Soccer

There are 20 U.S. women competing at the Beijing Games who are also mothers, some still competing at the highest level in their sports well into their thirties. Kate Markgraf, 31, soccer star and mother of 21 month old baby boy, Keegan, proves that contrary to belief, women can have it all.

Soccer is a popular youth sport because it teaches kids and parents lots of valuable lessons.

Have you ever watched the Little League World Series on television? Ever notice how the players on the teams are almost always much bigger and stronger than the average twelve-year-old and look more like sixteen-year-olds?

Soccer players across the country will be safer thanks to a national public awareness initiative focusing on safe soccer goals called Anchored for Safety started by the family of Zachary Tran, a six-year-old who was killed when an unanchored goal fell on him in 2003, who created the initiative to prevent tragedies like Zachary's from happening again. "If only we had known the dangers of unsafe goals, we would have been vigilant in keeping our kids away from them. We didn't know," stated Michelle Tran, Zachary's mother and initiative co-founder.

Tunnel vision is the state where a parent loses his or her ability to see the whole picture of the youth sports contest they are watching. Instead of being able to think about different alternatives for handling a situation based upon experience and good judgment, the parent starts to think there are only a few ways to respond the intensity of the moment. Tunnel vision often causes parents to take a difficult situation personally and believe they have to respond forcefully to defend their honor, or the honor of their team or family.

Because the mid-sole material of an athletic shoe takes a pounding and eventually loses its ability to provide your child's foot with adequate support or cushioning, experts, such as Dr. Michael Lowe, past President of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine, and long time team podiatrist of the NBA's Utah Jazz, recommend periodic replacement of athletic shoes, even if the bottom sole shows no sign of excessive wear.