For the Love of the Game
Reclaiming What Matters in Youth Sports
Sports can give kids so much: confidence, belonging, resilience, friendship, movement, joy, and the experience of working toward something that matters.
But in recent years, youth sports have also become more complicated.
Packed family schedules. Travel teams. Rising costs. Year-round commitments. Early specialization. Pressure to perform. The sense that opting out, or even slowing down, might mean falling behind.
For many parents, coaches, and young athletes, it can be hard to know where healthy challenge ends and too much begins.
For the Love of the Game is an evening conversation about how we can hold onto what is best about youth sports while reconsidering the parts of the culture that may no longer be serving kids—or the families raising them.
The Conversation
The evening will bring together perspectives from sports psychology, child and adolescent development, coaching, competitive athletics, and parenting.
Together, we’ll explore questions like:
- What do sports offer kids developmentally, and what makes those benefits more likely?
- How much pressure and competition is healthy?
- How should parents think about specialization, club and travel sports, and the fear of “falling behind”?
- What are the signs that sports are becoming a source of stress rather than growth?
- What role should coaches and sports organizations play in protecting young athletes' well-being?
- How do we raise kids who can compete, work hard, tolerate disappointment, and still experience sports as something they love?
- And most importantly: What are we actually hoping our kids take with them when their playing days are over?
We believe sports can be one of the richest developmental experiences childhood has to offer. The question is how we protect what makes them worth playing.
MEET THE PANEL
Moderated by Ashley Solomon, PsyD
Clinical Psychologist & Founder of Galia Collaborative
WHAT TO EXPECT
The evening will include a moderated panel conversation followed by time for audience questions and discussion.
This event is designed primarily for parents and other adults invested in the lives of young athletes — including coaches, educators, clinicians, and youth sports leaders. You don't need to have a child playing at an elite level (or even close to it!) to join us.
Light refreshments will be provided. All proceeds from the evening will benefit Activities Beyond the Classroom, helping students across Cincinnati succeed through equitable opportunities in arts, athletics, and wellness.
EVENT DETAILS
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
7:00p - 9:00p
$25 per person
Galia Collaborative
2245 Gilbert Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45206
Space is limited and advance registration is required.