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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Gatorade, Sports Moms and Your Chance to Win a $100 Gift Card to Dick's Sporting Goods



Congratulations to commenter #5 on winning this sweepstakes!

Last week I was lucky enough to join a call with Gatorade and Stephanie Hamm-- mother of retired American soccer player and U.S. Olympian, Mia Hamm. Our time with Stephanie was short, but she was effective at communicating valuable advice about balancing it all. Because anyone with children in sports understands how difficult that can be.

(Watch this video with Stephanie Hamm!)

The most important thing that I took away from our conversation with Stephanie is that we should let our children try as many sports as they want to so that they can figure out what it is they love and thrive at.

My boys have played sports since they were three years old. And they have loved it. The Middle Child is the one who is passionate about sports.



When he was just a toddler, he fell in love with the game of basketball. He's played city league every single season (with the exception of the one season he broke his toe playing soccer.) He played on the 7th and 8th grade middle school team. And he has big plans for high school basketball, starting this summer.



This call with Gatorade was eye opening and full of extremely valuable information. I Thought I had been doing it right when it came to nutrition and hydration for my (not so) little athlete-- turns out, I wasn't.

I was taking notes so hard while listening to Lisa Esposito from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.

Here are the key things that I learned during this part of the call

*Most athletes start practice already dehydrated. It is important that kids start drinking fluids that contain electrolytes 4 hours before practice.

*It's important that athletes have 10--20 grams protein at least 30-60 minutes after a game for muscle recovery.

*It's important that athletes have carbohydrates before a game and even during. This is where Gatorade is so beneficial. Not only is your child staying hydrated, but they are getting electrolytes and carbohydrates to keep them fueled up.

Gatorade has developed an amazing site for Sports Moms. From the main page:

The vital role you play in your young athlete’s achievement and success is immeasurable. Here you’ll find expert advice, insights and information to help you give your athlete the support they need at every stage of competitive development.


You should visit the site to check out all of the great resources. The thing that I most love about the site is Gatorade's BECOME campaign. This campaign is using real moms in their ads as well as real and celebrity moms in webisodes. I know how hard it is to be a Sports Mom, so it's great to see Gatorade recognizing these women and their young athletes with this campaign! You should definitely go take a look at these videos-- they are touching and inspirational. (I MAY have cried little bit a couple of times.)

I'm proud to be a part of this campaign, to help spread the word about Gatorade and what they're doing with Sports Moms. I'm also happy to be able to offer you a chance to win a $100 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods. (Be sure to visit BlogHer'sPrizes & Promotions section for more chances to win!)

Here's what you need to do. Answer this question in the comment section.

If you had a chance to talk to the mother of a professional athlete and you could ask them one question, what would that question be?

You MUST include a valid email address within your comment to be entered to win. Sweepstakes dates are 6/1-6/30.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
an alternate form of entry.


This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

Good luck!

59 comments:

  1. When did you know this was your child's passion? earthami at gmail.com

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  2. My kids love to play sports - right now they are into Baseball. I would love to win.

    kayswederski@yahoo.com

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  3. http://twitter.com/#!/jewdez

    How did you encourage your son/daughter to play but yet not become obsessed with it... meaning just play to play... (does that make sense?!)

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  4. How did you motivate your child to excel
    dguillen at kc dot rr dot com

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  5. http://twitter.com/guillenwins/status/76297441929998339 dguillen at kc dot rr dot com

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  6. how did you find the time to cart them to all the games?!
    lyndsey dot hauck at gmail dot com

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  7. What was your reaction when your son/daughter told you he/she wanted to go pro?

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  8. If I had a chance to talk to the mother of a professional athlete I would ask how they keep the athlete motivated to do they best they could. helenkeeler@comcat.net

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  9. What advice do you have for other parents on how they can support their kids’ goals?
    karenmed409 at comcast dot net

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  10. What time management techniques did you use to fit everything in?

    samke23 at gmail dot com

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  11. at what age did you know he/she was ready?

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  12. how do you keep your child humble.
    gabflab@live.com

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  13. If you have other children, was it difficult to balance the needs of the future pro with the needs of his/her siblings?

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  14. How do you help him/her maintain a life outside of the sport?
    Kjl3694@gmail.com

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  15. I would ask about advice on how to keep the child doing as good in SCHOOL as sports he has sports hands down and stars in it. School he thinks comes second. NOT GOOD

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  16. How do you know/when did you know that professional sports was a real possibility for your child?

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  17. At what age did Mia know that soccer was *her* sport?

    realgreenacres @ frontiernet . net

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  18. I'd ask if they are concerned about what their child will do post-career?

    christine at envail dot com :)

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  19. How do you handle two siblings playing the same sport at different levels? Two golfers here and they're different genders and five years apart! Wears me out!

    hope_greatamerican@yahoo.com

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  20. I guess my question would be how do you keep them motivated at the collegiate level when they don't get much playing time at first?

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  21. Oops. Forgot to leave an email address:
    d_bolig@hotmail.com

    That's what I get for not reading the directions!!

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  22. I would ask when they knew their child had an exceptional skill in the sport.

