A father of five created a video of his awesome parenting
via WATCH: ‘I’m a Daddy and I Know It’ parody goes viral | National News.
Is Coaching Your Own Child a Good Idea?
Coaching Sports to Your Children
Posted by Jodi Murphy
Some sports parents would jump at the chance to coach their own youth athletes. After all, they spend plenty of time playing catch or tossing balls for batting practice in the backyard and are at every game already, how much harder is it to be the actual coach? But before you dive headfirst into the world of parent-coaches here are four questions you should ask yourself.
Are you sure you won’t be biased?
A lot of parents decide to become parent-coaches because it’s a great way to spend more time with their youth athlete. Any sports parent can tell you that athletics takes up a huge chunk of their child’s free time so if you can’t beat ‘em, coach ‘em! But it’s important to remember that you aren’t just coaching your own child—you’ve got a dozen other kids to look out for as well. You need to make sure that every player is getting the attention they need to learn the fundamental skills of the sport and succeed as individuals and as a team. Just because you’re the coach that doesn’t automatically mean your child is the center of the team!
It’s also important to make sure that you don’t let your own player get away with behavior that their teammates would get called out for. If missing a practice means losing playing time that rule has to apply to everyone—including the coach’s kid.
Will you expect perfection?
On the other side of things—in an attempt to make sure they aren’t unduly favoring their own child, some parent-coaches put extra pressure on their own youth athlete to excel and be perfect on the field/court. While it’s important you don’t let your own player get preferential treatment, it’s easy to swing too far in the other direction as well. Some players might thrive as the “coach’s kid” because they want to be a leader on their team but others might feel like you are unfairly singling them out or expecting more from them than their teammates. Just because you’re the coach that doesn’t automatically mean you child is going to be a superstar athlete and it isn’t fair to expect them to turn into one overnight just because you decided to take over as coach.
Sports Coaching Your Kids
Can you “turn off” your coach mentality?
As a parent-coach it’s important to remember that you are equal parts parent and coach. When you go home after a disappointing game are you going to strategize like a coach and run a play-by-play of everything that went wrong or are you going to put your parent hat back on and let it go? Think about some of the crazy coaches you had in your own sports career—would you have wanted to live with them?! A good parent-coach needs to be able to switch back and forth between the two roles as needed.
Do you actually know the rules of the game?
Most youth sports organizations are always on the hunt for volunteers and while enthusiasm can take you a long way a little knowledge can’t hurt either! Typically the best youth sports coaches are going to be the ones that understand the rules and fundamentals of the game so they can actually coach their team! Remember, you aren’t just coaching your own child—you’re responsible for the athletic development of a dozen or so other kids! It’s a big responsibility and an important factor to consider.
Becoming a parent-coach can change the dynamics between you and your youth athlete dramatically, so before you sign up to coach your daughter’s soccer team or your son’s lacrosse team it’s probably worth talking to them about it. Are they going to be comfortable with you as their coach? Your 5 year old probably won’t care but as your kids get older and they start to take sports more seriously their opinion should count for something.
Comments
As a full time soccer coach personally I would say no for one reason only.
Kids see the game differently to their coach. Accordingly, for what ever reason if ‘Little Jimmy‘ has a poor game but you decide to still select him for whatever reason for the next game then usually no problem.
However if the same scenario involves your own son then immediately the other playerds will view this simply as favoring ‘Teachers Pet‘ and it will be the lad who suffers.
Kids see the game differently to their coach. Accordingly, for what ever reason if ‘Little Jimmy‘ has a poor game but you decide to still select him for whatever reason for the next game then usually no problem.
However if the same scenario involves your own son then immediately the other playerds will view this simply as favoring ‘Teachers Pet‘ and it will be the lad who suffers.
Posted @ Friday, January 04, 2013 11:56 AM by dennis
Filed under Baseball, Coach Reviews, Football, Kids Sports, Soccer, View All, Youth Sports
Run away fast from that gym contract
Beware Before You Join a Gym with a Long Contract
If you’re like most people, you overindulged in calories during the holidays and then made a New Year’s resolution to eat better and exercise more. Here’s a warning so you can avoid getting eaten alive by gym salespeople.
