DISCOVER WHAT IT REALLY TAKES FOR YOUTH ATHLETES TO SUCCEED IN SPORTS
FREE 4-DAY VIRTUAL EVENT
October 19-22, 2026
Hear from 20+ youth sports experts — what matters, what doesn’t, and where to focus to help your athlete reach their next level in sports.
100% Free • Watch From Anywhere
A Summit Built to Change The Way We Think About Success in Youth Sports
4 Days
to rethink what it takes for youth athletes to achieve success in sports
20+ Experts
from across youth sports
2 Tracks
for Sports Parents &
Youth Coaches
$0
100% free to attend
ONE GOAL: Helping More Youth Athletes Succeed.
Parents and coaches have different roles.
But both have a huge impact on a young athlete’s experience.
That’s why this year’s Summit brings them together.
1 Summit. 2 TRACKS.
SPORTS PARENT TRACK
For parents who want to enjoy the journey while giving their athlete every opportunity to succeed.
You’ll get expert advice to help you:
Understand what your athlete actually needs to get better
Make smarter decisions about teams, training and what’s next
Support big goals without taking the joy out of the game
Know what matters — and what doesn’t.
YOUTH COACH TRACK
For coaches who want to win games AND develop athletes.
You’ll hear from experts about how to:
Run practices that actually develop players
Build confident, competitive and coachable athletes
Create better relationships with parents and players
Because great youth coaches don’t just win games.
They develop athletes.
Answers to The Questions Keeping You Up At Night
This isn’t just another online event—this is the playbook for getting youth sports right.
Over 4 days, you’ll get answers to the biggest questions in youth sports:
Is my athlete actually developing — or are we just playing more games?
When should an athlete specialize?
Why do some athletes look great in practice but struggle in games?
Your kid isn’t getting playing time. Now what?
When is it time to change teams?
When should families start thinking about preparing for college?
What do NIL and social media mean for youth athletes?
How do we keep more kids in sports?
This is the event that pulls back the curtain and gives you the truth about youth sports—so you know what matters, and what doesn’t for an athletes long term success.
Meet Your Host
Coach Nate Daniels is the owner of Next Level Athletes and host of the Next Level Athletes Podcast with a passion for helping parents, athletes, and coaches navigate the world of competitive youth sports.
With over 20 years of experience coaching and mentoring athletes, Coach Daniels has worked with athletes at all levels, from beginners to elite performers.
Before becoming a coach, he lived the athlete journey himself.
Nate was a collegiate All-American at Ferrum College, earned an opportunity with the Baltimore Ravens at Rookie Camp, and played professional arena football for 6 seasons.
He’s since been inducted into both the Ferrum College Alumni Sports Hall of Fame and Fairfax High School Sports Hall of Fame.
But after decades around sports, Coach knows that there is no single team, trainer, camp or shortcut that creates a great athlete.
Great athletes are developed over time.
And there are a lot of things happening in youth sports today that we need to talk about.
That’s why Coach created the Youth Sports Success Summit.
To bring together people who know youth sports to answer the questions that matter.
And help parents and coaches get clearer about what youth athletes actually need to succeed.
Coach Daniels Has Been Featured On
MEET THE 2026 SUMMIT EXPERTS
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Jeremy Alland, MD
Sports Medicine Physician
Play the Long Game: Is Your Athlete Doing Too Much, Too Soon?
What Sports Parents Need to Know About Specialization, Overuse & Keeping Kids Healthy for the Long Haul -
Duke Baxter
CEO of Zoned Sports | Co-Founder of Dominate the Diamond
Run Better Practices: Develop Players, Keep Kids Engaged, and Make Them Love the Game
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Roman Cervantes
Founder & Product Engineer, Dugout Master
Coach More. Manage Less: How Technology Can Give Youth
Coaches Their Time Back -
Nate Daniels
Founder, Next Level Athletes
The Youth Athlete Development Roadmap:
What To Do at Each Age and Stage -
Cassie Douglas
Founder, The Family OS
The Sports Family Operating System: How to Manage Practices, Games, Meals, School & Family Life Without the Chaos -
Kiyoshi Fish
Founder, Coach Fish Recruiting & Academic Scholarships
The College Recruiting Roadmap:
What Sports Parents Need to
Know - and When -
Dr. Jen Fry
CEO of Jen Fry Talks
Before You Blame the Coach:
How to Advocate for Your Athlete Without Making Things Worse -
Jeanene Gray, M.Ed., M.S.
Founder and Mental Performance Coach, Gray Peak Performance
Don't Wait Until They're Struggling: How to Be in Your Athlete's Corner for the Mental Game -
Dr. Carey Heller
Licensed Psychologist
Coaching the ADHD Athlete: What Every Youth Coach Needs to Understand -
Mandy Holmes
Founder, Sponsor My Athlete
Beyond the Bake Sale: How Youth Sports Families Can Build Real Business Sponsorships -
Nate Keller
Owner & Performance Trainer, Keller Training Systems, LLC.
Building Athleticism: When to Start Strength Training—and What Good Training Looks Like
What sports parents need to know about age-appropriate speed and strength training—and how to choose a quality sports performance program. -
Austen Salcedo
Founder & Owner, Boombox Baseball
Beyond Games, Wins & Tournaments: Is Your Athlete’s Program Actually Developing Them? -
Jon Osborn
Mental Performance Coach
Your Athlete Is Cleared to Play. But Are They Mentally Ready?
