Visit Sports Feel Good Stories

Back to Review Menu
Back to Web Sites Menu

Reviewed Site: Sports Feel Good Stories

Site Content Area: They have the best summary of their site posted right on the front page, right column, so I thought since they summed it up so well, to go ahead and use their quote, “SportsFeelGoodStories.com showcases inspirational sports stories from the past and present that focus on good deeds, overcoming obstacles, achievement and sportsmanship.”

Site Requirements/Access:

It is a pretty straightforward site without a lot of bells and whistles, but still put together well. Of course there is a little JavaScript as that is the norm for websites now. There are a lot of video links which means that you need to have a video player installed and enabled to play on-line video clips. If you have your pop-up settings turned off, you’ll need to turn them back on since part of the navigation uses a drop-down menu. The only other significant piece to this puzzle is all the images, and there are a lot of them; dial-up would not be fun at all, high-speed internet would be best for viewing this site. Remember to have your settings checked to allow images or the site will be quite ugly and boring.

Overview:

Before you start reading the stories which saturate this site, be sure to have a box of tissue with you! On first glance, it didn’t appear to be that exciting, wasn’t even sure I wanted to write a review for this site, but then I started reading a few of the stories, and to my surprise I was knocked back in my seat with emotional tugs at my heart. Tears streamed down my face as I read the story about the softball player who hit her only home run of her career and torn her ACL; I was touched to hear about how she was able to make it around the bases.

This site contains many stories that you could use in your teaching and coaching to inspire your students and to give them a little background information about that particular sport. It is peppered with current stories, past stories, and stories about current events; one that caught my eye was about a blind basketball player who was the designated free throw shooter-you’ll have to read the story to find out the details. Each of the stories I read was a quick read, nothing overly lengthy. I was pleased to see what an exceptional job they did including both genders as well as those who have physical challenges.

The Look:

The site is set-up in a blog fashion, with columns and boxes of content throughout. There is a two-line navigation system, the top line contains their home page, privacy policy, contact us, sports slogans, quotes, etc., books, and links, which all have drop-down menus. The second line contains the list of sports: baseball, basketball, football, golf, hockey, running, soccer, tennis, other sports (with a drop-down menu with a longer list of sports), favorites, and beyond sports. Each of these links opens to a new page with specific information pertaining to the title. Basically the site contains many stories that you could use in your teaching and coaching to inspire your students and to give them a little background information about that particular sport.

The front page has boxes all over it; the top box on the left contains the featured articles or stories they are promoting; the boxes under this are all the titles from the second line of navigation; then there is a column on the right side with more boxes: Site News, Best Inspirational Sports Stories, Around the Net, Newsletters & Updates, Story Idea submission, Ads, Beyond Sports, Player Certificates & coaching Forms, Inspirational Sport Story Video, Sites 2 See, and Team Slogans.

Features of the Site:

Sports slogans, quotes, etc.: this section has a drop-down menu for you to select which category you are interested in reading and then which sport, along with a section on sports poetry. Many of the quotes and slogans are ones we have heard over and over again, but there are some pretty unique ones as well, so if you’re looking for something inspirational to tell your kids, or trying to find that just right phrase for your t-shirts, then this is a good place to start.

Books: Again with the drop-down menu, where you may choose either the bookstore or the book exerts link. The boo store does carry a dozen or so sports-related DVDs at a reasonable cost, however I was expecting to be able to purchase actual books, so maybe they should change the title to store rather then books…??? The books experts is a fly-out menu only listing four options, so I am wondering why they even have this category or if this is something they are building; none of these four caught my interest, however those of you who are football fans might find “Our Boys” to be of interest.

Baseball, Basketball, Football, Golf, Hockey, Running, Soccer, Tennis: All these headings are self-explanatory and contain stories from that particular arena. They are interspersed with video clips as well.

Other Sports: this heading has another drop-down menu containing boxing, cricket, general, horse racing, ice skating, NASCAR, table tennis, wrestling, swimming, and bowling. When you click on the actual top heading it appears to navigate you to the general sports category and not a front page for that section. Favorites: These stories are the ones chosen by this group as their most favorite story for the time. I found these even more inspirational as they contained bits and pieces of extraordinary sportsmanship, options for the disabled, and true love of the game moments that one could never imagine happening except on the big screen. This is probably my favorite section of their whole site.

Beyond Sports: I wasn’t sure what I was going to find in this section, but clicked on it anyway. What I did find were some pretty funny tidbits, like a squirrel jumping into a picture with a couple who set their camera on the timer; an 88-year old, retired hockey player who is still the mayor of her city, that’s right, I did say HER; but the one story that flipped my heart the most was about the young man who didn’t have anyone to hug him when arriving home at the airport, so he created a free hugs campaign-read the article, it’s worth it.

Site News: this is a little box on the right side which contains what the site thinks is important news, however I found it to be more along the lines of puffing up your chest.

Best Inspirational Stories: this column has a list of the top stories for the moment, and then goes into a list of favorites. It is a quick link type thing, to help guide the reader to specific stories. This may be a useful tool especially if you feel overwhelmed with the amount of content this site contains.

Around the Net: as the title states, these are all stories this site has deemed worthy of their attention and gives you a quick topic sentence and the link to where the story originated. This is also the place where you can Speak Your Mind by completing their form to share a story you read elsewhere or even telling a story of your own. You can also use the Contact Us link to submit a story to them.

Newsletters and Updates: can be found mid-page, in the right column; you can sign-up to receive their newsletter if you’d like to have an automatically generated one sent to your email address as well as following the link to Twitter.

#1 Inspirational Sports Video: a link to the top video pick; no other explanation needed!

Sites 2 See: their version of a links page.

Team Slogans: I found this box to be pretty cool, but you will have to look hard to find it; it is located at the very bottom of the page, in the right-hand corner, one could miss this gem easily if you’re not looking for it. A definite rea

Conclusion:

This site turned out to be much better then anticipated. I was pleasantly surprised by the content, although it does look a tad busy, and feels overwhelming at first glance; it is worth taking a peek. I would suggest you take one of two approaches, either go to the site for a specific sport and only review that section; or plan on spending a few hours traipsing through all the pages and stories. If you don’t take a stand, you will find yourself lost in the site, spending a lot of time there, so know what you are looking for, why you are going to the site, and stick to your plan; it is easy to get sidetracked! Overall, I was happy I spent the time to review the site and would revisit it in future.