Blogs

I remember the day that my son, Nicholas, sat on his first BMX bike like it was an hour ago. The moments of that evening are forever captured in my mind; partially because it was my son's first exposure to a sport he would participate in and also because it marked what would become one of the most life-changing experiences I have gone through. It was a very warm Saturday evening in July 2007. My husband, Greg, and I were outside visiting with a friend and our neighbors when we decided we wanted to go do something.

There are very few women coaches in my community's youth sports leagues: only 13% in AYSO and 6% in Little League Baseball and Softball. While I found very little overt sexism or hostility toward women coaches, their stories told of informal (but very powerful) processes that discouraged them: being informally pushed away from coaching at the entry level; feeling a constant sense of scrutiny from other adults ("is she really qualified to coach my kid?"); being made to feel like an outsider in the midst of an "old boys' network"; having to contend with men's sometimes "intimidating" loud voices on the playing fields.

Today's annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons brought some news sports parents need to hear.

Recently reported by Dana Kozlov on Chicago CBS local news, and in Bob Sakamoto’s article 43 York athletes suspended, was a story concerning the recent suspension of 43 high school athletes for breaking their school athletic code.

Think soccer stardom is won on technical skills alone? Think again.

Beyond individual ability, scouts at international soccer schools look at how players work with their team. They don't want to sign a player who's going to disrupt harmony within the squad. They're going to research, talk to coaches and parents, and get background information about team attitude.