Sideline Cheerleaders...Supportive Parenting with Coach Kevin Ye

Today's Play: Kevin Ye discusses the rapid growth of padel internationally, including his company's (PATL) plans for expansion, and shares his extensive coaching experience working with youth, college, and adult athletes. He emphasizes the importance of creating a positive sports environment for young players and avoiding overbearing "crazy parent" behavior that can lead to burnout. The conversation highlights strategies for parents to provide supportive encouragement while maintaining perspective and balance in their child's sports participation.

Today's Coach: Kevin Ye is the co-owner of PATL, a padel company with locations in Atlanta and Louisville that offers coaching, community play, and instructions to all ages.  Previously, Kevin Ye coached college tennis at Emory University and helped the team win the NCAA Championship in 2021, two UAA titles as well as the 2018 National Indoor Team Championship. He was named the NCAA Division III Regional and National Assistant Coach of the Year as well as part of the 2023-2024 UAA Coaching Staff of the Year. He also coached competitive juniors at ACE Academy in Norcross, GA as the Head Professional of Junior Development.  In college, Ye played for Kenyon College, a NCAA Division III program in Gambier, OH. He helped lead the team to four NCAC Conference championships and reach the finals of the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2012, while the following year in 2013, helped lead the team to the NCAA Division III National Indoor Championship. 

To learn more about Bryant College Coaching, and download our new e-book, click here or go to www.bryantcollegecoaching.com

Picking Teams: A Playbook for Parents is produced by: Amy Bryant and Sasha Melamud

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Transcript

Unknown: 0:04

Awesome. Kevin Yves so good to see you. We used to spend every day together, every afternoon, you know, and now I only get to see you, I don't know, every month or so. It's just feels like way too long. But how have you been how's

Kevin Ye: 0:19

Everything's going well in our world, ground zero everything going? to one to 100 to 1000, every step is someone just texted me the other day in a wishing the second one year anniversary for our cattle business, and I say, Oh, I can't even remember that, so you keep going. So it's been fun. It's been a new adventure. Definitely miss, miss the team and miss every participant there for quite some time. It's different, you know, adjusting to a different life and definitely miss it, but excited for further path ahead as

Unknown: 1:08

well. Yeah. Well, it's always exciting to chart a path forward and try something new, as you know, that's what I did a couple years ago as well. So I'm totally supportive of following your dreams. But for those listeners who don't know what is Padel and what have you created? You created a monster, but like, what is it?

Kevin Ye: 1:30

So it started in Mexico in 1969 and it's a cross between tennis, squash, racquetball, and actually will derive from a score called Platform fence, which is pretty popular in the northeast, Big West and some of the colder stakes of the US. It's played in a glass court, so the walls are all glass. The ball looks very similar to tennis ball, and the scoring is exact same as tennis as well. So playing two and three sets, deuce, tie breaker, six, all of that. So someone that comes from tennis can pick it up quite easily. And the whole goal is the same, same thing as tennis is, you know, you're hitting the ball across a net. So that's very familiar. Ball has to hit the ground before it hits the wall, otherwise it's out. So a lot of that very similar strokes are quite similar as well. There's a lot of Follies. So anyone from tennis or bracket sports background tends to pick it up pretty quickly. But it's a it's a sport that's kind of taken over the world and right now, taking over the US, as popular as Pickleball is growing in the US. That's pretty much the same growth added as it is in the entire world right now, in the US is kind of the last to get this forward, but it's growing pretty rapidly every year. The number of facilities, of courts double and triple. That's amazing.

Unknown: 2:52

And you have two facilities. Am I right? Correct? Yes.

Kevin Ye: 2:55

So we have, we started our first location here in Atlanta, over in the Shanley area our second location, which we started and opened up back in May, that's in Louisville, Kentucky, and we're currently opening up a third location in West Midtown of Atlanta.

Amy Bryant: 3:12

I didn't know. that's amazing.e

Kevin Ye: 3:14

we're hoping to open up by next year, and looking into several more locations to open up by the end of next year, or into the following year as well.

Amy Bryant: 3:32

That's amazing. Truly bringing Padel to the people. I love it. So for anyone listening, if you aren't familiar with Padel, you can look up Kevin's company. It is, what's the website, Kevin? Make sure I get it right.

Kevin Ye: 3:48

Play PATL.com,

Unknown: 3:52

play, PA TL.com, awesome. That's amazing. So that was a little advertisement for you, Kevin. I were just talking about how that. You know, this is a new podcasts. I don't have any advertising sponsors yet. I think in order to qualify, you have to have 1000 downloads in one month. You know, we're getting close. We're getting there, but, but that was our little advertising. That's how we do it here. We just kind of piece things together. And you know, it's amateur hour here at the playbook for parents. But anyways, our podcast is about coaching. And Kevin, you have been a coach for most of your life. Now, really, you have coached youth, you have coached College, and now you're coaching adults with Padel imagine, or coaching all ages, of course. So tell us a little bit about all of your coaching experiences?

