Many people ask, “Is Coach Pickles your real name?” The short answer is, no. But for 1000’s of children across Chicagoland, Coach Pickles has stood for something. Albeit a character’s name Coach Pickles embodies what every child wants in their ideal coach, fun.
I grew up in Sheboygan Falls, WI. My real name is Dr. Bradley Kayden (Brad). My passion for working with young children began in high school where during my Junior and Senior summers I coached in the same summer t-ball program I grew up playing in. At the time, I very much enjoyed the spirit of working with early learners and that feeling apparently never completely left me.
Working with young children again was something that wouldn’t come back around until my early 30’s. Unmarried, I was working in corporate America and going to school for my Doctorate at the time and looking for a part-time job (outlet) to do a couple days a week after work. I was living in the NW Chicagoland suburbs and found a job at a local park district as a youth sports instructor. It was exactly what I was looking for.
Previously, I had just returned from Oklahoma where I was working on my Masters Degree in Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma-Norman. The program instilled in me the importance of being a change-maker, essentially going out into the world and making a difference. I was put to the test almost immediately.
Working under another coach, I was being “trained” as a youth sports instructor. The only problem was teaching young children sports hadn’t changed much in the 20 years since the last time I taught. And it was obvious. What I was watching play out was children trying to learn sports but becoming bored in the process. Their boredom would lead to their inattentiveness or behaviorally acting out. Coaches got frustrated, parents embarrassed and in the end it left the children to be the problem parents had to apologize to coaches for. It all felt wrong.
It would be at this point when I’d begin saying to myself, there has to be a different way to introduce young children to sports that will work better. And so I went to work trying to find it.
I went back to my roots, asked what things I like as a kid and before long Sesame Street came to mind. It would be Sesame Street, the first group to blend entertainment and education together to create the children’s television workshop. I ask, why couldn’t we do the same for sports. Sports was dry and very much needed an entertainment approach that would appeal to early learners. What did that mean?
I became obsessed with figuring out what entertainment meant to sports. As I did, I’d try new teachings on the kids. I create storylines around the individual sports skills and see how the children responded. The children in many ways invented what would later become Jelly Bean Sports. My part-time job was a short-lived 6 months opportunity before they would outsource my coaching position. I would stick with being a youth sports instructor moving on to another park district. There I would continue exploring the idea of blending entertainment and sports education.
After losing my corporate job, being a youth sports instructor was all I had for a while. In the throws of considering my next career move, I was unsuccessful at getting interviews and contending with the bigger question of where my heart lied professionally. My answer was, it lied teaching kids sports.
In 2009, I took the leap and incorporated Jelly Bean Sports, Inc., the first early learning sports instruction, production and research company. I created characters, a new sports language and even music early on and was on my way to creating the Sesame Street of sports. The only problem was it was 2009. There was a recession and more businesses were going out of business than starting. Fortunately, Jelly Bean Sports would survive.
Today, I am proud to say that we are track towards meeting our goal. I am leading a team of very talented Coach Performers. I have placed their talent in front of the camera and we are now working together to produce Jelly Bean Sports first children’s and parent tutorial content. Coach Pickles’ Jelly Bean Sports is entering a new phase. Stay tuned for big things to be coming down the pipeline in the very near future.
09/24/2025
09/03/2025
03/31/2025
03/30/2025
09/07/2024
09/06/2024
09/02/2024
08/20/2024
08/06/2024
07/09/2023
07/23/2022