I’ve spent a lot of time over the years coaching my kids’ ball teams in the neighborhood, basketball for my girls and baseball for my son. I’m a sports guy so it was a lot of fun. But I never really thought about how what I was doing actually affected national health security.

We have a good-sized  neighborhood and when we started the basketball team, not everyone knew each other. Through the team, the kids got to be friends and so did all the parents. We ended up with a really strong social network. With a lot of parents working, you all take turns getting kids to practice and games. It means communicating with each other all the time and having plans to back up each other when last minute things come up.

That social network – everybody talking each other, backing up each other, supporting each other – that increases national health security. For our neighborhood, it’s come in really handy in emergencies like during the 9-11 attacks. We live in the Washington, D.C., area. Some of the parents worked in the city and had to respond to that emergency; others were stuck in totally insane traffic trying to get home. But some parents worked close to home and were able to say, “hey, I’m at the bus stop; I’ll get your kids, too.” It was a huge relief to know that your kids were safe and for kids to know that their parents were ok.

Being a close-knit neighborhood has had a lasting impact on our kids. A lot of them are still friends even though they’re in college or starting jobs now; they have that strong social network to fall back on when they need it. People with strong social networks tend to be healthier and can handle the stress of emergencies better.

When they’re playing sports, kids are running around and getting exercise, and that helps them stay healthier. Healthier people are more likely to survive disasters. So in a way, that improves national health security, too.

Now that the kids are older, they’re taking a cue from their parents and getting involved at work or at school. For instance, one of my daughters is part of a mentoring program at her college; she mentors high school and middle school students. My oldest promotes heart health as part of her job. My son and other kids in the neighborhood volunteer at a preschool. They may not be coaching sports, but that’s ok. They’re getting involved, making the community stronger and healthier, and that’s what matters when it comes to increasing national health security.

Who would have thought that by doing something as fundamental as getting involved with a kids’ ball team could make such a difference in national health security? It’s just something people do every day.