We’re on a mission to find and showcase inspirational sports stories for athletes, coaches, and fans. Some of the reasons we’re attracted to sports are the life lessons they teach. The knowledge that hard work can pay off. Knowing not to quit on your team or yourself. That true teamwork can make your dreams come true. Many of the stories we feature reinforce the lessons that sports can teach.
We’re happy you made it to our website and want to give you a little background on how it came to be.
Sports Feel Good Stories
Sports Feel Good Stories was launched on February 2, 2009, by Mike O’Halloran.
On YouTube, he watched a Steve Hartman-narrated video on a high school basketball manager with autism, Jason McElwain, whose coach allowed him to play in the team’s last game of the year. Well, Jason didn’t just play. He starred! Jason, or J-Mac to his teammates, scored 20 points including six three-pointers.
O’Halloran shared a link to the video with his team’s parents and players. The response from this audience was overwhelming and appreciative. O’Halloran set out to find more stories like it. He looked for the type of inspiring stories that attracted many of us to sports in the first place. The idea for an inspirational sports website was born.
Initially concerned that there might not be enough content to keep the site fresh, O’Halloran soon learned that, to the contrary, he would have a hard time doing justice to all of the stories available.
Sports Feel Good Stories Mission
The Sports Feel Good Stories’ mission was established:
“Showcase inspirational sports stories that focus on good deeds, overcoming obstacles, and sportsmanship.”
Our site covers various sports ranging from little leagues to major leagues.& Featured topics include:
– Recent sports news stories that fit our theme: Frequently, these stories are submitted by readers or discovered on the Internet. Please contact us to alert us to feel-good stories you think might be of interest.
– Features, reviews, and interviews.
– Excerpts from sportsbooks like Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen by Joe Drape and SATCHEL: The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye are two examples.
– Sports resources: Sports quotes, sports team slogans, team nickname ideas, and more.
– Guest contributors: On occasion, guest contributors are featured on the site like St. Paul Saints’ owner Mike Veeck.
– The Sports Feel Good Stories Store. With a purchase of any product at our store, you’ll also receive a FREE Students Certificates Bundle that you can award to your favorite teacher. It’s our way of recognizing teachers and saying, “Thanks!” Learn more about our Reward for a Classroom Program.
Here is some media coverage the site has received.
Please contact Mike for any site inquiries. Thanks.
Affiliate Advertising
Please note that SportsFeelGoodStories.com receives compensation for some of the affiliate ads and orders placed through links on our pages.
About Mike O’Halloran
O’Halloran’s professional background includes working as president of Magnetic Poetry, a gift and toy company noted for its ubiquitous word magnets seen on refrigerator doors. He was also Director of Marketing for The Learning Company, an educational software company, during Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary’s reign.
O’Halloran served as a contributing writer for USA Football, the youth arm of the NFL.
He is the editor and publisher of the Well Prepared Coach™ line of:
Sports practice plans for coaches,
MVP offseason workouts for players, and
O’Halloran authored:
- Layups and Life Lessons: 101 Coaching Tips for Youth Basketball,
- Never Forget They’re Kids: Ideas for Coaching Your Daughter’s 4th- 8th Grade Basketball Team, and
- Youth Basketball Practice Plans.
Interests
O’Halloran is also the founder of Greeting Card Poet.com – A resource site for ideas on what to write on greeting cards. Need help for your wedding card message or perhaps your neighbor’s kid is graduating? We have the right words and lots of options to choose from created by professional writers. O’Halloran is also the co-publisher of Listcaboodle.com — a website featuring lists of all types.
Having grown up in Kansas City (MO), Wausau (WI), and the Twin Cities (MN), O’Halloran enjoys cheering on his teams which include the Kansas City Royals, Green Bay Packers, KU Jayhawks, Wisconsin Badgers, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Timberwolves and other Minnesota teams.
A Family Business
O’Halloran’s wife, MJ, serves as our staff photographer and helps out on a wide variety of strategic initiatives. A native of DePere, Wisconsin, MJ is a big Green Bay Packers fan.
O’Halloran’s four daughters make frequent contributions to the site with photography, story ideas, and modeling.