Kevin Ye: 4:42

Yeah, so in college every summer, some some college kids go back and they coach other academies or locally during summertime. So that's kind of what I did with the younger kids coming up and I graduated. I started as Amy here in Atlanta, which is where I grew up playing tennis, and actually had to make that decision, I think, between there and coaching for you, Amy.

Unknown: 5:07

I didn't like the decision you made at one point, but you came back to me.

Kevin Ye: 5:10

He goes there for about between college and after college, about 10 years or so, so coaching Junior Tennis there Head of Development with a junior program. We coach some adults as well. So anywhere from a little four year old, tiny talks all the way to 7080, year old adults, so everything in between. So that's kind of where I got my coaching career started. And then Amy, I think we talked back in 2000 to 17, I believe. And so Amy brought me back on as a part time volunteer coach for several years. And that's how the college career coaching started, when I coached five years part time and then two years last two years full time at Emory, and then transition now, actually just got our coach approved for his visa space coming over on February. So since then, I've been de facto title coach.

Amy Bryant: 6:08

Wow.

Kevin Ye: 6:10

New sport. I'm still learning all the ins and outs of it, but with all the coaching background, it's been, been an easy transition into that just just new subject, is all Sure.

Unknown: 6:23

So what do you see as the main difference between coaching youth, starting at the tiny tots, to coaching College, and then I want to hear your thoughts on college and adults as well.

Kevin Ye: 6:37

Yeah, that's good question. So with the kids, I think the general overall consensus, just coaching, General is making sure whoever you are coaching to have a good experience. Think that's the most important thing. Otherwise, what's the point of playing that sport or doing activity? So I think the roots of the foundation of it is making sure that they're having fun. They're getting a good experience out of that. With the tiny talks, again, it's about having fun, getting their interest involved in the sport, you know, coming home, wanting to play it again. That is up to, up to the coach to make sure they have that experience and have that, that good time when they're out there, you know, as they start to develop more focused on it and spending more time developing a little bit more on the technique side footwork and pulling in on those two aspects side by side to develop their game. And as they kind of reach into kind of middle school era, I think they're usually more singular, focused on on a specific sport, and in that side, guiding them through tournaments, guiding them through coaching on court off court, and working on their game a little bit more specifically, but also coaching them a little bit through middle school social era as well. Think there's a lot going on for them as school picks up, social life picks up and and having to navigate all that all at once to be somewhat tough, and then they get into the high school era, looking at colleges as you know, that's that's your expertise nowadays. It's a lot about guiding through a little bit more from that independence and adulthood and having a little bit of a balance in their life. Not everyone's watching you anymore to find out how to manage their time, their social life, manage their school life, a lot, a lot going on at once, and feel that the coach helps them through that as well. So just throughout different stages of their lives, I think that coincides with their tennis game too.

Unknown: 8:42

Absolutely, and how did the parents kind of fall into this coaching and development piece from the young ages all the way through to college?

Kevin Ye: 8:53

Yeah, what I've seen kind of the biggest difference in the youth and the college, I guess parenting, besides the course or age, I feel that when they get to college, parents tend to be a little bit more hands off. When they're throwing up playing tennis, they tend to be a little bit more hands on. And I think with the separation of possibly distance, you know, I think that could help that as well as a lot of responsibility is taken off, at least from the tennis side, off of the parents, onto the coach, more. So, you know, not taking tournaments, not having to describe practice, all of that. So I find that when they come and watch and support more, not that they're less important as a kid, but I feel that, you know, they can be there just to cheer, kind of at the sidelines and really enjoy watching the kid. But, you know, when I see, when I was coaching Junior Tennis, I mean, as you know this, I think the there's a little stigma around, you know, having a crazy tennis Bryant and all that, which I feel that sometimes it can be difficult to separate that responsibility of the parent as they are very involved a lot of time if they want their kids fast forward and want them to seed. So I think there's a little bit extra pressure on on both of them to, you know, have a little success in the junior days, because there is a time commitment process. And I think that's why you start the crazy, quote, unquote crazy parents, where they start to become little overbearing or little pressure on the kids. And I think it's tough at times to have that border kind of be crossed a little bit. You know, it can be tough in those regards.

Unknown: 10:29

So part of the reason that I started this podcast was because I saw lots of those crazy parents that you mentioned, because we see them a lot in tennis, and I really wanted to create something that could help parents to make a choice to become the supportive parent that I know we all as a parent myself, we all want to be. And sometimes we cross that line, like you're talking about, and we chastise ourselves later, but in the moment, you know, we just get all caught up and we become that crazy parent. It happens, you know, in a snap of the fingers, like we don't even expect it to happen in it, and we try, but, but I think that if we are really aware of what it looks like to cross over into the dark side, then we can take the steps to prevent it. So with that in mind, tell me about the craziest parent you've ever seen. No names here.

