All Articles by Brooke de Lench

A new poll by ESPN: The Magazine contains some good news and bad news about sports concussions.  A confidential survey of 300 high school football players, 100 coaches, 100 parents, and 100 athletic trainers in 23 states reported that concussion awareness is at an all-time high but that players, and to a lesser extent their parents, continue to downplay the risks:

To address the discrimination in athletics that girls still face in high schools across the country the National Women's Law Center has launched the "Rally for Girls' Sports: She'll Win More Than a Game" campaign. As part of the campaign, I was invited to participate and to write a blog about the advantages of athletics participation and how it has affected me in my life by answering the question, "What did you win by playing sports?"

As those who have read my articles and blogs on MomsTeam.com, heard me speak around the country, on radio or television, or read my op eds or book, Home Team Advantage, know, I have often used personal stories from my past in my work advocating for safer, saner, less stressful and more inclusive youth sports.

Somehow I missed the Facebook message to post a picture of your favorite cartoon character. Or, perhaps the message was which cartoon character are you most like? I will pick the former.

So, Charlie Brown gets my vote.

Most American youth playing sports these days are lucky enough to play on well-maintained fields and with the best and latest sports gear.  Children in the southeast African nation of Malawi, among the world's least developed and most densely populated countries, aren't so fortunate.  Malawan children face many adversities, including poverty, disease, and low life expectancies.  Opportunities to play sports, much less with the right equipment, are few and far between.