Way More than a Game: We’re With You, Laura Bassett!
No one could have seen it coming. The stoppage time own-goal scored by England’s Laura Bassett which sealed her team’s doom and ushered Japan into the final of the 2015 Women’s World Cup. The images are heart-breaking. Yet, we watch them. Bassett, unbelieving. In tears. Embraced. Ushered off, face-covered by her jersey. Sobbing. Some would […]
Thank you, Bennett, For the Way You Played the Game
There’s nothing quite like playing a game with a kid. Pull out the equipment, explain the rules and you’re off! When they’re small, you may need to correct them, re-route them, or help them a bit. As they grow, you may show them a few tricks and, every now and then, have to caution them […]
Prayer for a Day Worth Thanking God
This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. In gratitude, Lord, I offer it to you. That the rain has stopped. That I have a moment’s peace to recall That you know exactly what lies ahead, so into it we run, blindly, belatedly, but freely. Bring back […]
Women’s World Cup 1999 to 2015: Pure Joy Makes No Apologies
The last time we won a Women’s World Cup, it looked like this… “The enduring image of Brandi Chastain, triumphant on a sweltering July day in Pasadena, will endure, documenting a populist victory that helped propel women’s soccer into the national consciousness,” writes David Davis in How the Most Iconic Photo in Women’s Soccer was […]
The Hurrieder I go, the Behinder I get
That phrase, from a poster on my high school bedroom wall, is haunting me today. Not because time has passed, but because it hasn’t seemed to. It’s even more true today than it was back then, and it has me wondering whether I am making any headway. Speed breeds errors. Which mean do-overs. Which take time. […]
ACL Risk Assessment: 5 Simple Tests Every Parent and Coach Can Do
Do you want to know if you kid is at risk for an ACL tear? You don’t need a special assessment program or highly trained health professionals to run an assessment. You can evaluate your own kids to decide whether there is cause for concern. Here are five tests every coach and every parent can and […]
Physical Education Gone Missing: Can Sports Fill the Gap?
Has bullying increased as physical education has decreased? This is the question posed to our Chinese and American panel at the ACSM convention. There has been much conversation about the reduction in physical activity among our American children, and the logical place to introduce it is as at school where kids spend so much of […]
Coaching Conundrum: How Do We Get Kids to Listen!
This coaching question came my way… I have a few kids on my 10u soccer team who do not pay attention when I am giving out instructions or teaching them something. How do I motivate them without sending them for laps or other discouraging things like that? I remember having to run laps when I […]
Where There’s a Will There’s a Way!
Have you seen this?!! Paul Pierce’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer wins it for the Wizards. https://youtu.be/oDg3cuFF4k4 But who is that fan who runs out into the celebratory huddle? OMG -I know him! That’s Will Smith. He even made the Washington Post. Will is the son of upstanding members of our church community. I know because I had Will in […]
Parent Delusional Disorder: the Seven Word Recovery Program
I just love to watch you play! That’s what I want my kids to know. That’s what I came for. Not to show you off. Not for bragging rights. Not even to celebrate when you win, although that’s nice when it happens. No, I came to the game because I love to watch you play. […]