Links Worth Noting

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!