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Free Printable Summer Camp Packing List

Char — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:32:26 +0000

Summer is here and I know there are athletes all over the country anticipating one thing… SUMMER CAMP!! Many of the gymnasts at our gym go to week long overnight camps in the summer and I know one source of stress for many parents (and kids) is WHAT TO PACK! Luckily one of the very experienced camp Moms from our gym was kind enough to share her master packing list with me to use as inspiration for the official SportsGirlsPlay.com Summer Camp Packing List.

How to use the summer camp packing list:

Print out the Summer Camp Packing List from the PDF files below – one is gymnastics specific and the other is for any sport
- Gymnastics Summer Camp Packing List
- Sports Summer Camp Packing List
Slip the printed packing list into a plastic notebook sleeve or laminate it
Check off items as they are packed with a dry erase marker
Wipe off once everything is packed and pack in your camper’s luggage so she can use the list to re-pack her stuff on the last day of camp

Feel free to print out as many copies of the list as you like and share the list with your friends. All I ask is that if you post the list online (whether it be on your club or camp website, Facebook, or a forum), you link back to SportsGirlsPlay.com for the actual file download.

Your athlete might also enjoy our matching printable training journal to keep track of her workouts, whether she is at camp or just to keep track of her summer improvements.

Tips for Traveling with Kids

Char — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:21:52 +0000

Whether you are planning a family vacation or just traveling a few hours away for a soccer match, gymnastics meet or another sporting event, having the right strategies in place can really help make traveling with the kids much easier. As part of my role as the “Sports Mom” at Kellogg’s Snackpicks site, I recently wrote an article on tips for traveling with the kids. The 5 sanity saving ideas include:

Gallon Zip Bags
Single Serving Snacks
Entertainment
An Emergency Bag
Built in Breaks

You’ll have to go read the article for an elaboration on each of my tips – they have all been “road tested” many times with my crew.

Links Worth Noting

Char — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:24:16 +0000

So it has been a bit quiet at Sports Girls Play for the past few weeks. I have been crazy busy! It seems like just about every weekend recently has been consumed by a gymnastics meet (either me coaching or going to watch my daughter compete), a swim meet or clinic (for my other two children), or dealing with home projects. And since I have to be out the door in a few hours for both a swim clinic and a gymnastics clinic, I am just going to share some links to interesting reads this week:

The Womens’ NCAA Gymnastics titles were awarded this week with UCLA taking 1st as a team and LSU’s Susan Jackson winning All Around. For the best highlights/recaps, check out GymnasticsCoaching.com and Gymnastike.com.
Mark Folger of Folger’s Gymnastics has started sharing some of his coaching tips/philosophies/observations and all I can say is that his gymnasts are very lucky to have a coach with such compassion and understanding of his athletes, the process of becoming an athlete and the daily ups and downs in sport. A recent favorite and must read for every coach of any sport – Never Give Up on a Child.
Youth Sports Parents reminds us again, Why Kids Play Sports. And to win is not even close to #1.
USA Swimming has come under fire recently regarding inappropriate behavior by male coaches towards female athletes. The allegations/law suits have prompted USA Swimming to take a hard look at the processes they have in place to protect their athletes. While I am deeply disturbed by the allegations, I want to remind parents that there is the potential for inappropriate behavior by adults in power (coaches, teachers, den leaders, youth group leaders, etc) in EVERY sport, EVERY activity and EVERY organization. You must educate your children, keep the lines of communication open, reduce the risks (like not allowing athletes to be in an unsupervised one-on-one situation with a coach), and don’t just hand your child over to anyone.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I’ll definitely have some good updates this week!

Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Char — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:40:07 +0000

February 3, 2010 is the 24th annual celebration of women and girls in sports – a day where thousands of sports educators, coaches, athletic directors, recreation directors, association members, sponsors, students, and parents across the country will show their support of the day and of this year’s theme, “Stay Strong, Play On,” according to the National Association of Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS).

” Despite the stunning advances made in the 38 years since Title IX was enacted, high school girls still receive 1.3 million fewer participation opportunities than do boys, and evidence suggests that the money spent on girls’ sports programs lags significantly behind the money spent on boys’ programs.”

