How Important is Winning?

There's no doubt that anyone serious about their sport loves to win. There's no reason to expect otherwise when you enroll your daughter in a sport. That doesn't mean you should teach your daughter that winning is everything or encourage that belief. Winning is wonderful, don't get me wrong. It f

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Keeping Sports Participation Safe in Summer

We all know summer is hot and you need to keep hydrated if you're going to be exercising. It's important year round, but especially in summer when the heat makes you sweat all the more. As parents of girls interested in sports, we have to remember to help them keep hydrated and fed. Children don'

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How Do You Cope When She Wants to Quit Her Sport?

It's likely to happen eventually. Your daughter picked a sport, was enjoying it, but now is ready to quit. Or maybe she never liked it from the very start. Do you let her quit or push her to keep going? This is a tough decision for any parent. You've probably spent money signing her up for the

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Should You Enroll Your Daughter in Self Defense Classes?

While you hope your daughter never needs to defend herself, as a parent you often can't help but worry about the possibility. Wouldn't knowing that she can defend herself at least a little be a good idea? Absolutely. The challenge can be in picking the right course. A single day or two course

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Should You Prefer a Male or Female Coach or Teacher for Your Female Athlete?

One factor that can be important to consider in some cases with young girls is whether they will do better with a male or a female coach or teacher in sports. Not all girls will thrive with one or the other. My daughter, for example. Until she started school she had no concept of "girl can do x"

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My Daughter and Son Got Their Yellow Belt

My Daughter and Son Got Their Yellow Belt

My daughter and son are studying Nishi Kaze Seido and having quite a bit of fun doing so. They're in an inexpensive program available in our area through AYOP, although our exact location isn't on their site. The program's pretty easy to deal with. The classes just meet once a week, so if kids wa

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Childhood Memories – Playing Soccer

While playing soccer as a child hadn't originally been my own idea, I loved it. I had always been an active child, and it was another excuse to run around. But some of my favorite memories come from when it helped me to realize that I wasn't interested in being as cautious as the other girls in t

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The Challenge of Treating Girls as Athletes

It's not easy sometimes to think of girls in general as athletes. Popular culture doesn't encourage them to think of themselves that way either. But if you can help your daughters to think of their athletic potential you can help them build some good lifetime habits. I didn't get into soccer on m

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Girls, Sports, “Lady” and Pink

When you go to the store these days looking for shirts and gear with your favorite team's logo on it, you may notice something a little troubling in the womens and girls sections. They have the regular team colors often enough, but then there are the pink versions! Quite honestly, this drives me

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