For your personal empowerment

Brandi Chastain – Letter to My Younger Self

The excitement going into the 1991 World Cup will be something special. You’ll return from injury reinvigorated and will make the national team. But beneath that, you’re going to feel some frustration. You won’t be a starter, and you won’t get much time on the field. That will be tough to navigate. You still find your worth in your contributions — every athlete does. Your competitive personality will drive you to dissect how exactly to get some playing time but remember to balance that with support for your teammates and appreciation for where you are. Read Brandi Chastain’s poignant letter… Read more →

The weaker sex – boys are being outclassed by girls

REPOST FROM THE ECONOMIST: The weaker sex Boys are being outclassed by girls at both school and university, and the gap is widening   “IT’S all to do with their brains and bodies and chemicals,” says Sir Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, a posh English boarding school. “There’s a mentality that it’s not cool for them to perform, that it’s not cool to be smart,” suggests Ivan Yip, principal of the Bronx Leadership Academy in New York. One school charges £25,000 ($38,000) a year and has a scuba-diving club; the other serves subsidised lunches to most of its… Read more →

Run to finish.

Amazing runner falls then gets up and … You will have to watch the video to see for yourself. It’s inspiring.   As one of the viewers said: “If you want to win, then run! If you don’t mind losing, then quit! But quitting is never an option if you want to win!”     Read more →

Curated: Vancouver Basketball: Coach Gourley ‘always putting kids first’

In their own words, the Tupper Tigers celebrate their coach Curated from the Vancouver Courier. “In the beginning, nobody really cared.” Jack Ho was in Grade 11 at Tupper secondary and playing for the senior boys basketball team in 2003, the first season Jeff Gourley volunteered to coach the Tigers. “It was tough for him to come to a team like that because we didn’t really care either. We just thought he was another guy who was going to sit on the bench. No one wanted to coach. I actually had to go find our own coach. Randomly, I asked… Read more →

Big challenges – 4 races in 4 days – submitted by Mabel Fong

In early January, one of our friends, Mabel Fong decided to run 4 races in 4 days. But not just any distance but 5k, 10k, half marathon, and a full marathon. We wanted to share her post with you because Mabel is so self-motivated, she runs marathons frequently and makes it her personal challenge to do several every year. She wanted an even bigger challenge and decided to go further by doing the 4 races in 4 days. Mabel Fong – running recently this Winter. Mabel loves to run!     The race is called the Dopey Challenge sponsored by… Read more →

We recognize: Daughter’s dare spurs mom to better girls’ lives

Reposting this as an example of how one individual can take matters into their own hands to make a difference through commitment and skillful action. Incredible! Reposted from The Globe & Mail Oct 10, 2014 By PAUL WALDIE Click for original article. The gift: $2-million and climbing The cause: Creating 60 Million Girls Foundation The reason: To fund educational programs for women in developing countries For years, Wanda Bedard used to become infuriated every time she read an article about the mistreatment of women under groups like the Taliban. Then one day, her daughter turned to her and said: “Well… Read more →

Nelson Mandela as an inspirator for us

Nelson Mandela spoke about the power of sport after the 1995 World Cup of Rugby in South Africa. With his words he became a lifelong advocate for sport and its potential to heal communities.   The then-captain of the South African Rugby Team, Francois Pienaar said “When the whistle blew, South Africa changed forever.”   “Among certain white communities in apartheid South Africa, it was taken for granted that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist who must remain behind bars. That was drummed into the young François Pienaar, who would one day welcome Mandela to his wedding and name him as… Read more →

Nigeria U-20 women advance to quarter-finals

Aug 2014. We wonder how many girls in Nigeria will be inspired by this success! “Nigeria finished strongly in a match that ended amid joyous scenes on the Africans’ bench.” They beat England to advance to the Quarter-Finals of the U-20 Women’s World Cup. Again we ask, how many girls in Nigeria will be inspired by this success? We are. Here is the full story: England anguish as Nigeria comeback seals passage     Read more →