Student athlete spearheads healthy food fundraiser

Yogavive, a leading producer of organic foods, understands the needs faced by girls’ athletic programs across the country. Many are often underfunded and sometimes, completely ignored.

According to one study, lack of funds and support means girls  receive 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than do male students, which translates to fewer chances for athletic scholarships.

Jordyn Lambert, a Yogavive summer intern and athlete herself  (Varsity soccer captain, JV softball) brought these issues to the attention of Beau Giannini, Yogavive President. Together, they developed a unique program that allowed girls to raise the necessary funds for their team, while offering their communities a healthy alternative to candy bars or tubs of cookie dough.

Yogavive’s organic baked and popped apple chips are vegan, gluten-free, fat free, with only 35 calories and no added sugars.  Jordyn thought they were perfect for team  fundraisers.

Says Jordyn in a recent interview with the Weekly Reader:

I know some programs sell granola bars or baked chips but really, those are not much better because of the refined sugars and artificial ingredients. I knew my team and I couldn’t go around the community selling junk food, but I also knew we couldn’t sell “healthy” snacks that weren’t even technically that healthy.

Now Yogavive offers other teams and clubs the same healthier option. Selling the Apple Chips as a fundraiser for a soccer or sports team can be a huge opportunity to both help finance the team‘s needs, and encourage a healthy diet and lifestyle. Yogavive currently offers their organic apple chips at a low price, so that student athletes can sell them and make as much profit as possible.

Yogavive’s apple chips usually cost $1.49 in stores but with their fundraising program, they offer all 5 flavors for only 50 cents a bag to teams and clubs, allowing them to make 100% in profits. On top of that, athletes know that they’re selling genuinely healthy snacks that aren’t adding to their community’s health and obesity problem so this is a great opportunity all around!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Jordyn directly at jordie@yogavive.com.

Pretty Smart!

Attention Athletes

Pretty Tough is searching for you.

If you play a sport, any sport, we want to interview you.

Pretty Tough is excited to announce a new feature called Saturday Spotlight beginning this September. Each Saturday, Pretty Tough will feature a middle school, high school, or college athlete with an exciting interview and pic.

If you’re interested in being spotlighted and sharing your sporty story, or you know someone who might be interested, shoot an email with your name and sport to author Keri Mikulski at kerimikulski@gmail.com.

Stay posted for Saturday Spotlight beginning Saturday, September 5th.

Attention: If you don’t hear back from Keri Mikulski within 48 hours, it means Keri didn’t receive your request due to a spam filter. Please send your email again.

School Daze: Back to school trends & deals

NikeID
One of the original kings of customization, NIKEiD has launched a back-to-school iPhone app that gives teen girls (sorry, guys!) the opportunity to create custom kicks and apparel on the fly. No longer limiting designers to traditional computer access, the new NIKEiD app lets consumers choose designs and color combos for a number of styles of both shoes and clothing items. Since it wouldn’t be complete without a social media twist, the app also allows users to share their final design ideas with friends on Facebook so they can get those much-needed second opinions before making the actual purchase.

Sears
Using music as a showcase for their back-to-school looks, Sears has hired Disney t(w)een queen Selena Gomez to lead the Sears Air Band Casting Call, a competition to find a fifth member for Sears’ Arrive Air Band, which will be performing at this fall’s MTV Video Music Awards. Four separate TV spots feature Gomez’s call for the fifth band member, with each featuring back-to-school duds from Sears’ music-inspired fashion categories, including rock, pop, hip-hop and skater (not quite sure what “skater” music sounds like). Interested 8- to 16-year-olds are directed online to the Sears Arrive Lounge, where kids can submit their audition videos and vote on the contestants. In addition to contest info, the site features current band member profiles and video interviews, games, and of course, a Style Room where visitors can check out the clothes, make purchases, and share the items and looks with friends (or perhaps more importantly, parents) via email.

