Your athletics program may not have changed dramatically in the last decade. But everything around it has.

NIL (Name, Image, Likeness). Changing college recruiting and eligibility. Club sports. Specialized training. Sports academies. Rising parent expectations. Families today have more options, more information, and often very different expectations for what a strong athletic experience should provide.

So what does that mean for independent and private schools?

In this episode of the Mindful School Marketing Podcast, Aubrey talks with Mike Marich, founder of Mindset Curated, about why schools need to look beyond wins, losses, championships, and college commitments and think more strategically about the role athletics plays in the overall school experience.

Mike brings a unique perspective to the conversation as a former college athlete, independent school marketing and communications director, athletic director, and coach. Together, Aubrey and Mike explore how the changing athletics landscape affects not only athletic departments, but also enrollment, retention, marketing, and the way schools communicate their value to families.

Even if your school would never describe itself as an “athletic powerhouse,” athletics can be an important part of how students find belonging, how families experience your community, and how prospective parents evaluate your school.

The bigger question is whether your school is being intentional about the experience it wants to create and whether your marketing actually communicates that experience.

In this conversation, you’ll hear about:

• Why Mike believes we’re seeing a “flight to quality” in athletics
• How club sports, specialization, college athletics, and parent expectations are changing the independent school landscape
• Why schools should evaluate athletics based on more than wins and losses
• Mike’s 4 C’s of coaching: culture, communication, connection, and craft
• How athletics can support enrollment and retention, even at schools without highly competitive programs
• Why misalignment between athletics, admissions, marketing, and school leadership can create problems for families
• What schools should consider before adding new sports or programs
• How marketers can tell better athletics stories by capturing everyday moments, relationships, growth, and student development
• A simple way school leadership teams can begin auditing their athletics programs now

One of Mike’s biggest challenges to schools is simple: be strategic about your programs, own the narrative around why you offer them, and invest in the people who lead them.

Because families don’t just need to hear that you have “great coaches” or a “great athletics program.”

They need to understand why it’s great, what their child will experience, and what makes your program worth choosing.

That framing comes directly from Mike’s emphasis on going beneath generic claims like “great coaches,” using the 4 C’s to evaluate programs, and showing the real moments of connection and development happening away from the scoreboard. He also repeatedly connects clear expectations and alignment among athletics, enrollment, marketing, and leadership to stronger enrollment and retention outcomes.