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NATIONAL WOMEN'S HEALTH WEEK: MAY 11-17

National Women's Health Week is a national effort by an alliance of organizations to raise awareness about manageable steps women can take to improve their health.

The focus is on the importance of incorporating simple preventative and positive health behaviors into everyday life.

It encourages awareness about key health issues among all women, and especially African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latina, and Native American/Alaska Native women, since recent research has shown there are significant health disparities among these groups compared to white women.

For downloadable health information packets (in English and Spanish) including a list of recommended preventative health screenings by age; health tips for heart disease prevention, breast cancer early detection, osteoporosis, healthy pregnancy, menopause and more, visit: www.4woman.gov/WHW/.

For more women's health information, visit:

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation: www.komen.org
National Women's Health Resource Center: www.healthywomen.org
National Black Women's Health Project: www.blackwomenshealth.org

KATHLEEN'S JOURNAL

Part three in a series, the following is an excerpt of the journal of Kathleen Horton, a woman with a typical list of many competing priorities: job, spouse, children and personal time among them.

With our journal series we bring you the challenges and accomplishments of an average woman: someone who, like all of us, balances a life full of work, play, friends, family and occasional struggle.

We hope you find inspiration in their daily endeavors, and perhaps decide to try something new and challenging yourself!

March 8 - My good friend Nancy is in town. She spent the night; we scarfed down coffee & scones, then threw T.J. in the jogger and hit Shoreline Drive.It was freezing, but invigorating.

We hoofed it down to West Beach, when all of sudden the sun came out in full force. We were sweating buckets by the time we reached our cars. We enjoyed our walk and our talk.

Eric and I walked to our dinner date at a sushi restaurant. It felt great to walk home in the early evening.

March 9 - Boy, who would have thought that a cold was lurking in my head yesterday. Now I can't stop blowing my nose and sneezing. I feel awful!

March 16 - I'm still under the weather with the residual cough. Anytime I walk the dogs, chase the kids, or drink a cold beverage I'm coughing like I have tuberculosis.

I'm more than ready to be finished with this cold. I appreciate my regular good health even more.

March 23 - Cough finally dissipating so shorter walks and one little bike ride. I'm anxious to get moving again.

March 30 - For the first time in almost three years, I stayed home alone while Eric took the kids away for the weekend. I had grandiose plans to wake up early Sunday to go surfing, a bike ride and take the dogs for a nice long beach walk.

Well, I ended up staying up late watching rented movies and sewing, so thank goodness there weren't any early waves to catch.

Also, it was very hot, so I held off on the dog beach walk and kept it to an easy loop around the neighborhood, but I did do the bike ride - felt like a teenager again!

March 31 - I am so jazzed! I went outrigger canoe paddling tonight for the first time in four years. Surprisingly there were about five of us old timers who just came out that night for the heck of it. Not everyone is in as good shape as ten years ago, due to careers and families, but we all had big smiles when we hit the beach.

Seems like it might be possible to just work out and not do all the races throughout the summer. Perhaps I can paddle two or three times a week. That would be a dream come true. We'll see how the logistics work out.

April 5 - A beautiful early morning paddle - nice water, good boats, everyone feeling great. Our steersperson suddenly gasped - a whale had breached about 50 yards away from us just before Leadbetter Point.

April 6 - Rode T.J. on the bike while Madeline rode her bike. Fun to see how her biking has improved since summer. Of course her incentive was to reach the bakery for a doughnut.

April 9 - Third time out paddling. The 5:30 pm practices are usually breezy; tonight was not an exception. Forgot how cold the ocean is when it slaps you unexpectedly.

Wet Wednesday was also going on - sailboats had their sails unfurled. We had to stop once to stay out of their way.

April 12 - Today was my fourth time out paddling. I'm so excited to be on the water again.

We did a nice workout down to Summerland and back. Saw a dolphin and enjoyed a large group of sea lions out by the one mile buoy. We had four boats of women, novices mixed with open.

It worked out well; boats were fairly even. I need to focus more on my paddling technique.

