Brooke de Lench's blog

Practicing Yoga As Child Can Set Tone For Healthy and Active Life

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 07/13/2012 - 15:43. | comments

When the invitation came in from the Wanderlust Festival in Stratton, Vermont, I wanted to go, especially as I had spent time there visiting my father growing up and practice yoga as an adult. But it turned out that I couldn't find time in my busy schedule running MomsTEAM to get up there, so I offered the media credentials to Tracey Wright, a young chiropractor and yoga enthusiast I have known since she was a child. Tracey had gone last year and wanted to start blogging on MomsTEAM, so she was only too happy to attend in my stead.

Here's what Tracey had to say about her experience:

* * *

MomsTEAM's newest blogger, Tracey Wright, D.C., reports from the Wanderlust Festival in Stratton, Vermont about the benefits of yoga for kids.

Brooke de Lench

New Jersey Athletic Trainers To Hold Third Annual Sports Safety Summit

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 07/13/2012 - 13:56. | comments

MomsTEAM has consistently supported athletic trainers' groups, both at the national (NATA) and state level, in their efforts to improve youth sports safety, both through education and by advocating for ATs in every high school (less than half of U.S. high schools have an AT on staff, although the percentages vary dramatically from state to state).

One of the most active athletic trainers' association at the state level is in New Jersey, which was the first state to require by law that coaches receive safety training, is among the 40 states that have enacted strong youth concussion safety laws, and has been a leader in advocating for academic accommodations for concussed student-athletes.

Athletic trainers are essential to making youth sports as safe as it can be. Educational programs, such as the Athletic Trainers Society of New Jersey's third annual sports safety summit on August 1, 2012 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, are important to educating health care professionals on safety issues, including concussions, heat illness, sudden cardiac death and overuse injuries.

Brooke de Lench

The Best NFL Player Who Never Was

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Thu, 07/12/2012 - 13:23. | comments

There will be times in our lives that we have an opportunity to listen to a motivational speaker whose story is so powerful that it leaves an indelible impression to last a lifetime. JK Parker and Brooke de Lench

Recently, I had that opportunity when I heard John “JK” Parker speak to a high school football team in Oklahoma with which MomsTEAM is working to develop a concussion management program.

There will be times in our lives that we have an opportunity to listen to a motivational speaker whose story is so powerful that it leaves an indelible impression to last a lifetime. Recently, I had that opportunity when I heard John “JK” Parker speak to a high school football team in Oklahoma about how the use of performance enhancing drugs deprived him of a chance at NFL stardom.

Brooke de Lench

June is Sports Dads Month: MomsTEAM So Declares!

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 16:38. | comments

Are you a dad with kids in sports? If so, you may be feeling a little left out lately. Not only did MomsTEAM celebrate May as Sports Moms Month, but Proctor and Gamble also launched their "Thank You Mom" campaign last month, with no companion campaign for dads.

We kept getting asked, would MomsTEAM give men equal time by designating June as Sports Dads Month, especially since we have so many male experts, bloggers and visitors? June Is Sports Dads Month

The answer is a resounding YES!

May was Sports Moms Month. What about June? No surprise: it's time to officially announce that MomsTEAM has designated June as Sports Dads Month. We so declare!

Brooke de Lench

How To Make The Best Home Made Greek Yogurt: A Healthy and Affordable Alternative To Store-Bought

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Thu, 05/31/2012 - 18:53. | comments

Over the past two months I have made more than 24 batches of non-fat, hormone free, plastic free, organic Greek yogurt that, I dare say, is far better tasting and better for you than than the store bought kind, and, once you get the hang of it, easy to make.

We eat lots of Greek yogurt in my family (one son goes through 3 large containers a week), but recently we Home made Greek yogurt began to add up our grocery receipts and we realized that the price has been creeping up to a point where a 32 ounce container of Chobani or Fage Low Fat Greek Yogurt costs between $5.59 and $7.49, depending on the store, and it doesn't go on sale all that often.

Here's how to make the best home made Greek yogurt. It's easy to make at home, once you get the hang of it, and beats the store-bought kind because it is less expensive, doesn't waste plastic, and is hormone-free (and organic, if you buy organic milk).

Brooke de Lench

Praise For MomsTEAM Is Nice, But The Fight To Make Youth Sports Safer Isn't Over

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 05/23/2012 - 15:14. | comments

As readers of this space well know, MomsTEAM and I have long advocated that the best way to help keep our kids playing interscholastic sports is for schools to hire certified athletic trainers (ATs).

Years before sport concussions took over as the predominant youth sports safety issue of the 21st centry, we were highlighting the critical and unique role that ATs play in recognizing, evaluating and managing concussions.

Knowing that MomsTEAM's long advocacy for more certified athletic trainers in the nation's schools, and a powerful video explaining just why ATs are so critical to youth sports safety, are making a difference is not only gratifying, but with only 42% of high schools in the country having access to ATs, MomsTEAM's work is far from done.

Brooke de Lench

Laurie Wolfe America's Most Inspirational Mom BGCA Contest Winner

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 05/23/2012 - 14:07. | comments

Recently, MomsTEAM founder Brooke de Lench had the opportunity to interview Laurie Wolfe, the winner of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's “America’s Most Inspirational Mom” contest, about how her local club's Family Plus program has provided her the support system she needs to allow her her kids can play sports.

MomsTEAM founder Brooke de Lench interviews Laurie Wolfe, the winner of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's “America’s Most Inspirational Mom” contest, about how her local club has provided the support she needed as a single mom to allow her kids a chance to play sports.

Brooke de Lench

Heads Up: Recent Developments in Sports Safety

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Thu, 05/17/2012 - 13:39. | comments

Three hot topics are on my mind today: wearable technology, head impact sensors, and football helmets.

Wearable technology

During the past year, I have been invited many times to participate in conversations about wearable technology for athletes. With our headquarters close to the hotbeds of technology centers of MIT and Harvard, I am often asked to sit in on meetings to provide my insight.

What I know is that this is a rapidly-developing field in which we are going to see some amazing technological advances in the next decade.

Three hot topics are on my mind today: wearable technology, head impact sensors, and football helmets.

Brooke de Lench

Banning Sale Of Single-Serve Water Bottles: Will Concord's Law Be Second Shot Heard Round The World?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 04/27/2012 - 18:13. | comments

Two nights ago, I played a small part in making history, and, hopefully, in starting a new revolution.

Concord, Massachusetts, the town where I have lived for the past twenty-five years and where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in 1775, voted at our annual town meeting to approve Warrant Article 32 banning the sale, after January 1, 2013, of non-sparkling, unflavor Minuteman Statue Concord MA ed water in single-serving (e.g. 34 ounces/1 liter or less) plastic bottles.

That my home town of Concord, Massachusetts voted to ban the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles may not rival the original "shot heard ‘round the world" at the Old North Bridge on April 19, 1775, but it may have sounded a clarion call to environmental arms.

Brooke de Lench

National Youth Sports Safety Month: We've Come A Long Way

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Sun, 04/01/2012 - 16:17. | comments

When the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation was formed in 1989, its mission was to provide information on the prevention of youth sports injuries. The non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation was founded in Massachusetts by Rita Glassman after her young daughter Michelle suffered a severe back injury that ended her tennis career. Rita was the first to designate April as National Youth Sports Safety Month, which MomsTeam has been celebrating every year since 2001.

In recognition of the efforts so many make to making youth sports safer, MomsTeam invited experts in the sports medicine field to contribute to a month-long special blog project called simply, April Is National Youth Sports Safety Month, which we are running again for a new generation of sports parents.