December 5, 2010 | Story by: admin | Categories: Featured, Soccer, Sports
Brandi Chastain visited Cary's WakeMed Soccer Park last week.
Story by Pamela DeLoach, photos by Chris Adamczyk
Brandi Chastain, former professional women’s soccer player, has a goal. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion wants to bring a sense of wonder and fun back into sports.
After gaining fame for her own soccer achievement, the retired star now relishes her role as an ambassador of the sport. Appearing at the NCAA Women’s College Cup tournament at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, Chastain serves on the board of directors for the newly created Capital One Cup, which presents a premier award and scholarship for the top men’s and women’s NCAA Division 1 programs for use in post-graduate study.
Sports: Make it Enjoyable
But even though Chastain is promoting soccer at an elite level, she wants people to remember the most important key in getting kids involved in sports: make it enjoyable. As a mother of a four-year-old son and a 22-year-old stepson, Chastain understands how involved parents can become in their child’s sports. But for parents, Chastain says, it all boils down to keeping things in perspective.
“Sports and games like this weekend are supposed to be fun,” she says. ” As parents, we remind ourselves that this is not an investment in [our child] becoming a professional athlete–that this is an investment in the rest of your child’s life.”
Focus on the benefits of the activity, Chastain suggests, by making sure that young children enjoy being active and healthy, have camaraderie with teammates and challenge themselves on a regular basis. Then, if they happen to excel and want more competition, the parents can support them in that.
The Value of Playing Multiple Sports
As a child, Chastain loved playing soccer, but she was also able to play other sports. This opporptunity for our youth is disappearing as sports seasons expand.
“I wouldn’t have been good in soccer if I hadn’t played baseball or flag football because I learned lessons doing those things that I could fall back on, and then I used it to my benefit in soccer,” Chastain says. ” I don’t like the fact that we’re making kids choose.”
Reaching Goals
For Chastain, providing leadership to young people is an integral part of her life. In addition to being an ambassador for the Capital One Cup, and a volunteer soccer coach at Santa Clara University, she has launched Reachup!, a foundation that provides an online site for young teens to interact with athletes, celebrities and mentors to help them identify and reach their goals.
“I’m very interested in developing girls,” Chastain says. By giving a young girl a soccer skill and helping her develop it, she then learns how to develop future life skills, Chastain says. ”When you give a goal and she reaches that goal, nobody can take that away from her. We’re refocusing what we’re actually doing for these kids. It’s about educating the whole person.”
Chastain says that this past weekend’s NCAA soccer games will give those young fans a chance to have fun and dream big.
“That’s what these tournaments are all about,” Chastain explains. “That’s what collegiate sports is all about—to be challenged, and for these girls to be inspired and dream about things maybe they never even thought about. It will (Capital One Cup) be a special weekend.”
Find out more about the Capital One Cup at Facebook.com/Capitalonecup, or follow your favorite college team on Twitter at @capitalonecup.
Brandi Chastain with Pam's daughter, Mackenzie DeLoatch
Pam’s daughter came along for the ride. Brandi’s message is more than about soccer, and it rang true for Mackenzie, a student at Carnage Middle School, who enjoyed her chance to meet the superstar.
