Setting the Summer Tempo - The Season Between Seasons

The Season Between Seasons: What This Year Taught Us & How to Prep for What’s Next:

We’re closing out another year of school and club ball, and before we rush into tryouts, swim team, and summer schedules, I want to pause with you. What did this year really teach your athlete — and how do we help them carry the right things forward?

 

This episode is the bridge between reflection and preparation — a grounded, encouraging conversation about the transition from the end of school + club season into the summer window of tryouts, swim team, and gearing up for next school year.

 

 The “In‑Between” Season

This is the season – the space between- where athletes recharge and burnout prevention kicks in.

 

• School is wrapping up.
• Club ball is winding down.
• Swim team is starting.
• Tryouts are on the horizon.
• Everyone feels the mix of excitement, fatigue and pressure.

Lessons Learned from This Year (Club + School Ball, School Swim Team)

• What surprised me this year –
  • The amount of energy parents and athletes give to the drama. The gossip, the pressuring noise that goes on behind the scenes from parents and the coaches and the athletes. The lengths that some parents will go to, to make sure their kids get play time.
  • The environment that coaches have to put up with, not necessarily from their athletes but from the parents of their athletes.
  • I was impressed how deliberate my kid was during competition. What sometimes appeared to be just a kid out on the court playing the game, has been her taking in the information, learning and developing a court IQ that was more in depth than I was giving her credit for until we started talking about short term goals before each game.
• What athletes struggled with most
  • Navigating hard conversations with their coaches
  • Pressure from parents to perform perfectly and get play time
  • Being okay with failure and using it as a starting place/way to learn.
• What helped them thrive
  • Incorporating play, no pressure playtime that is another sport, games with the family or friend time.
  • Making sure that they have other hobbies, interests and are not defined by their sport or the title of athlete.
  • Giving them autonomy and space to figure things out for themselves.
  • Trusting when the coach asks them to step out of their comfort zone to try something new and hard.
• What I’ve learned about supporting my athlete
  • Sports and teen athletes would be better off if parents would back off and let their kids play their sport, navigate the ups and downs on their own as long as there isn’t anything abusive going on and be allowed to keep the purity of the sport and fun.
  • Don’t chirp from the stands. Yell encouragements not coaching and keep in mind that the score keepers in club volleyball and maybe other club sports are kids! Factor in mess-ups from the score table and keep your composure, be a model for your athlete. Your behavior effects them and their future in sports (coaches/scouts are watching).Your kids might tune you out when you yell things for them to fix but they notice your behavior.
  • Taking the fun out of sports burns them out faster than anything else. If you want your kids to love their sport and thrive in their sport past the age of 13, find ways to not be a fun sucker. Let them play!
  • Let the athlete initiate the car conversation after their games.

 

 The Reset: How to Close Out the Year Well

• A simple reflection ritual for parents + athletes between the seasons (summer).

This ritual isn’t about fixing, evaluating, or strategizing. It’s about honoring what was, clearing space, and letting summer be a reset — not another grind.

 

🌿 The “Pause, Pull Forward, Release” Ritual

A 20‑minute end‑of‑year reset for parents & athletes

This ritual honors the idea that this moment is a bridge between reflection and preparation, not a rushing point into the next thing.

Step 1: Pause (5 minutes

Purpose: Create emotional space before evaluating anything.

• Sit together somewhere neutral (kitchen table, living room, outside).
• No phones, no coaching talk, no fixing.
• Parent opens with a grounding line:
  “Before we talk about what’s next, I want to hear about what this season was like for you.”

Guiding questions (athlete answers, parent listens):

• What felt heavy this year?
• What felt surprisingly good?
• When did you feel most like yourself while playing?

Parent’s role: Listen without correcting or reframing. This models the calm, steady presence that is central to this transition season.

Step 2: Pull Forward (7–10 minutes)

Purpose: Identify growth without tying it to stats or playing time.

Each person answers these out loud:

Athlete:

• One thing I’m proud of from this year (not necessarily performance‑based)
• One skill or strength I didn’t know I had
• One moment that helped me grow, even if it was uncomfortable

 

Parent:

• One thing I noticed you handling with more maturity
• One way I saw you stay engaged or work through something hard
• One thing I admire about how you showed up this year

This connects the dots between engagement and meaning beyond outcomes.

Step 3: Release (5 minutes)

Purpose: Prevent carrying emotional clutter into summer.

Ask together:

• What am I ready to let go of from this season?
  • (Examples: mistakes, roles, drama, pressure, comparisons)

Make it concrete:

• Write each “let go” on a small piece of paper.
• Tear it up or throw it away.

 

Parent reinforces:

“This doesn’t erase the lesson — it just means we’re not dragging it into summer.”

This mirrors your emphasis on letting go intentionally rather than rushing ahead in panic.

 

Step 4: Name the Summer Intention (2–3 minutes)

Purpose: Set direction without pressure.

Each person fills in this sentence:

• “This summer, I want my relationship with my sport to feel like ___.”

Examples:

• Lighter
• Curious
• Strong
• Fun again
• Confident
• Balanced

No goals yet. No timelines. Just tone.

 

Step 5. Three things to consider for this summer…

• How can you decompress physically and mentally
• What to let go of from the season
• What to carry forward

 

Your athlete doesn’t need perfection this summer — they need presence, purpose, and a plan that honors who they are becoming.