Rebounding, children on the pitch, a time management app and a lifesaving wedding for recovery from COVID-19

HOUSTON - Vanessa Price is a native Houstonian and Rice University soccer alum, She began her career working in Engineering, Oil & Gas Consulting, Enterprise Risk Management, Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship for various companies across the United States. As a former soccer player, she then decided to merge her business experience with her love for soccer and join B-Elite Soccer Academy as the Vice President and Co-Owner of the Colorado and Florida locations. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, B-Elite was ready to shut down its Houston locations. Price took this opportunity to buy them out and rebrand to create Força SC.  

Her love of the game is obvious as she explains the Forca Soccer Club philosophy, " We love the bonding aspect of soccer. We teach Spanish style soccer, soccer from Barcelona, and it's very possession-based so it's not individual play. Generally speaking, we teach you how to make decisions, how to be able to connect with your teammates and so that as much as it is soccer it's also  'hey we're looking out for each other,' having kind of this sense of community. This value of watching each other's back, bonding and meeting new friends and,  we try to do this all in a safe way like you know, discouraging high fives, you know, but, you know, that's okay you can still say 'Good job', you can still work, together play together."

The club is working hard to protect players, coaches and parent fans. Signs at the field designate social distancing, coaches all wear masks, there's no sharing of equipment and hand sanitizer is used at every water break.

There are three academies one in Katy, one in the Westchase area and one in the Woodlands that will be opening soon. For more information about ForcaSC visit their website.

Students are facing the challenge of staying focused while learning from home. Trying to avoid drifting from classwork to the many other distractions the internet provides. 

A new device aims to help families set limits on screen time. Its called Circle, it pairs up with your phone or computers through wi-fi. Parents can setup profiles for each family member that includes when to shut off access during school or before bed and can also set limits for how long you can use certain apps.

CEO, Anne Bryan explains why time management is needed, "We want to be spending our times on the things that are going to be helpful, rather than things that might just be distracting.., a time limit is going to help you achieve both those things."
"designed around this idea of balance with the reward systems built-in, and it's also customizable but it can really meet every family's needs"
For more information about the app and the additional available hardware visit the website: meetcircle.com

Nurses at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas, arranged a special wedding ceremony for a coronavirus patient in their care on August 11. Footage by Methodist Healthcare System shows Carlos Muniz marry his now-wife Grace Leimann at Methodist Hospital almost a month after he was admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Soon after his admittance, Muniz’s condition became critical and he was placed on life support, and the wedding he’d initially planned was canceled. When nurse Matt Holdridge learned of the patient’s cancelled nuptials, he quickly set to work organizing a ceremony for Muniz and Leimann at the hospital.

“A lot of people started volunteering for it. Before you knew it, every nurse in the unit knew about it and was trying to figure out ways to make it more special,” Holdridge said.

According to Holdridge, Muniz’s condition improved after learning of his upcoming marriage – and he only continued to improve after the service, and was taken off life support on August 14.

Credit: Methodist Healthcare System via Storyful