Thank you Athleta for sponsoring this post
I’m pretty sure I’ve shared with you girls before but I played soccer throughout my entire childhood – even competitively through high school. I played several sports growing up, but soccer has always been my main love 😉 and I can’t tell you how excited I am that Ava started playing now too!
I now spend my days chasing the kiddos around and in the gym for fitness, but I think playing sports was a huge backbone to how active I am, even today. I’ve always been a firm believer that staying active as a kid helped me to stay healthy both mentally and physically. It’s also where I learned a LOT of persistence and dedication. Like when I didn’t make varsity freshman year and then worked my butt off during the off-season to come back and make it sophomore year (still a major accomplishment for me!). Which is obviously something I want for my kids, and especially Ava as she’s about to start her second season of soccer herself. She chose to do soccer but yessss I’m so happy she loves the same sport and basically have waited my whole life for this stage! 🙂
I love seeing Ava out there working her little booty off , having fun and starting to understand the game. She’s also starting to get that you just gotta keep going and stay in the game, even if you’re not having a great day – and that hard work eventually pays off . It was such a proud moment seeing her face when she scored her first goal after working on kicks for hours. She’s also forming these little bonds with friends in the league, which is so cool because I’m actually still friends with some girls from soccer back in the day.
So when Athleta Girls asked if I wanted to partner up on their ‘Stay in the Game’ campaign, I jumped. I love what they’re promoting for young girls, and as a mama, it’s exactly what I want to teach my kids. Plus, both Ava and I live in Athleta clothes when we’re being active (and how cute is this pink hoodie and these fun shorts that she picked because they were “girl colors!” ha!) She especially was excited about the thumb holes on her hoodie and the rear zip pocket on her comfy shorts. I love color blocked leggings and the fit of This Pair was perfect. I paired it with This Tank and This Sports Bra (with a super cute strappy back detail). What I love that their products are made from recycled products and have UPF 50+ protection too. Ava already loves being active and has such a sweet grit about her – I hope it’s something that she never loses.
This is SO beyond wonderful, getting to share the love and enjoyment of soccer with your daughter; and good on Athleta for this fabulous campaign! I hate to make any of this about me, but I did want to share this little tidbit: I was a ballerina for 12 years, so obviously that was my main thing; but even during those years and beyond, I always was on sports teams (including soccer!). So fun Xx