USA Women Soccer ohhhh so close...that makes me think of something

Making it in sports is such a long and hard road.  A ton of blood, sweat and tears can go into the making the big time, on a local level, national level and especially on an international level in any sport.  The athletes risk a lot, sacrifice so much, sometimes to only gain a little in return.

Well, the USA women's soccer team, a team of unknowns for the most part, came up huge this year making it to the World Cump Championship game, only to come up just short of their dreams and ultimate goal losing to Japan in a shootout.  While I was watching today's game, the announcers were talking about a few of the women on the team.  You had a 22 year old, fresh out of college, scoring a huge goal and assisting on another.  You had a woman who was 4 inches taller than the tallest Japanese player that made a beautiful header to go up 2-1.

The thing that impressed me most was not the athletic ability on the field of play, but rather that you also had more than one mother playing.  No matter what the sport, I don't think that the athletes that are training at a high level while being a full-time mother are recognized nearly enough.

In my own sport of track and field a few recent mothers comes to mind.  Kara Goucher, an amazing runner , gave birth to her son less than a year ago and just recently got her self back to championship form to qualify for this summers World Championships in the 10k.  Although she will not race at this years World Championships, I still cannot get over her hard work both on the running paths and at home!

Kellyn Johnson, (a friend of mine) who also ran in the US championships in the 5k, gave birth to her baby girl Kylyn just over a year ago, only to be patient and return to form.  From keeping up with her training and talking to her on occasion, I see how hard she worked at her return to running and how loving and hard she works at being a Mother.

So I want to take the time to honor the women that give their ALL in their sport of choice, while starting and watching after a family!