Youth Sports: 'Focus on the End User'
August 24, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As we at the MHSAA work toward promoting the benefits of a multi-sport experience at the high school level, we – with our Multi-Sport Task Force – realize these messages will be most valuable when they reach parents of children at the youth levels.
Below is an 18-minute TEDx talk by Travis Dorsch, a former kicker and punter at Purdue University and with multiple NFL teams who went on to receive his doctorate from Purdue and currently serves as an assistant professor at Utah State. He has conducted significant study on children’s youth sport participation and its impacts particularly on family relationships.
In this talk, he speaks on proper expectations for young athletes and how financial costs of youth sports have twisted those expectations.
Dorsch will speak at the 6th Annual Kristen Marie Gould Endowed Lecture on Sport for Children and Youth on Sept. 6 at Michigan State University. He will be lecturing on “From Sandlot to Stadium: What We Know, What We Don't, and Best Practices for Parent Involvement in Youth Sport.”
This Week in High School Sports: 11/20/25
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
November 20, 2025
This week's edition introduces a busy schedule of championship broadcasts on the NFHS Network, awards Game Balls to high achievers in girls volleyball and football, and features this fall's Sportsmanship Summits.
The 5-minute program each week includes feature stories from MHSAA.com or network affiliates, along with "Be the Referee," a 60-second look at the fine art of officiating.
"This Week in High School Sports" is powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP).
Listen to this week's show by Clicking Here.
Previous 2025-26 editions
Nov. 13: Performance of the Week, Shelby football - Listen
Nov. 6: Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals, Boys Soccer Finals review - Listen
Oct. 30: Mendon football's Owen Gorham, MHSAA Girls Volleyball Tournament primer - Listen
Oct. 23: Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals review, LP Boys Tennis Finals - Listen
Oct. 16: MHSAA Football Playoff selection, Field Hockey Finals week primer - Listen
Oct. 9: Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals review, 2025 Sportsmanship Summits - Listen
Oct. 2: 2026 MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards, Boys Soccer Tournament - Listen
Sept. 25: Saline's record-approaching performance, SAC sportsmanship statement - Listen
Sept. 18: Athletic director training, "Block Party" volleyball report - Listen
Sept. 11: Football coaching legend Al Fracassa, MHSAA Student Advisory Council - Listen
Sept. 4: MHSAA participation rising, Harbor Springs soccer's Henry Juneau - Listen
Aug. 28: Field hockey's first season, changes to Football Playoffs, Tennis Finals - Listen