Macy’s
Thanks to the department store’s upcoming partnerships with two iconic teen style mags, Macy’s shoppers will soon be privy to the expert style skills and lifestyle advice of both Teen Vogue and Seventeen. Teen Vogue will host a number of in-store events in which stylists from the magazine will aid teen shoppers in creating a cutting edge back-to-school wardrobe with Macy’s merchandise. Judges will select a wardrobe champ at each location, with winners receiving a $5,000 Macy’s shopping spree and a spot in a future Teen Vogue fashion spread. Seventeen will infiltrate Macy’s locations with a number of fashion shows and mini-makeovers for teen shoppers. While the actual dates and locations have yet to be announced, the events will take place at the end of this month and into September – just in time for adolescent clothes horses to put their best looks forward for the “fashion show” that is the first week of school.

(via Trend Central)

Sports Authority
Back to School also means Back to Sports for a lot of students. To suit up for a championship season, Sports Authority is offering some great online promotions:

• 25% off Any Single Item at SportsAuthority.com Friends and Family Sale! Exclusions Apply. 8.13 to 8.16
• Shop Back to Sports and Save 15% off $100 at SportsAuthority.com! (exclusions apply. Ends 8.31)

So, with school almost back in session, it’s time to reset your clock and get back in gear!

Pomp and Circumstance: Athletes Graduate

It’s that time of year. All across the country,  graduations are taking place.  But when they play “Pomp and Circumstance” and call the roll, there will be a number of no-shows at many of these graduation ceremonies.

Why miss graduation? Well, for student-athletes it can be a busy time of year. Some are participating in post-season play and others are transitioning into their professional careers.

Former Oklahoma women’s basketball stars Courtney and Ashley Paris are two who will not be donning a cap and gown this year. OU’s ceremony is Saturday and the sisters are due to start WNBA training camps on Sunday.

With the camps on the West Coast the two don’t want to travel so soon before practice starts. Courtney was a first-round draft pick of the Sacramento Monarchs and Ashley was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks.

Courtney says she’s not happy about missing the graduation ceremony but the decision is best because of the short amount of time involved.

Other student-athletes are faced with similar dilemmas. Four University of Houston-Victoria softball players are choosing their jerseys over a cap and gown.

Sam Campagna, Lauren Garza, Lindsey Ferguson and Kristen Lindley will graduate on Saturday, but instead of attending their graduation, they’ll be playing in the NAIA National Softball Tournament in Decatur, Ala.

Similarly, there will be four no-shows at Mesa State College’s graduation. Seniors Meagan Hennessy, Jamie Prather, Kristen Silva and Jessica Rayman will be celebrating graduation on the diamond, preparing to play the second game of the NCAA Division II Super Regional 3 tournament, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Duke University’s official graduation ceremony was held last Sunday inside Wallace Wade Stadium, but seniors on the women’s lacrosse team were hosting the opening round of the NCAA Tournament (defeating Virginia 15-13 in overtime).  Luckily, Duke holds a special graduation ceremony for student athletes unable to attend the main graduation.

Former LSU women’s basketball standout Sylvia Fowles will return to campus to graduate this week, according to the Athletics Department. The former Olympic gold medalist, All-American, NCAA Defensive Player of the Year, Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, WNBA first-round draft pick and All-Rookie Team member, EuroLeague Center of the Year, who was two credits shy of graduation when she left school,  said the degree will be a crowning achievement on an already illustrious career.

So which schools do the best job of graduating female athletes? In general, female athletes graduate at a much higher rate than their male counterparts.

With this summer’s graduations of two former basketball players, Georgia coach Andy Landers’ 30-year streak is intact. Fifty-three of his 54 four-year letter winners will have graduated by August; the 54th will wrap up after a one-year internship ends in May 2010.

Lady Hardmon Grooms,  who played at Georgia from 1988-1992, wasn’t exactly on the college graduation fast track. But in August, after this summer’s internship, the former UGA basketball player will finish her long pursuit.

And 12 years after shedding her UGA uniform for those of professional teams around the world, Kedra Holland-Corn will finally get to wear her cap and gown.

Slow and steady, fast and furious, it doesn’t matter. UGA women are unbeaten in their graduation record.

The UConn Husky women’s basketball team also has a pretty good record. Just last month, the National Champions were recognized by the NCAA for top academic performance as a team.  And over the course of 24 seasons, Coach Geno Auriemma’s players have had a 100-percent graduation rate. Renee Montgomery, recently drafted by the Minnesota Lynx,  is among this year’s graduating seniors.  She became the first Husky to have her jersey retired before graduation.

