Identity and Mission

I had a great experience the past two days. I was able to speak at a National Catholic Educational Association regional meeting for high schools.

Region 9 is comprised of Catholic High Schools from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. It was hosted at Dowling Catholic High School.

Now SportsLeader is very proud to work with all schools whether they be public or private ... but if you're going to be a Catholic school - well go all out. And Dowling Catholic is a school like that. I was impressed to say the very least. The photo of their weight room is a just a taste of the Catholic Identity that envelops the school.

You can really "taste" that everyone and everything about the school has a very specific Identity and Mission about it. This is really how it should be. This is formational for our students. I learned so much from simply walking the halls and listening to a student ambassador explain all these elements with such professionalism.

There were School administrators, athletic directors, development directors and campus ministers from about 23 different high schools and 1 gentleman from Creighton University.

Hopefully a number of these schools will be joining the SportsLeader family soon.

As the President of Dowling Catholic, Dr Jerry Deegan, was bringing me back to the airport he told me a little story that I found inspiring.

A student-athlete was giving a tour of the school one day to some visitors. One of the attendees asked, "Why is that crucifix here in the weight room?"

The student replied, "I love that it is here. When I'm tired of working out, I simply look at Him. If He could be on that cross for me and sacrifice ... then I can sacrifice and finish my workout. That is Sacrifice."

...

Reminder about The Courageous Movie night for your Dads ... the movie opens tomorrow.

There are numerous SportsLeader teams gathering to do this. Please remember to get a group photo.

http://sportsleaderusa.blogspot.com/2011/09/teamschool-event-to-change-lives.html

http://www.courageousthemovie.com/

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Welsh roller derby provides the big smash at the Big Splash!

Roller derby is an action packed, all-female full contact sport played on quad roller skates, and it’s taking South Wales by storm.

As part of Newport’s Big Splash festival, three of South Wales’ leagues are coming together to produce a roller derby extravaganza. Not only will you be able to see three local teams in two fantastic bouts, but you also have the chance to learn more about the sport and meet some of the skaters. Gone are the days of the scripted fighting and staged penalties seen in the 1970s, replaced by feisty, independent women armed with shoulder checks, hip checks and booty blocks!

You’re invited to meet and greet the Tiger Bay Brawlers at Newport Centre from 14:15 on Saturday 8 October to find out more about roller derby and how to get involved. This introductory session will be excellent preparation for the main event; two exhibition bouts starting at 17:00!

For just £7.00 you get to see Cardiff’s very own Tiger Bay Brawlers B Team take on the Swansea City Slayers in the first bout of the day. This will be the debut public interleague bout for both teams and is definitely not to be missed.

The headline bout sees the Tiger Bay Brawlers Travel Team taking on the best of CRoC – Cardiff Roller Collective. The Brawlers have been bouting leagues through the UK since their public debut in January this year whereas this will be the first interleague outing for CRoC who formed at the end of 2010.

To find out more about the teams involved please search for them on Facebook or visit their websites: Tiger Bay Brawlers, CRoC and the Swansea City Slayers.

Tickets for the event are available from www.tigerbaybrawlers.com and priced at £7.00 per person (under 12s go free).

For information about sponsorship opportunities please contact Claire ‘Boba Fettish’ Andrews on sponsorship@tigerbaybrawlers.com

For any media queries or to attend this event in your capacity as a media professional, please contact Laura ‘Lola Coaster’ Joyce on 07776 300342 or via email: PR@tigerbaybrawlers.com

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Red Sox another epic collapse

The Boston Red Sox (4-3) lost to the Baltimore Orioles in a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011, in Baltimore. Boston was eliminated from the playoffs after the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees in extra innings minutes after Boston's loss.

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Burnell looking to bounce back from Munster

Having narrowly lost last weekend, the Blues will be looking to bounce back against Glasgow this Saturday, 6.30pm kick off

The Blues have recorded back to back losses in the RaboDirect PRO12, to Ulster and Munster, but can take encouragement from the fact that they have won their last eight encounters with Scottish opponents in all competitions.

Speaking ahead of the match Cardiff Blues forwards coach Justin Burnell said,

“We have to bounce back from the last two matches.”

“We let ourselves down in Ulster, tactically and maybe a bit on selection, and last Friday we faced Munster.”

“They had physically smashed every team and only conceded one try and maybe our indiscipline lost us the game.”

“We can all moan about disallowed tries and yellow cards but that won’t change things.”

“We conceded 6 kickable kicks, and Keatley, in fairness, stepped up. The contact area was good for us and we turned them over.”

The Blues have won their last three encounters with Glasgow, but the Scotsmen did record a win at Cardiff City Stadium in October 2009. Burnell has confidence in the youngsters that have progressed well so far this season, and is looking to for them to put in a big performance against Glasgow this Saturday.

“We have the utmost trust in the young players we selected against Munster and we think they are repaying us,” added Burnell.

“We have quite exciting athletes coming through now such as Dan Fish, Alex Cuthbert, Lewis Jones and Thomas Young and it’s great to see.”

“The youngsters may have learnt the hard way from the Munster match but with these players, it’s a case of learn from your mistakes and try to do better.”

Tickets for the Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors match are available online at www.cardiffblues.com/tickets or by calling the Ticket Office on 0845 345 1400 starting from £17 for seniors in the unreserved area.

To launch the 2011-2012 Regional Schools Scheme the Blues will be hosting their Regional Schools Day, where schools from across the region can attend the match for free.

• All junior schools within the Blues region are able to request up to 40 complimentary tickets
• All Secondary schools can request up to 80 complimentary tickets
• Extra tickets can be purchased at the discounted schools price- £2 per student ticket

For further information on the scheme please email georgina.hughes@cardiffblues.com

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SWALEC Stadium - 2012 Major Matches

 4 MATCHES, 2 DAYS, 1 VENUE!

2012 MAJOR MATCHES AT THE SWALEC STADIUM

England v South Africa NatWest Series One-Day International (Friday 24^th August, 2012)

Friends Life t20 Finals Day (Saturday 25^th August, 2012)

4MATCHES, 2 DAYS, 1 VENUE!

Next August, the SWALEC Stadium will stage an England v South Africa NatWest Series One-Day International and also the prestigious Friends Life t20 Finals Day on consecutive days.
Glamorgan Cricket Chief Executive, Alan Hamer said:
“We are delighted to be hosting these prestigious matches and look forward to an exciting weekend of cricket at the SWALEC Stadium.
We are working closely with our key stakeholders to finalise our plans to encourage as many spectators as possible to attend both matches and extend their stay in Cardiff. Over recent years, Cardiff has staged several high profile sporting events and no doubt, the City will once again be buzzing as spectators flock to the Capital to watch these showpiece matches.”
Ticket information for both games can be found on www.glamorgancricket.com. Discounts will be offered to Glamorgan members and to those that attend both matches. 

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TRUE SHIT-Sleeping Dolphins

No one believes me when I tell them this, but this shit is true. Dolphins sleep with half their brain. One side shuts down while the other side remains awake. Then, they switch to the other side. During this sleep, they are not very active either remaining at the surface to breath or slowly descending and ascending to get a breath.

It is obvious that dolphins evolved this sleep pattern because they would drown if they slept like humans. It also points to some need for sleep that is indispensable since the sleep thing did not evolve out of them despite being advantageous for survival.

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