The health club industry basically has two business models. In the good one, you pay month-to-month or quarterly with no real contract. But the sleazy business model involves long-term contracts designed to give your checking account a workout.
With the sleazoids, the downfall begins when they offer you a free tour of their facilities. The tour is done by a commissioned salesperson with the intention of getting you to sign a multi-year contract.
Once you sign that contract, the gym does what’s called “moving paper.” They sell it to a finance company that will take the note on for pennies on the dollar. That creates additional incentive for the club to sign up more members — and hope none of them ever show up to work out at once.
In a recent filing for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bally Total Fitness disclosed that the average member visits the club one-half of one time per week. You’d be hard-pressed to find any fitness expert who recommends a full workout once every two weeks!
I recommend checking out hospital-affiliated fitness centers. They’re usually rehab-based or geared toward the hospital staff. They’re clean, well run and don’t force contracts. Most will sell memberships to the public. Visit the hospital nearest you to see if a gym is available.
Another option I’ve noticed are no-frills gyms that are open 24 hours and tend to price out at around $15 each month with no contract. But beware they may not even have showers; they simply offer exercise equipment at rock-bottom prices.
-by Clark Howard, Save More, Spend Less, Avoid Rip-offs
Find more answers to your consumer questions at ClarkHoward.com. You can also listen to his radio show live Monday through Friday 1-4 p.m. on AM 750 and NOW 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB.
Filed under Fitness Clubs, Gym, Reviews, View All
Holiday Gift Ideas for Athletes
Last Minute Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Youth Athletes
Holiday Gifts for Athletes
LocalSportsReviews.com “high-fives” the sports gift ideas for the holidays to support and encourage your friends and family activities. How about adding to the list activities/ gifts for you and your children, partner or friends to play together? Maybe you both sign up for a 5K or yoga classes? Way to go. Play Forward!
What are your favorite sports gifts ideas?
Posted by Jodi Murphy
Christmas is just around the corner and unless you’re the kind of sports parent that likes to buy presents months in advance, chances are you’ve got some last minute shopping to do! If you’ve got a youth athlete (or two or three…) still on your to-buy list here are a few last minute stocking stuffer ideas:
Athletic Socks
Now most kids will moan and groan at the thought of getting socks for the holidays, but athletic sock are a totally different story! A great pair of athletic socks can help keep your athlete’s feet drier with moisture wicking fabric, add a little extra cushioning to help absorb hard impacts and even contain anti-microbial technology that helps prevent the growth of odor-causing bacteria (making their gear bag and your car smell a lot better!) These aren’t just socks, they’re science!
If your son or daughter likes running (maybe they are thinking about joining their junior high cross country team!) or biking than a new pair of earbuds specifically designed for athletic use is a great stocking stuffer. Sport earbuds are designed to stay in place even when you’re really moving and are usually sweat and water resistant so they won’t get ruined easily.
A Personal Coaching Session
Okay, so maybe this one isn’t really a stocking stuffer per se, but if your youth athlete wants to get a little more serious about their game (maybe they are looking to join a high powered travel team) you might consider getting them a few one-on-one lessons with a personal coach. Maybe you can book a few hours with a batting instructor or sign your hockey player up for a one-day goalie camp. Spending some one-on-one time with a personal coach means your child gets all the attention and gets to work on their game without any distractions.
Tickets to a Professional Game
There is almost nothing cooler than being a youth athlete and getting to see the “real thing” live and in person, especially if you are die-hard fan. It’s also a great time to have some fun yourself! Tickets to professional sporting events can get expensive, but maybe you can snag tickets to a local college game for a lot less and still give your youth athlete the whole experience. Who knows—maybe they’ll be able to picture themselves playing under the same lights one day!
