“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”—Wilma Rudolph

It’s been nearly two weeks since the Niagara Storm football organization, based out of Grimsby, played against the Niagara Spears at a local charity jamboree held on May 5th at the Kiwanis Field in St. Catharines. Despite giving up a tremendous size advantage to all of the other OVFL teams in attendance, the Niagara Storm (part of the OMFL) pulled off what many Niagara football fans (and parents) now believe will be the upset of the year in terms of local youth football action. The Niagara Storm on the other hand, aren’t all that surprised by the outcome.

“We’re dying to play the Spears,” said Storm co-founder, Todd Fryer, nearly three weeks before the jamboree even took place. “We’ve been begging for them to play us for years. Well, their rules have finally changed, so now they’ve invited us to their jamboree. Let’s see what happens. I’ll put our kids up against anybody—absolutely. And our coaches up against anybody.”

Hindsight being 20/20, it’s now understandable why Fryer was as confident as he was that his organization would do as well as they did. The Storm played extremely well, especially considering that they entered into the jamboree with the automatic tag of being the underdog.

“The jamboree turned out really well,” said Dave Richardson, Head Coach of the Junior Varsity Niagara Storm. “I thought the kids, effort-wise—they were outstanding. Everyone put in 110-percent during the jamboree. I think size-wise, we were the smallest on the field, but it didn’t show in the attitude of the way that the kids played. They played really hard and we were super competitive with the other teams that were on the field.”

When asked about certain areas in which he thought that his team could improve upon, Coach Richardson wasn’t about to hold back. “We maybe have to work on a little conditioning, maybe a little bit more focus,” he said. “We got off to a bit of a slow start at the beginning of the jamboree, but once we got our feet under us, there was no stopping us. We just have to work on getting mentally prepared and focused at the beginning of the game, and getting a fast start at the games.”

For those of you who missed the action two weeks ago, you’re in luck. Both of the Niagara Storm teams will be making their St. Catharines home field debut this upcoming Saturday May 19 at the Kiwanis Field. The Junior Varsity team will be playing at 4 p.m. and the Senior Varsity team will be playing at 6:30 p.m., as they both take on the always dangerous and hard-hitting Hamilton (Steel City) Steelers.

The Steelers (via social media) are apparently predicting a 45-0 blow-out victory over the Storm teams. Frankly, I’m not sure why any team would want to underestimate the determination and the will of the Niagara Storm. If they’ve proven anything over these past few weeks, it’s that they definitely don’t intimidate easily and they never, ever give up.

See you at the game, football fans!

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James Ryan @TheSportstender

READ: Niagara Football Settles Debate on May 5 at Charity Jamboree

Niagara Storm shock the Spears, Season/Home Opener kicks off this Weekend is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

Friends will always make fun of other friends, that’s just the way it is. But good friends, young men especially, shouldn’t intentionally go out of their way to make another friend feel like he’s continuously being picked on or the butt of an ongoing joke.

It’s one thing to make fun of someone who you know can take it because he has a great sense of humour and doesn’t take himself or the things that his friends say too seriously…he tries anyway.

It’s another thing however, to keep harping on about something that eventually goes from being funny to being mean and senseless. How do you know when you’ve gone too far or it’s time to stop? Easy. That friend will tell you. So respect your friends and don’t take things too far. Not if you expect to keep that person as a friend anyway.

In other words…please don’t be a jerk about it. Learn when enough is enough and move on before there is no more friendship to speak of. Then you’ll wish you had more buddies to joke around with instead of sitting around all by yourself resenting everyone for “taking themselves too seriously.”

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James Ryan @TheSportstender

Remember This…Every Joke has a Shelf Life is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

As an athlete, it can’t be easy being affiliated with a sport that so many others seem to either hold in contempt or don’t take seriously in the first place because it combines a popular and socially acceptable profession such as [fitness] modelling, with America’s favourite contact sport—football.

Modelling is fine.

Rarely do you ever hear people complaining that it undermines women’s rights. In fact, many women, especially those who actually model for a living, would argue that it easily empowers women in today’s society. Throw a brain in the mix and suddenly you have a super woman on your hands.

Football is fine.

Minus the inherent dangers that go along with any contact sport, professional football is arguably the greatest and toughest sport on earth. Unfortunately for the fans however, the entire season only gets played for three months of the year, which then leaves a rather large gap throughout the remaining nine months.

