Brooke de Lench's blog

"I can do it," she said. "I'm qualified. I played the game. I know the kids. I love the kids."

Those were the words Natalie Randolph spoke as she was introduced as Coolidge High School football coach this weekend in Washington, D.C.

While not the first female to coach high school level football, Randolph deserves to be congratulated for tossing her name in the hat this past January when the school was looking for a football coach.

Lindsey Vonn won the women's Super-G this past Friday to be crowned alpine skiing's overall World Cup champion for the third consecutive year.

I am in a bit of a rut this week. Call it for what it is: Olympic withdrawal.  Last week I spent a glorious week in Vancouver as a spectator at the Winter Olympics. The week before I left for the games I watched as much of the coverage as I could every night. I was very fortunate to be able to have tickets to some of my favorite events but one event will stick out as truly remarkable-it was the Women's Ice Hockey Gold Medal Game.

It has been lots of fun watching the U.S. Women's Hockey Team in action in the first three games at the Vancouver Olympics. It has been especially enjoyable because I know so many of the players (and their moms) and have been following them for the past eight years.

In their last game in the Qwest tour before heading to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the U.S. Women's Hockey Team turned a close game against Finland going into the third period with three goals en route to a satisfying  5-1 rout.

A recent article in the Boston Globe titled  "Taking the ‘little' out of Little League" reminds us not only about what is wrong in today's youth sports, but how needed reform can occur.

When Angela Ruggiero invited me to come watch her practice with the rest of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey team at Fenway Park in Boston this morning, I could not resist. It was truly a great way to begin what I know is going to be a very special year for me and the Youth Sports Parents team.

Last week Arizona Cardinals wide receiver and Pro Bowl special teams player Sean Morey admitted that he covered up his concussion symptoms so he could play against the Chicago Bears the previous Sunday.

In one sense the news wasn't all that surprising. After all, N.F.L. players play hurt all the time. It's their job. It's part of the gladiator culture of the league and of the game of football.

Sports concussions continue to be big news.

As visitors to this site and readers of my countless blogs, articles, and editorials on the subject of concussions already know, however, concussions have been important to me and Youth Sports Parents for a lot longer.

Concussions have been in the news a lot lately.

First was the concussion suffered by "Tonight" star, Conan O'Brien, when he slipped and hit the back of his head during a fake triathlon with "Desperate Housewives" star, Teri Hatcher.

According to news reports, O'Brien "saw stars," couldn't stand and had slurred speech. After trying to continue the taping, O'Brien ended up going to the hospital.