Dragonwing Blog
Shout out to your #MVPMom!
She's your biggest fan and so much more:
- driver to and from practices, games, tournaments;
- uniform washer & locator ("Mom, do you know where my lucky Un-Dees are?");
- provider of snacks, water, on-the-run dinners;
- organizer of innumerable forms, registrations, and payments;
- high-five and hug-giver extraordinaire
Thank your Mom with a shout-out on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. Tag @dragonwinggirl and use #MVPMom. Or send us an email about why your Mom rocks. We love photos, too!And stay tuned for our Mother's Day celebrations.
Inspiration & Fun with Girls on the Run
If it were possible to capture the positive energy, strength, and inspiration at the Girls on the Run 5K last weekend, we could fuel the world forever!
The 5K was the culminating event of the year for more than 800 girls who've participated in Girls on the Run this year. Nearly 2,500 runners participated -- girls, volunteer coaches, family members of all ages, and runners from the greater Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill community.
Dragonwing was proud to be one of the event sponsors. As I've said before, we love to partner with other girl-centered organizations and businesses. And GOTR, which shares our mission of empowering girls through sports and an active lifestyle, is a natural partner.
At the post-race Family Festival, we met dozens of girls of all ages -- young, tween, and teen -- who stopped by our table to check out our sports apparel designed just for active girls. Our sports bras and camisole tank tops were very popular, especially now that warmer weather has arrived. And our colorful braided headbands were practically flying off the table!
Our Five Favorite Tween Brands – We Bet They’ll be Yours, Too!
CALZICO
Calzico offers fun and functional fashion that inspires confidence! Their cute and versatile age-appropriate clothing for tweens ages 6-14 includes soft reversible tees, dresses, jackets and skirts, so your favorite girl can be confident and comfy from the classroom to the playground! Calzico’s creations flip, zip, and layer! Their zipskirt (with the removable layer) or the reversible jacket that can be worn four ways mean your favorite tween can create over 20 different looks with just a few pieces. Designing garments with greater versatility, comfort, and function is Calzico’s central focus -- so many ways, she'll have outfits for days! Founder Shannon Tennyson counts on daughter Callie (the “Cal” in Calzico) to review sketches and provide design, fit and style input. Together, they makes sure every item is well-designed enough to last multiple seasons and provide a variety of different looks. To get their amazing 4-in-one jacket or top-selling zipskirt, visit them online at calzico.com. If you’re not ready to buy just yet, sign up for their updates and receive their free Ultimate Travel Packing Checklist for Tweens, free! VISIT CALZICO HERE
Dragonwing girlgear
Ready to find the products that will make your daughter strong beneath it all? From the moment she steps out the door to the high-fives after practice, Dragonwing girl gear lets her know that you’re there to support her, all day long! Dragonwing girlgear founder MaryAnne Gucciardi struggled to find age-appropriate, supportive athletic gear for her daughter. Clothes in the girls’ departments were all fashion-focused and made of lower quality fabrics, not meant for real athletes. Women’s athletic wear didn’t fit and wasn’t age-appropriate. Forced to shop in the boy’s department, everything was ill-fitting. Shopping trips were awkward and sent the subliminal message that being athletic and strong wasn’t feminine. So MaryAnne set out to design her own solution, a line of performance wear designed for pre-teen and teen girls. No wedgies. No slipping straps. A fit that’s snug. But not tight. Made for the sports they play. She calls it girlgear. The result was something even greater, that gives girls the freedom and confidence to focus on the competition, skills, and teamwork of the sports they love, empowering them to play - and be - their best. Dragonwing offers not just the ultimate in sports bras, but camis, compression shorts and leggings with good looks that are only surpassed by their performance… just like your unstoppable daughter! SHOP DRAGONWING HERE
Prep Cosmetics
Great skin starts at an early age! Prep Skincare gives your tween a line of age-appropriate and fun cleansers, moisturizers and more to inspire habits that will protect her skin for a lifetime! There are no cutting edge ingredients in PREP’s formulas because at this age, girls just need good tried and true, safe ingredients that won’t cause them harm as their bodies develop and grow. PREP Cosmetics is on a journey to empower young girls to take care of their skin and their health. She’ll be thankful today to have a beauty routine that is all her own, and even more thankful tomorrow for the positive effects protection from the sun will have on her skin and her confidence. GET THEIR STARTER KIT, HERE. PREP’s Chief Medical Officer, Carole Aponte, MD recommends girls use the starter kit every day to keep their healthy skin clean, fresh and protected. Each order comes with their PREP skincare 101 guide, which teaches girls how and when to use each product.