So again, modelling is fine and football is awesome, but the combination of the two is for some unknown reason considered blasphemous and morally apprehensible to a lot of people.

Get over yourself.

This basically reminds me of another popular and essentially very new sport—mixed martial arts. It’s okay to be a boxer. It’s okay to compete in karate, muay thai and even jiu-jitsu tournaments, but the State of New York for example, sees the full combination of these fighting elements as downright wrong and barbaric. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the critics are only grasping at straws to either compensate for their own personal insecurities, or to mask the fact that they know very little about the sport in the first place.

Wait…am I talking about women’s lingerie football or mixed martial arts?

Flip a coin.

Check out this quote that I pulled off of a Facebook page entitled: Canadians Against the Lingerie Football League, which boasts a whopping 127 members. And don’t worry—I cleaned up the punctuation and spelling errors (trust me, there were a lot of them) to make it a LOT easier to read. You’re welcome.

“Sex sells. We all know that, but women have been fighting for over 50 years in Canada to ensure equal rights, and now they decide to bring in a Lingerie Football League in support of more ‘entertainment’ and larger profits for businesses? How does that reconcile our life? We’re not sex objects and we play these sports for a reason. Yes, reasons differ, but if we start supporting Lingerie Football, what is that really promoting? You can only be beautiful and powerful and recognized if you are stick thin with a double-E bra size and are willing to run around naked?

“We’ve made it so far in the dominating areas of society, and right now, if feels like we’re going backwards. Everyone has come to realize that sporting outfits are getting tighter and skimpier every year, but tackle football is a male dominated sport which is finally being opened up to women. We don’t need to have the rules changed for us. We don’t need the stereotypes or criticism. We don’t need to kill our bodies just to be accepted. What this Lingerie Football League is initially doing is making women feel insignificant if they don’t fit that criteria. Football players come in all shapes, sizes and abilities. We’re promoted through our skills and passion of the sport—not body type. You would never see Eli Manning or Korey Stringer ever playing football in their boxers, so why is this any different?”—Shelby Merrithew

Shelby brings up a very good point… Maybe the men should be playing in their boxer shorts?

Look, I won’t nitpick this person’s comment too much because like anyone (myself included), she is fully entitled to her opinions and no one is in the wrong for feeling a certain way. In fact, I even downright agree with her on a few of her points.

But here are some that I don’t:

Lingerie football does not infringe on women’s rights. These women are not being forced to play football or wear bathing suit-sized outfits against their will. In fact, they are being compensated for doing something that they truly love—playing football, modelling their very fit bodies, and entertaining the fans. As well, the players are not being exploited. If anyone is being exploited through Lingerie Football, it’s the fans who are buying the tickets, which from what I have been told, is record setting in both numbers and growth. So yes, sex obviously sells. This is not new news and does not spell the downfall of modern society.

Sports are about entertainment for profit. Does this surprise you? It shouldn’t. Women who play traditional football should be very proud of what they do, and no doubt, they love the sport or they wouldn’t be playing it for what I can only assume is a VERY limited and non-profitable fanbase. Lingerie Football is clearly a lot different than the NFL version of the game—just like MMA is very different from boxing. Yes, they’re both fighting sports, but the marketed demographic isn’t necessarily the same. But of course in some cases, being similar in nature, they are.

Stick thin girls with Double-E bra sizes, running around naked? When you hold open try-outs for a brand new sport such as Lingerie Football, you’re obviously going to get your fair share of Hooters waitresses and strip-club bimbos trying out. But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to make the team. Make no mistake, whether these girls come from a football background or not, they are extremely fit athletes. And probably, not unlike in the NFL, they are surprisingly smart as well. In that regard, these women will definitely serve as role-models for young girls. Sound scary? Try opening up any one of those grocery store teen magazines if you want to see the type of anorexic females that are already influencing our youth. Now that’s scary!

I think LFL Chairman and Commissioner, Mitchell S. Mortaza said it best when he stated, “Mark my words, ask 100-percent of the fans leaving the arena, that if within the first three or four plays, that they honestly did not forget what the girls were wearing and ended up watching what amounted to be a really fun and entertaining sporting event. It’s the most unique thing that you’ve got to see in person.”

In other words, the modelling is what initially attracts fans to the sport (not unlike how many MMA promotions such as the UFC and Bellator use ring girls to promote their brands), but it’s the hard-hitting action that keeps them in their seats and coming back for more.