Earlier this month the NCAA released its annual grades known as ”Academic Progress Rates,” a rolling four year measure of Division I athletes’ basic progress toward graduation.

APR scores are calculated by a point system that measures each athlete’s eligibility, retention and graduation in school. For falling below the 925 standard, programs can suffer immediate penalties ranging from loss of scholarships and practice time to a ban on postseason play.

Among the squads with a perfect APR score were Penn State’s women’s field hockey lacrosse, and tennis  teams. Only 7.2 percent of the nation’s 6,323 teams in the survey earned a four-year APR score of 1,000.

Congratulations to the Penn State women’s teams and good luck to all the graduates, even if you go pro in something other than sports!

NCAA rules: summer & vacation jobs

If you plan on getting a summer job, then be sure you know the NCAA Regulations regarding prospective student-athlete employment.

Listed below is some important information that all current and prospective student-athletes, alumni, athletics representatives, and fans should know.

For example, if you plan on getting a job (summer or otherwise) then you should know the NCAA Regulations regarding prospective student-athlete employment.The org has strict rules about the amount and source of employment income a student-athlete may receive during the academic year so read carefully.

Division 1
Non-athletics award winners

A college’s athletic department can hire you as long as the college did not award you an athletic scholarship or recruit you. However, you cannot start the job until you’ve completed your senior year of high school. To apply for the job, you must use the college’s regular employment procedures, such as a bulletin board listing or newspaper ad; and if you’re hired, you can be paid only at the job’s going rate for the actual work you do.

Athletics award winners

If you’re an athletics award winner, any department outside of intercollegiate athletics can hire you. One exception: you can be hired for college recreation programs only if intercollegiate coaches are not involved in hiring or supervising employees. Your employment must be arranged through the college’s normal employment procedures and cannot involve any members of the coaching staff. You must be compensated at the job’s going wage and for the actual work you do.

Employment at a sports camp or clinic

Schools recruiting you cannot hire you to work at their sports camps or clinics.

Division 2

Once you’ve started your ninth grade classes, a college cannot hire you to work at their sports camps or clinics. However, you can be hired once you complete your senior year of high school.

Division 3

Once you’ve started your ninth grade classes, a college cannot hire you to work at their sports camps or clinics. However, if you’ve graduated from high school and intend to enroll at a D-3 college, you can work at their sports camps or clinics, after you’ve accepted the school’s offer of admission.

Division 1, 2 and 3
Transportation to a summer job

A college cannot provide you with free transportation to and from a summer job, unless the college’s established policy is that all employees receive transportation.

Concessions

It’s against NCAA policy for a college to arrange for you to work at a concession to sell items associated with their camp.

Other

You may also be required to fill out a form stating whether a representative of the University’s athletic interests, such as alumni, fan or staff member, assisted you in securing employment. Be careful here – this could mean anyone who made any type of contribution to the Department of Athletics and Recreational Sports or booster club. If there’s ever a question, check with the Athletic Compliance Office.

Did You Know?

The NCAA stipulates that once a person becomes an “athletics representative” they are one forever, even if no longer contributing to or involved in the athletics programs. (13.02.12)

Athenas to Zodiac Girls – Team Name Ideas

It’s always a challenge to come up with a name that epitomizes the team’s energy and philosophy. Add to that a name that everyone agrees on and the challenge increases.

Check out our suggestions and feel free to customize as necessary. You can add your team or uniform color to any of the names either before or after e.g. Blue Athenas or Awesome Blues. Be creative with your spelling to give your team some style (e.g. Red Hots could be Red Hotz). Let us know if you come up with some great names we haven’t included here.

Read more

A Pretty Tough Pole Vaulter

(Editors Note: Pretty Tough Team member Hannah Trimble is a multi-sport athlete. Here’s her account of a recent collegiate track meet:)

I attend Lees-McRae College, a small liberal arts college located in the heart of the beautiful Appalachian mountains. Moving from Houston after attending a five A school to a small mountain town college with only 800 students has been a life changing experience. I started pole vaulting my sophomore year in high school and still hold the school and district record of 11 feet and 2 inches. Pole vaulting is an interesting sport that requires technical skills, stamina, and power. The dynamic and acrobatic elements of the event is what I love most about it.

