Danny Burk

retired professional stay-at-home dad. semi pro husband. head wrestling coach, asst soccer coach @ Peoria Notre Dame. co-owner of crossfit Peoria. Go Irish!!

[Jacob Turner @TheJacobTurner]

A PARENT’S JOURNEY THROUGH YOUTH SPORTS:

Age 5: “He’s got a cannon.”
Age 6: “He’s the fastest kid out there. Coach said so.”
Age 7: “Rec ball isn’t challenging him anymore.”
Age 8: “We tried out for select. Obviously made it.”
Age 9: “$2,800 for the season. Plus uniforms. Plus tournaments. Plus hotels.”
Age 10: “Cooperstown is basically a family vacation, right?”
Age 11: “He needs a hitting guy. And a pitching guy. And probably a mental performance coach.”
Age 12: “I’m not a crazy sports parent. The OTHER parents are crazy.”
Age 13: “We changed schools. For academics. (And also baseball.)”
Age 14: “Showcases are a requirement at this age.”
Age 15: “Ya his ranking just ticked up. We’re cooking.”
Age 16: “He just needs to get seen by the right school.”
Age 17: “The D1 schools want him to walk on. He’ll earn a spot by sophomore year.”
Age 18: “Okay, D2 is actually really competitive.”
Age 19: “He’s redshirting. Strategic.”
Age 20: “He’s focusing on school now.”
Age 21: “You know what? He’s so much happier.”

Roughly 7% of high schoolers play in college.

About 1.5% of those get drafted.

Less than half of draftees ever play one day in the big leagues.

The odds of our kids going pro are somewhere between “struck by lightning” and “find a $100 in old shorts.”

I love youth sports (all my kids play a bunch of them) just keep a good perspective my friends. ✌️

[James Jackson | LaceUp Soccer @LaceUpSoccer]

MLS NEXT Cup kicks off Friday in Salt Lake City. 128 teams. Thousands of families flying in. Entry fees, hotels, flights, meals. One weekend could cost a family $3,000 or more.

Ask any parent in that stadium what their kid's development report says. Most have never seen one. They're investing in exposure. Not in evidence their kid got better.

Tournaments sell hope. Evaluations sell proof.

[Trost @TrustTrost]

More than 12,000 fans packed into Creighton University to watch HIGH SCHOOL soccer in Nebraska.

Read that again: 12,000.

When you build an event around the student-athlete experience, people show up.

If you’ve been a part of or followed the hamster wheel of IHSA soccer over the decades, let me continue to show key differences when it comes to caring about kids:

• In Nebraska, no back-to-back tournament games. For example with the boys: Same-site quarterfinals, semis and finals games are played Monday/Friday/Monday with the girls going Tuesday/Saturday/Tuesday.

It’s called focusing on health and safety of student athletes vs just checking a box and running an event.

• This week, the finals for the boys and girls were proactively moved a FULL DAY because of weather. This past Sunday, Nebraska moved its finals from Monday/Tuesday to Tuesday/Wednesday. It didn’t try to play in bad weather like the IHSA has.

• There are 3.5-hour gaps between title games - two games each day - so teams can celebrate the moment they earned.

That’s not luck, that’s intentional leadership. That’s vision. That’s selflessness and being about the kids.

High school sports are more than brackets, schedules and rushing kids off of the field.

They’re experiences.

They’re lifelong memories.

They’re community.

When it comes to high school soccer in Illinois, it’s the continued acceptance of decades-long failed adult leadership, lack of vision and pure selfishness from the IHSA to the utterly useless soccer coaches association - on and off the field - that has held high school soccer back.

#MoreThanJUSTGames #IHSA

[Danny Burk @dpburk]

Yes

[Adam Clinch @Adam__Clinch]

The US has been so focused on acting like Europe regarding club, we've slept hard on how much we could be leveraging what we have that they don't, and that's high school ball & the unique connection people feel to their school & community.

You'll never ever see this for club.

[Danny Burk @dpburk]

@TrustTrost Teams have been “calling off the dogs” at certain scores for decades. Usually 7/8-0. Its not complicated, its not a knock to the reserves. Generally, a team capable of winning by large margins is pretty good, so their reserve players get plenty of playing time in other games, too

[Ian Ellis @ianxellis]

I’ve never met a crazy sports parent that played at a high level

[Danny Burk @dpburk]

Wild.

[Sheena Quick @Sheena_Marie3]

There’s been national discourse surrounding Mallard Creek’s disqualification in the 4x400m relay in this past weekend’s NCHSAA 8A State Championships. The DQ cost them the team title and disrupted what would’ve been a phenomenal feat of 5 straight titles.