The critics will always exist and they are certainly entitled to believe whatever they want. They don’t have to like it. Heck, they don’t even have to watch it if they don’t want to, but it’s about time that they all started to accept the fact that the LFL is here to stay, and it’s only getting bigger and more popular by the day. And as the LFL grows, the level of legitimate top female athletes who participate in this sport will dramatically improve.

Just give it time.

And finally, here’s another perspective to consider… My own daughter is a Sutherland model out of Toronto and a former high school rugby player. She is beautiful, smart (currently attending College), tough as nails, and a tremendous athlete, which I don’t have to tell you is quite the amazing combination. She has never once expressed an interest in the LFL (not to me anyway) ,but if she did, I fail to see how she would be harming anyone by simply combining all of her passions and skills together into one fun and exciting career.

Then again, these are all just my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others.

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James Ryan @TheSportstender

Lingerie Football Not in Violation of Women’s Rights is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

The talent-rich Niagara Region is officially busting at the seams with many outstanding young athletes. So many in fact, that the Niagara Spears, who as members of the OVFL, and have always been considered to be the elite youth football program in the entire Niagara area, are now sharing this overabundance of talent with another travel youth football organization founded out of Grimsby—the Niagara Storm, who have only been in operation since the 2009 season as a part of the OMFL.

According to Frank Trivieri, co-founder of the Niagara Storm, “Centres like Brampton or Mississauga, with a very large population—they have enough kids where they can have two teams. So they’ll put the better kids in the OVFL program, and the second group of kids in the OMFL. But then you have some of the smaller city centres like us here in Grimsby that don’t have an OVFL program. So yes, in the bigger city centres, the OMFL is considered second tier, but in a stand-alone community such as Grimsby and several others, that’s just not the case.”

Ever since they’ve been established, the Niagara Storm have been working very hard to develop the quality of their programs and to rid themselves of the inherited stigma that exists amongst their League, which is that they are anything but an elite squad of players from throughout the entire Niagara Region, and not just from within the Grimsby area. If anything, they are providing a badly needed service to the Niagara Region, because let’s face it—with so many outstanding players, the Niagara Spears can only recruit and play so many of them. In years past, many players would have been forced to settle for playing house-league football in the NRMFA, but now thanks to Trivieri and his partner, Todd Fryer, young football players in Niagara have a solid and legitimately equal option for travel competition throughout the province of Ontario.

Given the fact that these two teams compete in two entirely different leagues, the Spears and the Storm would never normally find themselves in a situation where they would ever get to play each other, which of course only feeds the many questions from both players and fans alike, over which team is indeed the best. With special thanks to the kind generosity and competitive nature of the entire Niagara Spears organization, that wish is about to come true on May 5 at the new Kiwanis Field in St. Catharines, as the two teams will finally come together in an attempt to settle the long-standing debate, but primarily to come together in an effort to help raise money in a fight against cancer in the process.

“We are nailing down the teams participating this week,” said Niagara Spears President, Mark Fortier. “But it should be a great day for a great cause. We will be donating the gate revenue to the Canadian Cancer Society Niagara, so we are encouraging as many people as possible to come out and attend. Much like a round-robin tournament, every team will end up playing each other at some point, so the Spears and Storm will definitely meet.”

“I’m really happy that the two clubs can come together for an excellent cause,” added Spears JV Head Coach, Brian Duguay.

“Dr. Kamatovic has been working with the Canadian Cancer Society as part of a cancer awareness campaign. As you know, for players that make the team, we have mouthguards made, and this year we were lucky enough to have the two days coincide,” added Fortier. “When we heard that a portion of the money was going to charity, we wanted to help out as much as possible. After discussing it, we came up with the idea to host a jamboree. It’s not only the best way to evaluate your team, but it would also maximize the number of people attending and increase the amount of money that we could raise. The information will be going out to all of the teams attending about the donations at the gate, and they are welcome to come down early and have mouth guards made as well.”

By the sounds of it, the jamboree is going to be a win-win-win situation for everyone involved.

The players and coaches will finally get a chance to face off in a friendly, yet surprisingly competitive and entertaining match-up—human nature at its finest. The money raised will all go towards an amazing cause, which is especially important considering how many families throughout Niagara and beyond are affected by cancer. And the fans of Niagara football will get the opportunity to watch some of the best youth football that has ever taken place or will ever occur within the Niagara Region. You won’t want to miss it, so be sure to bring the whole family for what is expected to be a great day for many of Niagara’s youngest and best athletes.

