Welcome All!

Welcome to MomsTeam.com! Whether you are a first time visitor or a regular guest, mother, father, guardian or coach seeking advice and ideas, we are all happy that you are here.

MomsTeam.com is unique in that it synthesizes all the available information on a particular topic of concern for sports parents and then provides practical tips to parents on ways to deal with any situation, problem or question.

With over 30 years of experience as an athlete, coach, sports mom, youth sports parenting expert, syndicated columnist, public speaker and author, along with over eight years of running this successful online publication dedicated to making youth sports safer, saner, less stressful and more inclusive, I am thrilled to lead the efforts of our team in helping caregivers manage the complex world of parenting their athletic children.

With my own three sons now at the end of their college years and their careers in organized team sports over, looking back is bittersweet. The best of times were always when my children were having fun with their friends, playing sports for the pure joy of it. I have some wonderful memories of home runs hit, games won, goals scored, and sharing these experiences with my many wonderful friends.

Unfortunately, some of my memories have not been so sweet: the politics, the favoritism, the panic at the sporting goods store trying to find the correct equipment or footwear (no - they can not wear the football cleats for lacrosse), the injuries, and of course; how to feed children a balanced meal squeezed between soccer practice and the baseball game. And, what vehicle is really the best for getting your child and her teammates safely to and from the game?

The ongoing vision for MomsTeam.com is for it to continue (we are now in our eighth year!) to be a place where every parent of a child playing sports, from the mother signing up her 5-year old for T-ball or soccer for the first time to the mother opening her mailbox to find it stuffed with letters from college coaches trying to recruit her 17-year old softball super star, can come to get news and practical information and advice and, just as important, become part of a community where we as parents can share with other parents our advice, concerns and experiences; and, yes, our mistakes. A place to come to when you are looking for sport goods, shoes and apparel, camps, snacks, sports drinks, etc. or want to know which ones other moms give one star or five.

For mothers; I honestly believe we are in the best position to inspire coaches, parents, athletic directors, and school boards to think about sports not just as a place to showcase the gifted and talented but as a place where kids can begin a love affair with sports and physical exercise that can last a lifetime, instead of ending, as too often is the case, in their early teens.

Meeting the needs of our busy and sophisticated visitors is important to all of us. My colleagues and I look forward to providing you with advice, guidance, interactive tools and content designed specifically with the needs of sports mothers in mind. Please let us know what is on your mind. Whether it's a story idea, questions for an expert or thoughts on helpful tools, we welcome your input. We try to answer all of our mail, but because of the shear volume of questions we get, we will do our very best to answer yours. Please visit often and share momsTeam.com with your friends-this is a nice way to tell them that you care for their sports active child, too. They will thank you for it.

Play safe, be smart and have fun,

Brooke de Lench
Editor in Chief

October 1, 2007

Write to me at delench@momsteam.com