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While some teams don't get along very well, others can get along maybe a little too well. There are many reasons coaches create a cell phone policy during tournaments and it might be because he or she wants you to interact more with your teammates, or because he wants you to focus on the tournament. Some coaches might use both reasons for instituting a cell phone policy. In the past I have not really ever had a cell phone policy before playing club, but now it plays a big role in my behavior at tournaments.

Making sure you and your teammates stay off your phone can become difficult if someone is attached to their phone. It is important to build chemistry among you and our teammates and in order to do this you must actually interact. Cell phones get in the way of simple discussion and emotions of others. Through texts you can't truly understand how someone is feeling or see the smile on their face. There is something so much better in having a conversation face to face with someone rather than texting them. 

One reason I think having a cell phone policy is a great idea is because it allows for athletes to focus primarily on their games. There aren't any distractions outside of the arena and your mindset is on the game. Even if you talk to your parents it will probably be about how you are playing and they will not mention school or homework.

Another reason I think having a cell phone policy is a good idea is because it forces athletes to interact with their teammates and spend time with them. Yes, you may get tired of each other, but if you are scouting a team together you can discuss how to beat them, if you scout by yourself you might miss things or not have the perspectives of others. Discussing your game plan before warming up can immensely help a team.

 While you might be one of those people who likes to sit in the corner with your face in your phone, you should force yourself to get off it. There are so many things you can be missing out on if your face is stuffed into your phone. The real world exists outside of that tiny little screen and athletes need to realize that phones truly aren't that important. The people around you are.

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ACT

Most athletes that want to play sports in college seem to always focus on their skill level and if they are good enough to make a team. They worry about the facilities, coaches, teammates, ranking, and their playing time. Athletes seem to be blind to the fact, sometimes, that their grades actually matter too. In order to get into college there are some requirements you must meet, no matter how good you are at sports. One of the things that might be necessary is a high ACT score. 

There are many opportunities students have to take the ACT throughout junior and senior year. There is a test date almost every month, or every other month. A student can take the ACT up to as many times as they want, but of course it is going to cost you a lot of money. This is why it is better to just do well on your first or second time taking it.

As it is important to do well on this test, because it will ultimately affect the college you choose, there are many ways you can prepare yourself. The people in charge of the ACT provide students with the option to order a book, or take online practice tests. This will help students see what they need help on and give them an idea of what the test will be like.

Preparing for the ACT can be extremely stressful, and athletes might not always have the time to prepare. This is why many students, like myself, study lightly for the first test to see what they need to work on. If my scores for the math section are low, while the science scores are high, I then know that I need to work on math a lot more than science. This will take some stress of you for the first time, but later on you will really need to dig in if you don't do well the first time. 

 Always remember that it is not always about if you are physically fit for the sports team at your college, but your grades need to be in tact as well. Some people even have to commit to other places simply because their grades weren't good enough for the college's criteria. School is very important and most athletes in college aren’t going to become professionals. You are going to college to get an education and it just so happens you get to play the sport you love as well. Unless you are seriously focused on going pro, focus on the academics.

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Obsessions

Everybody has an obsession, or multiple things that they are obsessed with. You may not think you are obsessed with something because the word “obsessed” seems to be over exaggerated. It’s as simple as something that you do or use all of the time or something you can’t live without. Your obsession can be something you result to whenever you have down time or something you eat every single day or something you do every day. As you are reading this, you are probably trying to think of the things you are obsessed with, for me, it is my cell phone.

A lot of people, especially teenagers, result to their phone whenever they’re bored or whenever they have down time. I know that every time I don’t have something I need to be doing, I pull out my phone. Phones are a great source of entertainment. There are millions, even probably a billion apps on the iTunes App store or the Google Play store. There are apps where you can post things and communicate with other people such as; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr. All of those apps allow you to post “statuses” or pictures and people can “like” or “favorite” them, they can also leave comments too. There are also game apps. Right now the most popular games on the App Store are; Minecraft, Geometry Dash, Heads Up!, and NBA 2K16. There also many apps that fall into various categories.