Sari Bari
While Sari Bari most certainly isn’t limited to items that appeal to tweens (those bed covers are AMAZING!), we love their mission and their promise and it’s a great message to share with our daughters. Their unique products are made in Kolkata, by women exiting the commercial sex trade or who are vulnerable to exploitation or trafficking. The Sari Bari promise doesn’t stop with the job - they firmly believe that’s not where the freedom journey ends. Holistic care is a high value at Sari Bari, which is why they journey with women as partners in their social support needs as they continue to take courageous steps towards restoration and wholeness. Watch their video to see them in action: Ready to check out a unique gift that gives back to the world? Your tween will collect about a million compliments on her Meye Messenger Bag!
Hannah's Shoe Box
Your tween girl’s feet may be as big as yours, but that doesn’t mean women’s shoes are appropriate or even comfortable! Hannah's Shoebox was created after the store's owner, a mother, became frustrated with her challenge to find age-appropriate shoes for her then six-year-old daughter who was wearing a size six shoe at that time. Her daughter's shoe size continued to match her age until she reached age 11. By that time, the challenge to find age-appropriate shoes had become even more difficult. That's when and why Hannah's Shoebox was born. Don’t waste another dime on poorly-made shoes that just don’t meet your daughter’s needs! Hannah’s Shoe Box offer quality shoes in women’s sizes 5-13 that are undeniably cute and age-appropriate for tweens! Every style and occasion is covered, from every day school and uniform shoes to special-occasion, with the boots, wedges and sandals your girl wants. BROWSE THE GREAT STYLES HERE! So, the more you know, the easier this “parenting-a-tween” thing gets, right? Inspire her confidence in all areas of her life – with these great brands and your support, you know she can take on the world! Be sure to share this post with other moms – they’ll thank you later! *Money can buy you lots of great Dragonwing gear, but it can’t buy you love! These opinions are solely our own, based on personal knowledge of the above products. These are not affiliate links, and no promotional fees have been paid. 
This one thing could keep your tween girl in sports
Thanks to Chris Deacon for her excellent journalism in the Sept 6 issue of Today's Parent. Her article follows!
Studies show that girls start quitting sports in the tween years—this solution might surprise you.
Growing up, Juanita Lee ran track and rowed, but her sport of choice was tennis. She played the game from age six until age 14 when— seemingly overnight— her breasts grew from a 32A to 34DD.
The change immediately set her apart from her more petite, flat-chested opponents and made the teenager extremely self-conscious. She hated the sensation of her breasts moving when she ran on the court and how exposed she felt in her scoop-neck tennis dress whose padded cups only accentuated her size. And because breasts move independently of the body, (both up and down and side to side,) Lee also started experiencing breast pain, an issue she was too embarrassed to discuss with her parents. Not long after, Juanita used a sports injury as an excuse to quit tennis altogether and turned her attention to rowing, where breast movement wasn’t an issue, and running, a sport that—while still painful—meant she could wear baggy t-shirts for coverage.
Lee isn’t the only girl whose breast development has affected their participation in sports. In a 2016 survey of more than 2,000 British girls aged 11 to 18, nearly three-quarters said their breasts got in the way of enjoying sports. According to the study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, when girls hit puberty they start pulling out of athletics and skipping gym class to avoid the pain and embarrassment of breasts that are either too big, too small or —the chief complaint—too bouncy.
It turns out there could be an easy fix—a sports bra. While a given for professional female athletes, this undergarment is often omitted from the equipment list of girls’ sports teams. And while jockstraps are offered to boys for protection and to prevent discomfort caused by excessive movement during exercise, sports bras that serve the same purpose for girls have not been a part of the cultural conversation. In fact, only 10 percent of girls surveyed in the British study had worn one.
So how can a parent navigate the tricky terrain of breast development and sports with their tween?
Here are five tips:
Start the conversation early: Your daughter may not need the support of a sports bra yet, but it’s worth tackling the topic early on, before she gets embarrassed about it. If she’s not ready for the discussion in the moment, MaryAnne Gucciardi—whose company, Dragonwing girlgear specializes in performance base-layers such as sports bras and support tops for girls aged 8 to 17, encourages parents to stick with it. “It’s a hard conversation for a parent,” she says, noting that dads in particular, have a hard time with the topic, “but it’s even harder for a child. They don’t know yet what they need. They just know what they’re feeling.”
Be matter of fact: Gucciardi also suggests sticking with the facts when broaching the idea of a sports bra. “You could say something like, “I want you to play your best. I want you to feel comfortable, and have good support to prevent injury and stay healthy and just like boys with a jockstrap for support and to prevent injury, this is what girls wear,’” she says. Explain to you daughter the difference between your average tween bra (which often looks like a sports bra) and the real thing. Most tween bras are made with thin cotton and flimsy straps. A good sports bra, by contrast, has smooth but stretchy fabric that moves as the athlete moves, with straps and a band that stay in place.
Shop it alone: While the odd girl might enjoy looking for a bra with her mom, most don’t, says Gucciardi, so parents should start the process. One idea, she says, is to buy a few different styles of sports bras and support tops and leave them in your daughter’s drawer—while keeping in mind she probably won’t model them for you. “She might have you hand them back and forth until she finds one that she likes,” she says, “Be patient. If you let her control the conversation, then she’ll feel in control of her body.”
Go for fit: Thirteen-year-old Melanie Paulson’s* parents have been helping her shop for sports bras since she started developing breasts in Grade 4, with little success. “I don’t find them very comfortable,” says the avid hockey player, who now shops in the women’s section. But many women’s sport bras are padded which makes breasts look bigger—the last thing most tweens and teens want. And Gucciardi cautions that an improper fit—caused by a bra that’s too big— can lead to back problems. “You could have a bigger bust but a small rib-cage,” she explains, suggesting that parents seek out sports bras that are specifically designed for tweens and teens, and that take this silhouette variation into account so that the fit is precise. Lululemon, Nike and Gucciardi’s brand all carry quality sports bras for this age group. Look for a fit that is snug but not tight with straps that don’t droop or slip. And if you’re buying online, it’s worth taking the time to measure your daughter and refer to the size chart rather than order the size that corresponds to her age. Parents should measure just under the rib cage to get the right fit as opposed to across the chest, and, when the bra is on, be able to fit not more than one finger under the band. The band should be as wide as possible while still being comfortable for your child.
Comfort is key: Gucciardi recommends quality sports bras that use high performance, moisture wicking fabric (that moves the sweat away from the skin) with mesh for coolness and breath-ability. “Girls get super embarrassed when they think they sweat and smell and that people notice it,” she says. Also look for thin, removable pads for coverage and softness. “Nipples showing is another source of embarrassment,” she says. Nipple chafing— especially common with runners— is also an issue. Finally, choose a sports bra that’s seamless and tag-free to prevent irritation. Now that you’ve got a bra for your daughter, can you really expect it to be the difference between giving up sports and staying in the game? For Juanita Lee, now 27, the answer is—absolutely. “I was kind of a shy kid and I never felt comfortable saying, ”oh, my boobs hurt.” she says. In grade 10, Lee got her first sports bra at the suggestion of her female rugby coach, and she played rugby until the end of high school. *Name has been changed.
Protein Bars + Youth Athletes
Protein bars are a staple at youth sports games and tournaments. Individually packaged and promising quick energy, they're often chocked full of ingredients that may or may not provide the best nutrition. Dragonwing Brand Ambassador Abby G. takes a look at these game-day go-to snacks and shares her discoveries.
Pre-Game/Workout
Athletes need a snack that is 75% carbs and 25% protein to provide energy, and repair and build muscle during activity. Check the ingredient list and nutrition label of your favorite snack bar to know if it has the right balance of protein, fats, and sugar. Yes, sugar; it has a bad reputation if it is refined sugar, but not when it comes from natural sources and whole foods such as low-fat milk and dried fruit. The fiber in the fruit causes the sugar to metabolize slower, leaving your athlete feeling fuller and with more energy. Sugar from natural sources does not cause inflammation, an added, important benefit.Erin Palinski-Wade, a registered dietitian, recommends the "rule of 5." Having at least 5 grams of protein, fiber, and unsaturated fat results in a filling pre-game snack choice.
Post-Game/Workout
Post-workout, these nutrients repair muscles, replenish the body's glycogen stores, and prevent muscle soreness. Athletes need to stay hydrated and consume similar healthy food with protein and carbs. Protein bars are a good fit since appetites may be temporarily dulled from a strenuous workout, or other options may be too heavy. Look for choices composed of whole foods. Micro-nutrients and essential fiber provide the body with the nutrients needed to repair muscles and replenish the body's glycogen stores. It also helps prevent muscle soreness.Understand What You're Buying
Often the ingredients lists for bars are long and unrecognizable. After being refined and processed, these ingredients lose many of the nutrients essential to muscle repair. Know the difference between granola bars and protein bars. While granola, purchased or homemade, can be a healthy snack, it may not provide what your young athlete needs during their sports season and workouts. Want to know more? Check out these resources for making smart nutrition choices for your daughter's next workout.- The Complete Guide to Nutrition
- Workout Nutrition Explained
- 7 Nutrition Tips for All Day Sporting Events
- Choose My Plate
Summary
- Forego bars loaded with refined sugar and apply Palinski-Wade's Rule of 5.
- Read labels and choose whole foods over processed or refined ingredients.
- Plan for healthy pre-workout snacks and recovery foods that provide steady energy and recovery nutrients.
Let us know what bars you've found best for pre and post-game, practices, and workouts.
Special Thanks to Abby G. for her research and for compiling great resources we can all use.
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