Take time today to celebrate your sport, help increase awareness in your community and get active! Stop by the Women Talk Sports site for complete coverage of National Girls and Women in Sports Day and find out how it is being celebrated by individuals and organizations across the country. You can also enjoy the slideshow compiled by Women Talk Sports from their contributors:

Getting Ready for the Big Game

Char — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:49:33 +0000

The New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts are set to clash in Super Bowl XLIV on February 7th. For many the Super Bowl means parties and commercials – and a little bit of football, too.

If you are hosting a Big Game party, you should go check out my latest article for Snackpicks.com for some great tips on planning your gathering, ways to keep the party moving, activities for the kids and post-game cleanup.

Some of the tips include:

At the beginning of the game, have each guest pick a player. Every time a player’s name is mentioned, they get a point. Create a board or system for keeping track. At the end of game, the person whose player’s name was mentioned most, wins.
Cover a card table (or similar) with butcher paper. Put out a bucket (or helmet) full of crayons/art supplies and let the kids be creative. Download and printout a variety of printable football coloring pages and activities for kids (and fidgety grownups).
Hand out fun awards for the most spirited guest, winners of your pick a player or commercial games, and the team of kids with the best cheer.

Read the entire article and get even more great tips and recipes for your big game party at Snackpicks.com.

Adding Variety to Your Conditioning with Kettlebells

Char — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:17:01 +0000

Resistance bands, medicine balls, and balance balls are all tools most of us are familiar with for changing up your conditioning program. Now you can add one more to the mix – Kettlebells. Kettlebells are best described as a weighted ball with a handle. They are unique in the sense that kettlebells engage multiple muscles at a time.

Mary Lee Tracy, coach of numerous National Team members and Olympic gymnasts Amanda Border, Jaycie Phelps and Morgan White, uses Kettlebells in the conditioning of her gymnasts. At the most recent USA Gymnastics Congress she demonstrated a variety of Kettlebell exercises and drills. In this GymSmarts Gymnastics Minute video, Mary Lee shows how her gymnasts use Kettlebell training to improve their standing salto techniques.

How do you get started with Kettlebells and using them to add variety to your own or your athletes’ training? Kettleworx offers a series of video workouts that will give you a good foundation to work with. Start with the 5 lb. Kettlebell – especially for your youth athletes – and build from there. The KettleWorx Essentials video series includes 3 20-minute workout DVDs – the Core, Cardio and Resistance workouts, plus the 10 Min. Fast Abs workouts and 10. Min. Fast Fat Burn Workouts. Each of the 20 minute videos contain 6 different workouts (meant to be used over 6 weeks) and the 10 min. fast burn workouts have 3 different workouts per DVD. The Fast Abs workout is my favorite (although I really like all of them).

The KettleWorx workouts are a great way to keep your athletes’ workouts varied, interesting and more fun.

Go for the Goal

Char — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:32:20 +0000

Goal setting is such an important aspect of sports. Whether you have your eyes set on the Olympics, a college scholarship, making the high school team, getting a time standard or learning a new skill, you need a plan. It reminds me of my favorite quote:

USA Swimming features a really helpful article on goal setting by Dr. Amy Kimball in their series, the ABCs of Mental Training. In the article, Dr. Kimball outlines the 6 steps to effective goal setting:

1. Know where you are headed

2. Know how to get there

3. Identify milestones of success

4. Identify obstacles

5. Create a system

6. Set different types of goals

It is important that the goals athletes work with their coaches on goal setting so that intermediary goals and milestones can be set. Keeping a training journal can also be an effective way of setting goals and monitoring progress towards those goals. (Feel free to print out the training journal pages we created just for girls!)

TeamPages Makes it Easier to Manage Your Sports

Char — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:07:15 +0000

With youth sports on the rise across America and parents and coaches taking on more than ever, TeamPages has athletes and parents everywhere breathing a sigh of relief. TeamPages is a new free social networking site that is helping girls across the country manage their busy sports teams!

Scheduling carpools, keeping track of game times, venues, and responsibilities is no longer a full time job. TeamPages is a central online location for girls, parents and coaches to have all the information they need about their sports activities at a click of a button. With some similarities to other popular social network sites (Myspace, Facebook, Etc.) TeamPages is 100%sport specific, developed with parents and athletes in mind so it is fool-proof to set-up and navigate.

In just under 4 minutes you can setup a team website where you can post and share your team’s schedule, news, scores, photos, documents, videos, and more. Your personal TeamPage is also password protected and allows you to set different privacy settings, providing you and your team with one safe and central place online to post all your team’s information and get your team on the same page.

