Best Alexis Colon Podcasts (2026)

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Best of: Sherman Alexie Talks “Monsters,” “Colonizers” and the Urban Left's “Minor League Maoism” 54:42

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2h ago54:42

54:42

We invited writer Sherman Alexie on to weigh in on recent cultural trends in blue cities. Alexie has long been recognized as one of the country’s most talented, interesting – and funny – literary figures. The author of two dozen books, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), which won the National Book Award for Young Peop…

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Neil Gong on How Class Dynamics Shape Our Approach to the Mentally Ill on the Streets of Los Angeles 59:43

1h ago59:43

59:43

The pervasiveness of untreated mental illness on the streets of blue cities – about 20 percent of the homeless population in the United States is severely mentally ill – is a glaring feature of the urban landscape. So we invited sociologist Neil Gong, the author of an eye-opening book, Sons, Daughters and Sidewalk Psychotics: Mental Illness and Hom…

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Kelsey Piper on the Shameful Truth that Mississippi Beats Blue Cities on Educational Equity 58:03

11d ago58:03

58:03

This week we take a close look at the damning decline in the quality of public education in progressive cities where, as Sandeep puts it, the "glaring contradiction" between a fixation on equity and shockingly inequitable results "drives me bat shit crazy." Our guest, Kelsey Piper, formerly at Vox and now a staff writer with The Argument, doesn't p…

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Emily Hoeven on Whether San Francisco's Backlash Mayor Is Making Things Better 46:53

15d ago46:53

46:53

In November 2024, fed up San Francisco voters elected an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune the city's 46th mayor. Daniel Lurie, a moderate Democrat and a newcomer to City Hall politics who largely self-funded his own outsider campaign, ran on the promise of fundamental change, reversing course away from the permissive - and often performative - radi…

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How a Broken Foster Care System Fuels Crime, Homelessness and the Addiction Crisis in Blue Cities 1:12:12

23d ago1:12:12

1:12:12

Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care was a National Book Award finalist. Author Claudia Rowe exposes the chilling truth: the nation's foster care system is a "major gear" driving mass homelessness and the incarceration crisis in American cities. She shares shocking statistics—including studies that found up to 59% of youth wh…

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What Makes a Great City? 30:30

1M ago30:30

30:30

This Thanksgiving week, Blue City Blues sits down with former traffic engineer and urban planner Ray Delahanty, better known as “CityNerd” on YouTube. We get into the essential question: “what makes a great city?” Ray also shares his insights on the concept of "affordable urbanism" and gives us his honest assessment of one of modern transportation'…

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Danny Westneat on Why Seattle Can’t Seem to Solve Its Problems 58:59

2M ago58:59

58:59

One of Seattle's most insightful chroniclers, longtime Seattle Times metro columnist Danny Westneat, joins us in this episode to discuss the blues that have settled on one of the country's bluest (and most educated and affluent) cities. For more than a decade now, Westneat wrote in a recent post-election column, both Seattle city hall and the votin…

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Nick Gillespie on Whether Socialism Is the Future of Blue Cities 1:04:36

2M ago1:04:36

1:04:36

In New York City, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani routed scandal-tainted Andrew Cuomo, completing his at first unthinkable, then inevitable rise to become the next mayor of New York City. His David vs. Goliath triumph has vaulted Mamdani from backbench obscurity to political superstardom; progressives around the country are swooning, seeing his…

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Can Blue Urban America Find Common Ground with Trump on Homelessness? 1:00:58

2M ago1:00:58

1:00:58

On July 24, Donald Trump declared war on the homeless. At least that was how his Executive Order, titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” was received in blue urban America by many homeless advocates and Democratic elected officials. With billions in federal funding at risk of being pulled from Housing First providers, who operate o…

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Blue City Crime: What Both Sides Get Wrong According to Criminologist David Kennedy 54:18

2M ago54:18

54:18

Like almost everything else in present day America, crime in blue cities has become a deeply partisan and polarized issue. While progressives routinely downplay levels of urban crime and call for a singular focus on “root causes” like poverty and racism, Trump, with the enthusiastic backing of the MAGA law-and-order right, grossly exaggerates the d…

