Mike Bergstrom
Author & Motivational Speaker
Mike Bergstrom is the author of The Car Ride Home: And Other Critical Moments in Youth Sports, a book that offers a humorous and heartfelt look at the reality of youth sports. As an engaging speaker, Mike shares his insights with parents, coaches, and club leaders, drawing from his extensive experience on and off the field.
Mike’s love for sports began in his childhood, playing baseball, basketball, and football, but his true passion was always soccer. Inspired by his own father, who coached him for five years, Mike began his own coaching journey in 1991. He has coached at all levels, from recreational to high school, and has had the good fortune of leading three different teams to four state championship games, winning two of them.
In addition to coaching, Mike has held several leadership positions at both the club and district level, including Director of Camps and Academies, Director of Coaching, and Vice President of Development.
Mike and his wife of over 40 years live in the Pacific Northwest, where they enjoy spending time with their three children and seven grandchildren.
The Mission
Changing the Game, One Car Ride at a Time
Inside my book 'The Car Ride Home' you will not find pages of statistics and numbers; that is not the focus or intent of the book. That said, there’s been a lot of research done on the positive benefits that playing youth sports has on our children, many which are lifelong. I could list dozens of universities and government entities that have done this research, pointing toward the positive impact youth sports can have on our children.
Instead, I will include a page from InningAce, a really cool site and organization listing 12 reasons we should be doing all we can to keep our kids playing.
More Than a Game
The Benefits of Playing Sports
What is amazing is in all of the studies I have seen, these same positive benefits come up over and over again. My hope is that all of us seeing the WHY we need to keep kids having fun and playing youth sports, we might make the choice to order The Car Ride Home and invest an hour or so of our time to see if we can’t figure out the HOW we can keep our kids in youth sports.
Beyond the Score:
Stats That Matter
There’s one stat that should make every parent take notice: 70% of our kids are quitting youth sports by the age of thirteen. When we consider that sports are meant to be a place to have fun, relieve stress, and get valuable exercise, this number feels incredibly high.
While a change in interests—like swapping the soccer field for the dance studio—is a normal part of childhood, many kids are leaving sports for reasons that we as a community must address.
This powerful graphic, courtesy of Science for Sport (scienceforsport.com), perfectly illustrates the disconnect: it shows us exactly why kids play sports and why they quit. I believe we as parents play a much bigger role in this than we realize. I wonder, after reading The Car Ride Home, if we'll all look at these stats with a new perspective.
