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By Robing Marantz Henig
February 17, 2008
On a drizzly Tuesday night in late January, 200 people came out to hear a psychiatrist talk rhapsodically about play — not just the intense, joyous play of children, but play for all people, at all ages, at all times. (All species too; the lecture featured touching photos of a polar bear and a husky engaging playfully at a snowy outpost in northern Canada.) Stuart Brown, president of the National Institute for Play, was speaking at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street. He created the institute in 1996, after more than 20 years of psychiatric practice and research persuaded him of the dangerous long-term consequences of play deprivation. In a sold-out talk at the library, he and Krista Tippett, host of the public-radio program ‘‘Speaking of Faith,’’ discussed the biological and spiritual underpinnings of play. Brown called play part of the ‘‘developmental sequencing of becoming a human primate. If you look at what produces learning and memory and well-being, play is as fundamental as any other aspect of life, including sleep and dreams.’’
Wrestling club looks to create new tradition
By Patrick Sargent
The children of Leominster Youth Wrestling Club are hitting the mats and making more popular a sport that lacks attention and involvement throughout the state.
The LYWC has seen great advances over the past year, including the participation of 22 kids.
"We're certainly moving at a fast approach. It was idle for a while and not growing the way it was intended to. We're hoping we've generated enthusiasm. We've grown in a positive light," said Donna Cicconne, in charge of the club's administration. "What we built upon is a need. The need was the kids really wanted this sport. We regrouped because of the needs of the kids."
The club's mission is to strengthen the town's wrestling program, promote exercise among children, and, most importantly, have fun. LYWC is based out of the Northwest School and has two levels, kindergarten through fifth grade, and sixth through eighth grades. Each level has their own different weight groups - the kids wrestle kids their own weight - and is coed.
Denver Youth Football Coach Recognized
For Exceptional Work in Mentoring Today's Youth
Jose Cardenas Receives Responsible Coaching Award and $500 Grant from Liberty Mutual
February 20th, 2008
DENVER - Liberty Mutual, one of the nation's leading auto and home insurers, has selected youth football coach Jose Cardenas of the Johnson Boys & Girls Club in Denver as a 2007 Responsible Coaching Award winner. The award honors nearly 100 football and soccer coaches countywide who best reflect character building and sportsmanship in their approach to mentoring young athletes. Liberty Mutual will provide the Johnson Boys & Girls Club with a $500 grant in honor Jose Cardenas' award.
"The Responsible Coaching Award celebrates tangible examples of the dedication and selflessness of youth coaches across America who give of themselves to teach our children the rules of sport and fair play, and, in many cases, the rules of life," said Greg Gordon, vice president of Consumer Marketing at Liberty Mutual. "Youth coaches like Jose Cardenas create positive environments for children that we can all emulate."
Jose Cardenas was among thousands of coaches countrywide nominated online by parents, peers and organizations at www.responsiblesports.com between September 17 and December 7, 2007. Winning coaches were selected by a committee of representatives from Positive Coaching Alliance, USA Football, US Youth Soccer and Liberty Mutual.
By Bob Frisk
February 22nd, 2008
Daily HeraldI worry about burnout, and I'm not even an athlete.
I have been in this job so long that there must come a time when I will hit the wall.
Actually, I have been very close to that wall in the past year. The entire newspaper business is in a burnout stage right now, but that's another story.
How will I personally know that it's officially time to visit Human Resources and consider my options?
Will there be physical symptoms?
I haven't had a headache in years, so that obviously would be a warning sign.
Burnout.
By Alix Spiegel
February 21st, 2008
February 21, 2008 · On October 3, 1955, the Mickey Mouse Club debuted on television. As we all now know, the show quickly became a cultural icon, one of those phenomena that helped define an era.
What is less remembered but equally, if not more, important, is that another transformative cultural event happened that day: The Mattel toy company began advertising a gun called the "Thunder Burp."
I know — who's ever heard of the Thunder Burp?
Well, no one.
