As to why Alicia is making her comeback to competition now, she is quoted as saying:

“I didn’t have the performance of a lifetime at the Olympics, and I know I’m a better competitor than that,” Sacramone said. “I want to show everybody the true athlete I am so I can finish my career on a better note.”

Personally, I am cheering for Alicia and really do hope she has a good meet this weekend and qualifies to nationals. And I am really looking forward to seeing her sky high vaults again (and I am sure US Team Coordinator, Marta Karolyi is too!)

The key to avoiding heat exhaustion is to stay properly hydrated. Preparation for maintaining proper hydration should begin the day before. If you know that the temperature outside will be extreme, start increasing the amount of water that you drink the night before to be sure that you have adequate water in your body when you start your round. During the course of play, you can lose up to two litres of water per hour if you are sweating a lot. Plan to replenish the water in your body with two to three cups of water per hour, which translates into roughly one eight ounce bottle of water per hour of play. If you prefer to drink cold water, place the bottles in the refrigerator the night before and put them in a cooler with ice packs for the next day.

Another easy thing you can do to keep cool is to place some wet towels in with the bottled water that you have surrounded with ice packs. The towels will stay moist and cool inside the cooler, providing you with a quick source of relief from the heat during your round. Placing a cold, wet towel around your neck between holes will help to cool your body down.

You can also beat the summer heat by dressing for the weather. You should wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothes that will reflect the heat of the sun. Many golf apparel manufacturers also have clothing lines that use fabrics that have moisture wicking properties. These shirts and blouses will soak up your sweat, leaving you dry and able to swing freely without your clothes sticking to you. Some fabrics even have UV protection that can help to prevent sunburn. You should also wear a hat to keep your scalp from burning in the sun. Wide brimmed hats are best since they can also help to protect your ears and neck from the sun’s rays. Speaking of the sun, you should apply sunscreen with at least an SPF of 20 before your round begins and when making the turn at the 9th hole.

Finally, the best way to stay cool in the heat is to avoid it all together. When planning your tee times, try to select times that are before 10 AM or after 5 PM. You’ll avoid the hottest time of the day, between noon and 4 PM, when the sun is at its maximum intensity.

Guest post by Sandy, a freelance writer who in her spare time loves to golf, play tennis and exercise.  Check out Lija Style for top quality clothing designed for active women.

Congratulations to Paula Creamer for her first US Women’s Open win today at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, PA. Paula Creamer won by four shots over South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi in her first major tournament following surgery on her thumb.

For more on Paula and her win today:

• Pink Panther… Paula
• Creamer grabs 4-shot win at Oakmont
• Creamer takes momentum into final round

This week Oakland native and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Leon Powe helped surprise Ashton Purvis of Oakland, CA with the 2009-10 Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award.  Leon surprised Ashton with great news at the East Oakland Youth Development Center, where Ashton was guest-teaching the Pathway to College class. Leon earned Gatorade California Boys Basketball Player of the Year himself honors in 2002-03.

Ashton, a 5-foot-8 senior sprinter, won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.17 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 22.90 at the California Interscholastic Federation state championship meet this spring, leading the Mustangs to a fifth-place finish as a team. Her 200-meter time ranks as the nation’s No. 1 clocking among prep competitors in 2010, while her 100-meter time ranked No. 2. Ashton’s season-best 100 ranks sixth in prep history and only eight prep girls have ever run a faster 200.

In celebration of the larger 25th anniversary, Gatorade is hosting an online poll, which will allow you to decide the greatest girls track & field athlete of all time. You can cast your vote for your favorite athlete of all-time once per day at http://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/25th/vote/.

My thoughts:

No – cheerleading should not be considered a competitive sport for Title IX purposes. Even though cheerleaders are performing more and more athletic moves, train like athletes and now have more competitive opportunities within their “sport”, the primary role of cheerleading at the high school and college level has traditionally been to cheer on and support the school’s athletic teams.

If competitive cheer is going to evolve into a “sport” of its own that basically combines the elements of dance, gymnastics and acrobatics, then they need to give it a new name. And there is a trend to that – it’s called Stunt and Tumble. And even if it develops into a new sport, should a “new” sport replace a well establish sport in a college sport line up? I don’t think so. Even Cheerleading expert Jeff Webb agrees that cheerleading should not be considered a competitive sport for Title IX purposes.

So, what are your thoughts? Competitive sport or NOT?

This is the first week of morning practices at gymnastics for the summer and rather than taking the time to eat breakfast, pack a snack or make her lunch … like her Mother (that’s me) asked her to, my daughter (who is almost 12) decided to take her time getting ready, fix her hair, and turned her nose up at the breakfast selections I had for her. I made a whole batch of cranberry orange muffins this morning – which two of my three kids gladly ate – but, no, she did not like them. She also decided the banana she was offered would not work either.  She passed on the eggs, too.

