Welcome to Raising Rock Climbers UNCENSORED Podcast

As a parent of not one but two sons with ambitions to “go pro” as Rock Climbers, your host Marina Kuperman Villatoro began navigating the often rocky terrain of extreme sports a decade ago.  She learned quickly that while climbers compete as individuals, raising an athlete is most definitely a team sport.

In this one-of-a-kind podcast Marina pulls back the curtain and dives deep into chats with the (mostly) unsung heroes of extreme sports:  the parents, the coaches, the trainers, the nutritionists and the therapists.  These insightful conversations reveal the realities of what it takes to support a child to reach their potential as an extreme athlete. 

For the first time ever, this podcast provides Uncensored Advice for you – the parents – the biggest unsung heroes of extreme sports!

What to expect when you listen

• The real, raw truth
• Laughter, and maybe some tears
• The struggles and the successes
• Resources and ideas

In  this podcast, you will find the support you’ve been searching for to RAISE PRO ATHLETES with confidence.

About Your Host, Marina Kuperman Villatoro

Hi, I’m Marina Kuperman Villatoro, a mama on a mission to help my sons reach their goals and dreams in the sport of rock climbing. 

I, along with my extreme-athlete husband, am raising two rock climbers with ambitions to compete, become champions and eventually “go pro.”  But, we only had the faintest idea of the level of commitment it would take on our part.   We soon realized that the funding, compromise and decision making this endeavor requires falls as much – if not more – on our shoulders as theirs.

At the beginning it felt like the more we did the less we knew.  So, like most of us today, I turned to the internet to figure things out. 

I discovered that there’s plenty of ‘expert advice’ out there if your kid wants to play football, soccer, hockey, or baseball.   But very little counsel is available for parents of rock climbers (extreme athletes). 

Let’s face it, extreme sports are not the same as these types of team sports.  They have been refined over decades through school sports programs, college level athletics, traveling teams and so much more.

Participating in extreme sports is a whole different way of life. It requires a whole different mindset, not to mention financial commitment, than traditional team sports.  The safety issues and medical concerns alone will and do keep a parent up at night.  These topics and many more will be addressed in the first few episodes. 

The most important thing I can tell you from my experience is that as a parent you have so much control. You can squash your kid’s dream or make it real in a split second.  The conversations you have with your kids can literally make or break their direction.  The team you and your kids form at home will be the running theme of the podcast.

In researching successful, professional extreme athletes I always ask myself:

• What did their families do differently?
• What conversations did they have at home with their families?
• What did the parents do that was helpful in supporting their kids so they didn’t quit?
• How did they make the hard decisions that sometimes have to be made in extreme sports?

Now, in the podcast Raising Rock Climber:  UNCENSORED, I get to the heart of it all, sharing my own experience and connecting with some of the behind-the-scenes heroes:  the coaches, the trainers, the nutritionists, the therapists, and most importantly, you, the parents.

Connect 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/marin