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Hard Hats and Blue Cities: David Paul Kuhn on the Roots of the Working Class Revolt 53:33

2M ago53:33

53:33

The modern Democratic Party has a class and culture problem. Blue city leaders struggle to understand their cultural and political disconnect with working-class voters. Why did so many, both within and beyond blue cities, cast their ballots for Donald Trump, who gives tax breaks to the wealthy? When and how did the Democratic Party lose the allegia…

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Whitney Tilson on Why Kids in Blue City School Districts Are Being Left Behind 54:44

3M ago54:44

54:44

Children in urban public school districts are falling behind. While a handful of lower spending red states – Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and, most notably, Mississippi – have delivered remarkable academic progress over the last 12 years, high spending districts in big cities like New York and Seattle have seen test scores plunge. And it’s not jus…

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Has Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Cracked the Code on Progressive Governance in Blue Cities? 42:02

3M ago42:02

42:02

Four years ago, a 36 year-old Harvard Law grad and City Councilmember named Michelle Wu rolled to victory as the first elected female, non-white mayor of Boston. Since then, she's racked up further governing successes: Boston these days is often touted as the safest big city in the country, and Wu has delivered progressive wins (albeit incremental …

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Did Blue City America Get Covid Wrong, Too? 55:15

3M ago55:15

55:15

This week we take a look back at the COVID-19 pandemic with Steven Macedo, a professor of politics at Princeton University and co-author of "In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us" (Princeton University Press). The book offers a self-critical examination of how blue leaders and institutions in government, academia, science and the media naviga…

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From Wounds to Wisdom: Healing Out Loud & Starting Messy 9:34

4M ago9:34

9:34

Description: In this powerful season finale, Alexis Colon closes the first season of Divine Femininity with raw honesty, unshakable truth, and a message that will stay with you long after the episode ends. This isn’t just an ending—it’s a beginning. From the pain of abandonment to the beauty of alignment, Alexis explores how our deepest wounds hold…

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Nicole Gelinas: Blue City Lessons from NYC’s 100 Years' War Between Cars and Transit 55:35

4M ago55:35

55:35

New York Times contributing opinion writer Nicole Gelinas, who writes regularly on New York City issues, is the author of a deeply researched and informative book, Movement: New York’s Long War to take Back Its Streets from the Car. In this fascinating account, Gelinas cogently argues that NYC’s unwinding of its robust early 20th century streetcar …

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Dispatch from an Urban Drug Market 48:44

4M ago48:44

48:44

In this special episode we venture outside our respective basements to explore a sprawling open-air drug market in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood, which resembles similar drug markets in poor, blue city neighborhoods across the US that have been overrun by the urban fentanyl and methamphetamine crises. Whether it's the Tenderloin in San Franc…

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What’s the Matter with Chicago? 49:51

5M ago49:51

49:51

The Windy City is not just a great American metropolis – the third largest in the United States – it is a world class city, recognized globally as a center of finance, trade and economic dynamism, and as a cultural and tourist mecca. But there is an emerging counter-narrative about Chicago, a declension story of a great and proud urban powerhouse n…

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Trump Just Defunded Public Media. Did NPR Help Bring This Disaster on Itself? 1:02:41

5M ago1:02:41

1:02:41

In the latest installment of Blue City Blues, we welcomed Jonathan Zimmerman, professor of the history of education at the University of Pennsylvania, to join us in delving into the Trump-led defunding of public broadcasting. Zimmerman, whose incisive public commentaries have been published at the New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inqui…

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Marie Gluesenkamp Perez on What Urbanites Get Wrong about Rural America 37:56

6M ago37:56

37:56

The political gulf between educated urban progressives and rural and blue collar Americans has accelerated in recent decades. The consequences for blue cities - and for the Democratic Party - are profound. In this episode, we explore the evolving rural/urban divide with Blue Dog Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who represents Washington’s State’s …