The reason the advertisement is significant is because it marked the first time that any toy company had attempted to peddle merchandise on television outside of the Christmas season. Until 1955, ad budgets at toy companies were minuscule, so the only time they could afford to hawk their wares on TV was during Christmas. But then came Mattel and the Thunder Burp, which, according to Howard Chudacoff, a cultural historian at Brown University, was a kind of historical watershed. Almost overnight, children's play became focused, as never before, on things — the toys themselves.
Steroids' hidden costs are too high
By Michael Vandergriff
February 15th, 2008
I'd packed on 19 pounds, tipping the scales at a whopping 254 – and was still too small.
An 18-year-old community college shot-putter in the early 1970s, I'd spent my summer and fall working out four hours per day, eating anything that didn't move. My sophomore year, I posted early top-10 national marks, but soon the field pulled away from me.
"Jerry the Jerk," a competitor with the disposition of a deranged rhino, had returned as 280 pounds of "cut" muscle. How was it possible an already-huge athlete could gain 30-plus pounds in a matter of months? Sports "insiders" knew the answer at the time: steroids.
Rumors flew of their use and negative health effects. It was not an option for me, due to my concern for my health and my values. I stopped participating. I often surmised the larger, stronger, faster victor simply had a better chemist, but kept quiet. Why ruin the fantasy that we were watching a fair match?
Despite school holiday, Jupiter High clinic draws good crowd
By Mike English
February 20th, 2008
Palm Beach County schools took Monday off to celebrate President's Day, but dozens of young lacrosse players turned up at Jupiter High School for lessons anyway.
The Jupiter High boys and girls lacrosse teams sponsored a one-day clinic at the idle campus for players from first through eighth grades.
The camp drew 18 girls and 38 boys, and on the boy's side most of them currently are enrolled in the JTAA or Palm Beach Gardens youth lacrosse programs.
"This was a great turnout for our first time," JHS boys coach Don Blumenthal said. "I would say three quarters of them have played in the JTAA. Only about seven or eight of them have never played before."
On the girls side, 18 young campers turned out, said JHS girls coach Sarah Burlingame.
"Only about half of the girls are involved in the JTAA program," Burlingame said.
For some, it was the first time they have touched a stick.
February 18th, 2008
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WILLIAMSPORT , Pa. (Feb. 18, 2008) – U.S. President George W. Bush, on a five-nation visit to Africa, will deliver baseball equipment to a Little League Baseball program in the capital city of Accra on Wednesday. |
By Mark McGuire
February 19th, 2008
A recent Siena Research Institute study reports three of four New Yorkers believe youth sports have an over-emphasis on winning. That said, more than nine of 10 believe that kids can learn something by competing.
True on both. Youth sports parents and even some athletes can run amok, forgetting that a game is just a game. Here's a hint: If you think your child is going pro, you're wrong. Let's cede the one-in-a-million exceptions and move on.
But with the proper adult guidance and perspective, sports can teach kids valuable lessons about winning and losing that carry beyond any field, court or rink.
"Life is competitive, so you have to learn that sooner or later," said Tom Wilson of New Scotland. "You have to push yourself."
Wilson's twin 13-year-old sons are both hockey fans. Ben plays Bethlehem Youth Hockey. Luke, who ambles around in leg braces due to cerebral palsy, watches.
By Laura Albanese
February 19th, 2008
The idea of bringing defibrillators to Long Island's sidelines came as a flash of inspiration to Craig and Kristin LoNigro, athletic trainers from Blue Point.
Craig LoNigro had been manning a Long Island Junior Soccer League tournament about three years ago when a player fractured his arm during the match. Afraid they would be held liable, the coaches told LoNigro to leave the boy alone and wait for an ambulance to come - which it did 35 minutes later.
"If this was a medical emergency, we would have been in bad shape," Craig LoNigro recalled saying to a coach. "I said, 'You know what, I'm going to do something about it.'" He'd gone home later that day and told his wife about an idea to distribute defibrillators, known as automated external defibrillators or AEDs, to schools and athletic leagues in the area. With their training, he told her, they could instruct coaches - almost all volunteers - how to use the devices in the highly important few moments after a player's heart stops.
By Ginal Kolata
February 18th, 2008
Last year, when Collin Link was 11 years old, he was tackled as he went in for a touchdown in pee-wee football.
