Brandi’s Response to the Bride

Dear Brittany,

Please excuse the delay in responding to your incredibly humbling, emotionally overwhelming and

Brittany and her fiance (now husband) on the day of their engagement in her Carly Lloyd tank top.

heartfelt email. Both Andy and I were so touched by your words, and to be honest that doesn’t really

envelop or grasp the enormity of it for me because that journey, that day, and that moment was a lifetime in the making. The beauty of it as I sit back and look at it with perspective is that it was done with the deepest amount of respect, love, passion and friendship. When I look at your photo that is exactly what I see. My teammates and I are ever so grateful for your support since you were little. Playing for the national

team was a privilege and I dream of one day giving back to our next generation through coaching one of our now many national teams. I hope that you will continue to be ever present in the stands and sharing your friends’ stories while proudly wearing your USA gear!

I hope to see you at a game soon.

Happy holidays.

Brandi

Play It Forward Project: Interview with Jessy Giordano

I recently got to know an amazing coach and soccer trainer named Jessy Giordano @jgiotraining who works with some very special girls in Northern New Jersey. We are so excited to partner with Jessy and her girls, supporting the teams as they play this summer! Jessy introduced her girls the PlayItForwardProject and says it meshes perfectly with her philosophy of making better people, not just better players.

Soccer Sisters: How did the girls react when you told them about the PIFP?

Jessy Giordano: They loved the idea! Especially my youngers ones. They kept saying “I know what I can
do!” and coming up with different acts of kindness. They kept thinking about it and talking about all kinds of ideas. I think kids like pleasing other people. When we were making the video, they also wanted to take it home and think about it some more and talked to their parents about it and decided it was also something they were going to do at home. I think making and sharing the video is motivating. I’ve seen it even with my older girls. When they see my training videos they tell me it motivates them to do it at home. I think anyone seeing that video will think, “I just want to do something nice for someone today.”

SS: It looks like a lot of fun to make the video, was it?

JG: It was one of the most fun we’ve had making a video! I wanted to have strangers in it so we just approached people and asked if we could open the door, and even one girl helped an older lady with her groceries. I think they learned a lot and it makes them feel empowered to help and not feel weird about it.

SS: Your focus is on technical skills, but also on building players who have strong character. How does PIFP fit in with your philosophy?

JG: I honestly think they play so much better when they are having fun and feel more comfortable together and when they are supporting and motivating themselves and others. My girls come from all over the place, and many who don’t know each other and the only way they are going to play well is when they are having fun. I want to teach them to help each other, not just on the field, but to help even people they don’t know.

SS: What do you think is the best way to Play It Forward for teams, coaches or parents who want to encourage their kids to engage in acts of kindness?

JG: I think talk to your teams about it. I always pick two captains every week, and switch it up and try to get them to step it up. I want them to be good leaders, good teammates, role models, and mostly a good person.

Thanks Jessy!

Follow Jessy here:

www.JgioTraining.com

@JgioTraining

Lola and Indy: Cutest Soccer Sisters Ever

Image: Lola and Indy — My unofficial mascots, writing companions, and cutest Soccer Sisters ever.

Working from home is really, really hard.

It can be so lonely. When I worked at NBC News, I loved bantering with my colleagues, or walking together to get lunch. But here, it’s just me. Sometimes, I use social media to feel connected, but it’s too easy to fall into a trap and end up going down a rabbit hole. I go on Facebook and next thing I know, I’ve spent 20 minutes watching DIY videos on how to use a shoelace.

I can’t afford to waste that time (school pick-up doesn’t wait), so I need to unplug – but that also requires combatting the loneliness in other ways. Luckily, I have the cure sitting right beside me: my mascots, our Frenchie Lola, and a Birman kitty named Indigo.

These two girls are by my side all day long. Literally. Like within 5 feet. Lola snoozes on her blue bed while Indy dozes on the couch’s sunny spot, as cats do.

Sometimes, Indigo decides she needs to sit on my lap, or when she wants to be super helpful, she will attack my computer screen. Lola needs to go out, as dogs do, often firing warning shots in the form of pungent toots. Escaping the fumes is always a good reason to take a little walk and clear the head.

After their many-hour naps (impressive), they wrestle. Some people see the videos I share and think they are fighting. They aren’t. They’re just playing … uh, as sisters do.

Lola is almost 10 years old, but still believes she’s going to get the best of the kitty. I love that she never gives up, but we all know better. Indigo is the boss. I adore that she is 8 fluffy pounds of butt-kicking confidence.

