Tag: women’s sports

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Knowing When to Quit

That’s it I have decided to quit sports.

Shocking for those who know me because I am not an athlete, not the least bit athletic, withstanding training twice per week with my PT and going to the gym for a run on the treadmill. And I am at best a fair-weather sports fan. I can only hang in there when the going is good but when it gets tough, I run for the hills.

So, what is this throwing in the towel all about. It’s about suffering, deeply felt emotions that keep me awake at night and turn me inside out. Let me tell you, this season, if you will, has been one for tossing and turning. I have certainly experienced the thrill of winning and the agony of defeat with people I don’t even know and never will.

Fair enough, when I know the person – it is much worse. During my niece Jana’s sophomore year at university as a leading softball player, known for hitting and pitching, I revved up so much energy and emotions that I would wake up in the middle of the night checking my phone for a word from abroad, anything. And if Jana had a bad game, I had several sleepless nights. Just ask my therapist or even my husband for that matter. It was costly. 

As a result, last year, her junior year, I dialled down my participation several notches. I happily found out after the game was over, sometimes the next day.

So proud of myself, I thought I was strong enough to enjoy a few sports this summer–a live tennis match here and there, a live basketball game, an English football game via osmosis and then the Olympics, a peak here and there—I jumped in this summer, I think feet first.

And all I can say is you would have thought that Taylor Townsend was my long-lost daughter as I watched her play doubles at Wimbledon. Though Taylor and doubles partner, Katerina Siniakova, prevailed and went on to win the final the next day, I was emotionally spent by the time it was all over, and well beyond. Honestly!

I repeated a similar experience with the USA Women’s Basketball Team in a pre-Olympics showcase. They were nowhere near losing when I decided to exit, owing to a palpitating heart. They gave a stellar performance, but Germany had a couple of NBA players who were stellar, too.

Exhausting and the Olympics were yet to come, but before we go there, let’s finish Wimbledon—the Men’s Final.

I outright refused to watch, quite worried that my favourite Carlos Alcaraz, who I sort of latched onto last year in the absence of Rafael Nadal, would not prevail. When it was clear that Carlos was the victor and that the match was about to end, Paul called me in to watch. I showed up and fled quickly after he missed two or three match points. But I did come back to see him recover and wrap it up.

On that same day, England’s Football team lost to Spain in the Euro 2024 final. And here is the thing, I don’t even like football, but like the rest of the folks in the country I had high hopes for the young lads and when they experienced the agony of defeat, so did I, for days.

Now on to the Olympics. What a roller coaster ride for Nadal, albeit it a short one. He exited in the second singles round, falling to Novak Djokovic and in the quarterfinal rounds of the Doubles when he and Alcaraz fell to Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram from the USA, my country. Still, I was gutted.

Never mind, I stayed with Alcaraz until the very end, well sort of.  Again, I refused to watch and good thing, I did not. In his rematch with Novak Djokovic, whom he played at Wimbledon, the latter was the victor this time.

Although the win was well deserved, it underscores why I have had to quit sports. Being involved causes too much emotional unrest when the win is not with my person. Never mind that these athletes are strangers.

Admittedly, I have not watched any full sporting event during the Olympics, not even gymnastics, to avoid the racing emotions which leave me exhausted. Sadly, I do repeatedly check the medals tally, mostly at night when I should be lulling off to sleep.

No wonder I’ve quit. I know, I know. Quitting has been given a bad name and likely well deserved when you give up on something that matters, but when it is taking an emotional toll on you and threatening physical health too, kick the habit.

Knowing when to say when can be a restorative thing. I am much calmer now, particularly that the Olympics are nearly over.

 

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A Review of Your Body Inside Out

Last week we continued our UIO social media campaign with inspirational quotes and a hot tip from Episode 2: Your Body Inside Out with personal trainer Judit Ressinka. How wonderful to not only feature Judit but to also put the spotlight on the importance of exercise and nutrition in a lifestyle changing way. Not to mention sleep, which Judit points out sharpens the brain cells and makes life more manageable.

UIO’s expert on body and nutrition

Also, we jumped into a couple of conversations on related matters, one with Women in Sport, on getting more teen girls in the UK interested in P.E., as featured in The Guardian.  The other chat we engaged in was from LiveStrong.com suggesting ways for teen girls to lose weight but let’s be clear—no gimmicks and yo yo dieting there or here, for that matter. It’s all about lifestyle.

On Sunday we featured budding chef Olivia, attracting loads of attention to this savvy teens approach to nutrition and well-being. What a week but that’s not all.

UIO’s budding chef

We received some illustrations from the talented author Heather Moulson, who sketches for fun and here we feature the first one. Such a fresh and modern approach, I couldn’t help asking Heather to help us continue tuning into girls. She said yes, so watch this space.

In the meantime, see our week in review @uiopodcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and join us in #tuningintogirls.  Oh and if you missed the podcast, it’s not to late to listen right here on our webpage or on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, Soundcloud.  Just search UIO: You Inside Out podcast and tune in.

On Lifestyle/

Ten-year-old changing the face of girl’s sports

Being an expat has its upside, exploring a new world, but there are downsides too, not that I want to dwell on any of them. Most are just trivial things such as finding a new doctor, hairdresser, etc.… Once cracked, no need to dwell on it.

But there is one downside that simply can’t be cracked—missing one’s family and friends. I don’t dwell on this either, as I try to live my life where I am, and fortunately, I get back to the US quite often.

Still I miss a big chunk of day- to-day life, particularly in the lives of nieces and nephews. So often I hear through other family members about their successes and the doting aunt I am, offer up my congratulations privately.

On this one occasion though, I have to publicly commend my youngest niece on her latest success.

Since December, Miss J and I have become as thick as thieves, so to speak, talking on Face Time weekly. Together, we are working on an all-around better Miss J health-wise and girl oh girl, this kid is excelling.

But that is not what I want to brag about or congratulate Miss J on for now.  We’ll celebrate this in a few months. In the meantime,  I must commend this straight A student on being a multi-talented softball player.

While softball has been around for as long as I can remember, I do think the professional women’s league is starting to take off. And with girls like J on the scene, pitching at 55 to 58 miles per hour at age 10, softball is sure to command big league attention. On average, girls her age pitch at about 45 mph.

This past Saturday, J struck out nine players. And that is not all. This kid was responsible for six of the seven points her team made for a 7 to 3 win. She made two runs herself and also brought four people in with her batting. I am told these are called RBIs, thus she made four RBIs.

J is not only making history, but she is also making a difference in the way young girls approach sports.  She demonstrates beautifully what a girl can do through sports as well as academics.

No pressure kiddo and don’t go getting the big head. Just keep focused and you will no doubt set new trends and change the face of women’s sports someday.

Let’s hear it for the girls.