Aaron Volpatti: From House Hockey to the NHL, Fighting for Your Life & Let Kids Be Kids

Aaron Volpatti was never supposed to make it. He wasn't drafted. He wasn't a goal scorer. He grew up in Revelstoke, BC, playing house hockey at 14 and got cut from select teams. And then at 19 years old, while playing junior hockey with the Vernon Vipers, he was badly burned in an accident and told by doctors that his hockey career was over. He was wrapped head to toe in a hospital burn unit, unable to walk, when he made a decision that would define the rest of his life: he was coming back to play hockey no matter what. He was out of the hospital in six weeks. He played that fall. He went on to commit to Brown University. And he eventually played 114 games in the NHL... more than 70% of the players who were actually drafted in his draft year.

But Aaron is far more interested in talking about what youth sport is getting wrong than revisiting what he got right. Now a cognitive performance and injury coach, author of Fighter, and father of three, Aaron brings a perspective on the youth sports environment that is equal parts personal and professional.

He talks candidly about the trap of treating your child like an investment, the cost — financial and otherwise — of over-structuring kids' lives at the expense of free play and childhood, and why shaping your child's identity for them before they've had a chance to figure out who they are is one of the most harmful things the current youth sports culture is doing. He shares his own strict hockey rule for his young son, why he coaches parents far more often than he coaches the athletes themselves, and what he says to parents who worry their kid will fall behind. Aaron also opens up about struggling with his own identity after hockey ended, what visualization taught him about human potential, and what he genuinely wants his three kids to take from sport.

This is a conversation about holding onto childhood, staying in the fight, and asking the question nobody in youth sports wants to answer: at what cost?

Chapters

00:00 Opening

01:35 Introduction: Aaron Volpatti

03:42 What minor hockey meant to Aaron growing up

05:01 His parents' approach: no pressure, just values

07:33 What "let kids be kids" actually means

08:44 The lessons sport taught him

09:45 Getting cut from select teams & staying humble

13:53 The burn injury that should have ended his hockey career

19:04 The visualization practice that changed everything

23:53 Are the most talented players in the NHL?

26:55 Why overlooked players with grit outlast the early stars

29:58 Knowing your role: "you are not a goal scorer"

31:54 What good coaches do that parents often undermine

34:13 Equal play, age-appropriate competition

37:14 Sacrificing kids' childhoods

40:12 No spring or summer hockey: Aaron's family rule

40:38 The fear of falling behind trap

41:50 What the real return on investment in youth sport looks like

44:55 Being your kid's cheerleader, not their critic

47:18 The car ride home

48:45 Rethinking mistakes & permission to fail

50:02 Social media & comparison syndrome

52:31 Helping athletes redefine performance

55:46 Aaron's identity crisis

57:32 Visualization, belief and finding life after sport

1:00:34 Writing "Fighter"

1:04:16 What Aaron wants his own kids to take from sport

1:05:35 The biggest issue in youth sports today

1:10:30 Setting boundaries

Resources

• Fighter (Book)
• Aaron's Website
• Follow Aaron on Instagram