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Football Chick This is the fusion of being a fan of football and now at 43, playing professional tackle football with the Dallas Diamonds, 4-time World Champions. We travel together through my journey of being an overweight, suburban wife and mom to a seasoned professional athlete. My goals include encouraging and impacting you to live a clean and active life and to never utter the words, 'I can't'! Latest Posts Archive for January, 2009 Young Talent Takes over the Diamonds WE HAVE A NEW HEAD COACH The Challenge is unusual and difficult: lead 50 women in the male-dominated world of tackle football. Brian Bishop, a 26-year-old, claims he is the man for the job. Bishop, a former wide-receiver for Texas Tech, beat out four other men to take over as Head Coach of the Dallas Diamonds in their effort to win a fifth World Title. Former Diamonds Head Coach Todd Hughes introduced Bishop to women’s professional football just a year ago. He brought in the young coach to work with the receivers. Bishop says he was impressed by the fact women can play the game of football just like men, “ When I first heard about women and football, I thought powder puff, flag football, a bunch of girls who don’t want to touch and don’t want to hit. Boy did my eyes get open! This is not powder puff. This is real, legit, full contact, give all you got football.” Hughes quickly moved Bishop from Receiver’s Coach to Assistant Offensive Coordinator, “Todd recognized I understood the game better than the average Joe and gave me more of a role and showed me the ropes.” That role turned out to be key for the Diamonds who finished undefeated last year (11-0) culminating with their 4^th World Title in five years. In a heated battle against the Chicago Force, the Diamonds won the IWFL Championship in sudden death overtime 35-29. With that Championship experience, Dawn Berndt, Owner of the Diamonds, believes Bishop will bring a new excitement to the team, “It just seemed like a good fit to go with Brian. We have had a lot of changes this season and with those changes he never wavered with his outlook for the Diamonds. I think Brian is going to bring a new energy to the Diamonds.” Coach Hughes agreed, “It is difficult to step down, more than anyone realizes, but I feel confident Brian has the ability to lead the Diamonds in a positive direction.” Bishop is careful about the shoes he is following. This is not a typical situation of a coach being driven out as Hughes is leaving on top, “Hughes is not being replaced, he is retiring. It’s going to be a little easier for me to step in and instill the same goals and attributes he had but yet do it in my own way. I bring a new style or flavor with a more spread open offense.” Along with a more open offense, this young Head Coach describes a 3-pronged approach for leading these women of the gridiron. The first priority is Motivation. He says he learns each players’ style and adjusts to match the individual needs of his athletes. And, Bishop is easy to hear from anywhere on the field. At any given moment, shouts of a job well done are balanced with flavorful criticism when improvement is needed. He believes, however, in enjoying the process, “Having fun is an expectation. I want them to play because they want to not because they have to.” A Family Environment is Bishop’s second prong. He says this team will be established as a family where everyone from the scout team member to the star running back is important, “If you think of one of those Diamond women as your sister rather than just a teammate, then she is going to go out there and prepare, play, and sacrifice a whole lot harder than if she was some average Sally Sue off the street.” So what about when conflict arises among 50 women? Bishop believes a ‘family’ can handle it, “Of course you are going to have conflict. It is inevitable. It either creates division or unity. We have to have unity on the field.” Bishop intends to establish this family environment during the team’s first practice by circling the team up and setting a precedence for dealing with any issues that surface. He wants them spending more time working as a team than expending energy on each other, “All families are going to fight and have differences. When differences are known, then we can come together a whole lot better and deal with differences in a family atmosphere.” The final prong focuses on Skill. Bishop inherits a team with many Veterans retiring and plenty of rookies joining the team. “With the new ones coming in, some of them have never played football before. Some of these women have great talent, but that’s it. It’s raw talent and they don’t understand