New Zealand Beats England, Extends Winning Streak to 13 Games

According to a recent article on Bloomberg, New Zealand beat England 30-22 to extend its international rugby winning streak to 13 games.

“Julian Savea touched down twice as the world champion All Blacks outscored England three tries to one at Twickenham Stadium in London. Kieran Read also went over for New Zealand, which is unbeaten since a 38-21 loss to England last December.”

The New Zealand team seems like the team to beat in the rugby world. England lost at home for the first time in seven games.

via Barry Oberholzer http://barryoberholzer.org/new-zealand-beats-england-extends-winning-streak-to-13-games/ 

You are never to young to get into triathlons

I came across a touching yet great article about a family who started a triathlon program named after their son who loved to compete in triathlons at a young age. At only seven years old, Chase was killed in the devastating shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. Before the horrible incident, Chase competed in his first triathlon. It consisted of a 20-yard swim, half-mile ride and third-of-a-mile run.

Since a young age Chase new he wanted to compete in races. At only two years old he completed a 400 yard race. After watching Michael Phelps swim in the olympics, he asked his parents if he could do a race where he can bike, swim and run. Sure enough only 90 minutes from their home was a race where Chase could compete. He won the event for his age group.

Unfortunately Chase would only get to race in that single triathlon. His parents decided to partner with the local YMCA to start a project in his name called the Race4Chase Kid’s Triathlon Program. Kids in the program will train for ”six weeks during the summer in the fundamentals of swimming, racing and bicycling, culminating with a short-course triathlon, where the kids will earn medals.”

via Barry Oberholzer http://barryoberholzer.net/you-are-never-to-young-to-get-into-triathlons/

Get Into Rugby Campaign

The International Rugby Board is taking their sport to a whole new place — literally.

An article posted on IRB.com tells readers that the Board’s “Get Into Rugby” campaign has found a very strong foothold among youth in Africa.

Jean-Luc Barthes, the IRB’s Regional Development Manager for Africa, told reporters that the goal of the program is two fold; first, to introduce Rugby to people and parts of the world who have never played before, and second, to support the building of infrastructures, so that areas can build a system for games, teams, and leagues.

“We want people to try and play rugby everywhere,” Barthes told IRB reporters, “so we began Get Into Rugby as a pilot project last year but now it will become our main project for 2014 because the number of schools involved and countries registering is just going up and up. It has already proved to be a huge success.”

Barthes went on to say that the program has registered 18 different countries, with that number expected to reach as many as 25 by 2014.

The article also states that the IRB will spend just shy of 2 million pounds (roughly $3.2 million) throughout Africa, with a funding cycle through 2016 that will allow nearly 8 million pounds (nearly $13 million) in the region over the next three years. This spending, the author writes, represents a nine percent increase from the previous four year cycle.

One of the programs most successful aspects has been its focus on developing and expanding participation in womens’ and girls’ rugby.

“Get Into Rugby is for both boys and girls,” Barthes told reporters, “although we have implemented specific programs for girls. At Under 11, Under 12 level they can play with the boys but from about 12 years old they need their own section so we are implementing special programs to fill that gap.”

According to the article, participating countries in the Get Into Rugby program thus far include Ivory Coast, Namibia, Senegal, Tunisia, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

With this surge of success, the IRB and Get Into Rugby have proven that they’re here to stay.

via Barry Oberholzer http://barryoberholzer.org/get-into-rugby-campaign/

Getting Physically and Mentally Prepared For a Triathlon

Some people visit Hawaii to lay on a beach and vacation. Others travel to the Pacific Islands to conquer the world… At least, that’s what it feels like to many competitors in the upcoming Ironman World Championships.

An article posted recently in the New York Daily News told the story of Jessica Marino, a 31-year old triathlon competitor from New York, who has dedicated more than a year of her life to training for the October race in Kona, Hawaii.

Marino, who according to the article works full time as a finance professional, told the Daily News she spends at least 25 hours a week training her body for the event.

“It’s tough because there are only so many hours in the day,” Marino admitted to reporters. “I don’t really have a social life. Every minute is taken up working, eating, working out or sleeping.”