New Gear
We all know that sports gear can get very expensive very quickly. That’s why it’s usually a good idea to buy second hand gear if your child is just starting out in sports. A-they’ll grow out of it in a season and B-you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on new equipment for football only to have them decide they’d rather play hockey and skip football next year! But if your youth athlete has settled down and clearly has a favorite sport (or maybe even one for each season) than it might be worthwhile investing in a great piece of gear for the upcoming season.
Tags: Parenting
Winning is Great, But Youth Soccer Must be Fun
By: Nicholas Spiller
Coming together helps a team bond – (Photo: Article.wn.com)
Competitive sports are a very strange phenomenon in the modern world. We love sports, especially soccer. Here is a game where people of all ages can take the field, kick a ball around, and enjoy themselves. But too often in sports, a massive emphasis is placed on winning, and soccer players and coaches lose site of the overall goal, which is to simply have fun. Make sure that your soccer team enjoys playing the sport, regardless of the score, because in youth soccer that is by far the most important thing.
Refrain from berating children who have made mistakes in the game. Yes, it can be painful to watch a three goal lead slip away, but don’t single out a player for blame. Chances are they already feel miserable about what happened and pouring salt into the open wound will just ruin their day. Instead, give the young player a pat on the back and tell them to keep their head up. Soccer is about confidence, and in young players who are just beginning to play the game such confidence is often remarkably frail, so help them move on from their mistakes, laugh it off, and keep enjoying the game. These things happen.
I think a big problem with coaches and parents is that they live vicariously through their children on the soccer field. When little Johnny Jr. scores a goal, grown-up Johnny enjoys it even more, and when Jr. loses the ball and the other team scores, guess what. Johnny suffers in the pain as well. Sometimes parents let their kids know those feelings and hurt the kid’s pride after the game, but that is entirely the wrong thing to do. As a child, don’t you want pleasant memories of your soccer playing days? If you constantly berate your kids, they will only remember the pains of mistakes and will start to resent not only soccer, but also you.
So keep it fun! Focus on the good plays that your soccer players make, even if they are few and far between. Not only does praise make people feel better inside, but it also helps boost esteem, and this will often lead to improvements on the field and a greater love for the game. When players develop and age they can view their own game from a more levelheaded vantage point. In older years, it can be more beneficial to point out errors, but when it comes to the children you need to make youth soccer as enjoyable as possible.
Filed under Kids Sports, Soccer, View All, Youth Sports
Childhood Obesity Drops in US Cities | National News
Kids Moving More?
Childhood Obesity Drops in US Cities
Experts stunned, see a big shift in fight against epidemic
LocalSportsReviews – hopefully kids are moving more and eating less AND better!
By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff
Posted Dec 11, 2012 9:05 AM CST
(Newser) – For the first time in decades, a number of US cities are reporting a decline in childhood obesity rates—an unexpected shift that had researchers checking and re-checking their data. Big cities have seen dips: Between 2007 and 2011, the rate fell 5.5% in New York, 5% in Philadelphia, and 3% in Los Angeles. Smaller cities like Anchorage have also seen rates drop. “It’s been nothing but bad news for 30 years, so the fact that we have any good news is a big story,” says New York’s health commissioner.
In fact, it could herald a change in the obesity trend, the New York Times reports. But the reasons for the shift remain unclear. Scientists aren’t sure Michelle Obama-style programs to fight obesity are effective, and researchers don’t know if kids are losing weight or if fewer obese children are starting school, the Times notes. Still, with 17% of those under age 20 obese, cities like Philadelphia have made big pushes against the epidemic, ridding school cafeterias of deep fryers and removing sugary drinks from school vending machines. Now, “the needle is actually moving,” says a researcher.
