Where’d You Grow Wednesday?

April 18, 2012

I grew in so many ways this week…I can’t write about it as well as I would like.

For those of you who know what I’ve been up to over the last week, you understand that I have been flying on cloud nine…literally.

I had the opportunity to attend the Female ADM (American Development Model) hockey symposium in Burlington, Vermont. The trip afforded me a chance to attend the World Championship for Women’s Hockey.  I learned so much that I could hardly describe my experience in a succinct blog post.  Instead I will highlight some of the biggies.

I LEARNED:

• Flying in a small plane…in the spring…with plenty of turbulance…upsets my body.
• My body…my ENTIRE body…responds to plane upset by sweating…A LOT!
• Burlington has an adorable (and VERY small airport)…Newark, NJ does not.
• Vermont has both water and mountains…but very few people.
• Symposiums are an extremely great place for lifelong learners.
• USA Hockey has their stuff together. Organized, well-run, and staffed with very committed and competent people.
• Head microphones are great for moving about a room, but they are sensitive to breathing. 🙂
• Presenting continues to be a passion of mine.
• I live near one of the best resources for research about girls and women in sports. The U of M Tucker Center does phenomenal things.
• Hockey people are a fun bunch. (I already knew that, but it was further confirmed over the weekend)
• Canada’s Active for Life campaign inspires me.
• Canada and the United States are years ahead of the rest of the world for the development of female hockey players.
• The Canadian and American national teams put on a GREAT show in gold medal competition.

• One of the Canadian captains, Hayley Wickenheiser, is certainly among the best female players to ever play the game, but she is also gracious, kind, and a fantastic representative for women’s hockey.
• The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) is doing some wonderful things to inspire growth of women’s hockey around the world.
• Presenting to a crowd of Olympians and Olympic coaches is a pretty fun deal!
• There is plenty of room for growth in both my presentations and in my body of knowledge.
• I am inspired by inspirational people.
• There are a lot of smart people intent on making sports better for kids!

I hope in the coming weeks, I can better verbalize all the ideas and thoughts that are floating in my head. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity I did, and I am absolutely certain about a couple more things:

1. I am a new fan of elite level women’s hockey and

2. I am motivated to create more fans in the girls who love to play.

I do hope you’ve found a way to grow where you are, and if so, I’d love to hear about it.  Shoot me an email:  choosingtogrow@meaganfrank.com.

 

Happy Growing!

 

Copyright 2012     Meagan Frank                       www.meaganfrank.com          Choosing to Grow