My Interview With Brandi Chastain!

I am so excited that I was asked to interview Brandi Chastain! Brandi Chastain played for many years on the U.S. National Soccer Team and will be coaching this year's team in Germany.   Brandi is also the new spokesperson for the Holiday Inn Express's new Team Travel Center.  Perfect timing too since Gavin is starting his first soccer season this August!

Here are her enlightening answers to my interview question:

1) My son Gavin, who is close to your own son's age is starting soccer this fall.  Do you have any advice on how to be a supportive parent and not one of those overbearing sideline runners?

• "This is a question I get asked a lot and it is not as easy as you think.  As a parent the best thing we can do is to be supportive, encouraging, to be there, and participate.  Participate and show them why it is healthy.  How to be on a team,  how sometimes you are a leader and sometimes you are a follower.  Listening is also a lifelong lesson.  One of the best things a parent can do is to get out there and do some of the skills with them, that way they can lead by example and can appreciate themselves that sometimes it isn't that easy.  If the parents get involved in a physical way too, they can understand what their kids are going through."

2) Was it hard for you to balance soccer with your homework?  I remember growing up how hard it was to get everything done for school while being involved in an extracurricular activity.

• "There is no doubt that juggling with time management skills is really a wonderful life lesson.  If you have practice at 2:45 and dinner at 6:30, you only have an hour before practice and an hour after practice to do your homework; the guidelines are set and kids are really good at falling in line line with structure.  When I played on the U.S. National Team every single athlete was a college graduate.  If they weren't a graduate they were in the process of graduating while they were on the road.  It is definitely possible and with structure it makes it much easier."

3) Is your son Jaden playing soccer?

• "We play backyard soccer.  He is around soccer so much he feels like he is playing soccer all day.  He said today that he would love to be on a team with his friend Jacob.  I have asked him before if he wants to be on team and he said no that he likes to play with me in the backyard.  I'm not going to rush him into playing, I was older than him when I started to play.

4)  My husband's cousins have three teenagers and they are all involved in sports, they travel all over the country for their games.  The couple splits up and one will go to this game and the other will go somewhere else.  It can get so expensive with all three kids participating on these traveling teams.  Do you have any advice for them and my readers on how to make this a little easier and less expensive?

• The Holiday Inn Express has an excellent website where the coaches and team managers can rotate accommodations and sign up for them all at one time.  You are saving time in making the reservations rather than letting calling many different hotels, which can monopolize your time. I mean who wouldn't wish for more time in their life?  There are many benefits and values you can get at the Holiday Inn Express like a wonderful breakfast in the morning which I had yesterday.  Which is very HEALTHY which I am going to express is very important to me to have kids eat healthy.  I am not up for the sugary breakfasts to get them through the day.  I was really pleased to see what the Holiday Inn Express had to offer their guests.  Most locations have a pool so families can spend time together, a fitness center for people like me if I stay on the sidelines too much I need to get out my energy.  If people go online to http://holidayinnexpress.com/teamtravel you can take care of everything.  It is a wonderful way for parents to maximize their time and minimize their cost."

5)  What are some of the challenges that young athletes face while traveling?

• "The number one thing, which Holiday Inn Express has to offer is healthy food.  It is always a challenge when you have to eat out away from home.  Going to the grocery store is not always an option, so it is important to have healthy options.  It is so easy not to eat healthy when you are on the road.  Playing on the National Team that was always a concern, if we are supposed to be at out best playing against other teams around the world, we needed to have a fuel that is going to benefit us and not inhibit us from doing what we need to do.  Breakfast is the most important meal, so it is very convenient that Holiday Inn Express has that.  You have to eat healthy foods, you have to let your metabolism kick in.   

6)  Any advice for the Moms who are trying to lose weight while on the road?

• "There is real value in being a role model, it is really important to live the healthy lifestyle, not only for yourself but for your kids on the teams as well.  If you eat healthy food and exercise, kids pick up on that, they are very smart.  This is what we do and this is how we take care of ourselves."  

7)  This question is for my husband, he wants to know what it was like to work with Daniel Tosh on the episode of Tosh.0 that you were on.

• "He was a lot of fun, used some off color language to the point of being uncomfortable, but definitely fun.  He said he played soccer until he was twelve, but you couldn't tell.  He moves around like an old man.  But I definitely had a good time. "

What Brandi Chastain ate yesterday:

Breakfast: A pancake with peanut butter and honey rolled around a banana, like a wrap.  With a glass of hot water.  All from the Holiday Inn Express

Lunch: Tomato, avocado, swiss cheese open faced sandwich with a fruit salad.

Dinner: Barbecue chicken and salad.

Thank you Brandi Chastain for answering all of my questions!  It was a lot of fun chatting with you.

I conducted the interview with Brandi Chastain with many purposes including to get information about the Holiday Inn Express, which she is promoting.  I quoted her as close as possible but did summarize on my own in some instances.  So some of the wording might not be exact.  I was not paid for this interview nor have I worked on this campaign before.