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Youth sports are supposed to teach teamwork, accountability, resilience and a love of the game. But with rising costs, packed schedules and increasing pressure to win, have we lost sight of their real purpose?

Chris Cederstrand returns to The Okotoks Podcast to talk honestly about what youth sports have become—and what needs to change.

Chris is a former Team Canada sledge hockey player and World Championship silver medallist, former firefighter, hockey coach, motivational speaker, KidSport ambassador, founder of the Cederstrand Foundation and former competitor on Canada’s Ultimate Challenge.

Together, we discuss the growing cost of sports, children being left behind because their families cannot afford to participate, the pressure parents place on young athletes and the challenges facing volunteer coaches.

We also ask some difficult questions: Are kids playing too many games? Has winning become more important than development? Are parents making youth sports about themselves? And are we teaching children to love the game—or programming that love right out of them?

This conversation goes beyond hockey. It’s about raising accountable, resilient young people and remembering that very few children will become professional athletes—but every one of them will eventually become an adult.