Entry will be a toonie donation at the gate, but the Spears will also be taking any other donations that people might want to give on that day. Hope to see you all there, and please support our athletes. After all, they are without a doubt the leaders of tomorrow.

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James Ryan @TheSportstender

Read: Niagara Storm Football Predicting Best Season Ever

Niagara Football Settles Debate on May 5 at Charity Jamboree is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”—Benjamin Franklin

Yesterday, it was announced that the Lingerie Football League (LFL) will “go on hiatus until April 2013” in order to transition from the existing fall/winter schedule, into a less conventional but much more sensible, spring/summer schedule.

The significance of this change makes perfect sense when you consider just how football-starved most NFL and CFL fans are in their respective off-seasons. You can only watch so many game repeats and post-season highlights on the NFL Network before you start craving the adrenaline rush of genuine live action.

Am I right?

Football is without a doubt the greatest contact sport on earth and the LFL has done an excellent job in combining the hard-hitting action that everyone loves, with a good ol’ fashioned and tasteful blend of sex appeal. It is this unique combination that gives confidence to the idea that the LFL is finally ready to venture outside of the North American market, and are now ready to make a major impact on the International sports scene—something that no other major football League has ever been able to accomplish with any level of success.

Sorry NFL Europe, but it’s true.

“Since premiering in 2009, LFL United States has drawn incredible success, which has included sell-out crowds, aggressive franchise expansion, and record television ratings, all of which have lead to the LFL being called the ‘fastest- growing sports league in the U.S.’ as per Businessweek,” announced LFL Chairman and Commissioner, Mitchell S. Mortaza. “Despite this success,” he added “we feel that our U.S. franchise can reach greater heights with a shift of our regular season schedule from a fall and winter format to a spring and summer schedule.”

BUSINESSWEEK, Paul Wachter (NOV 2010) – “The Lingerie Football League is a rarity in sports—a women’s professional league that’s actually growing. In comparison to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) or World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), through their first two seasons of operation, the LFL has achieved far more national television viewership, attendance, expansion and overall business prosperity through the same period of time.”

Take that, Dana and Vince!

In the meantime, the League plans on engaging in a full-out promotional tour throughout Australia. This historical premiere of LFL Football will take place on June 2, with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The second and final game of the tour will be held on June 9, at Allphones Arena in Sydney. The LFL All-Fantasy Game Tour will feature 32 of the most athletic and beautiful women across the League, as the Western Conference will battle the Eastern Conference in what will no doubt be the greatest All-Star game in LFL history.

In addition, the League also plans to focus more on the growth and required strategies for commencing LFL Canada (Fall 2012) and LFL Australia (Summer 2013), so stay tuned sports fans, because the Lingerie Football League is about to explode in popularity!

Here is the video from the Australian Press Tour:

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James Ryan @TheSportstender

Lingerie Football League Plans for Global Expansion is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

How many adults out there have ever looked back on the best sporting moments of their childhood and have wished that they could relive some of those memories for one last glorious time? One more shot at victory. One final game changing play. One more chance to go to war with the best friends and teammates that you’re ever going to have.

For many people, football represents that special moment in time, and both Todd Fryer and Frank Trivieri, co-founders of the Niagara Storm Football Club, would love to see more young players taking advantage of this brief window of opportunity, even if only for another year or two.

“A lot of kids aren’t playing that should be,” said Fryer. “They only have so many years left to play and then it’s over. There will be plenty of time for working and the responsibilities of adulthood when they get older. Now is the time when they need to enjoy playing because before you know it, those days will be gone.”

With special thanks to a surprisingly mild winter and an already fantastic spring, both the Junior and the Senior Varsity teams have been practicing outdoors in full equipment, weeks ahead of their normal training schedules.

“We still want more players coming out, and the reason,” explained Fryer, was that “we have good JV numbers and we have better Varsity numbers than we did at this time last year, but we want to get the word out that we’re still looking for players and it’s not too late to come out. It’s just the beginning of April and it feels later because of the good weather, but it’s amazing that we’re outside already. The fields are dry. The grass is grown.”

Fryer truly believes that this is going to be the Storm’s best season ever, and he attributes that belief to one very strong factor; “The quality of our coaching staff this year—it’s unbelievable. If you just look at the JV team for example, almost every single one of those coaches played in the CFL. There aren’t a lot of other programs in Ontario that can say the same thing.”

