Interval Train to use Recovery as a Training Tool
Recovery. Every athlete needs it. Suzy Germain says it’s missing from her son’s topnotch team and that’s taking a toll. Wayne Goldsmith, in his January 4th blog post, has a great mnemonic to help us think about how recovery – that is, time off from sport-specific conditioning and training – re-charges the elite athlete so he can go […]
Can Your Kid Handle College Soccer?
When Suzy Germain and her freshman class (1980) teammates were recruited by Anson Dorrance to play for the UNC Tarheels, they were a force to be reckoned with. Describing it, Suzy says, “Practice was a battle. We took over every starting position. We knew we were better.” She says this matter-of-factly, with the confidence I’m sure gave […]
New Year’s Resolution Prevention
Here are the top ten new year’s resolutions according to about.com. Is yours on this list? Spend more time with family and friends Fit in Fitness Tame the Bulge Quit Smoking Enjoy Life More Quit Drinking Get out of Debt Learn Something New Help Others Get Organized So many of us look to the new […]
Making Mistakes is A-okay
Many girls, by nature, are tentative. Go ahead. Watch the U7 boys play. They throw themselves into the game, into their opponent, get whistled for rough play. Then watch the girls. They fight over offering the other player the ball. A whole new species. Girls are tentative, not necessarily because they are being polite, but because […]
The “Coach-Athlete” Conversation about Playing Time
One of the hardest issues for kids in today’s competitive youth sports setting is playing time. No one likes to spend time on the bench; the fun is in playing the game. But, the more competitive the team, the more important the win. Coaches whose jobs and reputation depend on fielding a winning team play their starters. Maybe only […]
We Need to Give Kids a Break in the Season
Here’s a riddle: What do you call something you do almost every day, all week, year round? … work, right? What do we call it when our kids do it? … sports. Is anyone laughing? Neither are our kids. They’re paying the price in exhaustion, stress, injury, and burnout. The scenario sounds very much like the […]
Youth Sports: What Happens When Money Wins?
How much is your kid worth? Surely, there’s no answer to that question; they’re priceless. But what I am seeing in youth sports clubs lately makes me think that priceless is getting more expensive. We’re paying for them to do everything and at younger ages. The gear, the fees, the uniforms, and the professional trainers. A few […]
Legacy of Joe Paterno: Hold All Coaches to the Highest Standards
If you Google “coach” today, you’ll find the debacle of ex-coach Joe Paterno. But below this (after Coach handbags) you’ll land not on “sport coaching” but on personal or life coaching. These are people who will help you achieve your personal and professional goals. The word, I’m told, originated from the coach or carriage that carries people from one […]
Bishop’s Titans: Girls Soccer Champions in a League of Their Own
Lisa Bishop started coaching the CYA Titans when they were pint-sized and grew them into the girls who graduated high school this fall. So how do you say goodbye to girls who have been family for nearly a decade? You take them on a service trip to Costa Rica where they have an experience that will change […]
Team Tie-dye Bonds Girls into a Winning Mosaic of Fun
A dozen girls from the CSC Inferno were tie-dying t-shirts in my driveway last weekend. This weekend, they recorded their sixth win in as many games. They’re undefeated in the division of the Old Dominion Soccer League. Now, I’m not taking credit for those wins. But I do know that bonding as a team off […]