Scott Bollheimer

[Tom Reisenweber @ETNreisenweber]

McDowell junior Charlotte Bollheimer wins the 3A girls triple jump!

[Brad Stulberg @BStulberg]

Norway consistently wins the most medals at the Winter Olympic Games, with a population of just 5.6 million people.

A big part of their success is how they treat youth sports—and it’s the opposite of what we do in the US. Here’s what we can learn from Norway:

1. Scorekeeping:

In the US: Youth sports tend to be hyper competitive even at early ages. Leagues almost always keep score.

In Norway: Scorekeeping isn’t even allowed until age 13.

Removing winners and losers keeps the focus on the process not outcomes. It keeps kids engaged longer because it minimizes pressure (and tears) and maximizes fun, learning, and growth. The goal isn’t to win a third grade championship. It’s to love sport and keep playing.

2. Trophies:

In the US: If you give everyone a trophy, you’re creating snowflakes who will never gain a competitive edge.

In Norway: Whenever trophies are awarded, they are handed out to everyone.

If getting a trophy makes young kids feel good, we should give them trophies. Maybe they’ll come back and play again next year!!

As for the creation of snowflakes with no competitive edge—Norway’s athletes are tough as nails and all they do is win.

3. Prioritizing Fun:

In the US: Far too often, the goal is to win.

In Norway: The national philosophy is “joy of sport.”

Youth sports in the US are driven by adults, ego, and money. Youth sports in Norway are driven by fun.

Only half of kids in the US participate in sports. The number one reason they drop out: because they aren’t having fun anymore. In Norway, 93% of kids participate in youth sports. Fun is the foremost goal.

4. Playing Multiple Sports:

In the US: There’s pressure to specialize early and play your best sport year round.

In Norway: Try as many sports as you can before specializing as late as college.

Norway encourages kids to try all types of sport. This reduces injury and burnout and increases all-around athleticism. It also helps promotes match quality, or finding the sport you are best suited for as your body develops, which is impossible if you commit to a single sport too early.

5. Affordability

In the US: There is increasingly a pay-to-play model with high fees for leagues, equipment, and travel. This excludes many kids from playing.

In Norway: It’s a national priority to keep youth sports affordable and therefore accessible for all.

Kids aren’t priced out, which creates opportunities for everyone to participate (and develop into athletes), regardless of their parents’ income level.

We could learn a lot from Norway:

In the US, 70% of kids drop out of youth sports by age 13. This not only diminishes an elite-athlete pipeline, but it also destroys an opportunity for healthy habits and all the character lessons kids can learn from sport.

In Norway, lifelong participation in sport is the norm. The goal isn’t to have the best 9U team. It’s to develop the best athletes. Those are two very different things. And Norway has the gold medals to prove it.

[Tracking Football @TrckFootball]

#NFLDraft Tracking Football Overview:

✔️233/257 (91%) picks were multi-sport athletes in high school
✔️173/257 (67%) picks competed in track & field
✔️123/257 (48%) were 3+ sport athletes

🟠3.1/5.0 PAI avg
🟢3.2/5.0 COM avg
🔵3.8/5.0 PPI avg

[Tracking Football @TrckFootball]

HS multi-sport and athleticism of #SuperBowl active rosters

9% - Football only
91% - 2+ sport athletes
45% - 3+ sport athletes
65% - Track & field

PAI avg: 3.6/5.0
COM avg: 3.8/5.0

[Tom Reisenweber @ETNreisenweber]

Samantha Clemente cuts the Kennedy lead to 47-38 with 3:52 left!

[Scott Battas, CMAA @coachb83]

I fully understand club sports and the purpose behind them. My own kids play and will continue to play in these types of programs. My issues is this: Please stop making kids feel guilty for trying to be a valued member of their high school programs in a different sport! What I am sick of, is clubs expect high school teams to always work around their big events, but if the club is asked to work around the HS program, the kids are threatened with no longer being on that team, or even better, told they can’t be on a certain team next year if they miss a particular tournament. There is value in club sports, especially as far as individual skills and competition level. There are also lessons in HS sports that cannot be taught in club, like playing in front of 2,000 fans in an emotional environment, with your towns name across your chest. There is value in learning how to perform in those types of situations and the pressure that comes with it! Student sections rushing the floor after huge wins are memories kids deserve to share as well! Just tired of the guilt trips and ultimatums that are forced on these kids as their careers continue. We are all in the kid business and must make them a priority physically and mentally. We must continue to find ways to work together in this arena , while promoting the idea that kids can play multiple sports if they choose to, and be encouraged by both sides to do so!

