THE WORD — #SportsSunday

This past week Olympic gold medalist, Simone Biles, dominated the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.  She walked away with 4 gold medals.  Nothing stops this powerful young woman... "Biles spent the night before qualifying in the hospital dealing with pain from a kidney stone. The stone was too big to pass and she couldn’t take prescription pain medication because of doping regulations, forcing her to simply deal with it. Biles did more than deal with it. She dominated. Just like always. The 21-year-old will head home to Houston with gold medals from the team final, the all-around final, floor and vault...

Nicole Hensley, as a goalie for  the U.S. Women's National Team, represented the U.S. at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games...and brought home the gold! Her path to this point was a bit unconventional but clearly driven by her love for hockey - a game typically not associated with women athletes.  Her skill in the sport began on roller blades and eventually transitioned to the ice and playing with the boys. "At around age 12 is when boys start ‘checking’ – the (very) physical act of disrupting the puck bearer – which created warranted apprehension with her mother, Leslie. The only way Hensley...

January of 2018, Maya Gabeira set the record for the highest wave ridden by a woman.  This wave, at Nazaré, Portugal measured 68 feet high - just over 12 times Gabeira's own height of 5'6.  Maya Gabeira was awarded a Guinness World Record for this record-breaking ride.  The danger in surfing such high waves isn't just in the height of the wave, but also in the bone-crushing strength when it comes down on a surfer.  This was not Gabeira's first time riding the waves of Nazaré, Portugal.  She had previously ridden the waves of this notoriously dangerous deep-water canyon and nearly lost her life.  After months in rehab, training, and getting...

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when we proudly wear our pink ribbons to spread awareness of this annual campaign intended to inform and educate people about the importance of early screening, testing and survival.  Breast cancer affects both men and women, but women are affected at a higher rate. About 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetimes. For those who struggle through breast cancer, life goes on, and thankfully due to such awareness life CAN go on! Kay Yow Preventive Measures 101 honors empowered women in leadership, and this...