Bob Dunbar is an orthopedic trauma surgeon at Harborview Medical Center, a former Peace Corps volunteer and U.S. Navy officer. He also coaches high school lacrosse.

Drawing on Bob’s experiences as a surgeon, Peace Corps volunteer, Navy officer, and youth coach, we discuss what healthy culture looks like when it is built deliberately, and how that culture drives success far beyond the scoreboard.

At the core is a simple idea: excellence is built through repetition, mastery of fundamentals, incremental progress, and consistent habits. And those standards are reinforced by coaches who earn trust, model commitment, and genuinely care about the kids they lead.

Bob talks about the physical and psychological importance of playing multiple sports and the risks of specializing too early. He describes the benefits of programs that do not cut kids based on athletic ability, but instead find a place for any athlete with the right attitude who is willing to work hard.

We also discuss good and bad parent behavior and Bob’s own journey as a sports parent, including lessons his children learned through adversity, growth, and self-belief.

Note: Opinions expressed are those of the host and guest and not necessarily those of Mercer Island Lacrosse Club.

Sports can fundamentally change what young athletes believe about themselves and what they can accomplish. Brant Howell, a 2006 graduate and three-time state champion who later walked on at Notre Dame, discusses this often-overlooked aspect of youth sports.

20 years after graduating, Brant heard about a coaching vacancy and moved across the country, from Maryland, to help coach Mercer Island because of how this community affected his life and instilled work ethic, discipline, values, and more.

Howell contrasts how good youth programs focus on character and lifelong development over wins or accolades, in contrast with some current trends driven by money and college outcomes.

Brant remembers a life-changing, hard moment during the 2006 season, when Mercer Island overcame a difficult early start and ultimately won for the first time ever on Bainbridge Island, and the lifelong lessons players learned about rigor, humility, and resilience.

He explains why players should stick with the process, and why parents should support but not remove hardship. We also discuss the club’s culture of loyalty, tradition, discipline, and “the journey is the reward” mindset.

00:00 Intro

01:22 Why Brant Came Back

02:35 Inside a Championship Culture

04:11 Values Beyond Wins

04:47 Walking On at Notre Dame

09:03 Hard Season Turning Point

12:55 Coaching Then vs Now

15:15 Advice for Struggling Players

16:09 Lightning Round

16:55 Parent Clarity

20:24 Culture—Loyalty, Tradition, Discipline

24:50 The Journey Is the Reward

27:10 Closing and Raise the Stick

Ian O’Hearn became the MIHS Head Coach in 2001, thinking it might be a pit stop. Twenty-five years later, he’s the winningest lacrosse coach in Washington State history and architect of the largest youth program in the state.

This conversation is about what it actually takes to build something that lasts:

--the NY high school program that shaped his philosophy

--the loss that made him realize he was made to coach

--how he met his wife

--why he’s pushed multi-sport athletes for 25 years

--how a preschool-to-varsity pipeline is the foundation of the team's competitive advantage, and

--what parents consistently get wrong on the sideline and in the college recruiting process.

Loyalty. Tradition. Discipline. It’s not just a slogan. It’s 25 years of deliberate work — and this is the story of how it got built.