There’s nothing more exciting than helping people understand and reach their potential — especially when they didn’t think they could do it.

Before our record-breaking 19-1 Shorecrest HS girls basketball program, we asked the girls to put their heads down and hands up if they believed we could go to the state championship and win it. Two girls raised their hands. So I created a road map of the season to help them break it down and see the path. We got within one game of the final day.

Part of building a K-12 girls basketball program meant bringing the young ones in to work with the high school team. The young ones could look ahead, and the high schoolers knew their fan base.

In 1997, I started an Ultimate Frisbee league in Madison - Madison's Alternative Ultimate League. It lasted until I moved. This is some of the original members breaking ground on our new field.

For the record-breaking 19-1, 2019-20 Shorecrest HS girls basketball season, I put together a comprehensive history of the girls program and brought in old players and coaches to celebrate.

25 years of coordinating, organizing, coaching, and enabling youth sports

Growing up on the traditional sports: Baseball, basketball, track & field, and volleyball, I had many great coaches. The best coaches were always the one who learned the players and built systems toward their strengths. This stuck with me. Once out of college, I found Ultimate Frisbee, and formed a new league — MAUL (Madison’t Alternative Ultimate League) — in Madison, WI. When I moved to Seattle, I got involved coaching track with the local community center before taking on basketball, rubgy, and, once again, creating an Ultimate Frisbee league for area youth.

Here are some of my coaching, coordinating, and organizing highlights:

Co-led an underperforming Shorecrest High School girls basketball team, as Assistant Coach, to the third best record in the state from 2017-2020, including two State Championship runs in three years, the best record (19-1) and winning percentage in school history (.770) - all while focusing on academic achievement (highest GPA of any team in the high school) and navigating parents intent on destroying the program
Wrote, edited, narrated, published, and promoted “Nothing Ruins Youth Sports Like Adults,” a book chronicling my experience coaching high school girls basketball at Shorecrest High School. Called a “must-read” by parents across the country with children in sports

Built a K-12 girls basketball feeder program to support the Shorecrest High School program: Raised money, negotiated gym space, managed parent expectations, hired coaches, and integrated the high school girls as coaches and mentors to the younger girls
Hosted B.E.A.S.T. Basketball Camps around the Seattle area – procuring gym space, creating promotional campaigns, managing customer lists, handling all parent communications and questions, and working directly with coaching and volunteer staff
Created MAUL (Madison’s Alternative Ultimate League) - an Ultimate Frisbee league in Madison, WI that offered an alternative to the more rigid MUFA league. Purchased all equipment, procured field space, recruited 100+ players, and ran it eight months/year for 10 years
Coached and coordinated youth sports, working with more than 300 children, including track & field, Ultimate Frisbee, and basketball, for nearly 30 years
Co-founded Shoreline Sports Foundation - focusing on messaging, mission, and promotion - created and coached Ultimate Frisbee program, focused on 4th - 8th graders who otherwise weren’t pursuing athletics
Provided professional challenging insight and perspective to DECA students at Shorewood High School through their “Shark Tank” entrepreneur program and state-level DECA competitions
Revolutionized football tackle data for pro, college, and high school football by creating the Tackyltics brand for Atavus – coordinated, promoted, and organized rugby camps around the country

We have a coaching crisis in this country. Because of the parents with unrealistic assessments of how much more important their kids are to their teams or just how good (or not) their children are, coaches are putting their personal and professional reputations on the line when they coach a team for these parents: And the risks are starting to outweigh the rewards.

Keith Nelson, Shoreline Sports Foundation Director

Jon relentlessly expects excellence of himself, but he also works hard to push those around him and position them for success. As a result, people enjoy giving him their best work possible.

Rebecca Collins Brown - Freelance Content Writer and Content Architect/Owner of Wonder Lab Creative

In a world where people expect to take orders as the norm, Jon realizes this approach may check boxes but it never reaches the heights of great leadership or spectacular vision. So instead he encourages dynamic teams that deal in honesty and earnest passion for doing the best possible job. Jon is not the norm and he is the furthest thing from rank and file. Anyone who has an opportunity to work with Jon will only come out better from his vision, his authenticity, and his natural leadership skills that empower every team member to initiate and lead while taking accountability.

"A strong and considerate leader who believes in, fights for, and inspires the people around him." - Matt Everson, Owner of Astuteo

I coached girls basketball for five years before deciding it was time for a new coach. It's a great thing to watch the players improve and work together like a team.

Dana Smitham - Art Director

As a leader, Jon is as valuable as they come, not only for his creative and strategic thinking, but also for his analysis of what makes something work or not work, and his ability to explain that to others. He’s smart, honest, dynamic, and a fantastic leader. Jon was an extremely influential mentor in my career and one of my all-time favorite managers.

Truthfully, he taught me how to concept and think conceptually on a professional level. He's a tremendous thinker, writer and friend. Jon is always willing to give you his time and he is certainly generous with it when you ask. And funny. You can’t forget funny, because it’s so necessary for survival in this business. Jon not only survives, he helps others thrive. I would highly recommend him and I look forward to our paths crossing again.

Sometimes, to help people realize their potential, you have to look them in the eye and meet them where they are… let them know what you see in them, and give them the safety net they may need to try, fail, and try again. This was all about repeatedly braking personal records, and they all did it.

From 2009 - 2011, I coached over 100 sprinters with the Meadowbrook Community Center track team. Keeping track of everyone and helping them improve was almost as difficult as managing practices with that many kids.