive and fun,” said O’Sullivan. “[Sometimes] it’s like running a marathon. There’s no pleasure in miles 22 through 26. But most runners enjoy running and the experience.”

When it comes to youth sports, O’Sullivan challenged coaches to take a hard look at what they’re doing in practice. “After each practice, I ask myself: ‘would I want to be a player in that practice?’” said O’Sullivan. “If there answer is no, maybe I shouldn’t keep doing things the same way. If it’s yes, keep doing it.”

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Key Takeaways

Kids call it fun, adults refer to it as joy

O’Sullivan made the point that adults often mistake fun for unstructured and undisciplined. Kids just want to have fun when they play sports. Joy and fun are the same and O’Sullivan says that we should focus on the experience.

Sports can prepare kids for life

There’s a reason why employers like to hire former athletes. They know how to be team players, work hard and compete. They also know how to deal with adversity. “Life is hard and it doesn’t get easier,” said O’Sullivan. “Sports is the same way. We’re teaching kids things that go beyond sports.”

‘Competing is all the things we can control.’

That line from O’Sullivan is so important. Let’s have O’Sullivan unpack it. “We need to teach kids how to compete,” he says. “Competing is all the things we can control. You can’t teach winning, but you can win the day by competing hard in practice. You can feel confident when you control the controllables.”

It’s OK to push kids

“Our philosophy in coaching is we attack problems, not people,” said Olsen. “We’re demanding, not demeaning. In a 30-point blowout, we’re going to be more demanding. Winning is a bi-product of everything we do, but it’s a secondary thing to what we’re doing.”