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Sports Fans!

We love our sports—basketball, football, baseball, tennis, golf, you name it—Americans simply love to compete. And there is a special place in our hearts for our “Cinderella” teams and players who manage to overcome adversity, beat the odds against them, and still find a way to win. It’s really kind of hard to explain why we are willing to sit in freezing temperatures, the pouring rain and the sweltering heat, to root for our favorite teams.  Which brings me to another thing we love about sports—teamwork.  Most of us sports fans get excited when athletes play unselfishly and the team manages to do the impossible because of perfectly executed teamwork. We sports fans call that, “poetry in motion.” I guess our love affair for sports runs deep because sports inspire us to compete, strive for excellence, and understand that even our best attempts don’t always ensure a win.  

In this edition of IMARA Woman Magazine, we take a look at our infatuation with sports by highlighting some of the coaches, players and fans who love the game.  Basketball Coach Dawn Staley was a sports standout before she took over the position as head coach of the Lady Gamecocks Basketball team. But her accolades as a WNBA player and Olympic champion only tell a portion of the reason why she says her career in basketball has been such a rewarding experience. (page10)

Likewise, retired legendary high school and NBA basketball coach George Glymph knew how to build a winning team. But he will quickly tell you that developing his players to become winners in life and productive citizens were just as important. (page12)

Most athletes credit the lessons they learned while playing their sport as valuable lessons for life. That’s probably why parents are willing to endure the financial cost of enrolling their children as young as three years-old in competitive games. But involving your children in sports doesn’t have to bust the family budget. (page16)

So here’s the bottom line. We love our sports whether we are players, coaches or spectators. The games give us a chance to bond, learn and grow, but probably most important, the games give us hope that we, too, can be winners. Let’s play and win together!

Be blessed.

Wendy C. Brawley
Publisher and CEO
wbrawley@imarawoman.com