Rules based on judgment calls always leave room for error. This was such. For the “he was warned” crowd, here’s video of him breaking the 300mH record. To be defined as taunting, doesn’t there have to be a target? It’s unrealistic to expect no human emotion when huge accomplishments are achieved.

Nyan Brown is a good kid; Mallard Creek’s athletes worked hard. NCHSAA got this one wrong.

[Notre Dame Recruiting @NDrecruiting01]

Notre Dame has landed a commitment from 2027 QB Wonderful “Champ” Monds out of Vero Beach, Florida.

Monds was the number 1 QB in the class of 2028 according to Rivals prior to reclassifying to 2027.

The Irish beat out Ohio State, Florida State and others for Monds!

Boom! ☘️🔥

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

REPORT: Parents Getting Drunk At Little League Baseball Games And Harassing Umpires All Across America Is The Latest Stain On Youth Sports Culture https://t.co/MLYWAMZZuV

[Jeremy Toohey @Toohey_sp]

The majority of youth soccer athletes spend so much time developing skills and so little time developing the physical qualities that raise those skills. The result is a lot of weak seniors who barely scratch their potential, but are great at drills involving cones.

[NDFanatics @FanaticsNd]

Navy Football is well respected within the Notre Dame community, but casual observers often use it as a punch line regarding scheduling…

…in 2026 Navy (2) had more draft picks than FSU (1), Wisconsin (0), Colorado (0), OK St (0), UCLA (0), UNC (0), Nebraska (1), and Vandy (1).

[The Fighting Irish @FightingIrish]

Year 37. Back in blue.

The Shirt, 2026 Edition → https://t.co/6GdTyKulkl

#GoIrish☘️ | @theshirtND

[Jack Soble @jacksoble56]

Hard not to get emotional watching Jadarian Price get the call from the Seahawks. The tears at the beginning, the smile at the end.

Marcus Freeman once called Price "the most unselfish individual" on the Irish, and his selflessness paid off tonight.

[ESPN Insights @ESPNInsights]

Luck of the Irish ☘️

Notre Dame had Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price become the first two RBs taken in Round 1, the first time since the Common Draft Era both came from the same school.

[Danny Burk @dpburk]

The man!

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

It started with a private jet and a lie.

In early 1986, Bo Jackson was a senior at Auburn University — the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and a rare athlete dominating both football and baseball. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, holding the first overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft, wanted him badly. Owner Hugh Culverhouse arranged a private jet to bring him to Tampa.

He told Jackson the trip had been cleared by the NCAA.

It hadn’t.

When Jackson returned, he was ruled ineligible for the rest of his senior baseball season. A season taken from him.

He believed it wasn’t a mistake.

He told Culverhouse: draft me if you want—you’ll waste the pick.

They drafted him anyway. First overall. Offered him $7.6 million.

He said no.

Instead, he signed with the Kansas City Royals for $1.07 million and went to the minor leagues. Bus rides. Empty seats. No guarantees.

From the outside, it looked irrational.

From the inside, it was principle.

On November 30, 1987 — his 25th birthday — Jackson lined up for the Los Angeles Raiders on Monday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks. Linebacker Brian Bosworth had promised to stop him.

He didn’t.

Jackson took a handoff, broke outside, and ran 91 yards for a touchdown — past defenders, past the sideline, straight into the tunnel.

Later, he ran straight through Bosworth at the goal line.

221 rushing yards.

His fifth NFL game.

Then baseball came.

In 1989, he was named MVP of the MLB All Star Game — chasing down impossible plays and hitting a home run off Rick Reuschel that traveled nearly 450 feet.

Two sports. Two leagues. One athlete.

But the most remarkable thing about Bo Jackson wasn’t the speed or the power.

It was the refusal.

He refused to reward dishonesty.

He refused to let money erase what had been done to him.

He chose a bus ride over millions because some things matter more than numbers.

His career ended too soon — a devastating hip injury in 1991 changed everything.

But his legacy didn’t.

Bo Jackson remains the only athlete ever named an All-Star in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

And that legacy began with a decision.

A 22-year-old sitting on the ground in Auburn, his baseball season gone, choosing not to bend.

He didn’t break.

The world adjusted around him.

[GoldeNDomerz☘️ @GoldeNDomerzz]

God country: Notre Dame ☘️

[Kyle Kelly @ByKyleKelly]

Jerome Bettis, Joe Alt, Riley Leonard and Sam Hartman just shotgunned a beer on stage with Luke Combs 🤯☘️

[Danny Burk @dpburk]

So true…..

[OLDSKOOLBBALL @oldskoolbballx]

Robert Horry really spent his career showing up twice a year just to decide who gets a ring and who gets trauma.

[Stephen Smith @TXBaseball14]

Truth👇👇👇

[Peoria ND Soccer @pndsoccer]

Looking forward to another challenging fall schedule! #ProudToBePND