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Celinda Lake on What NYC’s Political Earthquake Means for the Politics of Blue Cities 53:52

6M ago53:52

53:52

Zohran Mamdani's upset victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary wasn't just a win; it was a seismic event that's shaking the foundations of the Democratic Party. How did a self-described socialist unseat a political giant like Andrew Cuomo? And what does it mean for the future of progressive politics in America's blue cities? This we…

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Sherman Alexie: A Res Indian Take on Monsters, Colonizers and the Urban Left's “Minor League Maoism” 52:01

6M ago52:01

52:01

In this episode of Blue City Blues, we invited writer Sherman Alexie on to weigh in on recent cultural trends in blue cities. Alexie has long been recognized as one of the country’s most talented, interesting – and funny – literary figures. The author of two dozen books, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), which won th…

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Katie Herzog on What the Decline and Fall of Twitter Means for Blue Cities 59:02

7M ago59:02

59:02

In 2020, when the power of social media – Twitter, in particular – to police the boundaries of acceptable thought in blue cities was at its cultural zenith, journalists Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal launched their boundary-shattering podcast, Blocked and Reported. BARPod, as it’s referred to by its growing legions of fans (us included), is focused …

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Is Abundance the Answer to What Ails Blue Cities? 1:00:45

7M ago1:00:45

1:00:45

In January of 2022, The Atlantic published staff writer Derek Thompson’s manifesto calling for a fundamental reform of progressive governance. “We need an abundance agenda… focused on solving our national problem of scarcity,” he asserted. Fleshed out by New York Times journalist Ezra Klein and a small nucleus of like-minded, mostly Bay Area-based …

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Defund/Abolition Is Dead in Blue Cities. What now? 55:28

8M ago55:28

55:28

Public safety policy reformer Lisa Daugaard won a MacArthur Genius Award in 2019 for her work creating the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, which has become a much touted national model for progressive criminal justice reform. The idea is to help low-level homeless offenders arrested for crimes like shoplifting by connecting them …

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Why Does Progressive Megadonor Nick Hanauer Blame Blue Cities’ Woes on … Barack Obama? 46:53

8M ago46:53

46:53

Seattle venture capitalist and Democratic megadonor Nick Hanauer doesn’t fit neatly into pre-fab boxes. He’s a wildly successful tech investor who denounces tech moguls as “narcissistic sociopaths.” He’s a billionaire “class-traitor” (his term) who’s been sounding the alarm about what he sees as the dangerous obliviousness of the ultrarich to the r…

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Why is San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan Breaking So Many Eggs? 45:22

9M ago45:22

45:22

In a quest to reinvent municipal governance, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is breaking ranks and breaking a few eggs. A Harvard grad who made his bones in the disruption-centered world of Silicon Valley tech startups, he tells us he's put his focus on prioritizing results over ideology since becoming mayor of one of California’s biggest blue cites in 2…

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NYT’s Peter Goodman on Tariffs, Trade Wars and the New Crony Capitalism 46:30

9M ago46:30

46:30

This week, we take a close look at Trump's tariff-happy trade war and its impact on blue cities with New York Times global economics correspondent Peter Goodman, the author of Davos Man and How the World Ran Out of Everything. We explore the political tightrope blue city and Democratic Party leaders are walking on trade policy. Are they anti-tariff…

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Dan Savage: How Blue Cities Should Resist Trump 2.0 54:06

9M ago54:06

54:06

Donald Trump is in full retribution mode and the anxiety – and anger – in blue cities is spiking. Sex advice columnist and friend o’ the podcast Dan Savage joins us to talk about how blue cities should (and should not) resist an aggressively authoritarian administration that sees them as the enemy. We go deep on the April 5th protests, dissecting e…

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The Inside Story on How Tech Billionaires Sparked San Francisco’s Moderate Backlash 37:53

9M ago37:53

37:53

In recent years San Francisco, widely regarded as America’s most progressive city, has experienced a far-reaching anti-progressive backlash. In 2022, voters recalled three progressive school board members and progressive DA Chesa Boudin. Then moderates took control of the city’s Board of Supervisors. Last year they won a majority on the city’s Demo…