Filed under Local Sports Reviews Research, Obesity, View All
Gym That Caters to Fat People: No Thin People Allowed
Downsize Fitness is a gym that caters to the fat, not the fit. HLN reports the gym just opened its doors in Dallas and is only for people with at least 50 pounds to lose. According to an interview with WFAA, the manager says that traditional fitness clubs often scare away the people who need the mos
Filed under Fitness Clubs, Gym, View All
Search Engine Optimization Tips for Review Sites: Google Places, Yelp and LocalSportsReviews.com (coming soon)
SEO, By Ross Wilson, Published November 25, 2012
There are several popular online location service websites and apps that can make a big difference for your brick and mortar establishment’s online visibility. If you run a pizza place in Portland, for example, if you can get your establishment near the top of the search list when locals search for a place to grab a slice, you could end up with a lot more walk-in customers. In this article I’ll take a look at a few different sites and ways to help improve your search results and information.
Using Location Directory Pages
Google Places, Yelp, and Foursquare are some of the most popular location search services on PC and smartphones for businesses. They are all free to set up and can offer several additional tools beyond simple directory submission. I’ll also point you towards some other directory sites that could help your business, but these social media sites are some of the most important to get set up, and the additional tools they provide are well worth looking into.
One of the most crucial parts of ensuring your search results will rank now is making sure that your Google Places info is set up and optimized for search. Google Places and Google+ Pages offer great SEO benefits on the most popular search engine. First you will want to make sure that all of your information is correct on your Google Places page. Then you need to verify your location in order to show up on Google’s search engine results page. The quickest way to verify is via SMS, which only takes a couple of minutes.
Here is a helpful article with some great tips on optimizing your page specifically for Google Pages.
Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews are also a big part of how your business will appear in search results. Some companies have been known to pay writers to generate positive reviews, but many of these websites do try to clear false reviews when they can catch them. This factor may seem a bit outside of your control, but really this is where a little bit of customer service can go a long way. By responding and attempting to rectify a negative reviewer’s problem, other users will see this attention to detail, and that reviewer may even go back to adjust his or her review.
Here are some great ideas to generate more quality reviews on Yelp. Good reviews can make a big difference, as a well reviewed establishment is likely to pull many more new customers, so it can be well worth putting some energy into establishing your brand and presence on yelp.
Running promotions to encourage more reviews
Many location sites and apps such as Yelp and Foursquare offer businesses opportunities to promote specials for the online community. This is a great way to engage these communities and generate more reviews and likes for your page. Whether it’s just a like or a full review, a good special can really help get people talking about and sharing your business online.
Address Citations
Another important factor for boosting your search results are the citations for your address and phone number. You need to make sure that your address and number appear the exact same way anywhere they appear on the web. In this case, your address is your citation, and the more it appears around the web, the higher your pages will rank in search results. If alternate versions of your address appear, I would recommend doing whatever you can to fix them. You can use it as your signature in community forums and social media sites as well as submit it to other local directories, to boost your citations and results. If you are not sure which version of your address to use, you should use the exact version that the Post Office would use. You also want to make sure to use a local phone number, as this will rank much more highly within location services than an 800 number or non-regional number like you might be assigned on Google Voice or Skype.
Keywords
You will want to identify what keywords people search for to find the type of business you operate. You should incorporate these keywords into your pages and your images as often as possible (within reason, spamming keywords can result in diminished search results). Here is a helpful free keyword finder from Wordstream, where you can enter a basic keyword related to your business to find several niche related keywords people might be searching for. Also keep in mind that keywords that appear in your title, URL, and within the first 1,000 characters of your page weigh more heavily on the ranking systems than those found near the bottom.
Images
Images are another important step for your location pages. Pictures should be formatted so that they will appear appropriately in a search results page, and since the first uploaded image is the first to appear with your page, I’d recommend using a clearly recognizable logo. Images should be formatted to 290×290 pixels and carry a .jpeg or .png extension. Other useful images to include are a picture of your establishment from the outside, so that visitors can easily recognize it when they arrive, and maybe some images to display your products or portray the services you offer. This article offers a lot of helpful advice on optimizing your images for the web.
