Zach Heipel

I still like the Leafs | BrockU BA '19, MA '22, PhD (idk)

Writer/Researcher | Youth Sports | Sport Politics | Sport Policy

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

Having a completely normal day.

My brain: Hey, remember that embarrassing thing that happened to you like 7 years ago?!?!

Me:

[Pablo Torre 👀 @PabloTorre]

🍔

[subscribe to the state of the league patreon @JoestarJokic]

hit shuffle on my liked songs and they were all good songs

[New York Magazine @NYMag]

‘Travel sports,’ a term that has come to encompass all sorts of private teams, leagues, and clubs, used to be for the truly exceptional young athlete. Now, they’re for anyone willing to pay — an expensive, exhausting commitment that has become popular not necessarily because millions of parents want them for their children but because it can feel like there’s no other choice. Rec programs are underfunded and struggle to compete with for-profit leagues for prime field, rink, and court times. And the level of play is diluted, often very early, as travel teams are incentivized to enroll children at young ages.

Around 5 million children in the U.S. now compete on travel teams. Parents find themselves trapped. They know the benefits of sports and want that for their children, yet giving it to them often means buying into a sports ecosystem that’s inherently flawed. As the pay-to-play model increasingly takes hold, so does the idea that kids should start competing at younger and younger ages, risking their sense of self along with their shoulders and ACLs.

“I never want my kids to look back and say I didn’t do everything I could to help them live their dreams,” a mother of three soccer players said. She’s hired professional photographers to take action shots for her 12- and 13-year-olds’ Instagram accounts — the platform has become a recruiting tool — and they’ve both asked her to pay for personal trainers.

“I think the word isn’t ‘specialize’; you are ‘professionalizing’ your kid early. You are exposing them to everything professionals have to deal with — I’m talking injury, time, schedule, everything,” said John Van Benschoten, a former MLB player and travel-baseball coach.

It makes one ask: All this for what? And for whom? Read Caitlin Moscatello’s cover story on how travel leagues have made youth sports more expensive, hypercompetitive, and all-consuming — and the investors who are making a killing: https://t.co/zHcKsPYfeC

[Martyn Ziegler @martynziegler]

BREAKING: UEFA countries unanimously in support of boycotting World Cup in protest at FIFA's plan to sell stakes in tournament to private investors, say sources.
Decision taken at emergency virtual meeting

https://t.co/hEgGA62JwQ

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

If you want to get bleak on a philosophical/sociological level this demonstrates the role of power and the tiered system in society that protects the ruling class. Unfortunately, there will likely be no justice as there are no mechanisms of power to prevent this corruption.

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

I was waiting for a FIFA corruption scandal during this World Cup. Didn’t expect it to be so easily apparent lol

[Ben Jacobs @JacobsBen]

🚨 Exclusive: The White House made a direct call to FIFA to ask Gianni Infantino to review Folarin Balogun’s red card.

FIFA approached for comment and referred to the findings of its independent committee.

FIFA sources insist White House influence could not affect the decision due to the powers contained in Article 27 and the independent nature of the disciplinary panel.

[TSN @TSN_Sports]

CANADA HAS SCORED IN ADDED TIME! 🇨🇦

Stephen Eustáquio finds the back of the net to send Canada into jubilation!

#FIFAWorldCup

[CANMNT @CANMNT_Official]

Sending all the love in the world, Isma 🫶

#CANMNT

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

What are you even thinking???

[Toronto Maple Leafs @MapleLeafs]

TRADE: We’ve acquired defenceman Emil Andrae, goaltender Samuel Ersson and a third-round selection in the 2026 NHL Draft from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for goaltender Joseph Woll and defenceman Simon Benoit

[REAL MIL GRAU @realmilgrauu]

Eu depois de assistir 10 jogos em 4 dias:

[Kenny Jacoby @kennyjacoby]

NEW: A federal bill would ban private equity firms from investing in youth sports, specifically targeting "vulture practices" like consolidation, bundling and stay-to-play.

In announcing the bill, lawmakers repeatedly called out Black Bear Sports Group. https://t.co/YPguPQt9ch

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

A quote from the article that summarizes the commodification of youth sports:

“We don't place any value on the Vipers,” Gunty told USA TODAY. “We don't think it's worth anything, and so we just went ahead and started our own.”

They don't care about participation, only profit.

[USA TODAY @USATODAY]

Murry Gunty, the founder and CEO of Blackstreet Capital Holdings, used his private investment firm to buy the teams on his son’s path to NCAA Division I college hockey.

Then, he made the pathway more expensive for almost everyone else. https://t.co/HKJmzYxCxm

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

lol

[Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC]

Toronto wins the draft lottery and will pick first overall

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

My closer

[Toronto Blue Jays @BlueJays]

Did Louis V practice today in hockey gear?

We’ll let the pics do the talking 😭

[Max Maloney @maxx0036]

Fifth line will be bring in’ it again tonight. Blades Gang

[The New Yorker @NewYorker]

A cartoon by Ken Levine.

[Carolina Philosophy @Carolina_2463]

Seems like the NHL doesn’t really care about its players. 31 other GMs had the opportunity to back Tulsky on exploring harsher punishments for checks to the head and not one of them said anything. Remember this when players continue to deal with brain trauma later in their lives.

[Premier Sports @PremSportsTV]

"It is an ugly, ugly end to what has been a superb game of football"

Chaos breaks out on the pitch at Ibrox as both sets of fans end up on the pitch following Celtic's penalty shootout win over Rangers

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

Thank you Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini's skate blade.

[CBC Olympics @CBCOlympics]

MACKINNON GIVES CANADA THE 3-2 LEAD WITH 30 SECONDS LEFT 🚨🇨🇦

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

Also kinda blown away by the number of people online saying “why don’t you just follow the rules?”

Rules are not inherently correct. They are fluid and change over time based on values and morality. Following them blindly is unproductive.

[Zach Heipel @ZachHeipel]

I would like to point out the IOC rule barring political acts is inherently a political act. Barring Russia from the games is also a political act.

Political neutrality is impossible because of our subjectivities. Our daily lives are influenced by political acts.

[The Olympic Games™ @Olympics]

This is a painful moment. We wanted him on the start line. The Olympic Games must remain a place where athletes compete together under the same rules.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry addresses the decision preventing skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych from starting his race at Milano Cortina 2026.

📰 Full story 🔗: https://t.co/9gm53HNqMf