The sports have given our family so much over the years. When I actually look back at the 35 years I have been married sports has always been part of our daily lives.
From my college education, to my career as a professional player, to my current career directing
The College Program and Twellman Soccer, sports has always been part of my life.
The same is true for my three kids. From their education to their careers to their love of all sports; sports continues to be part of their lives.
Now our focus has changed to serving our young players.
Our oldest son, Taylor Twellman, former five-time Major League Soccer all-star, was forced to retire from professional soccer in 2010, due to complications from multiple concussions, a type of Traumatic Brain Injury ("TBI"). While suffering five documented concussions throughout his professional playing career, on August 31, 2008, Taylor suffered a concussion that many believe ended his storied career in Major League Soccer (Taylor played in eight more games, scoring five goals for his team, following this injury).
As Taylor later realized, this brain injury was far more than a career-ending injury, rather, it was a life-changing event.
Inspired to make a difference in the world of concussions, Taylor, with the support of the entire family, founded the ThinkTaylor Foundation in 2011, a foundation driven and dedicated to changing the culture in the world of concussions. Yes, the entire family, are all in and are driven to make a difference. Through our website, one of the many aspects of ThinkTaylor Foundation that we offer to our concussion movement, is the opportunity to share their personal story. We want these concussed individuals to understand that we hear them and we C.A.R.E. We need to listen and hear their stories. This is an invisible injury that needs to be listened to. The response to sharing their stories has been overwhelming. Most of these stories are extremely informative and so familiar to Taylor’s journey.
Taylor’s story is an inspirational story. He "lives" this injury every day, and while some days are worse than others, he and all of us believe that he will one day recover. Taylor also believes in the power of education and encouragement; in fact, he wants his foundation to "take the burden off" of everyone involved and to make a positive impact in the lives of those affected. ThinkTaylor believes in helping kids, not scaring kids. As Taylor stated in a recent ThinkTaylor appearance, "I [need] to help myself by helping others... I want to be a voice for the injury."
ThinkTaylor’s positive message, emphasizing C.A.R.E. (CONCUSSION AWARENESS RECOGNITION and EDUCATION [and] putting the health of kids first will create a positive social change and in return, a safer, healthier and smarter environment for our youth.
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