The part of injury recovery sports parents often miss — and how to help athletes return with confidence. -
Brad Roberts
Founder, The Coaching Dad
Success as a Parent Coach Volunteer -
Vickie Saunders
CEO & Founder, Athlete Brand Builder
Before a Coach Ever Meets Your Athlete: What Their Social Media Is Already Saying About Them -
Morgan Schill
Founder, Positive Play Project
Same Athlete. Same Team: How Parents & Coaches Can Work Together Without Putting Kids in the Middle -
Scott Shirley
Founder, Youth Sports Unfiltered
Your Kid Can Chase Big Goals Without Youth Sports Taking Over Your Life -
Stephanie Shirley
Founder, Youth Sports Unfiltered
Your Kid Can Chase Big Goals Without Youth Sports Taking Over Your Life -
Derek Shunk
Founder, Thinklete
Parenting the ADHD Athlete: What Parents Need to Know -
Kristin Tullo
Mental Performance Coach
Stop Telling Athletes to “Be Confident”
How to Actually Coach Focus, Confidence & Resilience -
Casey Wheel
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach,
Pacific Ridge School
Owner of Wanna Play?
Stop Over Coaching & Over Correcting: How Game-Based
Training Develops Better Athletes -
Lenise Williams
Athlete Brand Manager, NIL Specialist
Before Your Athlete Posts, Signs or Says Yes: What Sports Families Need to Know About Social Media, NIL & Brand Deals
What To Expect at the Youth Sports Success Summit
When & Where
The Youth Sports Success Summit will run for 4-days, October 19-22, 2026, with a variety of presentations covering all aspects of competitive youth sports. This event is entirely virtual, so you’ll be able to attend from anywhere in the world with internet access.
Expert Sessions
Attend presentations from our lineup of 20+ expert speakers with trainings on everything from mastering the mental game, sports parenting, training programs, how to develop youth athletes, and recommendations to understanding what to do NOW to set your athlete up for success in the future! Your free ticket includes 24-hour access to the expert presentations during each day of the summit.
Private Summit Community
You’ll also have access to a private community of Sports Parents & Youth Coaches like yourself. This is where you’ll be able to connect with the speakers and other attendees before and during the event.
Upgrade to VIP!
After registering, you’ll have the option to upgrade to the VIP All-Access Pass and get even more from the Summit.
Get lifetime access to every Summit session, a private audio feed so you can listen on the go, PLUS exclusive access to VIP Friday: Office Hours with Coach Daniels — a 60-minute LIVE session where you can bring your youth sports questions and get Coach’s take.
You’ll get all the details after grabbing your free ticket!
Have Questions?
We’ve Got Answers.
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Because youth sports is more competitive than ever — and there’s more information, pressure and opinions about what young athletes should be doing than ever before.
The Youth Sports Success Summit brings together sports parents, youth coaches and experts from across youth sports to have the conversations that matter and answer one big question:
What does it actually take for young athletes to succeed?
Over three days, we’ll tackle athlete development, confidence, training, nutrition, coaching, teams, recruiting and more — so you can make better decisions, focus on what actually matters, and help young athletes get better, love the game and reach their next level.
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The Youth Sports Success Summit is for sports parents and youth coaches who want to help young athletes get better, enjoy the game, and have every opportunity to reach their next level.
If you’re a parent trying to figure out what your athlete needs next, or a coach who wants to develop better players and create a better youth sports experience, this Summit is for you.
You don’t need to have all the answers — that’s why we’re bringing together the people who do.
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The Youth Sports Success Summit is happening October 19–22, 2026. Each day, new expert sessions will be released across both the Sports Parent and Youth Coach tracks, with 24-hour access included with your free ticket.
VIP All-Access Pass holders will also get exclusive access to VIP Friday on October 23 — a live 60-minute Office Hours with Coach Daniels where you can bring your youth sports questions and get Coach’s take.
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No problem! The Summit is designed to fit around your already-busy sports schedule.
Each day’s expert sessions are pre-recorded and available to watch free for 24 hours, so you can tune in whenever it works for you.
Want more flexibility? Upgrade to the VIP All-Access Pass for lifetime access to every Summit session, plus a private audio feed so you can listen on the go.
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Your free ticket gives you 24-hour access to each day’s expert sessions as they’re released during the Summit.
Want to watch on your own schedule? Upgrade to the VIP All-Access Pass for lifetime access to every Summit session, plus a private audio feed and exclusive access to VIP Friday: Office Hours with Coach Daniels.
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To give you the best possible experience, all summit sessions are pre-recorded and will be released during the 4 days of the summit.
However, the speakers will be hanging out in our private community with dedicated threads where you can connect with them and ask your questions! -
No. When you register, you’ll be added to the Next Level Athletes email list so we can send you updates for the event and links to each day’s presentations. After the summit is over, you’ll continue to hear from us, but you can unsubscribe at any time.
Each of the speakers will have free resources available that you can access by providing an email address, but the speakers will not get your email address unless you choose to give it to them specifically. That way, you only hear from the people you really love and don't have to worry about getting added to 20+ email lists that you're not interested in.
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If you still have questions, we encourage you to go ahead and sign up. Your questions will likely be answered during the event or in the community, which you’ll be able to join right away after grabbing your free ticket.
However, if you need to ask us a question before registering, feel free to send us an email at hello@nextlevel-athletes.com