So around 10 a.m. – one hour into her 3 hour gymnastics workout, she tells me she is feeling tired, weak and sick to her stomach (I coach at the same gym, but don’t coach her). Hmmm, maybe you should have had some of that breakfast. I offered her some of my pasta salad that I had packed. Nope, not interested. A teammate shared some pretzels and grapes with her and she came and got some money to get an energy drink, and then she perked up.

The moral of this story – picky eater or not, it is absolutely critical to fuel your body for the sports you do – especially if you have a long, morning work out!

As a parent it is can be difficult to make sure your athlete is getting everything they need and is properly fueled – and picky eaters don’t help matters any. After practice we had a little discussion and talked about the foods she likes and doesn’t and decided that planning her pre-practice meals ahead of time might help prevent this from happening again.

Sports Nutrition Resources:

• USA Swimming has a fantastic sports nutrition resource center on its website
• Feeding your child athlete
• American Youth Soccer Athlete Nutrition Notes
• The Athlete’s Plate: Real Food for High Performance
• Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook

Don’t forget to hydrate, too! While water is the best for hydrating your athlete, there are times when sports drink (recipes to make your own sports drink) does come in handy – for extra calories, a quick burst of energy during a long work out, and for picky athletes. I do like the new lower sugar options – like Powerade Play (which we recently had the opportunity to review) – the flavor is light, not too sweet and the extra electrolytes and calories do come in handy for long practices, outdoor practices and games.

Annika Sorenstam: Considered one of the best female golfers of all time, Sorenstam wowed her competitors for 15 years before retiring at the end of the 2008 season. An athletic child, she began participating in golf at the age of twelve. She was talented from the beginning, and quickly gained steam. She turned pro in 1993 and began her climb as one of the most successful career golfers of all time. Between 2001 and 2005, she was the money leader, low scorer, and Player of the Year each year. Injuries and fatigue eventually took over and her success dropped off respectably. (photo: wiki)

Michelle Wie: Currently one of the hottest commodities on the golf course, Michelle Wie has set many records in her young career. Wie began playing golf at age four, became the youngest player to qualify for the USGA amateur championship at ten, and set a record as the youngest player to play her way into an LPGA event at twelve years and four months. At age 15, Wie turned professional and signed contracts with Nike and Sony worth more than $10 million a year. Due to her early success, she has often been criticized for an overly confident and almost cocky attitude. Wie has become not only a famous and respected golfer, but also one of the most popular and attractive female athletes of our time. Her style of ladies golf apparel has been somewhat controversial since the age of 14, but that is also an indication of the changes happening in ladies golf clothing in general.

Lorena Ochoa: Ochoa had one of the earliest starts for a golfer; she began golfing at age 5, won her first local event at age 6, and won her first national event at age 7. As a precocious eleven-year-old, she approached professional golfer, Rafael Alarcon, and asked him to help her with her game because she wanted to be the best player in the world. Starting at a young age seems to have paid off for Ochoa, and in 2003 she was presented with the Nancy Lopez Award, which is given to the world’s most outstanding female amateur golfer. Contrary to the disposition of most young athletes and stars, Ochoa has a reputation for being one of the most genuinely nice and humble people you could ever meet. (Photo: LorenaOchoa.com)

Nancy Lopez: The only woman to win the Vare Trophy, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season, Nancy Lopez is considered one of the best women golfers of all time. She began golfing at age 8, and won nine tournaments in her first full season at age 21. She has her own retail company, Nancy Lopez Golf, which produces ladies golf accessories and clubs.

Thanks to Amanda from Tracey Lynn Golf for this guest post!

When the super cute lime green golf clubs arrived I thought my daughter was going to bust – she was so excited! She immediately wanted to head out to the back yard with a bucket of foam practice golf balls and get started.  You can see her brother trying to give her pointers in the picture – it was a pretty cool sibling “moment” actually.

I am really excited about my kids getting into golf – it is a sport they can play for life and we can easily incorporate it into family outings and vacations from here on out. Camp isn’t until the end of July, but I have already had a request to head over to the driving range this week – should be fun! And of course, now she is looking at all the cute girls golf gear and adding it to her birthday list.

How to use the summer camp packing list:

• Print out the Summer Camp Packing List from the PDF files below – one is gymnastics specific and the other is for any sport
  • Gymnastics Summer Camp Packing List
  • Sports Summer Camp Packing List
• Slip the printed packing list into a plastic notebook sleeve or laminate it
• Check off items as they are packed with a dry erase marker
• Wipe off once everything is packed and pack in your camper’s luggage so she can use the list to re-pack her stuff on the last day of camp

Feel free to print out as many copies of the list as you like and share the list with your friends. All I ask is that if you post the list online (whether it be on your club or camp website, Facebook, or a forum), you link back to SportsGirlsPlay.com for the actual file download.

Your athlete might also enjoy our matching printable training journal to keep track of her workouts, whether she is at camp or just to keep track of her summer improvements.

Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike

Whether you are a prospective college gymnast or other prospective college athlete in another sport, these videos will help you start getting organized, give you some insight into the college athletics experience and let you know what coaches are looking for.