RedCircle VERIFY_TOKEN_16e3b7a3-99f9-465d-ba1f-c8507e320061 -- Rendered At Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:34:23 +0000 Between Whistles https://redcircle.com/shows/between-whistles en-US All rights reserved. Brian Kays *Between Whistles is a podcast about coaching, sports, and the quiet part.* Most coaching content focuses on the games, the wins, and the highlights. This show focuses on what happens between them. The bus ride home after a hard loss. The empty gym after everyone leaves. The player who walks into your office and closes the door. The conversations no one trains a coach for. The work nobody puts in the job description, but everyone expects a coach to do. I'm Coach Kays, a head varsity basketball coach who has spent almost 25 years on a sideline. Over that time, I've come to realize that a lot of the most important parts of coaching have very little to do with what happens while the clock is running. We'll talk about winning, because I care about winning. We'll talk about losing, players, parents, culture, youth sports, school athletics, leadership, and what this work asks from the people who choose to do it. Some episodes will be about basketball. A lot of them won't be. But most will eventually come back to the same place: a kid walks through the door, and for some period of time, you get to be their coach. That's the part of the job I want to talk about. The part between whistles. *New episodes twice a month.* Support Between Whistles: buymeacoffee.com/coachkays 16e3b7a3-99f9-465d-ba1f-c8507e320061 Between Whistles is a podcast about coaching, sports, and the quiet part.

Most coaching content focuses on the games, the wins, and the highlights. This show focuses on what happens between them.

The bus ride home after a hard loss. The empty gym after everyone leaves. The player who walks into your office and closes the door. The conversations no one trains a coach for. The work nobody puts in the job description, but everyone expects a coach to do.

I'm Coach Kays, a head varsity basketball coach who has spent almost 25 years on a sideline. Over that time, I've come to realize that a lot of the most important parts of coaching have very little to do with what happens while the clock is running.

We'll talk about winning, because I care about winning. We'll talk about losing, players, parents, culture, youth sports, school athletics, leadership, and what this work asks from the people who choose to do it.

Some episodes will be about basketball. A lot of them won't be.

But most will eventually come back to the same place: a kid walks through the door, and for some period of time, you get to be their coach.

That's the part of the job I want to talk about.

The part between whistles.

New episodes twice a month.

Support Between Whistles: buymeacoffee.com/coachkays

]]> episodic no Brian Kays bkays@webb.org false full I Used to Apologize for Caring About Winning I Used to Apologize for Caring About Winning Brian Kays Coaches are supposed to say winning isn’t everything. For a long time, I felt like I had to apologize for wanting to win too much.

But wanting to win and caring about your players aren’t opposites.

In this episode of Between Whistles, I talk about why I stopped apologizing for being competitive, what winning can teach when it’s kept in perspective, and why pretending the scoreboard doesn’t matter may not be the lesson we think it is.

]]> <p>Coaches are supposed to say winning isn’t everything. For a long time, I felt like I had to apologize for wanting to win too much.</p><p>But wanting to win and caring about your players aren’t opposites.</p><p>In this episode of <em>Between Whistles</em>, I talk about why I stopped apologizing for being competitive, what winning can teach when it’s kept in perspective, and why pretending the scoreboard doesn’t matter may not be the lesson we think it is.</p> 717caa01-6622-486a-9e0a-115c8a1cd19a https://redcircle.com/shows/16e3b7a3-99f9-465d-ba1f-c8507e320061/episodes/7b134dac-1d6b-4d92-8bc3-bd12716f4449 Tue, 01 Sep 2026 07:04:20 +0000 762 false full The Player who Quit The Player who Quit Brian Kays What happens when a player decides to walk away?

In this episode of Between Whistles, I tell the story of a player who quit—and the questions it left behind about coaching, relationships, and the things we can’t always control.

Sometimes the moments that stay with us have nothing to do with the final score.

]]> <p>What happens when a player decides to walk away?</p><p>In this episode of <em>Between Whistles</em>, I tell the story of a player who quit—and the questions it left behind about coaching, relationships, and the things we can’t always control.</p><p>Sometimes the moments that stay with us have nothing to do with the final score.</p> ef8fc671-0912-4aa2-a1cb-135a6b2ede37 https://redcircle.com/shows/16e3b7a3-99f9-465d-ba1f-c8507e320061/episodes/d26ac305-e6f6-4c0e-a289-5efe70d0c8dd Sat, 29 Aug 2026 07:16:25 +0000 646 false full The Hidden Work of Coaching The Hidden Work of Coaching Brian Kays The contract tells you part of the job. The rest you learn after you start doing it.

In this episode of Between Whistles, I talk about the difficult conversations, decisions, relationships, and responsibilities that nobody really trains coaches for and why that hidden work may be the most important part of the job.

]]> <p>The contract tells you part of the job. The rest you learn after you start doing it.</p><p>In this episode of <em>Between Whistles</em>, I talk about the difficult conversations, decisions, relationships, and responsibilities that nobody really trains coaches for and why that hidden work may be the most important part of the job.</p> 7c047905-ab2f-4bf0-9b54-840f5e2bdf8a https://redcircle.com/shows/16e3b7a3-99f9-465d-ba1f-c8507e320061/episodes/d328ebb5-41af-44f8-980d-737b431368dc Fri, 28 Aug 2026 07:05:07 +0000 573 false full There are Kids Who Still Walk Into Our Gym There are Kids Who Still Walk Into Our Gym Brian Kays There are still kids who walk into our gym who have barely played basketball before.

Almost 25 years into coaching, I see those players differently than I did when I started. Most of the kids I coach will never play basketball after high school. There is no scholarship waiting for them. No college roster. For most of them, these few seasons are it.

So what exactly are we coaching them toward?

In the first episode of Between Whistles, I talk about what almost 25 years on a sideline has taught me about the job, the players who keep walking through the door, and why so much of what matters in coaching happens when the clock isn't running.

A kid walks in. You meet her where she is. And you try to help her become a little more than she was when she arrived.

]]> <p>There are still kids who walk into our gym who have barely played basketball before.</p><p>Almost 25 years into coaching, I see those players differently than I did when I started. Most of the kids I coach will never play basketball after high school. There is no scholarship waiting for them. No college roster. For most of them, these few seasons are it.</p><p>So what exactly are we coaching them toward?</p><p>In the first episode of <em>Between Whistles</em>, I talk about what almost 25 years on a sideline has taught me about the job, the players who keep walking through the door, and why so much of what matters in coaching happens when the clock isn&#39;t running.</p><p><strong>A kid walks in. You meet her where she is. And you try to help her become a little more than she was when she arrived.</strong></p> d1fe8a0d-0c37-4ca2-a4f2-02aec7fa9dec https://redcircle.com/shows/16e3b7a3-99f9-465d-ba1f-c8507e320061/episodes/8f7b78c7-7a9a-438f-b66c-b504b07db97e Thu, 27 Aug 2026 15:26:49 +0000 466 false