I am now in my second year of college and last week competed in an indoor track meet at the University of North Carolina. I packed my bags for a long day. For roughly the next 17 hours, the LMC track and field team would be sprinting, leaping, jumping, sweating, gasping, and pushing themselves to reach new personal records. The charter bus was set for departure at the school book store at 10:15 am and drove the group of athletes to the indoor athletic complex at UNC.

Because of injuries from bike racing, this would be my first full season back in the track and field discipline. LMC pole vaulters face a challenge because of the harsh weather conditions during the winter. Although we were competing at an indoor track meet, we do not have an indoor facility and the times we get to actually practice jumping are few. This comp would only be my third time jumping in two months.

At the meet, I jumped a height of 9 feet and 10 inches. A disappointing height for me, but it was a good day of practice to prepare for the upcoming outdoor season. My next meet won’t be for another month at the end of March. Until then I will be training and preparing for that competition. My goal by the end of the season is to jump a height of 12 feet and 6 inches. Stay tuned….

ESPN: The High School

Why wasn’t a school like this around when I was in high school?

ESPN and the New York City Department of Education announced they are teaming up to create a new high school focusing on the business side of sports.

The Business of Sports School, or BOSS, will open in September with 81 ninth grade students.

The school plans to emphasize real world skills through mandatory internships at companies like ESPN The Magazine and ABC Sports.

The Disney/ABC-owned ESPN is no stranger to marketing and licensing opportunites (as a former Disney employee I can attest to their brilliance in this area) so it’s not a huge surprise they would undertake this partnership. 

The big question is: What kind sports teams will they have if all the students are wannabe agents and managers?

UPDATE:  ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys sent this to CNBC via e-mail.

“Reports suggesting ESPN is launching a high school are overstated,” Soltys said “ESPN the Magazine has made a non-financial commitment to help develop a curriculum, in addition to providing other volunteer-based support.”

Sometimes things that sound too good to be true, are too good to be true.

Many winter graduates are student-athletes

December 16, 2008 – The list of winter quarter graduates at Ohio State includes an unexpected name. The great Katie Smith, a terrific scholar-athlete whose professional basketball journey took her away from OSU before she earned her degree, finished a dozen years later. A lot of pros often speak to that intention but never quite get around to it. Smith remained true to her intention. (thanks Women’s Hoops Blog)

Over at the University of Arizona, LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member and U of A alumna Annika Sorenstam will serve as guest speaker at Dec. 20th winter commencement ceremony. As a member of the Wildcat’s women’s golf team from 1990-92, Sorenstam won seven NCAA titles, and was the first freshman to win the individual NCAA Championship.  (via LPGA.com)

It was just a year ago that Venus Williams walked across the commencement stage at the Art Institute in Fort Lauderdale to earn her associate degree in fashion design.

Although graduation may be a life-altering transition and a memorable time for student-athletes, the toss of the tassel to the other side of the cap means more than just a testament of hard work and dedication. For many, it also shows the ability to be a team player as well as the tenacity to succeed in competition amongst the best in the nation.

Congrats to all the winter graduates!

Not home for the holidays

Not everyone can make it home for the holidays, especially collegiate athletes.

Some may say that athletes get ripped off during holidays because when everybody else is relaxing, the athletes are in the gym, field, arena or natatorium getting ready for their next performance. Winter and fall sport athletes may end up training harder than ever just when other students are packing up to go home.

There may be no place like home for the holidays but you can create a holiday mood wherever you are. Get together with some teammates to cook a dinner and create your own extended family celebration. You have a unique camaraderie with your team that allows you to bond not just on holidays, but on any occasion. Having that second family helps many athletes get through the holiday and a weekend of competition.

And if you’re not an athlete in training during the holiday, and you find yourself sitting on your butt wishing you had a longer break, remember the athletes who are back at school practicing, training and competing. If they have a bad game for whatever reason, then don’t give them a hard time. Give them a break because they never get much of one.

Next Page »