Youth Sports Safety Roundtable
Posted: June 11, 2013 Filed under: Sports, youth sports | Tags: baseball, cheer, football, hockey, safety, sports 1 Comment »I’m hanging out at the NFL offices today with a host of youth sports representatives, including USA Football, Hockey, Basketball, Cheer, Gymnastics, Little League Baseball, US Lacrosse and Soccer, plus a host of bloggers and parents.
We will be talking about ways to make sports safer for all participants. I’m very happy to be included and am looking forward to a very informative and productive discussion.
That’s no ref, that’s my son!
Posted: December 13, 2012 Filed under: Parenting, Sports, youth sports | Tags: behavior, games, hockey, kids, officiating, refs, soccer, sports, sportsmanship 2 Comments »Every game you go to, in every sport, you hear it. Coaches, parents, and often times players, complaining about the refs. The ref cost us the game. The ref is a homer. The ref just outright sucks. Well, don’t worry, Stripes. I’ve got your back.
Why would I defend the most universally hated people on the sports planet (well, next to this guy)? Not because it’s really just a bunch of whining, which it is, and excuse making, which it is, but because it does a disservice to the coaches, the players, and the refs. That’s right. Here’s why you need to get off big Blue’s back.
Didn’t think these activities were mutually exclusive.
Posted: November 6, 2012 Filed under: Sports, youth sports | Tags: 2012, community, election, hockey, precinct, president, vote Leave a comment »
This is what happens when your voting precinct is the ice rink.
Are you prepared for a hockey emergency?
Posted: September 30, 2011 Filed under: Sports, Tips, youth sports | Tags: emergency, emergency kit, equipment, hockey, laces, mouthguard, prepare, tape 5 Comments »It’s hockey season at our house. Well, it’s actually hockey season, softball season and baseball season, but mostly, it’s hockey season. We’ve already got a couple tournaments under our belt and are heading into league play any minute now so this is a good time to get the hockey emergency kit ready. What? You don’t have a hockey emergency kit? Shoot, let’s get one put together quick like before anyone finds out and kicks you out of the glass lickers club.
The Ultimate Hockey Emergency Kit
You can find most of this stuff at your local sporting goods or hardware store, which in some towns is the same thing. (If they would also sell beer, you’d be all set.)
1. Find yourself a small zippered bag or a plastic container with a lid, like these Rubbermaid Lock-its, or something else fairly sturdy.
An extra moughtguard
2. Get an extra mouthguard. It will help your player keep all his or her teeth and it’s required for certain age groups. There is an ongoing discussion about whether or not it reduces the likelihood of a concussion. Some mouthpiece manufacturers claim that it does. Some in the medical community claim that it doesn’t. Regardless, it’s really easy to lose it, and someone on the team is going to need one. Read the rest of this entry »
How I kept hockey equipment from taking over my house
Posted: September 16, 2011 Filed under: Sports, Tips, youth sports | Tags: equipment, hockey, lockers, organization, storage 7 Comments »
A place for everything . . .
A few years back, we remodeled our suburban Habitrail of a ranch house into a more functional living space. It was a chance to design the house of our limited budget dreams. We made a list of “must haves” like turn the one-season room into something useful, a bigger kitchen with two ovens, and a hockey equipment storage room. Yes, that’s right. A hockey equipment storage room.
We have four hockey players in the house, including a goalie, so that’s a lot of equipment. And we actually unpack it and hang it up so it can dry out and not stink as much. But it ended up all over the place, got mixed up in the wrong bag and was coated with dog hair. Just like everything else in the house.
So we did what any respectable hockey family would do–we moved the laundry to a dank, dark corner of the basement and installed a hockey locker room right off the back door. It was arguably the best thing we’ve ever done and is the envy of pretty much every hockey family we know.
