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Dear MomsTeam friends and family,

In 2000, with the support of some of the nation’s leading youth sports health, safety and parenting experts and a wonderful staff of editors, writers, webmasters, a graphic artist and a videographer, I launched MomsTeam.com.

Now, 25 years, 10,000 plus articles and blogs, 1,000 videos, a and a PBS documentary later, it is with a mixture of immense pride and accomplishment for our body of work, and sadness that I have reluctantly decided that the time has come to retire the MomsTeam website and place the content on our new archival home on the web.

Over the next month or so, we will be migrating a curated selection of articles and blogs to our sister site at www.Smart-Teams.org . Our videos will continue to be available on our YouTube channel and our documentary, The Smartest Team: Making High School Football Safer (PBS) will continue to be accessible on Infobase Learning.

MomsTeam was born out of an idea for a book that my athletic teenaged sons suggested I write to impart what I had learned from playing sports and from being a sports parent. But I soon realized that, to do the subject of youth sports safety and parenting justice, I would my own team, not only need to enlist the help of a team of experts but a limitless container for information only a website on the Internet – still then in in its infancy – could provide.

I give thanks for the hundreds of people who have contributed their expertise, many free of charge, over the years to making MomsTeam what it became: the leading source for information on a wide variety of youth sports health, safety and parenting topics. I am immensely grateful to all our grantors, sponsors, advertisers, volunteers and to those who donated to our non-profit, the MomsTeam Institute of Youth Sports Safety, which allowed us to keep the lights on and the website up and running.

My regrets are few. I wish I had had the time to respond to the hundreds of requests I received over the years from individuals and organizations asking for my help and mentorship. I regret that, while I know we helped make youth sports safer in a variety of important ways, from our pioneering concussion and cardiac safety outreach, campaigns and website centers to our efforts to reduce overuse injuries, our overarching goal, expressed in our tagline, of creating “a safer, saner, less stressful and a more inclusive & affordable youth sports experience” remains only partially fulfilled. It is unfortunate that youth sports have grown today into a multi-billion-dollar business which excludes far too many children without the financial means to participate. I will leave it to other excellent organizations to pick up our torch and continue our important work.

And, finally, thanks to my family for their support. Some of my favorite years were when two of my sons each worked for MomsTeam sharing their talents and to all of you, the millions of youth sports parents, not just moms but also dads, stakeholders and caretakers who have visited MomsTeam.com over the past twenty-five years. You were, after all, the most important members of our team!

Sincerely and Play Smart,

Brooke de Lench

Founder and Publisher

Concord, Massachusetts USA

www.Smart-Teams.org

delench@Smart-Teams.org

January 1, 2025

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