Category Archives: Cool Stuff

The St. James is coming and it is awesome! 

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We’ve needed more indoor sports options for a long time. And now we are getting it.

The St James is 450,000 square feet of sports awesomeness. The St. James will provide a diverse and extensive combination of sports competition and training venues, transformative developmental programs and best-in-class coaching. Athletes and enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels can immerse themselves in an unprecedented variety of sports — from ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and baseball to squash, golf, basketball, volleyball, swimming and more.

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Team Impact is awesome

I had never heard of Team Impact until the summer of 2016. It was then that I learned my daughter’s new lacrosse team had a young girl named Allie on it. Allie is a young girl with severe medical issues who was “recruited” to be a member of the Randolph-Macon Women’s Lacrosse team through Team Impact.

Team Impact “improves the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses through the power of team.” To do this, Team Impact matches children and college teams. The child is “recruited” to join the college team. They go through a signing day and become part of the team.

Over the last year, I have watched this young, courageous child join her team at home games. I have watched her cheer and bring true joy to the hearts of everyone one of her teammates. And please don’t misunderstand me. She is their teammate. They spend time together on and off the field.

But it was a recent post from Allie’s mother that made me cry and proves how important Team Impact is and just how great sports can really be. Continue reading

It’s time to Go Ape!

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The Fairfax County Park Authority just welcomed one of the coolest new attractions to Fairfax County. Go Ape! is a brand new, and first of its kind in Fairfax County, woodland obstacle, and zip line course. Go Ape! invites you to “Live Life Adventurously” – and they give you the chance to do just that. This is a place where you can challenge yourself to do something new or spend an incredible day with your family, friends, or co-workers.

Several years ago, the possibility of bringing this to Fairfax County came to the Park Authority. While the first thought was to put it in a different park, South Run soon emerged as the best fit. South Run is one of the epicenters of active recreation in the county. The ReCenter has a pool and provides the opportunity for people to work out, take classes or sign up for summer camps. There are also three full size and two small sided rectangular fields and two diamonds. There’s an awesome playground, an indoor turf field, tennis courts, and miles of trails.

And this focus on active recreation makes Go Ape! a natural addition. The new course was carefully integrated into the park’s topography so customers can explore the canopy while enjoying great views. Trails below the course allow people to cheer on their friends in the trees and gives them a chance to see what they are missing. Continue reading

Golf’s Nomads

This is a great story I saw a little while ago on 60 Minutes Sports. It’s a story about overcoming discrimination in golf starting almost 70 years ago. This is a story of perseverance and commitment to a game these men – the Nomads – love. It’s long – almost 18 minutes. So sit back and enjoy a sports story I had never heard anything about but that we should see.

More Fields on Top of Buildings

I am a big advocate of putting fields on top of buildings.  I really believe that this is an important part of Fairfax County’s long term growth and development.

Here’s an article about a proposal to build a parking structure with a fields on top of it in Milwaukee.

More proof that it can be done.

Lacrosse Game With A Lot of Meaning

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We sometimes hear too much about what is wrong with youth sports.  Even more, I often hear complaints about governing bodies that seem more focused on their rules than they are on doing what is right.  It’s absolutely true that we need the rules to make help govern how we do things.  However, this story out of Florida helps understand why the rule book sometimes needs to be tossed out the window. 

Major props to Winter Springs High School and especially the Florida High School Activities Association who gave the thumbs up to a dying man’s wish in less than half an hour.

Read the story about how a father dying of lung cancer got to see his daughter play on the high school lacrosse team for the first and only time.  It’s worth it.

Puma Launches Project Pink

Yesterday, PUMA announced a new initiative to raise awareness and money to fight breast cancer.  The program is call PUMA’s Project Pink.  In conjunction with their partnership with Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), PUMA will outfit some of the best female players in the world in special Project Pink kits for five WPS matches. The brand has also created a range of Project Pink merchandise that will be available for purchase beginning this summer and continuing through Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Profits from the sale of PUMA’s Project Pink gear will be donated to a nonprofit committed to breast cancer awareness or research; the beneficiary will be named as the result of a national online voting campaign.

Locally,the Washington Freedom will wear the Project Pink kit when they play Sky Blue FC at the Soccerplex on August 28.

The Positive Impact of a Sports Complex

About six months ago I was asked to sit on a committee that Fairfax County was putting together.  The focus of the committee is to generate additional revenues for Fairfax County by bringing sporting events to the County and to encourage businesses to become involved in supporting the County’s athletic infrastructure.  (For example, encouraging businesses to invest in parks, etc.)

One of the topics that has come up several times is the fact that Fairfax County does not have a field complex.  This is a location that would have multiple sports fields in one place that could be used for tournaments, etc.  There has been talk about trying to put one together but it has never come to fruition. Continue reading