I’m obsessed with my phone because I spend probably way too much time on it in one day. My battery is always very low when I get home or I even have to charger it while I’m at school. It is very easy to just pull your phone out of your pocket and click on an app and check your social media or play a game quick. I check my social media apps from left to right, starting with Instagram, then Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook, then I check my Email last. I refresh the app and go through the new things and then when I get to stuff I’ve already seen, I move on to the next app. Once I get through all of my apps, if I have time I go back and refresh them in the same order.

I’m sure many teenagers do the same thing and most are probably obsessed with their phones too. You always hear adults complaining that their kids are always on their phones and never have conversations with them because they are too preoccupied. When we’re on our phones though, we are conversing with our friends through our apps!

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The Nerves of a Dancer

There is a feeling of tingly fingers, heavy shoulders and tenseness running through a dancer from the moment they pull up to the performance hall until their name is called to take the stage. It’s a mixed rush of emotions, stress and nerves. A thousand things racing through their mind like counts, time, lunch, floor, hair, judges, all bringing up the nerves of taking the stage. It is a part of involvement with any sport, and it’s natural to be nervous for everyone to watch, judge and support you, but it is when you have begun that it all starts to come together.

Although a dancer may be nervous to dance for family, friends, judges and the unknown, being on stage can give them a sort of comfort, knowing that is where they feel confident. Nerves seem to fade away for that short two to three minutes and all is good and comfortable. Although present the nerves learn to vanish and not take over the spotlight of the stage.

It is hard to overcome nervousness and is a very natural thing for the body to do, especially in a stressed worrisome state. A dancer may be worried about the floor being too sticky or slippery, their stomachs too empty or full, their timing too fast or slow, or their costumes being too tight or too lose. There is so much a dancer is thinking through before taking the stage for a performance and ultimately their nerves will either get to them or they will push back and show confidence in their dancing.

It is vital for a dancer to give themselves time away from over rehearsing, over thinking and over exaggerating and just take some deep breaths to calm down the nerves, stress and worry. If a dancer does not walk onto the stage cool, calm, and confident, the judges will see that and score you accordingly. The best thing you can do as a dancer is to not let the nerves break through and instead focus on the dance at hand.

As a parting piece of advice it is important to know that nerves are a natural feeling after you have been preparing so much time and effort to perfect a dance, however you should not let those nerves over take your dancing and affect you in a negative way. Being nervous should not limit you from doing what you love, stay calm and be confident in yourself and success will surely come.

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Healthy Dieting

An extremely important factor when it comes to being an athlete is maintaining a healthy diet. There are many healthy choices when deciding what you are going to consume for the day. This may include any type of fruit, vegetable, meat, and wheat/grain. Although not everyone likes to follow the rules of the food pyramid, there are many ways to make healthy and delicious choices.

One of my favorite things to make is a smoothie. You can never go wrong with smoothies. There are so many flavors and choices of fruit to choose from. No matter your taste in fruit, there is something for you. Smoothies have the option of blending fruit or vegetables. You can even blend a little of both and the results are delicious! Another thing to add to smoothies is yogurt, juice, or milk. Yogurt is extremely good for your body and can create a more creamy taste. The choice between juice and milk is dependent on your preference. All of these ingredients are healthy and can benefit your body. Another ingredient many athletes choose to add is protein powder. Protein powder is just another way to get your source of protein in for the day, and makes breakfast a lot easier.

Protein powder is something I see handfuls of athletes use. It can be used in smoothies, as I stated, or you can create your own protein shake. I have seen plenty of people with blender bottles at school who simply blend their protein with water and drink it for breakfast. I'm not quite sure about the healthy aspect of the powder, but it is definitely a trend at the moment. This might just be the way you get your protein for the morning. I have heard many things about the benefits of protein powder before working out.