[Jeff Uveino @realjuveino]

7:17 3Q | Gannon 28, Mercyhurst 21

There’s Braeden Soboleski’s first collegiate touchdown!

The McDowell High School graduate puts Gannon back in front. Knights have answered all three of Hurst’s TDs with one of their own.

[Tom Reisenweber @ETNreisenweber]

Huge congrats to the General McLane sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023:
Jaymon Mason
Quinn Thompson
Bobby Orr
Matt Seth
Rob Kennerknecht

I was lucky enough to cover Jaymon and Quinn and Rob is the best guy you'd ever meet. He is missed every day. @GM_Athletics

[Jon Finkel📚💪 @Jon_Finkel]

Dads and 90s kids, here's a fact:

We had it so good with SportsCenter and we didn't know it.... How could we?

We didn't know what was on the horizon that would try to take it down: first, league passes and TiVo and DirecTV... then the Internet and social media and YouTube...

During that brief, bright spot in sports media in the 1990s, SportsCenter was the only way to get the day's highlights...

We had black and white photos and box scores and features in the newspaper...

We had brilliant writing and reporting and pictures in Sports Illustrated and Sporting News and ESPN: The Magazine...

But for the day's highlights...

To watch Ken Griffey Jr. make a diving catch or Jordan hit a game winner or Barry Sanders twirl through a defensive line...

If you didn't catch it live, the only way to see it was on SportsCenter (maybe your local news sports show - maybe)...

And into this void stepped Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann and Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen and Craig Kilborn and Linda Cohn and Robin Roberts and crew...

And all the catch phrases every kid in high school and college would repeat: "cool as the other side of the pillow"... Jumanji... En Fuego....

We'd watch SportsCenter at night then again in the morning.

It was a monolith. You'd show up at school and you'd have the same frame of reference for the highlights you saw. It was a shared experience.

It was awesome. And even though the show still exists and works, it's not a cultural touchstone anymore... it can't be... not with every highlight available from 1,000 sources across social media instantly...

And there are bright spots to be sure... My man and Top 10 Randy (@RandyScottESPN) is terrific. So are plenty of others.

But classic SC, man. It was a shared experience. By everyone.

These kids don't know... Sitting there, retweeting highlights, sharing reels, scrolling their feeds... Doing the work to find what they like with no commentary or context.

Times change. I get it. And we always glorify what we grew up on. Maybe that's all this is.

Still, I miss Stu Scott. He ruled.

If you agree, share this and follow me @Jon_Finkel.

Boo-Yah!

[Fairview Football @Fairview_HSFB]

Want to donate to the Fairview Football team? We are currently running a fundraiser that will end on June 19th. To donate, scan the QR code or visit either the link on the poster or this one! ➡️ https://t.co/BJalHHslIA

[Tristan Snell @TristanSnell]

Uvalde: AR-15
Buffalo: AR-15
Boulder: AR-15
Orlando: AR-15
Parkland: AR-15
Las Vegas: AR-15
Sandy Hook: AR-15
San Bernardino: AR-15
Midland/Odessa: AR-15
Colorado Springs: AR-15
Poway synagogue: AR-15
Sutherland Springs: AR-15
Tree of Life Synagogue: AR-15

Nashville: AR-15

[jeremy frazao @FrazaoJeremy]

I’m excited to announce that I have received a scholarship offer from Mercyhurst University!! @MercyhurstFB Thank you, @coachtherman @CoachRiemedio and the rest of the staff!!

[McDowell XC/Track and Field @McdowellAnd]

Congratulations 🎉 to Sophmore Sam Clemente on being named our 2022 FEMALE BREAKOUT RUNNER OF THE YEAR!!

[Scott Bollheimer @ScottBollheimer]

@scgirls_tf How many?

[Fairview Football @Fairview_HSFB]

Records were made to be broken! We were proud to give senior DB Jeremy Frazao this poster celebrating his school record of 11 career interceptions. Congrats, Jeremy! #DefendTheView

[giuliana @familygiuls]

It’s cool that we almost never hear from Andrew Luck but when he’s on TV he goes out of his way to say this

[Scott Bollheimer @ScottBollheimer]

@M_Billings82 @ETNcopper No no, @M_Billings82 is the man!

[Mike Copper @ETNcopper]

Scott Bollheimer and his daughter, Gwen, were among the spectators for James Conner’s youth football camp at McDowell.

[Elle Duncan @elleduncantv]

Where my #GirlDad ‘s at?