#204 Actor and Producer Mike O'Malley on Parenting Your Young Athletes in the "Adultified" World of Youth Sports

This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Mike O'Malley, actor, producer, and youth sport advocate. You have seen Mike on Morning Show, The Good Place, Yes, Dear;  Parks and Recreation, Justified; My Own Worst Enemy; My Name is Earl; Welcome to the Family and The Mike O’Malley Show. Mike is also a champion for youth sports.

 

During our discussion, we dive into the state of youth sports, yelling during a band performance or writing assignment, and making youth sport teams fair for the benefit of all. Mike shares many great insights on the world of youth sports!

Highlights and great quotes from the this episode:

• What is the state of youth sports?
• Allowing your kids to fail and succeed
• Why aren't more kids playing multiple sports and learning basic physical skills?
• Yelling during a band performance or writing assignment
• Making youth sport teams fair for the benefit of all
• Deciphering the difference between a pizza party after a win or after a loss
• Working with Lebron James

 

More About Mike O'Malley

Mike O'Malley is the creator of the award-winning television series Survivor’s Remorse, which recently completed its four season run on Starz. Currently, he is the showrunner of the LionsGate/Starz hour long drama Heels which began shooting last summer. O’Malley also wrote on Showtime’s Shameless for the first four seasons. 

 

As an actor, Mike was nominated for his groundbreaking portrayal of Burt Hummel on Glee, and more recently starred in Wayne, now airing on Amazon. Television acting credits include: Morning Show, The Good Place, Yes, Dear;  Parks and Recreation, Justified; My Own Worst Enemy; My Name is Earl; Welcome to the Family and The Mike O’Malley Show. Film acting credits include: Sully, Concussion, 28 Days, Deep Impact, Cedar Rapids, Eat Pray Love and Meet Dave. Way back when, he hosted the Nickelodeon shows Get the Picture and Guts.

 

Mike co-authored the book for the Broadway musical Jimmy Buffett's Welcome to Margaritaville and has written two plays that have been published by Samuel French: Three Years from Thirty and Diverting Devotion. His play Searching for Certainty was adapted into the film Certainty, which won the Best Screenplay award at the Boston film Festival. Born in Boston, and raised in New Hampshire, Mr. O’Malley resides in Los Angeles with his wife Lisa and their three children.

 

The Way of Champions Podcast is brought to you by Sports Refund. When kids sign up to play youth sports there are always fees involved. And parents pay those fees so their child can be on the team, not the injury report. That’s why I love Sports Refund, and parents will too. Sports Refund is low-cost sports fee insurance – NOT health insurance, sports fee insurance. So if your child becomes injured or sick and can’t play, you get your fees reimbursed for that lost time, from one game to an entire season. It’s that simple. This product not only saves families wasted fees, it saves injured athletes the stress of feeling like they’re wasting their parents’ money. The fees come back until the player comes back. So they can focus on fully recovering and making a healthy return to the game. Sports Refund has options for individuals and organizations. Ask your club if they offer it, or visit SportsRefund.com/Game to learn more and sign up today. That’s SportsRefund.com/Game. Can’t Play? Don’t Pay. With Sports Refund.

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