Tom Dahlborg
Episode 337
14 JULY 2025
He played all four major sports as a youngster, in addition to being active in tennis, racquetball, weightlifting, and boxing. His Little League baseball team won the league title and the city title, before he then moved on to play basketball in high school, and football in college. He would go on to be a youth sports coach and the founder of a youth sports program. He authored a piece called “10 Steps to Bench Bullying by Coaches” and, with his daughter, is co-authoring a Christian book series called, “The Light.”
Notable guest quotes:
“The CCD program was really, I wish … I really focused far more because there was so much goodness being shared. And it was really designed to connect with the youth, with the children. And it was a terrific program and through CCD was confirmed years later and learned a ton through that process.”
“I was born with, I had issues with my legs and so I had ankle/foot orthoses that my parents would to strap on me every night since I was a baby, and for years and years. And they would call them my ‘cowboy boots’ so that I wasn’t as sad or morose to have to put on this metal contraption to address my leg challenges, my leg issues. So, I would wear those every night, get up in the morning, crawl to my parents to have them take off my ‘cowboy boots’.”
“I was playing for Stone Hill College… if you’re an athlete, you’re used to the term, I believe it’s the unlucky triad. I think that’s the term that they use for it when you blow out your ACL, your MCL, and you lose some of your cartilage. Well, I blew ‘em both out, lost cartilage, and I also blew out the posterior cruciate and the medial collateral ligament. And so, my orthopedic surgeon basically said, ‘You have nothing holding your knee together.’ And long story short, that is literally what ended my career.”
“Throughout that sports journey throughout my faith journey, I’ve been an observer and I’ve gotten to see the goodness within sports and within – in our faith and our communities and those things we want to stand, to fan the flame of good.”
“42% of children are bullied by coaches, 37% are by teachers and it goes on and on. If a child is bullied, they’re up to nine times more likely to attempt suicide.”
“That’s what got me into coaching was to help my son learn to love himself and tap into God’s love for him by coaching him in basketball.”
“It was off the court. So, speaking of basketball, off the court challenges that kept arising; that, again, hitting my knees, praying to God that I say the right thing, that I do the right thing, that I could connect with the right expert.”
“People think going into coaching is about, oh yeah, we’re going to score some runs in baseball. We’re going to do this. If we choose to and we open up our hearts and our minds and look up to God, we have these incredible opportunities to help these children and these families and these communities far beyond the sport itself.”
“If a child has (Adverse Childhood Experiences) … if they also experience positive childhood experiences, that actually leads to mitigation of the impact of the ACEs… And it’s beautiful when we think about Jesus’ message. We think about … the sermon on the mount, which is so close to my heart, the beatitudes.”
“We can tap into our faith, we can tap into our heart, we can tap into that agape love we experience from the Lord and share that with children, with youth, with family, with community, and truly bring that kingdom of God on earth.”
Related links:
TBKID Youth Sports Program (on Tom’s official website)
10 Steps to Bench Bullying by Coaches
The Light (book series)