Additional websites that can improve search engine results
These are some other pages that Google incorporates into its ranking system, so if they apply to your business I would recommend setting up pages and trying to garner some reviews on these sites:
–AVVO
Not only will these help to boost your search results and give you more places for additional address citations, but it’s a good idea to get linked into these communities so that you can be accessible in regional searches on that many more websites.
Increasing your visibility increases your clients
It’s simple really, the more people see and hear about your establishment, the more people know about the services you offer when they need them. Since most people only search for a place when they are looking to use their services, having your search results rank highly can make a big difference in your customer base. It’s free to list and post with a majority of these sites, so it’s well worth a little bit of your time to make sure you have your information and SEO content in place. I hope these tips and resources can help you on your way! Make sure to check back here at the CEM blog for more tips on SEO and advice for your social media marketing.
Mud Runs: Do These Fun Runs Motivate You?
What Do You Love About Mud Runs?
Way to go! Do these crazy runs (mud runs, zombie courses, midnight romps) motivate you? Why do you love them?
Locations, distances, etc.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles…)
There are muddy events for everyone — from 5K to 12 miles, timed and untimed, and somewhat difficult to super difficult. All are very, very dirty. Some of the most popular series:
Tough Mudder: 36 races a year, 10 to 12 miles long. Untimed, team-focused events founded by Will Dean, former counter-terrorism agent for British Special Forces. Upcoming California events: July 7-8, Snow Valley Mountain Resort at Running Springs; Sept. 22-23, Truckee; Sept 29-30, Patterson. http://www.toughmudder.com.
Spartan Race: 41 races, 3+, 8+ and 10-12 miles long plus a 48-hour challenge. http://www.spartanrace.com. Upcoming events: June 30, Midway, Utah; Dec. 1-2, Malibu; Jan. 26-27, 2013, Vail Lake Resort, Temecula.
Warrior Dash: 48 races, 3 miles long. Upcoming events: March 31, Lake Elsinore; April 28, Florence, Ariz.; Oct. 20, Henderson, NV.; Oct. 27, Hollister, Calif. http://www.warriordash.com.
Muddy Buddy: Eight races, including 3- to 4-mile runs and 6- to 7-mile bike-and-runs (where teammates swap positions at obstacles). Upcoming events: May 12, Austin, Texas; Aug. 12, Boulder, Colo., Aug. 19, Portland, Ore; Sept. 30, San Jose.www.muddybuddy.com.
Camp Pendleton World Famous Mud Run: Numerous 10K races, including five in June. Includes hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, 5-foot walls, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb and final 30-foot mud pit. Upcoming events: June 2, 3, 9, 10 and 16, some events sold out. http://www.camppendletonraces.com.
—Roy M. Wallack
Filed under View All
Football Team Stands Up Against Bullying: How do Your School Athletes Make a Difference?
Football Players Stand Up to Bullying
Queen Creek High School football players stood up to bullies who were throwing trash at a freshman who has a rare brain disorder
via WATCH: Football team stands up against bullying | National News.
Way to go! All football players should stop bullying then they become the heroes off the field too.
When I was in high school, the entire athletic department made an agreement to attend each other sports. Soon all the games were packed with fans not just football and basketball. As the athletes/cool kids attracted others to attend the games. With the fan support, all of our teams performed better. Leadership is contagious.
Athletes need to realize they are the influences and can have a super positive impact on the school and their fellow students.
Here’s to positive reviews on LocalSportsReviews.com (coming soon). Check us out on LocalSportsReviews.wordpress.com for our blog.
WATCH: Football team stands up against bullying
Queen Creek High School football players stood up to bullies who were throwing trash at a freshman who has a rare brain disorder
(Cameron Smith | Prep Rally) Chy Johnson is a freshman at Queen Creek (Ariz.) High who happens to have a brain disorder. She is the prototypical outsider new girl on campus, the easiest teen to pick on and the last to be able to stand up for herself. Right on cue, no sooner had Johnson enrolled at Queen Creek than she began being the victim of nasty bullying from a wide variety of fellow Queen Creek students, some of whom allegedly even threw trash at the 16 year old.
