Can a US Soccer Girls Development Academy Prevent Overuse Injuries?
Did you know there is yet ANOTHER league to consider if you’re interested in high level girl’s soccer these days? Yep. US Soccer has announced that it will be launching a Girls Development Academy in the Fall of 2017. This will book-end the boy’s Development Academy (DA) which they formed in 2007, created then to address […]
Why Fit2Finish? Because it Starts and Ends with Healthy Kids
I often get asked, “How did you get started with Fit2Finish?” It’s a pretty good story… It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and I was watching my oldest daughter play a mid-season soccer game. The two teams were evenly matched and battled valiantly, contending for every ball – as only ten year old girls with […]
The Joy of Movement: Have You Ever Watched a Child Dance?
Early athletic success may have been the worst thing that ever happened to me. Things came easy. Classwork came easy. Grades? No problem. Even playground games were a delight because I could hit, catch and kick with minimum effort and much success. Who wouldn’t love to play games they are good at? And I did. Lots […]
Fairy-Tail Finish for Kimble: Dreams (seasoned with hard work) Do Come True
How would you like to be this girl? Meet Caroline Kimble, holding midfielder for the Louisville Cardinals women’s soccer team. She just scored the biggest goal of her life, and the biggest in Louisville program history. An unforgettable finish, as the unranked Cardinals upset the No. 1-ranked UNC Tarheels 2-1 in the last seconds of […]
Nutrition, Body Composition and Health: 5 Talking Points with Teens
Coaches boldly tackle teams, players, parents, administrators and opponents head on. But there’s one thing most of them won’t touch: the “nutrition talk.” Especially male coaches of female athletes, either out of personal discomfort or for fear of raising the risk of eating disorders, avoid the conversation all together. That leaves overweight, obesity, and body […]
The Killer Dynamic Warm Up in 5 Simple Steps
Confused about getting your dynamic warm up right? It’s the first thing I do with every youth team, no matter the sport, is make sure they perform a complete dynamic warm up before every practice and every game. A regular dynamic warm up, done with dedication and proper form, has been shown to reduce the chance […]
10 Great Life Lessons from the Women’s World Cup
I was schooled by the Girls of Summer 2015. Apparently, character development and life lessons aren’t just for kids anymore. Here are 10 nuggets I want to remember from the dazzling performances at the 2015 World Cup. Be the person who risks the own goal. England central defender Laura Bassett toe-pokes the ball away from the […]
Morgan Brian Passed the Concussion Tests, Should She Have Been Allowed to Return?
I know this is not going to make me popular, but … not every collision spells concussion. The collision between midfielder Morgan Brian and Germany’s Alexandra Popp has the concussion lines a-buzzin’. Taylor Twellman’s tweeting and Briana Scurry’s Facebooking. From my living room, it looked rough. Brian, is face down in the turf, and Popp […]
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 […]
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 […]