Choosing your meals for the day can become extremely difficult when you are faced with other tempting options. There are many tasty options out there, but some of them are extremely unhealthy and will not benefit your body in any way other than moderation. Sometimes it’s very hard to choose the healthier foods and for some people this is not hard at all. We know no one is going to steer clear of every single unhealthy food, but if you are wanting to make improvements in the gym you must be willing to give up constantly snacking on some of your favorite foods. Being healthier is a very mental things, you have to think about what you want your outcome to be and over power the cravings of all the unhealthy foods.

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Treating Injuries Correctly

Treating injuries are extremely important in succeeding in a sport. If you never treat an injury, you aren't ever going to get better. The injury is just going to be worse the longer you play with it, instead of treating it so it could be stronger. You see tons of NFL and NBA players not treating their injuries properly, due to them wanting to play and not sitting out. This is because they earn their living by playing this sport, so if they sit out due to an injury it could keep them from ever coming back and playing. There are reams of athletes that do this. They should not be doing this, and they should have to pay a cost for doing this.

Now the National Football Association has cracked down on the concussion injury. A collection of players have suffered from this injury and it has become an enormous problem. There are myths saying, "ex NFL players are messed up in the head." This is said, because of the amount of concussions there were. Players never treated these, or told their coaches they had one, because they didn't want to sit out and risk never playing again. They did this, again, to not sit out from the sport they love. A concussion can last as long as two weeks to two months. It all depends on how bad the injury is. Especially this injury is scary and not okay to not treat it. Now the NFL has strict rules on this injury, because of the history with it and how bad it has effected people.

Sprain ankles are very common and they are another huge injury that isn't treated how it should be. In a lot of cases, sprained ankles are worse than broken ankles. Broken ankles are treated with being placed in a boot or cast and are immobilized by not doing any activity on it for a certain amount of weeks. Sprain ankles turn blue and purple and have therapy done to it right away. It is hard for it to heal, because you can't really tell when you are ready to come back. Usually they say you are ready when it doesn't hurt to run on it. The swelling could take months to go down. Most of the times the swelling never goes away. It will always be a little big even after two years after you sprained it.

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Teammates

Every team has teammates they absolutely love or they have no interest in being around them. It is hard having teammates that don't get along. That is something you never want when you are searching for a team to play with. You want to make sure that the girls are people you see yourself hanging with and being friends with forever. When I think of a good teammate, I think of someone that will help me get better, or someone that is going to be in my life and friends with for as long as I live.

Teammates are not just people you say you play a sport with. They should be known as one of your best friends. A good teammate doesn't cheat their way out of things. For example, if you are lifting with another teammate you don't want to skip any lifts or reps. It is kind of like not cheating in school. That doesn't help you or your partner. There are a lot of aspects in being a good teammate. Giving positive and not negative feedback is good. Sometimes the other player likes when another teammate says something like, "hey you should get up faster on that block" or "you almost had it, just more step and you could have gotten it up." A lot of times players like hearing something from another teammate instead of getting yelled at by their coach. Little things like that could help your teammate go a long way. Doing something so little as giving tips doesn't just help them, but puts you in a great spot called a leader. Colleges look for this and want this on their team. That also leads back to my recent blog about getting recruited.

No matter what your job is on the court or field, you have a huge aspect to the team. If you are a bench player that is just as big of a role as the quarter back or point guard or the libero in volleyball. Cheering on the bench could be the determination of what will be the outcome of the game. Maybe the team isn't playing very good and needed a boost, but the bench wasn't cheering loud enough then they lose. Now what if the bench was loud and did everything they could to get the team fired up? Most likely the outcome would have been different. A good teammate cheers on the team no matter what position they are in. They should want the best for all of their team (family).

