Today I got to talk to Brian Smith and Ed Uszynski about their new book, Away Game—A Christian Parent’s Guide to Navigating Youth Sports. This is a new topic for the podcast but as soon as I saw the title pop up in my email, I was intrigued. Youth sports are such a huge part of the lives of many families, and I love that Brian and Ed are asking the question, “where does the Gospel fit into youth sports?”

Brian and Ed were collegiate athletes and now work with an organization called Athletes in Action that brings Christ into the lives of coaches and athletes of all levels. But it was when their own kids began playing youth sports that they decided to begin looking at things like: how kids and families can grow in relationship with Christ through sports, not allowing sports to become an idol, showing grace through failure, reflecting the love of Christ to every other athlete on the field, and so much more.

In their book, they talk about “spiritual formation rather than sports formation”. And I just love their desire to make sports culture something that reflects Jesus’ heart instead of making it self-focused, like so much of sports can be. We discussed the youth sports industry that really isn’t about what’s best for our kids, but rather about playing into our own insecurities as a parent, and the pressure we parents are putting on our kids as a result. That led us to talk about the importance of making sports about joy and fun and less about winning. 70% of kids are quitting youth sports by age 13 because the joy of play is gone for them. As Christians our joy isn’t in winning or being the best, but in showing and knowing the love of Christ no matter the outcome of the game.

I found this book and my conversation with Brian and Ed so encouraging and helpful. I know you are going to enjoy it too.

Where to find Ed and Brian:

Find their new book here

Find Brian and Ed on Instagram here

Find more of Brian and Ed’s writing here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org