    Thanks,

    selinda_mccumbers at yahoo.com

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  23. I'd definitely ask how does she stay organized and balance between schedules.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

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  24. http://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/78312268131082240

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  25. I would ask how you ever managed to get them to remained focused when all their friends are into other things.
    daveannc@comcast.net

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  26. How on earth do you keep them grounded?!?!?
    jlkehs@comcast.net

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  27. In retrospect, was it worth it?

    scout@unitedstatesofmotherhood.com

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  28. I have two boys - the first one is 16 and he never showed any interest in sports whatsoever. That was fine but a little disappointing since I played basketball and softball when I was younger and loved it. He's my intellectual. My second child is 5 (yes, it's a huge age gap!!) and he just finished his first season of tee ball and as of yesterday has been signed up for soccer. Looks like I'm going to get to be a sports mom after all!! lavinawoodfin@yahoo.com

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  29. Oops - so forgot to answer the question in my first response! My question to her would be how much of an influence did she have in getting her child to pursue their sport. Had their child not shown any interest would she have forced them to at least try? lavinawoodfin@yahoo.com

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  30. http://twitter.com/#!/rteezgirl

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  31. Nathan plays baseball and LOVES it. He played 2 seasons and then didn't want to continue, but I pushed him to sign up another season. I hated doing it, but I knew he would be happy that he did. Not only did he really enjoy this season, but he is already excited about Winter Ball this year.

    My question would be if she thinks it's ok to be a little bit pushy when it comes to signing kids up for sports. Maybe even forcing them to at least try something.
    spidel27@yahoo.com :)

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  32. How did you balance life, sports, wife, mom, worker, etc with a hectic sports schedule? My oldest lives, breathes, and plays lacrosse 12 mo a year now!

    nmfleisch @ msn.com

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  33. did your child ever become 'burnt out' and take a break from sports and then go back? we have 2 boys-both played competitive baseball. the older is now taking a break, his 1st year of high school.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Yay! I tried to enter this contest via someone else's blog recently, but my comment didn't go through because I needed to login via google, or some other site I don't belong to. The question was different, but the prize was the same.

    I'd LOVE to be able to talk to the mom of a professional athlete! I'd proably have LOTS of questions, even though my kids are grown so I wouldn't have any chance of making use of her advice.

    Let's see...
    Did you encourage your child to participate in several sports?
    How young did your child show his/her excellence in sports?
    Did your child have a favorite sport growing up, or did he/she excel in anything/everything he/she tried?
    How did you ensure that your child was well-rounded?
    Since your child was obviously talented, how did you instill humility in your child?

    OK, I could go on and on (too bad I can't get an entry for every question! :p).

    Thanks for the opportunity!
    MargieK

    mak329 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  35. how much time did your child spend working to better him/herself at his/her sport per day?

    mmdmiller@comcast.net

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  36. So.... my question would be "So, did they buy you that house, car... (fill in the blank) like they promised they would when they made it big? heeheehehe

    dabe at intrstar dot net

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  37. when it gets hectic-school/practice/games/other activities one right after the other, how do you feed your kids nutritious meals when it seems like there is only time for fast food?
    anncan2@ymail.com

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  38. Ohhh this one is easy, as i'm sitting here right now trying to answer this one on my own, after dealing with my daughter who is a fastpitch softball pitcher, 12 years old.

    How much is too much when it comes to pushing your child to practice and dedicate time to your sport, and at what point do you determine if they NEED the extra pushes, or they truly aren't going to do it?

    My dilemma is this: my daughter is a good pitcher...with lots of potential. However, she doesn't want to practice on her own, and she doesn't act like she really *enjoys* what she is doing. Do i give up? I have heard of SO MANY athletes later in life say, "I have to thank my parents for pushing me when I didn't want to do it on my own, if they would have let me give up, I would have never made it this far...they believed in me when I didn't believe in myself". But when do you KNOW??? I am so confused right now...I would LOVE to ask a pro athlete's mother this question!

    Shelley

    shelleymeyers@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  39. I'd ask how they balanced their childs sport with school, family and a social life

    s2s2 at comcast dot net

    ReplyDelete
  40. http://twitter.com/#!/susan1215/status/79589758128500736

    s2s2 at comcast dot net

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  41. How did you encourage your child when he/she chose this particular sport?
    MCantu1019 at aol dot com

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  42. How many different sports would you put one child in?

    gmissycat at yahoo dot com

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  43. Tweeted here

    http://twitter.com/#!/gmissycat/status/81864258584973312

    gmissycat at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  44. Tweeted here too

    http://twitter.com/#!/gmissycat/status/81864258584973312

    gmissycat at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  45. How did you balance sports and school work so that grades and learning didn't suffer?

    rogsdock[at]gmail[dot]com

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  46. Did you ever let your child concentrate more on sports rather than education or did you balance both and if so how?

    sylvieanddudes@yahoo.com

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  47. I would want to know how they schedule their time, and what advice they might have to share on the subject! :)

    gina.m.maddox (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  48. tweet-http://twitter.com/#!/CrazyItalian0/status/85390448251764736
    gina.m.maddox (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  49. I would ask her if there was ever anything else that her daughter/son ever wanted to be besides an athlete and if she encouraged that passion as much as she encouraged this one.
    Angie
    14earth at gmail dot com

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  50. I tweeted here: http://twitter.com/#!/FotoMacro/status/85752090554679297
    Angie
    14earth at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  51. How do you keep your child from becoming too competitive driven
    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  52. tweet
    http://twitter.com/#!/ChelleB36/status/86228925285543936
    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  53. I would ask how it has impacted her family.

    kruney@yahoo.com

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  54. was it nurture or nature?

    kolpin4680 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  55. tweet
    http://twitter.com/#!/kolpin4680/status/86287991215104001

    ReplyDelete
  56. How do you help them not get caught up in the success and the fame, but keep them grounded and humbled?

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  57. how did you find time for schoolwork?

    eugeniewu at gmail dot com

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  58. how did you maintain perspective?

    hlee99 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  59. How did you teach your child to handle fame?

    the imagine tree at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete