Trailblazer: NFL's First Female Coach: Jen Welter

Hello and welcome to the Girls Succeed Blog! Today I'm introducing you to Trailblazing Jan Welter, the first female coach in the National Football League. Welter coached for the Arizona Cardinals after playing 14 seasons of professional football in the Texas Indoor Football League. She also coached the Texas team and has a Ph.D. in Psychology. 

Coach Jen Welter
Sports Ilustrated photo

Dr. Welter is a role model for girls just like the role models in Girls Succeed!

She said, "Why do I put myself out there like this? Well, football has often been referred to as the final frontier for women in sports, so for an NFL team to have brought a woman into the coaching ranks, that speaks volumes. It's an important step for girls and women to see. Being a woman is part of who I am. It's not all of who I am, and I’m not here just because I'm a woman. I'm here as a football coach.'" Click here to read the entire article from Sports Illustrated

Coach Welter just released Play Big: Lessons in Being Limitless from the First Woman to Coach in the NFL, a book that "lays out how she succeeded despite the odds, through force of will and determination, revealing the wisdom Welter gained over countless setbacks and challenges. With vivid wit and candor, Play Big will coach you to do the same--whatever your obstacles might be--while translating Welter's hard-earned advice for cultivating true perseverance and toughness." 


Click here to order from amazon

Spotlight on Sandy Carlson's The Powder Horn of Mackinac Island

Welcome to the Girls Succeed Blog! 

I'm thrilled to share a new book, The Powder Horn of Mackinac Island by Sandy Carlson. (Mackinac is pronounced Mack-i-NAW)
If you like time travel, you'll love this book. Read on to find out more about the story.

The Powder Horn of Mackinac Island by Sandy Carlson
A middle grade time travel

 BACK OF THE BOOK: The Powder Horn of Mackinac Island by Sandy Carlson

Arianna’s family are proud new owners of a souvenir shop on Mackinac Island – the perfect place to make money for her paraplegic brother’s surgery. No motor vehicles are allowed on the island, but there are plenty of horses easily avoided, making the island safe enough for Luc to have mobile freedom in his wheelchair all summer long. When Arianna and Luc accidentally discover that a powder horn that’s been in their family for generations can send them back to 1793, they meet their great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, the person who carved the treasure map on the powder horn. How can the siblings convince their ancestor to let them in on its secrets? After all, they are family. To complicate matters, Luc finds he can walk there, back in the past. He doesn’t want to return to the present where the surgery is uncertain, and a wheelchair may be his life. Arianna must choose between discovering the family treasure and bringing and keeping her brother in the present.

Click here to order the ebook or paperback version.

MY REVIEW: 

My favorite place in the world is Mackinac (pronounced Mack-i-naw) Island. So I especially enjoyed the many beautiful places Ms. Carlson worked into her story. She cleverly included historical info throughout the book and did not write a huge information dump about the island and its history. The premise was believable because the characters were so believable. We follow the well-written feisty 13-year-old gal, Arianna, and her 10 year-old-brother, Luc. Ms. Carlson crafted a very special relationship between the siblings. I truly enjoyed the present time family's angst about establishing a souvenir shop on this tourist destination island and the kids' heart-thumping adventures into the past, I think middle grade children would enjoy it too. I'm not just saying that because I love visiting Mackinac Island or because I won the book in a contest. I believe kids-at-heart would also find this a fun story.

SANDY CARLSON'S AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY FOR KIDS:

Here is a picture of me, Sandy Carlson, in the second grade. In kindergarten, I told people my parents called Sandy because I ate sand. I was disappointed when I found out that wasn’t true.

I wasn’t a fast or good reader, but I loved making up stories and telling them to my siblings, cousins and friends — especially spooky stories inside dark-dark closets.

I became a teacher and learned to love reading. I loved books so much I even became an author! My favorite author is C.S. Lewis because he wrote for both kids and adults, and was very smart. Today I’m part of this world-wide writing organization called SCBWI — the Society for Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators.

I have climbed mountains, swum in oceans, and run down sand dunes. I’ve outrun wildfires, hid in a basement from a tornado, cleaned debris from a hurricane, outwalked the incoming tide at Fundy Bay, and survived our house getting smashed by 100 year old trees. I’ve ridden horses, been on cattle round-ups, avoided stepping on rattlesnakes, was charged by a wild boar, cleaned oil off of turtles from the largest inland oil spill in USA history, and know how to put a worm on a fish hook — although the first time it took me twenty minutes. Generally, I’d rather be outside than inside.

I have one husband (my very own hero) and two grown sons who are really cool, one awesome daughter-in-law, and an amazing grandchild.

We’ve had lots of pets in our various houses, but right now the only “pets” I have are our backyard animals – birds, black squirrels, rabbits, deer, raccoon, and lots of bugs.

What I like best is learning new things…and then sharing them them others, like you.

               (And here’s what I look like today,  showing you where I’m from on the “Michigan Mitt.”)

Click here to connect online with Sandy 

at her website and blog