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National Signing Day at KHS

February 3^rd is national signing day for colligate letter of intents amongst high school students. Here at Kennedy High School we had all the athletes who verbally committed to their colleges during the fall, sign their letters of intent. There was 10 athletes signing to a variety of colleges for different sports. Anna Frerichs and Carly Langhurst signed to Iowa State University for soccer. Linden Runels signed to Carnegie Mellon for soccer and Sydney Hayden signed for soccer as well, to the University of Northern Iowa. All of these girls have played together or against each other’s since they were little girls. Logen Rodriguez signed to the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse for wrestling. This year Logen received his 100^th career win and the year isn’t over yet!

Shaun Beyer had an incredible senior football season this past fall. He is ranked in the top five for tight ends across the nation. He was verbally committed to North Dakota State University early in the season and late November he received an offer for the Iowa Hawkeyes he couldn’t pass up! Along with Beyer, best friend Dalles Jacobus received a preferred Walk-on to the University of Iowa. Jacobus also had a scholarship offer from Iowa for track and field, along with several other schools, but early this week he accepted the Walk-on to Iowa. Beyer and Jacobus will get to play together for another 4 years and also room together in Iowa City!

Another star from the Cougars joining their teammates at the colligate level is Tyler Dralle. He will be attending Coe College for football AND baseball!

Lastly, Cameron Stump signed his letter of intent to Simpson College for golf yesterday, along with Paige Timmerman signing to Luther College for softball.

The class of 2016 is a very talented class. 10 athletes signing from the fall and there will be more signing at the end of the year. This class will make a difference at the collegiate level. These guys are all great athletes and great leaders. Setting by example verbally and by their actions is what they do best.

I can’t wait to watch all of these amazing athletes as they continue their careers and take it to the next level. I know they will all do great things and I can’t wait to see where this new experience takes them. Not very many athletes get the chance to do what they love in college so they are very lucky and I know will only continue to get better.

Good Luck to all!

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Physical Therapy

All athletes should participate in therapy. Therapy strengthens the muscles in a way that can't be done by lifting. Lifting gets muscles big and strong to look bigger. Therapy helps train your muscles and ligaments to land correctly, to cut correctly, run correctly etc. Therapy can help prevent injuries. How a large injury happens is from smaller injuries before the big one happens. A sprained ankle can lead to a broken ankle. Hip pain can lead to back injuries or knee injuries. By going to therapy these large injuries can be prevented.

Therapy is also highly recommended after an injury has occurred. If there is no therapy after an injury than that muscle or ligament will not get stronger. It will stay weak and will not be ready to play a sport again. Therapy is the opposite of a chiropractor. Chiropractors crack the area on the body to adjust it. This works sometimes but by massaging and strengthening will overall be the better route. You want to have your muscles learn the right way to move. This will help your body as you get older too. Your ligaments won't be worn out when you are at an age where it is hard to walk or get up from the couch.

Therapy can be very expensive though, especially if you don’t have great insurance on things like that. If you cannot afford physical therapy, you doctor can give you a list of the same sort of exercises that the therapist will give you, except you will have to do them on your own. This is very hard for some people because they will need to be reminded to do their exercises otherwise they will forget and they won’t get stronger or heal correctly.

Have you ever heard the saying, "A habit will come to you when the repetition is repeated for two weeks"? Now in therapy that saying is adjusted. By repeating an exercise like one legged squats it will take longer than two weeks for your body to naturally bend that way. In therapy, the athlete is training themselves a new way to do things. In knee bending, you have to make sure your knee is trained to bend straight. You don't want your knee going towards the inside. If anything you would rather have the knee bend towards outside of the body. If the knee is constantly bending towards the inside it will more likely end up in a torn ACL or another torn ligament.

Professional athletes and college athletes are participating in therapy, three times a week if not every day. It is strengthening your own body parts in a way that will make you more successful and better at a sport. I would recommend in therapy on your knees, due to more knee injuries occurring recently.

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