WT – Community Sports

I am not sure where I first heard this statement, but since hearing it, I have reminded myself of it often: “Everything someone does made perfect sense to them.”  Do you know how much easier our day-to-day experiences could be if we remembered this bit of insight every time we were frustrated with a friend, co-worker or loved one? If […]

Players interested in playing American Legion baseball for Wilson Post 13 this summer will have their chance to try out for the team at a workout Saturday morning at Barton College Outdoor Athletic Complex. The workout will begin at 10 a.m. but players are encouraged to arrive early to fill out paperwork. For more information on the tryouts or the […]

Just make the pass.  I had just finished hugging my mom after a slew of emotions hit me one afternoon during a tough week. Sometimes after a hard spell, those of us who are lucky enough to still have our moms around, just need to hug them. (Yes, to those of you with teenagers or pre-teens who do not ever […]

In athletics, we are all too familiar with the ever-changing state of things. You win a game but can celebrate only for a short period because it is time to prepare for the next one. You reach one milestone and immediately chart a course for the next. You are performing at your best and an injury puts you out for […]

The “Parade of Teams” just keeps getting bigger for Wilson City Little League in its 18th season overall as 41 baseball, tee-ball and softball team marched into Southern Bank Stadium to kick off the Opening Night ceremony Friday, April 5. The Parade also included, for the first time, the Wilson City Miracle League team that will grown into several more […]

James Clear, one of my favorite authors, publishes a newsletter every week. In one of his most recent, he talked about splitting problems into two groups — “muddy puddles and leaky ceilings.” He describes as “muddy puddles” problems that are best left alone because the more we mess with a muddy puddle, the muddier it gets. Examples of this would […]

Wilson boxing trainer Leroy Gray hopes the azaleas won’t be the only thing blooming in Wilmington next weekend. Brandon Mendez, a 21-year-old Wilson resident, has been training for most of the past year with Gray at his Hardcore Boxing Gym in Five Points and Gray hopes he’s ready to blossom in his first real test in the ring. The 147-pound […]

If you are a sports fan, how can you not love March? When I was in high school and had to get a knee surgery done, I made sure it happened at the beginning of March so I could at least watch basketball the whole time I was on the couch. This year, in particular, has been really exciting to […]

I am currently reading a book by Steve Magness called, “Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness,” and it has really made me think twice about what it really means to “be tough.”  Magness is a performance scientist who works with Olympic (and other professional) athletes on building resilience. As a young(er) […]

Until I was 22 years old, I really, really despised running. I could not stand when any of my soccer coaches thought it was a good idea (or necessary) to run timed two miles, or run laps around Cavalier (Rotary Park) for warm up. I did not like when Coach Nichols from Elm City Middle made us run two miles […]

Have you ever had a birthday or some other milestone in life and thought, “Wow, I thought my life would look really different when I was this old,” or, “I thought I would feel way more grown up by now (this is usually me)”? If so, then you are familiar with the feelings of questioning and possibly regret that can […]

While it will be determined in July if the third time at the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series is the charm for the Wilson Youth Soccer Association ’06 Girls team, the Explosion sure did play like they were charmed in order to get there. For the first time in its successful history, the Explosion won all three events at […]

This past weekend, my wife and I went to watch the Barton College women’s basketball team play Belmont Abbey at Wilson Gymnasium. While it was not a good result for our Bulldogs, we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.  See, we both played basketball for most of our lives and even though we went on to play different sports in college, […]

On a recent edition of “The Rich Roll Podcast,” there was an interview with Dr. Michael Gervais (a leading expert in human performance psychology), and they discussed his new book, “The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What Other People Think of You.”  In so many ways, this episode summed up one of my deepest beliefs, which is how […]

In 2015, our women’s soccer team at Duke made it to the NCAA championship game, but we did not win (ugh, Penn State); however, that tournament season was one of my favorite athletic periods throughout my career.  We had an average season (we finished 14-6-5) and we managed to pull off a No. 3 seed in the tournament, but anyone […]

When I played sports in my younger years, I remember my coaches telling me to “take a deep breath” whenever we had a moment to talk before a big play. If it was Coach Howard talking to me before big free throws at the end of the game; Varacchi talking to me before an overtime or my coaches at Duke […]

The future for girls and boys soccer across Wilson County is looking bright. Over the past month, three area youth teams have competed in major tournaments, with two winning their respective age brackets. Highlighting the strong play is the Soccer Box Futbol Club 2015 Girls U-9 team, which won the US Youth Futsal 23-24 South Atlantic Regional Championships in Charlotte […]