“We get a lot of feedback from high school coaches who get our kids,” added Trivieri. “About how they can tell the difference between our kids and some of the other kids that have come out of other football programs.”

“And that goes right back to our coaches,” added Fryer. “Give us time. By the time our season starts, I don’t think anybody is going to be able to stop us. I really don’t.”

Kids today are in such a hurry to grow up, that they don’t truly understand or fully appreciate the importance of living in the moment. Perhaps that is something that they should ask their parents about? For more information on joining the Niagara Storm, please visit www.niagarastorm.com. No experience? No worries. That’s what the coaches are for.

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James Ryan @TheSportstender

Niagara Storm Football Predicting Best Season Ever is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”—Albert Einstein

Hamilton Tiger-Cats Offensive Guard, Peter Dyakowski, 27, managed to break all common stereotypes which are typically associated with “big, dumb football players” by recently competing and winning on the CBC television show Canada’s Smartest Person.

Matched up against a high-school science teacher, a physicist, and one of the top poets in Canada (interesting selections), Dyakowski, who himself was a Mechanical Engineering and History student at Louisiana State University before joining the CFL, managed to defeat his competition in a long series of multiple challenges, which tested each contestants’ level of intelligence based on six separate categories (not IQ), ranging from math and logic to visual and spatial to linguistics to interpersonal and musical.

The show, filled with non-traditional systems of intelligence measurement, was out to prove that there’s much more to being smart than what we have all been led to believe, something that I myself was fortunate enough to understand at a very young age, and as such, pushed me in a direction to became more “life experience” focused, and less “learning about life from a textbook” focused.

My Father: Donald George Ryan (February 22, 1946 – January 17, 2000)

One of the greatest aspects to having a school teacher for a father was that he really had a way of putting life into perspective that just made sense.

My father wasn’t always a school teacher however. For the majority of my childhood, he worked as a mechanic on anything and everything ranging from automobiles to locomotives. Once when I was younger, he told me that the reason he had gotten into mechanics in the first place was because it seemed like a career that he felt at the time would have been better suited for his intelligence level—or “lack of intelligence” to be more accurate. Like a lot of other people, my father never did all that well in high school when it came to taking tests. Not surprisingly, what I later learned once I became a teacher myself at Niagara College was that very few people are in fact very good at taking tests (a narrow-minded standard that now seems to be the only pre-requisite for obtaining the best jobs and salaries) and as a result, are left feeling dumb or out of place in both school and society.

It wasn’t until much later in life that my father was presented with the opportunity to become a high school teacher (auto mechanics of course) that he really began to learn about himself and understand that he was a lot smarter than he or anyone had ever been willing to give him credit for being.

He taught me about the Paradox of Learning, which essentially suggested that not all people learn in the exact same way. In fact, there are several different ways in which people learn the best, but unfortunately, most teachers today only teach their students in one way—the way that the teachers personally learn the best, figuring of course that if it works great for them, then it must be the best solution for everyone. This way of thinking however, is grossly incorrect.

In addition, there are multiple types of intelligences that can’t all be measured in the current model of formal education. My father always thought that he was dumb because whenever he tried to read something from a book, he would have a difficult time understanding or even remembering the information. He was definitely the type of person who excelled in “hands-on” activities (thus explaining his interest and ability to do so well with mechanical applications) and by the time he completed his Teacher’s Degree from Queen’s University, he had learned that instead of reading something and then trying to remember it later on, he should just write everything out that he had just read (the parts that he wanted to remember) and then write them out again for a second time. There was just something about the writing process that enabled my father to remember information better.

This was a process that he had figured out for himself, which provided him with the greatest chances at academic success—and it worked. Coincidentally, I also use this exact same practice today for myself, as I found it to be highly effective in terms of my individual learning style. And by the time that I had eventually gone back to school to earn my College Diploma (approximately two years after I had started teaching—true story), I managed to finish my studies with a grade-point average in the very high 90’s. Not bad considering that at that point, I had been out of school for over 17 years.

People learn differently, and unfortunately, are often times judged unfairly because of it.

I once watched a University graduate spend more than 20 minutes trying to put a step ladder together. No joke. It literally took the guy over 20 minutes just to figure out how to put the highest step into the C-groove at the top and then lock it all into place. It was ridiculous.

Was he stupid?

That little piece of paper that he no doubt proudly displayed on his living room wall would have suggested not, but based on the multiple and varying types of intelligences that many of us fail to recognize or even appreciate, I would have to say that in that particular aspect of how his brain functioned and processed information, he definitely wasn’t smart.