Kevin Ye: 11:36

In those regards, I wouldn't say from college, but more in the senior days, I remember one, one parent. It wasn't it was in a player mind, like it was an opposite player. The little girl was playing a 10 and under tournament on the short court with orange dots, and barely anyone knew what was going on, you know. And both parents were there. So the opponent's parent, the kid I was coaching her parent, her dad, was there as well. They're still trying to figure out what's in and out as well. So there's gonna be a lot of balls that may be in that are called out and vice versa, and that can sometimes drive parents a little bit mad and crazy. And so as that was happening again, part of the coach coaches jobs, also coaching the parents as well. And that's something I focused on your coach to be like, Should we call that boss? We get the ref. Is not on purpose. They're still figuring out they need to call line drives. They clearly talked about this with the kid as well. And then remember, the opponent's kid went to the bathroom. You know, it's hot, dead of summer, maybe 95 degrees out there. And so my kids dad shout out to her, make sure, you know, drink some water, give them a shave. There's your weight, and the other parent freaked out. They freaked out like you can't be coaching there. This is, this is a violation, yada yada. It got escalated so badly that it almost

Unknown: 13:12

got to a fist fight. I've just fight over 10 and under tenants correct, the closest

Kevin Ye: 13:16

I've ever seen someone get to a fight over a tennis match, and 10 and others as well. So and this was, and this was a parent telling his kid to drink water, or telling the other kid to drink water, telling his kid to drink water. Because either way, yeah, either way, it's like, it's a behind gesture, but people wannamake sure the kids not gonna pass out. So I think somebody's trying to get kind of caught up in the game and the rules sometimes, and sometimes it can be lashed out in other ways as well. ,

Unknown: 13:46

So, well, I mean, let's think about it like if I were to tell you to go drink water on a bathroom break, what could that be code for? I mean, we lose parents lose their minds. It's, it's unbelievable. And then 10 and under tennis, that's absurd. Okay, so that's, you know, great story. I think that's helpful for the parents listening to just maybe take some deep breaths if they feel like there's some coaching going on, or you don't want your opponent to remind their child to drink water. Take some deep breaths. If you feel yourself elevating, you know what I love. And I started doing this when I was coaching Kevin, you might remember I wear my Apple watch, and you know how it it, it tracks your pulse. So if my pulse rate went up, then I knew I was getting to that state of like, okay, I might snap on on my college players and so I would take some deep breaths there to make sure that I didn't lose it. So that could be a tip for parents as well. Maybe set up your your iPhone to ding when your heart rate escalates. But okay, so, so that was a good what not to do. Example, give us an example of a time when you saw parents really doing the right thing.

Kevin Ye: 15:10

Yeah, I think that happens more often times.

Amy Bryant: 15:16

That's what we want to hear

Kevin Ye: 15:17

Those stories with you know, a lot of parents, you know, being able to, I don't think there's like, one big specific thing, but a lot of them, you know, just being very supportive and being there, just making sure that, you know, win or lose, there's a current, but also a little constructive, not crisis, but constructive help move forward, what to improve as well. I think that's kind of the biggest key, besides just encouraging, right? So if you want to see a path forward for the kid as well, and so I think that's one of the biggest things, I think, leading into that topping that conversation in terms of how parents can be supportive, is, I see a lot of times the parents like to try to coach the kid different ways. And, you know, sometimes I can be confusing for the kid too, especially when there's thoughts and ideas coming from different mouths. It's kind of like analogy, kind of too many cooks in the kitchen. That path or becomes a little bit confusing to me, a little bit misguided as well in terms of which path to go. And so then when that happens, it's, you know, you're working on 10 different things at once, and it's really hard to accomplish anything at that point because it becomes so overwhelming for the kid. So I would say, finally, the best advice is, if they want to help in those regards, it's really important to be on one page with the coach, but also just kind of creating that support environment to make sure, again, the kid has a good experience. Back to that quote crazy parent, when they're putting a lot of pressure, but lot of ways to have to perform, and I think that ultimately creates a little bit fear, and doesn't let the kid at their best either. So, you know, at the end of the day, it's just making sure you do there for them. I think the most important thing

Amy Bryant: 17:09

that's great. I think that's so key. And you know, I typically recommend that parents don't try to coach their kids, especially parents that know the sport, because then the young athlete tends to try to impress or make their parent happy, and they there gets to be this whole, like you said, confusion surrounding love and success and how they achieve their parents Love by achieving success versus just being a kid and getting the love because they're a kid. So, yeah, I tend to, I tend to recommend to my families that they they stay step away from coaching and lead the coaching to the experts like you, for sure. That's in the best interest of these student athletes. And then the other thing too. I mean, you know, you touched upon this, but burnout is a real thing, and when, when we're coaching these kids at such a young age, by the time they get to be in high school or college, sometimes they're just over it. You know, whether they start their sport too early, whether they specialize in the sport too early, whether they are ready to be involved in other things that they had to sacrifice for years because they were putting all of their energy into their sport, and whatever it is there is such a risk of your child just giving up their sport prematurely, if, if we coach them, and if we place too much pressure on them. So I think that's really important for families to remember.