By Wendy Plump

No one is asking children to give up their sports. But it’s getting a little crazy out there.

In one generation, sports have gone from child’s play to a proving ground for elite athletes—many of whom haven’t even graduated eighth grade—who commit to strenuous schedules, trainers, travel teams, coaches, aggressive tactics, and year-round seasons that give a young body no quarter for rest and growth. Coaches book flights to cities far beyond their hometowns. Parents shell out thousands of dollars for participation fees. And college recruiters wait eagerly in the background until it’s time to dangle offers that are impossible to resist. more

HIGH INTENSITY: Trish Reilly looks for the ball in action last fall during her freshman season for the Lehigh University field hockey team. Former Princeton High standout Reilly saw time at midfield and defense during the 2016 campaign, receiving the program’s Coaches Award. Reilly, who has been voted as a team captain, is looking to earn a starting role on defense this fall for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh begins its 2017 campaign when it hosts LIU-Brooklyn on August 25. (Photo Courtesy of Lehigh Athletics)

By Bill Alden 

For Trish Reilly, playing college sports was a matter of following family tradition.

Her father, George, played football and competed at track at Brown University, while her mother, Ann, was a field hockey player for the Bears. Reilly’s oldest sister, Meg, played for the Muhlenberg College lacrosse program while older sister Katie was a lacrosse player at Amherst College. more

2017 Youth Athletes (Photo Credit: Special Olympics New Jersey)

By Doug Wallack 

Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ) held its annual summer games last month. June 9th, the night of the opening ceremonies, showed the Garden State summer at its finest; as the sun went down, temperatures hovered at a dry 70 degrees. Nearly 2,500 athletes of all ages had come to that weekend’s games, held on the campus of The College of New Jersey, to participate in seven sports: aquatics, track and field, bocce, powerlifting, softball, tennis, and gymnastics. For some, the New Jersey games would serve as a qualifying event for the Special Olympics USA Games — which will be held in Seattle next summer — but for all, the weekend was an opportunity to push themselves and build friendships. more

By Doug Wallack

The Cherry Valley Cooperative prepares for its first harvest at its new location. (Photo by Rachel Steinhauser)

“You know, the food that we’re eating is just devoid of nutrients, and it’s devoid of flavor,” Lauren Nagy says, perched on a plastic chair in the greenhouse of the Cherry Valley Cooperative. Rows of carrots, Swiss chard, kale, and all manner of other vegetable sit in starter trays stretching to the back of the facility in a patchwork of greens. A barrel-sized bucket of “compost tea” brews, gurgling nearby. Ms. Nagy explains that much of the flavor and aroma of fruits and vegetables is influenced and enriched by soil life. She says that large-scale agricultural producers tend to neglect soil quality, to the detriment of their produce. “People just don’t want to eat it — because it sucks,” she says, “We’re trying to make people like food again.” more