My suggestion to anyone reading this who also struggled through high school…

Start taking a serious interest in alternative learning, and figure out which study methods best suit you and your own abilities. I promise it will change your life forever. It certainly changed mine.

Thanks Dad.

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These are my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others. Check them out at www.mrjamesryan.com

Canada’s Smartest Person is a… Football Player? is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

For many, many years, I worked in the Fitness Industry, specifically in the areas of “Beginner” fitness. I loved the idea of taking someone who had essentially been inactive for their entire lives and transforming that person into a healthier and more active (thus happier) person.

One common trend amongst most of these adults however, was that at some point in their lives (usually back in high school), they were permanently turned off of physical activity, almost always due to the fact that they had a coach or a teacher who used exercise as a means to punish the less athletic players or students, essentially because they were unable to keep up or compete against the better athletes in class.

Athletes, so that you know, thrive on discipline and exercise. Non-athletes do not. Therefore, using exercise as a form of punishment can sometimes result in severe and negative implications on the average person, lasting until much later on in their life. But again, that’s with regards to “non-athletes.”

Athletes are a different story. And why as you don’t ever want to push a child too far with exercise (recently, it was reported in the news that a grandmother and a young girl’s step-mother both forced a girl to run as a form of punishment until she finally collapsed and eventually died), getting a young girl who plays basketball to run extra laps around a gymnasium as a means of punishment is not at all uncommon. In fact, it’s to be expected.

What’s tragic about this type of scenario however is when a father disagrees with the coach and decides to exact revenge and retribution against that coach (on his daughter’s behalf) for doing exactly what he’s supposed to be doing—coaching.

Such was the case last Thursday when a father, Shelly Miller, from Michigan City, Indiana, learned of his daughters “punishment” at the hands of assistant basketball coach, Jeffrey Yackus.

According to WSBT, a South Bend-based TV network, Miller “attacked Yackus and punched him in the face. That first punch apparently leveled the assistant coach, knocking him to the ground. Miller then climbed on top of him and repeatedly punched Yackus in the face and head until he was completely unconscious.”

Wow, how very “mixed martial arts” of him.

Miller was later arrested on Class C felony battery charges and was held on $15,000 bond. Apparently, the daughter is no longer welcome at the school and the entire family has now been banished from attending the school parish.

As a youth football coach (and father), I would sometimes worry about using exercise as a form of punishment, mainly because of my prior experiences in the Fitness Industry, but I would often have to remind myself that the players that I was coaching, for the most part, were athletes (or at the very least, they wanted to become one someday), and to a certain extent, you treat athletes differently than you would non-athletes.

Physical exercise, discipline, respect, hard work—these are just a few of the very important values that any coach should be trying to instill into his or her players. Do I imagine that some coaches go too far with how they use exercise? Sure I do. But that’s exactly why it’s a parent’s responsibility to speak with a coach if they disagree with something that they are doing in an attempt to understand the situation and express any concerns that they may have. At the very least, give the coach an opportunity to explain themselves in a calm and rational manner. There may be a method behind their madness.

But what you don’t want to do is lose your temper and assault the coach for simply doing his or her job, whether you agree with how they teach it or not. Because let’s face it—some people just shouldn’t be coaching in the first place, but that doesn’t mean that they deserve to be beaten half way to death.

No doubt, Mr. Miller could have saved himself, his daughter, and his entire family a great deal of embarrassment if he had just tried to use his words instead of his fists.

Chalk this episode up as another tragic day is youth sports.

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These are my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others. Check them out at www.mrjamesryan.com

Angry Father Beats Up His Daughter’s Basketball Coach is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

Having been a youth football coach (both American football and soccer) for many years, I’m used to seeing parents drinking and screaming on the sidelines (sadly, it’s become a very big part of the youth sporting culture in North America and beyond), but nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to witness in the following video.

At a recent indoor youth soccer tournament held in Kornik, Poland for children under the age of 8-years old, fans (parents) at the match lost all common sense and managed to cross the line in a way that I had never before seen at a youth sporting event, as they consumed massive amounts of alcohol (normal), threw what appeared to be ribbons of toilet paper all over the gymnasium floor (leaving the bewildered children to clean it up of course), and lit dozens of road flares and firecrackers inside of the enclosed building (how’s that for a fire hazard?), as they chanted and danced non-stop amidst the toxic smoke and flames. The actions at this game, in my opinion, can only be described as utter chaos.