“He didn’t get up,” his mother, Crystal Link, said. “He kept saying his knee hurt real bad.” But Mrs. Link was not overly concerned, thinking it was just a sprain.
But the next morning when the family was getting ready to go to church near their home in The Woodlands, Tex., Collin said he could not walk. That Monday, a doctor told the Links what was wrong.
Collin had an injury that doctors used to think almost never occurred in children. He had torn the anterior cruciate ligament, or A.C.L., in his left knee, the main ligament that stabilizes the joint.
By Rick Foster
February 18th, 2008
FOXBORO - Professional athletes cheat by taking performance-enhancing drugs.
A coach disregards league orders against videotaping opponents and when caught, blames a difference in "interpretation."
Young athletes are constantly bombarded with conflicting messages from professional sports - be sportsmanlike, but trash-talk your opponents; lie, but don't get caught.
However, questionable or unsportsmanlike conduct by role models need not poison lessons youngsters take from sport, says Jeffrey Pratt Beedy, a leading sports ethicist and founder of an international program to use sports as a positive influence in children's development.
"Sports can be a powerful medium, either positive or negative, for the social and emotional development of children," said Beedy, founder of Sports Plus Global, which seeks to use sports as a common language to promote peace and healthy patterns of development in kids.
Kids learn basics at Ben Davis
By Virginia Hilbert
February 16th, 2008
The half-nelson is first-year wrestler Christian Swigert's favorite move. That's because it's the only one the 6-year-old knows by name, said his mom, Karen Swigert.
By Cathy Higgins
ALBANY — It’s a pretty good day on the field when a young athlete can enjoy a little healthy competition and the camaraderie of teammates.
That day is made even better when that boy or girl can look to the stands and see a parent smile affectionately and shout words of encouragement, armed with a stadium soft drink in one hand and a hot dog in the other.
But when that parent makes a scene when the game doesn’t go the child’s way, the day can be ruined for everyone involved.
“It happens from time to time,” Albany Dixie League Vice President Frank Sullivan said in a recent telephone interview.
Such occurrences typically range from taking opposition to an umpire’s decision too far to arguments breaking out between parents of competing teams.
“When it does, we address it,” Sullivan said.
Youth league - A melee ensues when the Molalla coach confronts the referee who ejected him from the girls basketball game
By Brent Walth
February 18th, 2008
A basketball game between the Estacada Fury and Molalla Wildcats started like any other match between fifth- and sixth-grade girls Saturday. Parents cheered in the Estacada High School gym as the referees blew the opening whistle.
Before long, though, things got out of hand.
One referee, Houston Webb, a local high school player, ejected the Molalla coach, Jeffery Scott Larsen, after the coach continued to berate him over his calls.
But Larsen, police say, refused to leave and accosted Webb after the game. Parents rushed the floor, some shoving followed, and players left in tears. Then the police showed up.
On Sunday, after further investigation, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office arrested Larsen, 34, and cited him with criminal trespassing in the gym after the referee had tossed him out of the game. State law says it's a Class C misdemeanor if an ejected coach refuses to leave the scene of a sports event.
February 14th, 2008
It ought to be hard to take the fun out of play, but if you're an overambitious parent or coach with a young athlete in your charge, you may have managed to do it. Weekly sessions of intensive muscle-strengthening, grueling push-up regimens and long intervals on fast-paced treadmills are becoming common for grade-school kids. Elite training centers that promise to give young athletes an edge during the off-season have been popping up since 2000, especially in affluent sections of New England and the Midwest.
To sports-medicine professionals, that's a worrying trend. Hard-core training can do kids more harm than good--particularly if they're under 12. As more children are pushed beyond their physical limits, sports injuries once reserved largely for the pros are turning up in the playground set.
A young body that's worked too hard can suffer in a lot of ways, but it's the bones that take the worst pounding. Activities like skating uphill on a Plexiglas surface, which allows skaters to strengthen their strides, or doing the explosive muscle-building movements known as plyometrics can wreak havoc on the skeletal system, particularly the epiphyseal plate, or growth plate, which is essential in bone development--a process that is not complete until the late teens.
By John Nash
February 15th, 2008
Unless your shelling out thousands of dollars to a highly-qualified, big-city plastic surgeon, change oftentimes does not happen overnight.