Why such a rigorous routine? The race (arguably the most demanding in the world) consists of a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and, as the cherry on top, a 26.2 mile marathon to finish. Despite the daunting figures, Marino has competed in three Ironman Triathlons. This, however, will be her first time racing at the World Championship, the author writes.

The Daily News writes that Marino’s craving for competition dates back to her days as a soccer player at the University of Richmond. When she arrived in New York City in 2005, she got her first glimpse of what the Ironman had to offer.

“I watched the New York City marathon the first year I lived here and I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m on the wrong side of the fence… So I signed up for the next year.”

Marino is one of 20 competitors from New York who qualified for the upcoming event, and, according to the article, she will be racing with roughly 2,000 athletes for the World Championship.

via Barry Oberholzer http://barryoberholzer.net/getting-physically-and-mentally-prepared-for-a-triathlon/

Top 4 Back Pain and Neck Relief Blogs

Barry Oberholzer's New Post

Reblogged from Rashad Trabulsi:

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Back pain and neck relief can be a constant annoyance for many people. I decided to put together a list of the top 4 blogs that address these pertinent issues.

1. Spine-Health (Trusted Information for Back Pain Relief)

Spine-Health is a website that provides a wealth of information regarding back pain relief. They have hundreds and thousands of articles written/reviewed by doctors on back pain, neck pain, among other associated disorders.

Read more… 314 more words

Top 4 Back Pain and Neck Relief Blogs

via WordPress http://barryoberholzer.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/top-4-back-pain-and-neck-relief-blogs/

South Africa Wins Rugby Championship

According to an article in One News, South Africa beat Argentina late to win the rugby championship. It wasn’t until the final 10 minutes thhat South Africa overcame their uncharacteristic play to secure the win. Argentina led for most of the game, but became sloppy and undisciplined in the final 10 minute frame allowing for South Africa to edge back into the game for the win. If Argentina played how they did in the previous game and remained consistent, they would be walking away with a win, but instead they let careless play influence the outcome of the match. The Argentina coach must not be happy after coming so close just to see it all slip away with such little time left in the game. I am happy South Africa got the win of course, but it didn’t seem like it would be a reality with how the came was progressing. If there weren’t the two late penalties this game would most likely be a lot different and South Africa may have been the team hanging their heads in turn.

Sports are great because you never know. Sometimes games seem like they are over, but a turn of events can lead to a team finding new life. That is the beauty of sports and that’s what keeps people glued to all the different sports on the planet. Sports teams are like warriors who are playing on behalf of their community or country. As fans we love to root for them day in and day out hoping they reach the greatest pinnacle, a championship. South Africa claimed their championship and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the team. They didn’t give up and they kept fighting away in a relentless matter.

via Barry Oberholzer http://barryoberholzer.org/south-africa-wins-rugby-championship/

Former Philadelphia Flyer Completes Ironman Competition

I found a recent article that talks about a former Philadelphia Flyer of the NHL and now player development coach who completed an ironman competition. Despite having a pretty big setback resulting from a concussion from falling of his bike, Ian Laperriere finished the event and never looking back. At 39 years old and after a successful professional career in the NHL, it is of no surprise that Ian chose to take his abilities to the ironman circuit. Ian competed in the Ironman North American Championship hosted in Quebec. He finished 124th out of 258 finishers with a time of 12 hour, 11 minutes, and 55 seconds. He competed in the 35-39 division.

Ian was a bit scared that he wouldn’t be able to compete so he sought another opinion from his chiropractor. “I drove [to Montreal] a week before the race to see my chiropractor, who’s been treating me for 20 years. He told me all along that it wasn’t a concussion, it was whiplash with the stress of the event and that’s why I had those headaches. But it was the same feeling. In the back of my mind, I feel like I had a concussion — same headaches, same thing. That’s why I was depressed. My doctor told me all along that I’d be fine and he was right on.”

It is great to see how popular ironman events are becoming. Having professional athletes joining the mix makes it interesting and more fun. Some people say you are never too old to compete in an event and you see a lot of people still churning away in their fifties and so on. A lot of people do it for the lead up and training and the satisfaction that is felt upon finishing. The emotion that is experienced after completing a race is remarkable and for a lot of people it’s what they crave.

via Barry Oberholzer http://barryoberholzer.net/former-philadelphia-flyer-completes-ironman-competition/