I tend to rush in many areas of my life so this is good mental exercise also.

COACHES OFFER VALUABLE LESSONS FOR GIRLS TO USE ON AND OFF THE FIELD

Choose the most correct answer.
A. Coaching a girls' sports team = teaching athletic techniques.
B. Coaching a girls' sports team = teaching training methods.
C. Coaching a girls' sports team = teaching team strategy.
D. Coaching a girls' sports team = teaching life lessons.

Most high school and college coaches started out as young athletes, eventually volunteering to coach youth teams before entering the coaching field as trained professionals. Many coaches carry with them the lessons learned from their early sports participation and observation. So would all coaches choose answer "D" from the list above?

Studies conducted by the National High School Coaches Association show that many coaches are finally getting the message Ñ that is, beyond teaching athletic skills, coaching is most importantly about teaching life lessons. Looking at the national sports media today, that might be hard to believe. Widespread attention is given to top-ranked programs with long winning streaks, featuring conflicts between mercurial coaches and tempestuous players.

But the majority of coaches are toiling every day in AYSO soccer programs, volunteering to coach youth softball teams, or being paid a marginal amount to lead high school track & field teams. Thousands of young people are influenced by these coaches on a daily basis, and more specifically, thousands of girls and women.

Research from the Wellesley Centers for Women demonstrates that female athletes respond most positively to coaching techniques that are based on learning life lessons first, before learning athletic skills. This approach is exemplified by a coach for a high school girl's soccer team in the Santa Barbara area.

Girls on this soccer team are required to memorize the Sweet Sixteen, a set of rules or ideals for the group.

One of the team members stated: "At first, I thought of this task as meaningless because I wanted to play soccer, not memorize. But now I realize that these rules have had a big impact on the way I live. Number 12 states: 'Motivate yourself and others' - and I have found that in life, it is easier to work with others if everyone is motivated. Number 13 is: 'Know the definition of integrity and live it'- and I have learned that being honest helps me work with others because it builds trust."

Rules that society emphasizes for girls in everyday life such as "share", "be polite", etc. often seem to be at odds with the goal stressed by some coaches - "win, win, win".

It is up to well-trained and caring coaches to understand how to combine the influence of socialization factors on girls with the tenets for developing successful teams. Many high school girls' coaches in our area are finding success by focusing on ideals such as persistence, tenacity, communication, integrity, and yes, fun.

As a support for coaches, the Women's Sports Foundation provides a list called Ten Tips for Coaching Girls Sports. This includes: "Encourage girls to get dirty," "Be mindful of social dynamics," and "Respect each players' contribution." The Foundation reminds coaches that they occupy a unique teaching position in the lives of girls and young women.

"The average soccer player has control of the ball for one and a half minutes out of ninety," writes a local female high school athlete.

"This has taught me to be on my toes in life, because when my small chances come along I want to be prepared. . . When the final whistle blows, you should look back and ask yourself if you left everything on the field. If the answer is yes, you can be proud."

By Colette Hadley, Board Member

CELEBRATE VOLUNTEERS - THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA

In honor of National Volunteer Week, April 27-May 3, Body Electric wishes to acknowledge the hard working, dedicated volunteers that keep our organization running. Body Electric's volunteers are enthusiastic, motivated and passionate about our mission, and we couldn't do what we do without them!

Our Board:

Deana Blackwood
Colette Hadley
Julie Harris
Jana Johnston
Erin Kelley
Pam Tanase

Our Volunteers:

Kira Anthofer
Kristin Avery
Nicole Champion
Betsy Crowfoot
Judy Delkeskamp
Stephanie Durfor
Ellen Durham
Diane Galt
Jennifer Griffin
Judy Hawkins
Jennifer Holland
Kathleen Horton
Kali
Karen Kistler
Brett Larsen
Christine Casey Logsdon
Dawn Luke
Toni Mantych
Bridget Meaney
Jody Nelson
Sandy O'Meara
Kim Reese
Mary Ross
Whitney Scott
Lisa Valdez
Nancy Zastrow