Luckily, none of the children were injured (minus a little smoke inhalation—you can see some of the children coughing and gasping for air in the video), but needless to say, the game was obviously cancelled. It’s a miracle that this ridiculous display of fandom did not escalate into what could have been a terrible tragedy, much like we’ve seen in recent news.

“Way to go Moms and Dads, you idiots! Not only did you manage to embarrass the hell out of your kids, but your little video is about to go viral all over the Internet, which in case you didn’t know, is a tiny little electronic system that helps to send information around the entire world in a matter of seconds. So now, not only have you embarrassed your kids and yourselves, but you also managed to embarrass your entire country. Idiots!”

It’s bad enough when this sort of thing (or worse) happens almost every day in professional soccer, but seriously…at a kids game?

Alcohol or not, this goes way beyond “Team Pride.” This is about feeling left out.

So what’s it going to take to start getting parents (or fans in general) to start acting more socially responsible at a sporting event, especially around their own kids?

For starters, here’s a little reminder of the Drug and Alcohol Policy from the “Code of Conduct” as written by the Niagara Regional Minor Football Association (NRMFA), which is probably very similar to many other policies that currently exist in other youth sporting organizations:

“The Niagara Regional Minor Football Association enforces a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy with respect to the use of drugs and alcohol by all NRMFA players, coaches, parents, and bench staff. Any player, coach, parent or bench staff member found to be consuming or under the influence of drugs or alcohol during practices or games will be subjected to an automatic one game suspension, or in the case of a parent/ guardian, immediate suspension of rights to attend all team activities until further notice.”

Personally, I don’t know what’s more sad—the fact that these policies need to be created in the first place because quite obviously, parents lack the common sense to know better, or that the parents don’t give a crap and just continue to ignore them anyway? Either way…it’s brutal.

“Hey Mom and Dad, here’s an idea… why don’t you grow up and let your child have a fun and memorable learning experience with friends and teammates that doesn’t include you acting like a complete Jackass.”

Just a thought.

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These are my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others. Check them out at www.mrjamesryan.com

Worst Display of Parenting at a Youth Sporting Event is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan

MARCH 29, 2012:

Recently, a friend of mine asked me an honest question with regards to Will Ribeiro. He asked, “What makes Will a hero? What makes him any more special than anyone else?” Well, that’s not necessarily an easy question to answer. Why does anyone deserve that label? I do acknowledge that it’s a term that definitely gets thrown around way too much these days. With that being said however, I feel quite strongly that it describes someone of Will’s character perfectly, and I also feel that he is quite deserving of that particular title if only because of the way that he continues to inspire those around him by never giving up on himself or on others. Will Ribeiro is an example of life.

he·ro/ˈhi(ə)rō/ : “A man who is admired for courage or noble qualities.”

Will Ribeiro is NOT a hero because he was once a famous athlete down in Brazil.

Will Ribeiro is NOT a hero because he trained on the Olympic boxing team when he was only 16-years old, and still to this day holds numerous Brazilian mixed martial arts and boxing records.

Will Ribeiro is NOT a hero because he survived his motorcycle accident (which my friend was also kind enough to point out that it was as a result of his own “stupidity” for not wearing his helmet). A lot of people survive terrible accidents and end up in situations a thousand times worse than what Will has had to go through. If anything, because of the seriousness of his injuries, some could easily argue that Will is very lucky indeed, and I would agree with them.

Again, not an easy question to answer.

In my opinion, Will is a hero because quite simply, he is an everyday person who never gives up on himself, and he would be the first one to tell you that he is no better than anyone else.

Today, Wladimir (Will’s bother) shared this video of Will walking again. Will has made such amazing progress over the past three years, but especially over the past year now that he is finally getting the physiotherapy treatments that he has needed. Amazing!!! Keep up the great work, Will!

The more that people doubt him, the more he proves them wrong.

Will Ribeiro, hero.

VIDEO OF WILL WALKING WITHOUT ASSISTANCE

TREATMENT OF LAUGHTER

Will Ribeiro Wagner Montes

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My apologies if I unintentionally excluded any of Will Ribeiro’s supporters from this album. If you have a picture of yourself with Will, and you would like for it to be included, please send it to me by email at james@mrjamesryan.com

Thank you once again, and have a great day!

Will Ribeiro Supporters and Updates is my opinion, I have more, visit my website: James Ryan