Fasting and Fitness: Keeping Athletes Healthy During Ramadan
As Ramadan, the most sacred month of the year in the Islamic faith, begins Monday, I wanted to share an article I wrote for Soccer Wire in 2015 when the Men’s World Cup was being competed. As an exercise physiologist, I found it concerning that athletes would engage in extreme levels of physical competition while intentionally abstaining […]
The Tackle that Broke Neymar’s back: FIFA, Take Action or I’m Switching to Ultimate Frisbee
Did you see the play? The Colombian defender dug his knee into Neymar’s back and pushed off with his hand on the back of Neymar’s neck to launch his challenge from behind. Poor Neymar never saw him coming. His attention was focused on bringing the ball in front of him under control. This foul, following […]
World Cup Play: Let’s Get Over Ourselves and Have a Good Match
Did you read Ann Coulter’s column this week? She begins, “I’ve held off on writing about soccer for a decade — or about the length of the average soccer game — so as not to offend anyone.” Well, I guess she couldn’t wait any longer, because she has struck a proverbial cord, and it was high voltage. […]
World Cup Competition: Do You Believe?
How can competition bring out the absolute worst in some and the best in others? One head butts for a red card. The other heads it in for a winner. One crumples untouched to draw the foul. The other stands his ground in spite of the mugging. One bites and… What’s going on? There’s no […]
Top 10 Reasons for Injury Attrition at the World Cup
This World Cup is seeing a soaring tally of players who are out, unavailable and/or questionable. What or who is to blame? Here are some contenders: Overtraining. Possible, but unlikely by itself because the players on these teams are monitored day and night for workload and their body’s response to training demands. Fatigue. The number […]
Are You Fit to Play in the World Cup?
Soccer is an incredibly demanding sport. Just imagine the physical load on those bodies, the walking, jogging, running, sprinting, moving sideways, backwards, jumping, stopping and starting, challenging for the ball, being challenged for the ball, all while executing the technical skills and tactics of the game. That’s a tall order. It’s what makes the game […]
Dear USA Women’s National Soccer Team
What an amazing run! What an amazing final! What a heart-breaker! To a society that lives to compete, I say, “What competitors!” To a culture that prints t-shirts that say, “2nd place is the first loser,” I say, “No Way!” I loved watching and following it all. Hearing your heart, your team solidarity, your belief […]