FWD | Do a Nick Bumbaco: Zero Playing Time | Dean Bumbaco

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⏩ In Episode 10 of Forward, Joe Clemente and Kevin T. Mulhearn welcome their first guest, Dean Bumbaco, for a straight-talking conversation about youth baseball parents, playing time, and what happens when a coach hands your son a paper that says "zero playing time."

Dean's son Nick played on a Don Bosco Prep team that won a state championship, but it didn't start that way. Dean shares how Nick turned that paper into a start, why he was once fired from a volunteer coaching job, and why he thinks the best thing parents can do is tell their kids the truth.

They discuss:

• Why so many parents think their kid is headed to the Yankees by age eight
• How youth baseball used to work, and what parents trusted coaches to do
• The "zero playing time" paper, and how Nick turned it into a start
• Why Don Bosco kids "choose hard" instead of leaving when it gets tough
• Why Dean was fired from a volunteer coaching job, and why he stepped back from coaching his own son
• Why effort is the one thing every player controls

Whether you're a parent, coach, grandparent, or athlete, this conversation is a reminder that playing time is earned in practice and in attitude, and that the best thing you can give a kid is the truth.

Forward: Better Athletes. Better People.

🎙️ Forward is a podcast from Hard Knock Press exploring the ideas, stories, and conversations that help build better athletes and better people.

📘 Get Joe Clemente's book, The Long Ride Home: How to Help Your Kids Shine in Youth Sports (Without Driving Them Crazy): https://hardknockpress.com

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