Why do we do so much so that a group of girls can play softball?
Well...
Girls who play sports are more concerned with what their bodies can do, than what they look like.
Girls who play sports have higher self-esteem.
Girls who play sports have much lower levels of depression.
Girls who play sports during the teen years have 80% fewer unwanted pregnancies.
Girls who play sports are 35% more likely to have no sexual activity at all during their high school years.
Girls who play sports during the teen years are 92% less likely to become involved with drugs and/or alcohol.
Girls who play sports have much lower incidences of eating disorders.
Girls who play sports in high school consistently have better grades than girls who don’t play sports.
Girls who play sports in high school are 3 times more likely to graduate from high school.
Girls who play sports in college are 20% more likely to graduate.
80% of all female executives in Fortune 500 companies played in organized sports in their youth.
Girls who play sports tend to be active as adults and reduce the likelihood of breast cancer by 60%. Breast cancer afflicts 1 out of every 8 adult women.
Girls who play sports and remain active as adults have lower incidences of strokes, heart attacks, and other health problems.
Osteoporosis is caused by insufficient bone density in older women. The critical years for developing bone density are 12 to 16. Girls who exercise regularly during those years have 22% greater bone density, at the age of 60.
Due to a lack of enough organizations like the Severna Park Green Hornets, and the opportunities and commitment that we provide, girls still drop out of sports at a rate 6 times greater than boys.
A girl who does not play organized sports by the age of 10 has only a 1 in 10 likelihood of being physically active at 25.
But mostly, it’s just because we love our daughters.
All statistics courtesy of the Women’s Sports Foundation
Thank you to the Delaware Magic website for compiling this article.
Being Part of a Team
By Richard Stratton, Ph.D.
What does it mean to be part of a team? It means you are part of a group who have come together to achieve the same goals. You are a piece of a puzzle. All of the pieces -- you, your teammates, your coaches, and maybe even the parents of the team members -- must fit together to make the whole puzzle which is the team.
While some coaches try to emphasize teamwork with the slogan, "There is no 'I' in Team", you should understand what they are trying to say. It is important that each member of the team have their own individual goals that they hope to achieve while playing the sport. But there are also goals the team as a group want to achieve.
All team members must be willing to adjust their personal goals to fit in with the team goals. Not everyone can be the leading scorer. There are starters and there are substitutes.
I once coached a middle school basketball team that had seven players who were essentially equally skilled and could all be starters. Of course, only five could be starters in any one game. After the first game, one of the boys came up to me and said he was quitting the team because he did not get to start. I explained to him that only five of the seven best players could be starters in each game but that as the season went on, all seven would get to start the same number of games. I also pointed out that if he looked at how much playing time each of the seven was getting, he would realize that they all played about the same amount of time during the game. My point was that each member of the team has an important contribution to make and that the team would only be as good as how hard everyone on the team did their particular job.
Being part of a team means helping your teammates whenever you can. Cooperation among all members of the team is very important. Jealousy of teammates has no place in sports. No matter how good you are there will always be someone who is better than you. You should admire those who are better than you and work even harder to bring your skills up to their level. You should see this as a challenge rather than something to be angry about. Being angry at a teammate will hurt your performance and will hurt the team's performance.
Finally, being part of a team means giving 100% all of the time. When people are part of a group they sometimes do what is called social loafing. This is where you give 100% when you play alone but less than 100% when you are of of a group. In essence, you slack off and expect others in the group to pick up part of your responsibilities. What would happen if everyone on the team did this? The team probably would not do too well. You are an equal partner on the team and must contribute your fair share of the effort, take your fair share of the credit for team successes, and your fair share of the blame for team failures. This is what it means to be part of a team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Stratton, Ph.D., is the Associate Professor of Health and Physical Education at the College of Human Resources and Education, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Dr. Stratton is the editor of the monthly online newsletter Coaching Youth Sports.
SOFTBALL PLAYERS PRAYER
LORD, GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO HIT THE BALLAND IF I DO DON'T LET ME FALL.
HELP ME TO PICK THE PITCH THAT'S RIGHTTHEN LET ME HIT THE BALL OUT OF SIGHT.
THEN LET ME RUN WITH DEER-LIKE GRACE DONT LET ME MISS, BUT TAG FIRST BASE.
THEN ON TO SECOND, STAY WITH ME, LORD CAUSE THIS ONE OUT, WE CAN'T AFFORD.
THEN LET ME ZOOM LIKE A FLYING BIRD RIGHT DOWN THE LINE AND ONTO THIRD.
THEN LET ME SLIDE WITH FEET OUT-THRUST ACROSS HOME PLATE IN THE SWISHING DUST.
BUT FIRST OF ALL DEAR LORD I PRAY,JUST ASK THE COACH TO LET ME PLAY!