So if you are working from home today and feel a little lonely, or need a small distraction, please enjoy a little love from the Lola and Indy show. I’m off to find them a shoelace.

Image: Indy and Lola eating — Indy and Lola in a peaceful moment.

Cheering for the Girls: The Evolution of a Die-Hard Soccer Dad

Image: Nick Gates and Diron Jebejian — Coaches Across Continents founder Nick Gates (left) and my husband Diron (right) in Armenia.

My husband grew up like most American boys in the 70’s and 80’s – playing basketball and watching football and baseball. Until he met me, he didn’t know anything about soccer at all. He also grew up in a very tight-knit Armenian community in California, and while no question the women were strong, the girls didn’t often participate in tough team sports like soccer. Soccer and soccer girls were new to him.

But over the last 15 years, I’ve proudly watched Diron’s evolving respect for the sport and the girls who play it – and even his attempts at playing himself (although it still pains me to watch him kick the ball with his toe!). If you look at his Facebook feed today, it is populated with nothing but pictures of girls playing soccer, whether it be of his daughter and wife, or pictures shared by the charity he and I help start in Armenia, the Girls of Armenia Leadership Soccer (GOALS). He even recently flew from New York to California to spend an entire weekend promoting GOALS to his friends in Glendale.

Diron loves “soccer chicks,” as he likes to call me and our 13-year-old daughter. The other day we were at one of her games and a player on her team took a ball straight to the face. A full-on drive with a hard ball right in the kisser. Whack! We all held our breath, but the girl just shook it off, said, “I’m fine,” and kept playing. I got a giant poke and all I could hear was – “LOOK AT THAT! LOOK HOW TOUGH SHE IS! WOW!”

A few weeks ago we were invited to an (Armenian) family party, where the men and boys were invited to play in the annual touch football game and the women and girls to cheer on the sidelines. I showed the invitation to our daughter, Lily, who immediately said, “I’m not going to watch, I’m going to play.” They welcomed her totally, and she loved it – only later did we find out she was the first girl ever to play in the game. Her father was so proud.

My daughter Lily (right, in blue) playing with the boys.

When we traveled to Armenia last summer to play for ten days with Coaches Across Continents, an amazing NGO started by a friend of mine from Harvard Soccer, Diron was all in. CAC uses soccer to educate and inspire social change outside the classroom – an interesting and challenging exercise given that it utilizes a sport girls are not encouraged to play to promote equality. Not an easy task. Our son and daughter and I were playing – all of us soccer players. My husband is not, but there he was, out on the field, playing the best he could. His presence, as a man playing with the girls, was vital for the men and women in Armenia to see. Sad as those toe kicks were, they were perfect.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Armenia telling girls that change is possible – that I’ve seen it and lived it here at home. By home, I am usually referencing Title IX and the evolution of girls’ sports in America. But I also mean here inside my home. As it turns out, our biggest fans might just be the partners sitting beside us at the dinner table.

The Results Are in and, Guess What? Kids Want Us to Be Kind

Kids collecting toys to donate to a children’s hospital.

There has never been a more important time to raise kind, caring, and empathetic kids. It’s World Kindness Day today and a perfect occasion to join the Play It Forward Project, the Soccer Sisters social media campaign we launched this year.

The movement’s mission is to share acts of kindness with one another and help inspire others to do the same. Whether it be as simple as staying inside for recess when your buddy breaks his arm, or as grand as collecting toys for sick kids, there are countless ways we can make our communities better by encouraging kids and adults alike to embrace kindness.

Soon after we launched the campaign, my own kids inspired my family to have a regular “kindness check-in” at dinner, something I wrote about in the Washington Post. I was thrilled when the folks at Highlights Magazine reached out recently to tell me they had seen the article and wanted to share their latest issue with me, “The State of Kindness According to Kids.”

One of my favorite lines from their survey is, “We want to help kids understand that thinking about the common good gives us the power to change the world for the better.” In addition, the survey discusses what children want to see in adults – namely more kindness – so no more giving the finger at red lights, people! It also discusses ways in which kindness can be taught: through conversation, leading by example, and honoring noble qualities at home.

I remember Highlights as the magazine for its “Hidden Pictures,” and I loved to see if I could find them all. It’s clear that there is much more to find in this issue so I hope you’ll take a look and share it with your friends and family.

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