The following information is based strictly on the opinion of myself and other sports moms. Looking for an answer to the question, does youth sports keep our kids out of trouble? Surprisingly enough 100% of the woman that posted their answer to this question said yes.Sports teaches our kids how to get along with other players and with their coach, it teaches discipline, and team building tools. It keeps your kids off the sofa and away from their video games, off the streets, and out of trouble because they’re in a gym or at the ball field playing or practicing. To play school sports kids have to maintain certain grade point averages, because of this you often times see active students maintain a higher GPA than someone not as active in school activities.As a parent Never use sports or clubs as a punishment. Sports/clubs give your kids a sense of purpose and belonging. I’m not saying don’t punish your kids, but take away things like the car, movies, shopping trip to the mall, or their cell phone (which our kids believe to be the worse punishment of all), but never use constructive activities as a means to hurt or punish.If your kids are involved in sports, show them your support and attend their games. As a working mom I know it’s difficult to make every game, but attend as many as you can. This shows your child you’re proud of them, and you support them and their team. Get involved! Maybe you can’t coach or can’t keep score, but offer to bring the kids drinks, ask the coaches if there’s anything you can do to help.During games, don’t yell at the players or the umpires, demonstrate acceptable behavior. Nothing looks worse than having a parent yelling or cursing during a game. This is not only bad sportsmanship, but sets a poor example for the players. As a player how bad would you feel because your parent cost your team an out or was asked to leave the game? If you want to cheer for your team, by all means DO IT! But do so in a positive fashion.Let’s encourage our kids to be active, teach them the importance of team work, respect and discipline. Show them you support them 100% and encourage them when they’re down. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about getting out there and giving it 110%, by stepping out onto the field they are already winners!This message is brought to you by Big Dog Sports and Fitness, we’d love to hear your comments or opinions on this issue. Please visit www.bigdogfit.com [http://www.bigdogfit.com] and post your thoughts on our blog. Together we DO make a difference.

When a child has ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, they find themselves doing or not being able to do the following: keeping focused, having an impulsive behavior, speaking out of turn, or not playing well with others.Of course, you want your child to be able to do things like their peers. One thing that they can get involved in is sports. However, not all sports are made for those that have the disorder. Some of these sports require a person’s total focus on the game at hand. Other sports, such as golf, require that there is silence while the person hits the ball. Noise only serves to break their concentration.One of the sports they can play is soccer. Soccer is a team sport, and they would need to learn how to play well with others. Playing soccer would be a good challenge for the child to do just that. If the child is hyperactive, this would also help them get rid of any extra energy. They also don’t have to be concerned with so much focus. Participating in track is another one they can do. With this, they will also burn off extra energy. They do not have to focus much with this.Hockey is a quick paced game and they have to be active because they’re constantly moving on the ice. Since it requires so much movement, they don’t have time to make a lot of noise. If they are constantly frustrated, karate would be a good choice to let off some of that steam. Karate also helps them to be disciplined and have order in their life.Parents and guardians will have to work with their child to determine which sports are good for them. They need to have a sport that will connect with them personally. It may not happen overnight, but you have to keep plugging in until you find that match. Sports can play an important part in their lives. In addition to getting rid of the energy from hyperactivity, it also serves as an outlet that they can use to channel their frustration.If you’re not sure of which way to go with this, consult a physician that specializes in this type of disorder. They will be able to help you determine what sports can help them focus and improve their behavior. These activities can also help them with their self-esteem, as they can look forward to being a positive aspect in society.

Sports a great venue for promotional items, but sports can be easily abused. Just like any particular sport out there, the promotional industry sees a lot of eye roll worthy cliches on a regular basis. The problem with these “tried and true” uses of custom products is that everyone else starts to use them too, and then they immediately become near worthless and a huge waste of money. Let’s take a look specifically at football and baseball. Football is the reigning king of broadcast American sports and baseball is a traditional “American pastime” sport. The other sports are important, too, and we can take a look at those later.Let’s take a look at America’s pastime, baseball, and what kind of overused promotions are out there. Perhaps because the sport has been around for so long and is one of the iconic American sports, there are tons and tons of baseball related items to choose from. Unfortunately, so many of them don’t really have a lot of value as a promotional product and will just end up taking up space in a landfill and wasting money. Consider those little wooden promotional bats you can’t miss at the baseball game, as common to every game as the foam bats or foam fingers. They’re cute, but is anyone really going to hold on to them? If it was a special occasion, they might be stored in a keepsake box, and then you’re advertising to absolutely no one anyway. Despite these drawbacks, little wooden bats are everywhere at the ballgame.These problems exist with a significant chunk of what you’ve got to pick from if you’re looking for a baseball theme but there is some potential in a few items. There are promotional items that you know have a good chance of staying in front of your customers or clients (or even employees, for internal branding) and those products are what you’d need for a marketing grand slam. Clothing items like promotional baseball caps or baseball shirts are good “walking billboard” opportunities. A potential pitfall with shirts is not having enough shirts of a certain size, and too many of another, so make sure you purchase appropriately. There are also a lot of baseball shaped crystal awards out there, which would be a nice tie in for treating some star salespeople to a trip to a game!Football is the big televised sport which has been able to market itself so well that you’ll find the Thanksgiving games on TV sets at family gatherings all over the country and a very expensive and successful advertising business during the Super Bowl. The promotional products industry has totally noticed all this money flowing around out there and almost all the suppliers I’m aware of have at least a few items with baseball themes.Just as baseball has the little baby-sized baseball bats and foam fingers, the foam promotional items at the football stadium are even more superabundant. Compared to baseball items, some of the football related promotional items can be really out there! Mouse pads that are baseball shaped are a creative combination of two creative ideas, for example, but might be pretty useless because of the shape unless you increase the size of the pad to the point that it uses an inconvenient amount of desk space . Footballs have the same problem as baseballs, there are very limited circumstances that you’d find a promotional football remaining out in the open and exposing your brand to customers or clients.So, other than clothing like I’d recommend in baseball, what does football have that counts as good? Consider the tailgating culture that thrives around football, and tap into that! A lot of the products you’d use for camping will apply nicely to tailgaters. A koozie for beer, a cooler for soda and meat, some nice imprinted seating to drink your beer on… you get the idea. Don’t forget the grills and any accessories you can think up, as long as you’re certain they’ll be used. Those items will have a lot more utility than a foam finger and you’ll be targeting a fiercely loyal portion of the football audience. If you could successfully make your brand a part of the tailgating experience, you’ll also be tapping into that loyalty.The fans of every sport can be a very loyal bunch that is worth considering in your overall marketing strategy. Tapping into that loyalty can be tricky, since fans can be picky, but if you can pull it off smoothly it’ll be like winning the World Series in extra innings! Don’t forget the other big sports in America, NASCAR and hockey. They’ve got their own niches and their own premier promotional products!