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Mike Pesca: Is Blue City Media Up to the Challenge of Covering Trump 2.0? 1:00:29

10M ago1:00:29

1:00:29

Former National Public Radio and Slate journalist Mike Pesca, host of the longest-running (and highly entertaining!) daily news podcast, "The Gist," joins us to talk about the tough challenges blue city media is facing during the terrifying roller coaster ride that is Trump’s second term. Especially at a time when public trust in the media is at a …

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Has the American Labor Movement Lost Touch with the Urban Working Class? 51:36

10M ago51:36

51:36

In this episode, we dive deep into some of the big questions every left-of-center political observer has been asking: what the hell went so wrong in the last election? Why did so many urban working class voters in blue cities swing hard towards Trump? And is there any reason to think that the Trumpist right is making a credible and serious economic…

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Keith Humphreys: Why Drug Reform Failed In West Coast Blue Cities 46:08

10M ago46:08

46:08

The wave of bold new decriminalization-centered approaches to drug policy reform that swept West Coast cities from San Francisco to Vancouver, B.C. starting around 2020 has failed, according to one the nation’s leading drug policy experts, former Obama White House drug policy advisor and Stanford psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys. On this week’s…

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Why Does Rep. Adam Smith Believe Blue Cities Contributed to Trump’s Win? 55:48

10M ago55:48

55:48

Democrat Adam Smith has spent the last several years engaged in a (perhaps quixotic?) crusade to save the Democratic Party from itself. The veteran congressman, who represents parts of Seattle and its South King County suburbs in Washington's 9th Congressional District, recently played the starring role in a New Yorker article titled "The Not-Quite…

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Freddie deBoer: Blue Cities Progressives Need to Get Real on Involuntary Commitment 56:09

11M ago56:09

56:09

Freddie DeBoer knows a thing or two about mental illness. He’s been admitted into psychiatric hospitals five times; he was involuntarily committed in 2002. He has, as they say, lived experience. Freddie is also one of our most original and independent commentators on American cultural trends. A self-described Marxist and a cogent critic of recent i…

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Why Didn't Blue Cities Going Woke Help the Marginalized? 47:38

11M ago47:38

47:38

Sociologist Musa al-Gharbi is having a well-deserved moment. His highly praised new book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite (Princeton University Press), released last October, has caused quite the stir, becoming the cutting edge of a burgeoning elite cultural reassessment of the decade plus-long “Great Awokening” …

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Will Trump’s win make the rocky marriage between big tech and big blue cities even worse? 56:16

1y ago56:16

56:16

America’s bluest big cities are in a tense, co-dependent relationship with the tech giants that power their economies and anchor their prosperity. It didn’t start out that way. When tech giants first decided, about 20 years ago, to decamp from their cloistered suburban enclaves to embed themselves in the vibrant hearts of big blue cities, a torrid …

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Was the "insufferable left" to blame for Trump's big gains in blue cities? 54:17

1y ago54:17

54:17

In decisively winning the presidency, some of Donald Trump’s biggest gains came in the places you’d least expect them: big blue cities and urban suburbs. A lot of Trump’s victory is due to voter dissatisfaction with mass migration and the price of eggs. But Dan Savage suggests urban progressives also need to look in the mirror: did an “insufferable…

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Dan Savage on Trumpism and the future of blue cities 45:28

1y ago45:28

45:28

Twenty years ago, in the wake of a searing presidential defeat, Dan Savage encouraged progressives to move to blue cities and to fortify them into an “Urban Archipelago” of culturally separatist bastions that rejected the reactionary politics of the larger red American landscape. And he got his wish. Over the last two decades, rural places got redd…

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S2E7 - US Center for SafeSport with Ju'Riese Colon 1:15:21

4y ago1:15:21

1:15:21

This week we tackle the very important and timely topic of abuse prevention in sport. The US Center for SafeSport was founded through Federal legislation in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal with USA Gymnastics. Its mission is to act as the clearing house and adjudicator for abuse allegations within the Olympic movement sports within the US. The…

