#127 Mark Pulisic, Father of USMNT Star Christian Pulisic, on Coaching and Raising Highly Motivated Athletes

This weekend, US men's national team star Christian Pulisic began his EPL career with Chelsea after his $73 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund to London. In today's podcast, we speak with his father Mark, a former collegiate and professional player and coach, about a variety of topics, including what it was like to raise Christian, how many times they said no to great opportunities, how they limited his competitive team practices to 2 sessions per week, dealing with pressure, Christians goodbye in Dortmund, and so much more. We trace Mark's professional career and his short stint coaching in Germany and what were the major differences with coaching youth players in the US. His answer might surprise you. This is a great conversation with some terrific insight into the childhood and early sports career of one of world soccer's brightest stars.In this week's podcast we welcome Other Highlights from the Discussion:

• How important is it to allow kids to develop their own passion for the sport?
• How do you know if your kid REALLY loves the sport?
• Is there a way to increase accuracy without losing creativity in children?
• Parents need to be able to say "No" to coaches.
• Does the tournament culture create "slow" players?
• What is missing here in the US, where and when do our kids fall behind?

Connect with Mark Pulisic

• Twitter
• https://markpulisic.com/
• Mark's Podcast: Soccer Unplugged

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