With TeamPages making your administrative time obsolete you can spend more time doing what you love – playing sports! For further information on TeamPages or to set up your personalized team page visit www.teampages.com. Or check out what the thousands of teams that have already signed up are saying about TeamPages.

7 Sports Birthday Party Ideas for Kids

Char — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:04:20 +0000

My youngest turned 7 this week and when it came time to plan her birthday party, I wasn’t surprised when some of the ideas she came up with had to do with sports. Having an active birthday party gives kids the opportunity to test out a new sport or activity in a fun, non-competitive environment and the kids get to expend all their energy in a safe, healthy manner.

Depending on where you live, the season, and your budget, your choices will vary, but here are some ideas for sports birthday parties.

Gymnastics – Just about every gymnastics school offers birthday parties. Why? Gymnastics is the basis of all sports and is a natural choice for active kids. From obstacle courses, jumping on trampolines, climbing through foam pits, and other gymnastics games, a gymnastics party is a very popular option. Some gyms offer indoor inflatable playgrounds, rock wall climbing and themed parties. (Check out this cute Girl Time Gymnastics Deluxe Party Kit)
Ice skating – My daughter chose an ice skating party and we found it to be the best value in town. We have access to the party room for 90 minutes which includes pizza and we’ll bring cake, but the party guests can stay and additional 90 minutes to skate during public session. Three hours of ice skating, skate rental, pizza, and the party room for less than $15 per child is a great deal.
Roller skating or inline skating – similar to the ice skating party, roller skating or inline skating are very popular activities for birthday parties. Get the Jock Jams, Volume 1 CD and see if they will play it for the kids to skate to – guaranteed fun!
Mini Golf - We have done mini golf parties with my son and his friends a few times. The kids have fun, its outdoors, easy for all to participate and affordable.
Swimming – If you have an indoor pool in the area, check to see if they do parties. For a winter birthday, swimming can be a real treat! Of course, swimming outdoors in the summer is always a popular choice.
Indoor soccer – we have a indoor sports facility near by that has indoor soccer fields. They put on great birthday parties (especially for younger kids 5-8) filled with soccer drills, scrimmages, obstacle courses and silly but active games.
Bowling - Who doesn’t love bowling? Even the parents will want to get in on the fun. Contact your local bowling alley for special party packages.

Of course, if you have the space, the energy and a bit of creativity you can hold an action packed party that your sporty child will love at home. It is easier to organize these in the summer when games and activities can be held outside.

Black Friday Sports Deals

Char — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:19:57 +0000

UPDATED FOR 2009!

Part of me is ready to start my shopping now, but the other part of me knows that the deals are to be had on Black Friday (and Cyber Monday). Here are a few good deals for those of you looking for gifts for your athletes:

If you were even considering giving a Kettleworx Kettlebell workout a try, now is the time – they are offering 20% off all the DVDS and Kettlebells for a limited time!! Use the code VITAL. I really love this workout for myself and am introducing some of the exercises to my athletes as well.

My favorite new product of the year are Cleatskins – they pop over kids (and grownups) cleats after practice or a game and keep kids safe walking to the car, keep dirt out of the car, and they are fun, too. Use SPORTSGIRLS for 10% anytime.

Beckersurf has Women’s Surf Apparel UP TO 50% OFF!! and everything else on their site (except for surfboards) is 10-30% off with no promo code needed.

SwimOutlet.com always has good deals, but they are announcing a huge sale for CyberMonday.

Swim2000.com is having a relay event. The following are 15% off:

11/27 all bags 15% off use RELAYBAG as the code
11/28 all goggles 15% off use RELAYGOG as the code
11/29 all electronics 15% off use RELAYELE as the code
11/30 all swimwear 15% off use RELAYSWM as the code

Football Fanatics – my favorite place to get fan gear for all the sports fanatics in my house, has two great offers and they are stackable:

Reebok has a variety of good deals for the holidays:

The new Justice online Catazine has some cute new sports hoodie sweatshirts in it. My daughter loves their new gymnastics one and I think the soccer one is fun, too. These won’t last long – they never do. Everything is 40% off right now with the 774 code.

Thanksgiving Special: FREE Shipping + 20% off $75 at Road Runner Sports!

Black Friday Sale at Golfsmith! – Get $20 Off $125 and $50 Off $250!

Take 10% off any size order at InTheHoleGolf.com. Use GOLF10 at checkout. Expires 11/30/09