In the sport-scape that surrounds the humble little burg you call home, the Wilton Basketball Association is proof of that.
Wilton, after all, is football country. Wilton is a lacrosse town. Wilton is a place where soccer can thrive.
But basketball? Putting a competitively planned youth basketball program would be akin to planting a cactus in a rain forest. It's like matching up Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep to headline a movie. It's like Stephen King writing a Harlequin Romance.
On the surface, it just didn't seem right.
January 25th, 2007
The Training Room has launched two outreach programs designed to increase athleticism in New Richmond student athletes.
At the High School, the Tiger Strength program offers training that is specific to each sport and focuses on enhanced performance and injury prevention.
The second similar program is offered to Youth Hockey athletes at the New Richmond Airport. These programs are offered at no extra charge to participating athletes. Funding is provided by the School District and the Hockey Association.
Both programs are run by Nicole Deneau, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and fitness director for The Training Room in Somerset, Wis. The goals of the programs include increasing lean muscle mass, improving speed, strength, core stability, balance, vertical jump, agility and lots of fun.
February 11th, 2008
NAIROBI (AFP) — It is a hot, humid afternoon and the children of Nairobi's Mathare slum are once again playing football and trying to put behind the tribal violence that nearly tore them apart.
Like many other kids across Kenya, these children aged 12 to 18 were caught up in the turmoil that erupted after disputed presidential polls in late December.
But unlike their counterparts, the children of Mathare are unique in that they are products of a local sports association which has helped thousands of children in the sprawling slum of about 300,000 people since it was created in 1987.
By Scott Page
February 14th, 2008
The Andrews Institute hosted a clinic concerning common over use arm injuries in baseball on Thursday at the Athletes' Performance Building. The timing of the seminar was perfect as local youth leagues are preparing to start the 2008 season.
Speakers included orthopedic surgeons Amit Varma, M.D., Christopher O'Grady and Roger Ostrander, M.D.; primary care sports physician Joshua Hackel, M.D.; and Athletes' Performance physical trainer Alex Lincoln. They discussed topics of interest such as elbow and shoulder anatomy, common throwing injuries in youth sports and injury prevention methods.
In states such as Florida, with hot to moderate temperatures, many kids play baseball yearround. On the surface, yearround baseball seems like a great thing, but too much involvement increases any athletes', especially pitchers', chances of suffering serious injuries. The parents and coaches who are responsible for the safety of the "little leaguers" need to be especially aware of these dangers.
By Staff Sgt. Stacy D. Foster
50th Space Wing Public Affairs
February 12th, 2008
2/12/2008 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- As Les Stewart watches the children in his youth basketball program, he wonders if the next big basketball star is right before his eyes. It's possible, he thought.
"To watch these kids grow and get better is an amazing thing," he said.
Mr. Stewart has been involved with the Peterson Air Force Base Youth Center program for the past five years and believes it is the best in the Air Force. The program was awarded the Excellence in Youth Sports Award in 2005 by the National Alliance for Youth Sports.
The year-round program includes many different sports, camps, and special events. Youth basketball began Feb. 2 and lasts through March.
By Ben Volin
February 13th, 2008
Mike Necela runs a youth hockey league with more than 200 players. Like many other hockey fans, he watched in horror when the Panthers' Richard Zednik skated quickly off the ice Sunday night with blood flowing from the sliced carotid artery.
Necela said the gruesome injury, caused by a teammate's errant skate, made him realize the inadequacy of the equipment requirements for his leagues at the Palm Beach IceZone in suburban Lake Worth.
USA Hockey requires that youths wear helmets with facemasks and mouth guards. Necela plans to talk with other organizers of his league to mandate neck guards.
"It's just something we've got to do," he said. "Whether it's uncomfortable or not is not the issue. It's protection."
Most of the country's recreational and travel hockey leagues follow USA Hockey equipment guidelines. Throat and neck protectors are "recommended" for goaltenders but not even mentioned for other players.
Some local parents don't object to multi-sport children, so long as stress doesn't become overwhelming
By Sean Golden
February 11th, 2008
FAIRFIELD COUNTY - Daniel Dodd is a busy kid. The Baltimore fifth-grader plays football, basketball, baseball, soccer and golf.