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S2E6 - CrossFit with Heather Lawrence-Benedict 1:02:43

4y ago1:02:43

1:02:43

For todays celebration of Women In Sports Day, we take our second journey into CrossFit in this episode with Heather Lawrence-Benedict, their Director of Sport Operations. Heather had a long career in college athletics going from operations and faciltiies, to Associate AD, and then to getting her PhD and teaching Sport Management to undergraduates …

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S2E5 - Tori Huster, Washington Spirit 1:22:27

4y ago1:22:27

1:22:27

This week Kim and I get to welcome back to the SoccerPlex Washington Spirit Captain, NWSL Players Association President, and NWSL CHAMPION, Tori Huster. Tori talks about her journey from youth soccer, to Florida State University, Australian A- League, and all the way to this past November's NWSL Championship. Tori gives us insight into the collecti…

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S2E4 - Women of Sports Tourism 1:23:12

4y ago1:23:12

1:23:12

This episode is a bit self serving as Matt just gets to hang out with his friends. Matt and Kim are joined this week by Danielle Vincenti, Rachel Rogers, and Suzanne Cecil. Each has served in several roles in the sports industry and are passionate advocates for sports tourism and professional development and advancement for women in sports. They pr…

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S2E3 - Casey Taker from Ironman 1:10:17

4y ago1:10:17

1:10:17

This week Matt and Kim talk about the curious path that Casey Take took to get to become the Director of Athlete Development for Ironman. Some would say she took a non-conventional path to work in endurance racing but she will talk about how that path provided the necessary tools to get where she is now. Casey provides some great insight for young …

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S2E2 - Venue Management with Jana Brooks 1:12:06

4y ago1:12:06

1:12:06

This week we speak with Jana Brooks, Manager Event and Tenant Services, Maryland Stadium Authority. We talk through her journey from facility management at a law firm, to S.A.F.E, to dealing with both the Ravens and the Orioles at the Camden Yards Stadium Complex. Jana has some fun stories about managing events, challenges, in the job, and why she …

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S2E1 - USA Basketball with Andrea Travelstead 1:15:32

4y ago1:15:32

1:15:32

Matt and Kim are back for a new season and will be focusing on Women in Sports. In this season's first episode we are speaking with Andrea Travelstead, the Assistant Director for Youth and Development at USA Basketball. We get to talk about her journey in sports which includes 2 college National Championships, one as a player and one as a coach, he…

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Season 2 - Trailer 11:22

4y ago11:22

11:22

Pitchside from the Plex is back. This season Kim and Matt are focusing on Women in Sports. We will host a series of female guests to talk about their journey in sports, challenges they have faced, what can make women better suited to work in sports, and provide advice for young women looking to get started in the sports industry. We will talk with …

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S1E13 - Sports Facility Development with Jason Clement 1:12:42

4+ y ago1:12:42

1:12:42

Kim and Matt sit down with Jason Clement the CEO and Founding Partner of The Sports Facilities Companies. We discuss what goes into developing new sports facilities, why communities are looking to add sports venues, and why youth sports are so important to a healthy community. Jason talks about the holistic benefits to children from sports in terms…

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S1E12 - CrossFit With Wilson Pak 50:08

5y ago50:08

50:08

Kim and Matt sit down with Wilson Pak, the Director of the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge. Wilson explains the concept of CrossFit and what competitive CrossFit looks like. We explore the challenges presented by COVID to the industry. Wilson also talk about the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge which is moving to Knoxville Tennessee this year as wel…

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S1E11 - Soccer Parenting with Skye Eddy 1:24:49

5y ago1:24:49

1:24:49

Matt and Kim speak with Skye Eddy, mom, coach, and former player, who founded the Soccer Parenting Association. Skye provides resources for coaches and parents to help provide a better playing environment to youth soccer players. She speaks about problems we see on the sidelines from parents, coaches, and players. Skye talks about how to identify i…