the difference between offense and defense which is totally understandable.” Bishop intends to go back to the basics and teach the fundamentals of football. He knows the more knowledge of the game these women have the better and easier it will be to transition when it really counts. And, it is that kind of work ethic and drive that earned Bishop All-District and All-State during his high school years at CoppellHigh School. Bishop earned a full-ride scholarship to TylerJunior College where he was a Blue Chip Top 100 JUCO Player. After two years of hard work in Tyler, Bishop landed a preferred walk on spot at Texas Tech. Still, given his small stature, Bishop knew he had to double his effort to compete at the Division 1 Level, “Being a small kid in stature, I worked really hard in the weight room and in practice my red shirt year. It really paid off to get on the field the next year. It instilled in me that hard work will persevere. I saw so much talent just waste away because they had no work ethic whatsoever.” Bishop finished up his college football career with a full scholarship to Texas A&M Commerce. While he revealed that was his worst experience in football, it produced his desire to coach, “I was down on football and burned out. I pulled a hamstring and spent time away from the game. I did not finish football the way I wanted to and that taught me how much I missed it and loved it.” Bishop also gives credit to his Mom with motivating him to coach, “She knew I had the intuition and drive to stay in football and be a coach. She knows I understand the game more than the average person and I look at it more in-depth.” The first test of Bishop’s 3-pronged coaching philosophy comes April 11 when the Diamonds take on their arch rival the Houston Energy. For ticket information, visit www.dallasdiamondsfootball.com . Stay inspired, Kip #45 Posted by Kip Watson, MA, LPC, ACE-CPT on Jan 26, 2009 8:21 PM Comments(0) Report as objectionable Why is this objectionable? (please leave contact info if not a registered user) Submit Please wait... Community Interest Slug Submit E-mail this WHEN 'NO EXCUSES' GOES TO THE MALL To Eat or Not to Eat While at the mall recently, I discovered a major problem with the New Year ‘no excuses’ commitment to get fit and healthy. This problem can be overcome, but it won’t be easy. The struggle consists in the content of food choices. Table after table, I witnessed people young and old consuming thousands of calories of unhealthy food and drink: pizza, fried foods of every kind, colas, hamburgers, cookies, shakes, popcorn, cotton candy, and juices. While not scientific, I would guess that nearly 90% of the food and drinks at the mall are not worth consuming. That’s a problem! Quite honestly, it was hard to watch. I felt sad as I watched overweight kids and their parents inhale food of no nutritive value. It was painful as obese people shoved more calories into their bodies in one sitting than I would in a day. I know the bondage of feeling enslaved to poor food choices and erratic eating behavior. Trust me, freedom from that bondage is amazing and feels great! And, eating clean and moving cures many diseases like diabetes. I just saw this occur with two of the Biggest Loser contestants. They removed nearly all their medications because they are eating clean and working out. Here’s the deal: you can break free from the bondage of destructive eating habits. You can go to the mall or any restaurant and eat healthy. The hard-to-accept reality is the solution does not rest in changing the food at the mall. It rests in changing your motives. First, remember the ‘no excuses’ commitment you made to get healthy and fit. You’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that, right? So, again, are you truly ready? Second, gain the knowledge you need about what kinds of foods and drinks to choose while eating out. There are some great resources out there to help you including www.eatcleandiet.com , www.biggestloserclub.com , www.menshealth.com/eatthis/ , www.thebestlife.com . When I go to the mall, I generally pick grilled chicken sandwiches on wheat bread with no mayo, salads with no dressing, and water. If you need dressing, then get it on the side and dip your fork in it and then take a bite of salad. Salad dressings are notoriously problematic. They are often high in fat and it’s easy to not realize how much you’ve eaten. Before you know it, you’ve racked up enough fat grams for the entire day simply on salad dressing. Finally, continue to work on what you think about food and what motivates your eating habits. When you use discernment and your commitment to ‘no excuses’, then it is possible to eat in a new way in any