The bullying incidents got so bad that Johnson’s mother reached out to the one teen at the school with whom she had a social connection through a friend, a senior named Carson Jones. As it turns out, Jones is also the starting quarterback for the Queen Creek football team, a good looking one at that. In short, he is the apex of cool at Queen Creek.
As first reported by AZFamily.com, all Johnson’s mother wanted was to know the name of the girls who were bullying her daughter. Instead, Jones decided to take it upon himself to protect the freshman, eating lunch with her every day and ensuring that she was protected by a phalanx of other football players when she walked through the hall.
“They’re not mean to me, because all my boys love me,” Chy told AZFamily. “So much.”
Chy’s “boys” form a solid core of the Queen Creek football team, and they have successfully kept those who would target the special needs student away. Jones doesn’t completely understand why or how it has happened, but it has.
“They’re not bullying her anymore because they’ve seen her with us or something,” Jones told AZFamily.
For their part, Jones and his teammates say that they’re getting just as much out of the relationship as Johnson is, too.
“It feels good to know that we helped someone else, because you know, we’re doing good, everything for us is going well, but someone else needs to feel good, too,” Queen Creek senior Tucker Workman told AZFamily.
LocalSportsReviews.com (coming soon) 
7 comments Add your comment
mystery poster
January 20th, 2011
11:49 am
I hate that so many things these days require contracts. Gym memberships, cellphones, Internet providers, Cable TV, natural gas providers, etc.
I could go on and on….
Making customers commit to a contract means that we can’t seek out a different provider if the customer service or product is not up to par.
@Crossfitdawg13
January 20th, 2011
11:54 am
Very glad to see this posted. There are many quality gyms that provide excellent results without requiring contracts. The CrossFit program has many local gyms that don’t require the contract.
joe
January 20th, 2011
12:02 pm
I got burned by one of those 24 hour gyms…gave $15 per month rate, but every class I was interested in taking, such as kick-boxing, wasn’t included because the instructors are “vendors” who are not affiliated with the gym and thus, charged their own outrageous additional fees. I dumped them pronto after that.
Reid in EAV
January 20th, 2011
12:36 pm
I have been very happy with the YMCA here in Atlanta. Our family has been members of the East Lake facility since 2003, where we get pool privileges as well as the usual exercise stuff: classes, machines, cardio machines, etc. It also comes with away benefits, so if I’m in Manhattan (for example) I can get into the 14th Street Y with my Metro Atlanta card.
It’s month-to-month (we pay $85/month for a family of five) but with a one-time fee when you start… or restart, if you’ve let the membership drop. A great value as long as we use it, and we do. They also offer sliding scales for lower-income families, which makes the place a great reflection of the neighborhood, both newcomers and old-timers.
q
January 20th, 2011
12:43 pm
I know, this all about fitness gyms, I like the Y. No contract, pay for the yeAR OR BY THE MONTH.
It works really well for me, I like to swim and they keep the temperature a83-85 degrees. I use every[almost] muscle in my body with no stress on the joints. In the morning I go a few miles cross country skiing. I feel great all the time. Have a personal trainer, she keeps all the muscles loose and supple. I am going to have to speak to her about the rubber gloves, it makes me feel a little I am hamburger being kneeded at the grocery store, and her fingers are beginning to feel like rubber.
Well enough of that.
mobil smith
January 20th, 2011
4:53 pm
Gym memberships are for what the individual wants out of it. I’ve belonged to Bally for close to 20 years. I would guess that 80 % of the people I observe using my club have been using it almost daily for the past 15 years. If you do not have a history of liking gym class or working out long term membership investments probably are not for you. It costs me about $ 12 a month nowadays.
Allen
January 24th, 2011
3:01 pm
Our family just discovered the wonderful county parks and recreation gym membership. I cannot believe how affordable this program is. It is also far more pleasant and enjoyable. I agree with the person who stated that any and all “extra” classes were an extra cost. What a ripoff.