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Aug, 14 Friday --St. Louis Park, MN
SUMMIT DETAILS
This Year's Theme: The Talent Thief
A better way to coacah, teach, and lead.
Friday, August 14, 2026 · 9 AM–4 PM · Lunch included
Location: Joy of the People · 890 Cromwell Ave, St. Paul, MN 55114
In Person: $249 — or $219 early bird through 7/31
Virtual: $149 — or $119 early bird through 7/31
The way we build talent is broken. We've idolized grind over joy and drilled kids into conformity instead of setting their creativity loose. There's a better way — it starts with stepping back and letting play do the work. Spend a day learning how to coach it, parent it, and lead it.
Led by Ted Kroeten — founder of Joy of the People and author of The Talent Thief, #1 in Soccer Coaching on Amazon. The book names what's stealing talent from our kids. The summit shows you how to take it back.
What you'll leave with
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The science behind why play drives skill, creativity, and lasting engagement
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Hands-on tools and frameworks you can use the very next day
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A room full of coaches, parents, and leaders changing the game
Questions? admin@joyofthepeople.org · (651) 252-5770
THE PLAY REVOLUTION
Why Attend
Unlock the Power of Play
This is your opportunity to lead the change coaching, education, and leadership desperately need — and to unlock your own potential in the process.
Discover Why play is the secret ingredient behind rapid skill acquisition, creative problem-solving, and lasting engagement — supported by scientific research and case studies from around the world. Learn how leaders in sport, business, and education are harnessing these principles for sustainable, joyful success.
Concrete Tools You won't just hear theory. You'll get hands-on, actionable frameworks to bring to your team, classroom, or organization right away — templates, activity kits, and a clear action plan for change.
Your People The revolution starts with you:
Coaches — you are architects of possibility. Step aside, create space for spontaneous creativity, and transform sport from a series of drills into a lifelong language of movement.
Parents — every time you let a child explore, fail, and try again, you are fueling genius. Trust the process of play, and you give them the freedom to love learning for life.
Leaders — you design the environments where mastery can thrive. Champion practices that reward creativity, connection, and collaboration over compliance and grind.
Start today: step back, make space, and watch them soar.
[Note: this merges the old "Why Attend" and the 500-word "Call to Action" into one section. The coaches/parents/leaders exhortation is cut to one sentence each — the strongest line from each paragraph.]