situation in which you find yourself. That means you can eat healthy at the mall! Nutrition Tip: When you are out at a restaurant and pick steamed vegetables, ask for ‘dry steamed veges’. This will eliminate the butter and oil often put on steamed veges. If you need some flavor, add a touch of salt, seasoning, or even a little parmesan cheese. Fitness Tip: If you find yourself waiting for kids while they are at practice or a club meeting, then use that time to MOVE! Get a trainer for your bike and take it to practice. You can spin during practice. Don’t worry about what you look like…remember your commitment to ‘no excuses’! Motivation Tip: Like myself, view this time of struggle and change as a blessing. Learn all you can as you deal with the strongholds in your life. Food issues often center around self-indulgence and control, anxiety and fear, pleasure and comfort, and pride. What you are learning now will help and encourage others in the future. Keep that hope in mind! Stay inspired, Kip #45 Posted by Kip Watson, MA, LPC, ACE-CPT on Jan 20, 2009 10:38 PM Comments(0) Report as objectionable Why is this objectionable? (please leave contact info if not a registered user) Submit Please wait... Community Interest Slug Submit E-mail this I AM SECOND The great Linebacker from The Ohio State University, James Laurenaitis commented recently that people define you from your last performance. For the Buckeyes, while a very successful football program, they seem defined by their annual loss in January. Two National Champions and defeat this year by the Longhorns. “Big Game Bob” faces this same dilemma. Stoops has lost 5 BCS bowls in a row. No doubt, this is a performance driven world. We earn a wage for our work and grades for studying. Test scores for the SAT often determine what schools we attend. We idolize Champions and Gold Medalists, but average people and those that fail…not so much. These days I can turn on 1310 The Ticket and hear the value of an NFL draft player goes up or down based on his bowl game performance. And, not day goes by when I don’t hear the Jason Garrett’s value has decreased based on the Cowboys offensive performance in 2008. At 15, I remember finally feeling worthy and important after winning my first trophy. So many of my friends and teammates earned trophies long before I did. And, once I had that golden gymnastics statue, I finally thought I mattered. That trophy meant success. It meant I was SOME body…I was first, a Champion! That feeling lasted for little while and then like all Champions, the feeling fades, the value sinks, and the trophy collects dust. And, then I’m back to finding it again…value from some performance. How do we withstand the fact that our performance on any given day achieves or fails what we demand of ourselves or others? How do we not end up on an emotional rollercoaster based on achievement or failure? How do we not depend on looks, roles, and positions in the hierarchy of life to establish our value? The answer lies in identity. My identity and value do not lie in the role of professional football player, wife, Mom, friend, or counselor. The fact is at my age, ‘average’ may be the best I can do at the game of football. Football is a role I have, not my identity. Do I stop giving my best? Stop trying? No. My self-esteem is not something I place in how I perform or what I look like. Both are fleeting. Both change in a given day. My self-value does not go down because I dropped the ball, missed the tackle, the laundry is stacking up, or Christmas is not put up yet. None of those things reveal my identity. During this past year, thanks to Neighborgo, I’ve received recognition for my work. As a result, I've had more opportunities to speak, lead, and teach about healthy living and fitness. While providing the means to reach more people, it also opened the door to more criticism and hate. Does that change my identity or purpose in life or create an emotional roller coaster? If I let it, it does. In the middle of life’s hardest challenges, lies what you are made of and where you place your identity. Success and perfection and the drive to be the best positioned me to make horrible choices in my youth. Through intentional circumstances and struggles, God put me on a path of transformation. God is first. I am second. Visit www.iamsecond.com for more information Stay inspired, Kip #45 Posted by Kip Watson, MA, LPC, ACE-CPT on Jan 13, 2009 10:32 AM Comments(2) Report as objectionable Why is this objectionable? (please leave contact info if not a registered user) Submit Please wait... Community Interest Slug Submit E-mail this

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Kip Watson, MA, LPC, ACE-CPT