Brandi Chastain Helps Encourage Families to Play
The soccer legend joins the Play for a Change campaign
From the LifeMInute team
Former U.S. Women's National Soccer Team Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion, Brandi Chastain talks about her partnership with Merck's Active Family Project and Play for a Change, how she keeps healthy, what she's up to now and her famous penalty kick.
What are you up to now?
"I have partnered with Merck Consumer Care's Active Family Projects and Play for a Change initiative to help [encourage families to get out and play, have fun, and stay healthy. Since Merck has teamed with US youth soccer and 3.9 million soccer players across this country, I'm totally excited. Go on Facebook.com/
What's in a kit?
"A kit is soccer goals, balls cones, and jerseys. Right now we are at 75 communities and I'd love to jack that up to 125 communities. So do your part. Go to activefamily.com and click on the soccer field and you can see where the soccer fields are located across our country and maybe there is one right near you, you can take your family to. There are other helpful tips for families to stay active like scavenger hunts. These are all easy ways for you to not only impact your family and yourself but the greater community at large."
How do you stay healthy?
"I love to have a balanced plate when I'm eating. You know, I love fruits and vegetables, exercise, good nutrition even some of my favorite little snacks from time to time. Drinking a lot of water and getting a lot of rest. So those are the things that can help me stay on the field and active with my kids every day of the year."
What else are you up to?
"Well right now I'm working with a wonderful author and former collegiate female soccer player, Andrea Montalbano. She has written three books about girls playing soccer and the second book is out now, "Vee Caught Offside." It's a wonderful series about what happens in a team full of girls-- real problems, real solutions, feel good stories, you know how do we challenge our kids in a positive way. It's just a really healthy series for young girls. "
The famous penalty kick?
"The winning penalty kick did influence my life a tremendous amount, I think not only the celebration but the idea that women's sports are here, they're here to stay. There's a lot of young girls out there that want to participate and that for me symbolizes so many different things now then when it first happened and I think now I look back and it's a reminder that we're all in charge of who we want to be and that we should be proud of who we are and we should celebrate when we do good things and whether that means taking off your jersey and whipping it around your head...you got to go for it, you got to feel good and now it resides in a nice frame in my house so I can share it with my friends and family."
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