Be Better

Spending the weekend chasing down my nephews', cousin's, and some former student-athletes' baseball, soccer and softball games was worth the price of admission ($0).

It added up to a loss, a tie, another loss, a third loss, and, finally, two wins on Sunday.

But I really wasn't paying much attention to the score. I went to cheer on young athletes. I went because I love sports. I went to spend time with my family. And I went because I want these kids to know how much I care about them.

As luck would have it, on Sunday I ran into my very first friend, Jenn. Her niece and my cousin, Ava, play club soccer together. Jenn and I started playing soccer together back in the fourth grade, and we reminisced about those early Saturday morning games and all the fun we had.

This morning I woke up to a thank you text from Ava. Only a high school junior, she's already accepted a Division 1 scholarship, so she's kinda good. Her whole team is. They play a game of patience and possession that you rarely see at this level. Passes seamlessly curtailed dedicated defenders as the ball crisscrossed the pitch. I never played this well at any sport.

Clearly, their skill was not lost on me. I texted Ava back, thanking her for helping me set my weekly goal for my Tuesday night field hockey game. If I'm more patient with my passes, my teammates will have more time to position themselves. But, if I'm more patient with the ball, then there's a higher chance it gets taken from me. And I think that's a risk I have not been willing to take for a while, at the expense of my team.

It's the same in the professional world. When you're always passing off responsibility to others, you decrease the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. But more importantly, you lose sight of what your teammates need to succeed.

So thank you, Ava, for reminding me that I still have lots of opportunity to get better.

In My Research

"My leadership goals have been influenced by progress made in the United States as a result of Title IX. Title IX was part of the 1972 Education Amendments Act, which guarantees equal gender access to athletics (Kotschwar & Stahler, 2016). Although the legislation ignited strong resentment at first, Title IX’s positive impact on females and their academic and professional lives is well documented. Since the legislation’s passage, more girls have not only participated in sport, but they have also increased their college graduation rates (Stevenson 2010). Females who compete on high school sports teams are 73% more likely to complete college within six years of graduating from high school than girls who do not participate (Peckham, 2008). Remarkably, 86% of executive-level women in the U.S. played organized sports, with research attributing at least some of their success to skills they learned as an athlete, such as self-discipline, teamwork skills, and leadership skills. Challenging Bourdieu’s theory, even for girls who reside in low socioeconomic status communities, those who played sports are 41% more likely to graduate from college than non-athletes (Troutman & Dufur, 2007). Through my leadership, girls will learn how many of the skills they developed in playing sport will make them more successful students." Kathleen Ralls, Portfolio Vision Statement, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Take Her Word for It | Voices of Title IX

"Preseason for soccer was always tough—two weeks of triple

sessions and intense heat. Despite all of that, I would give anything

to experience that again. Nothing could ever beat the camaraderie

that was shared amongst you and your teammates during that time.

We all kept each other going when we just wanted to quit, and were

a wonderful support system for each other. We always tried to see

the positive in things—whether we won or lost. It was a terrific

group of humans and I am lucky to still be in touch with some of

them today. — Jenn Ossen, 1996 (aka first friend mentioned earlier)

- Excerpt from Voices of Title IX

Women's Sports History

I found an interesting article about early women's sport fashion. I was inspired by the meme that went around a couple of weeks ago about the upgrade in fashion at the WNBA draft. As professional women athletes have more opportunity to market themselves, it makes sense that high-end designers want to dress them for major events. The grab to find out everything about women athletes has never been hotter.

Marketing to women athletes is nothing new, though early fashion - like 1800s - was geared more towards the women sport spectator than the actual athlete. Apparently our "feeble arms" could get sunburned or tired if we did anything beyond walking.

Still, fashion moved forward as women interested in sports invented, adapted, and challenged society. They had to create clothing that was culturally acceptable while also allowing for activities such as skating, swimming, and horseback riding (see a “subtly divided skirt.”)

Where there's a will, there's a way.

At KR LLC, we believe women athletes are perfectly positioned to be standout leaders.

And if you want to relive a little bit of your glory years, we’re here for that as well!