But to hear Daniel, 11, tell it, he loves the constant activity. They're just really fun to do, and sports kinda keep you out of trouble," Daniel said. It's not uncommon for kids involved in youth sports to divide their focus not just between two sports, but among three or four and sometimes even more.
Youth sports offers children a unique opportunity to experience a number of different athletic endeavors in the interest of just having fun.
"You can go around and try to get people involved in it so your team gets bigger and bigger and hopefully gets better and better," Daniel said.
Students' signs cross the line
By Sandi Dolbee
February 9th, 2008
Christopher Schuck, head of La Jolla Country Day School, is quiet as he looks at photographs of placards held up by his students at last week's girls basketball game against their cross-town rival.
He had just finished defending a sign, “No 1 likes U,” that ran on the cover of Tuesday's Union-Tribune sports section, saying it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular – including the young woman who transferred from Country Day to The Bishop's School, another elite private prep academy in La Jolla. But other signs specifically name two players on the opposing team. One includes a picture defaced with a mustache. The other has a word play that is sexually derogatory.
“Yes,” Schuck concedes, “there's no question these signs cross the line.”
So now what?
By Greg DeVillers
February 10th, 2008
Kevin Sommer has dealt with a numbers crunch this winter.
The Cavalier High School coach has only 15 girls in grades 9-12 playing on his girls basketball team. While the team posted a 5-14 regular-season record, Sommer said there were students in the stands at every game who could have helped his team had they chosen to play.
“There are girls, good athletes, who aren't playing,” Sommer said. “And it's not just here. Whenever they get together, coaches are talking about it. A lot of us feel that kids don't feel it's worth the effort any more. It's a lot of extra work to be involved in athletics.” Sommer's team isn't alone. The Cavalier boys basketball team had only 16 high school students in its program, while the Tornadoes have 20 high school wrestlers in that program.
Wheelchair basketball squad teaches lesson
By Mick Garry
February 10th, 2008
Recently in Vermillion, I was part of a group of coaches, teachers and assorted bargain-brand luminaries attempting to take on the Red Dawgs, a youth wheelchair basketball team based out of Omaha.
The Red Dawgs range in age from early elementary to high school, and include both boys and girls. They play in regional and national tournaments throughout the year and have one of the top wheelchair youth programs in the country.
During pregame, the "Vermillion All-Stars," as we'd generously been labeled, took turns heaving balls at the basket while sitting in the chairs. At the other end of the DakotaDome court, the Red Dawgs ran plays and did drills while their coaches barked out instructions.
By The Associated Press
February 10th, 2008
BOSTON - The stories have become all too familiar — young athletes, and sometimes their parents and coaches, turning a school playing field into the set of a Jerry Springer episode.
Now a bill set to be heard by Massachusetts lawmakers on Monday seeks to reduce the number and intensity of school sports scuffles by drafting new curriculum to teach sportsmanship.
Lawmakers and supporters hope the new pilot program could help young athletes learn how to conduct themselves both on and off the field.
The bill would create lessons to help children develop "the mental skills associated with self-control in an effort to reduce violence, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, bullying and other destructive choices."
The teaching materials would be offered free of charge to youth and school sports leagues and teams.
By Michael Cooper
February 10th, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — Northridge Lanes General Manager Chuck Kearney already missed the boat on high school bowling once.
As the manager at Spring Bowl in St. Bernard 40 years ago, Kearney had bus loads of high school students from all over Cincinnati bowling after school.
But when expenses became too high — particularly with transportation — the schools stopped bringing the kids.
"We were never really smart enough to develop leagues," Kearney said. "We should've. We had a lot of kids in there. We should've tried to develop some competition between them.
"It was right there, and we let it slip right by us."
If they had, bowling may not have taken so long to become Ohio's fastest growing high school sport.
In 2006, high school bowling officially became an Ohio High School Athletic Association-sanctioned varsity sport.
Vinton County pee wee wrestling program gains popularity
By GABRIELLE JOHNSTON
February 8th, 2008
Pee wee league wrestling is looking to put Vinton County in a full nelson as the sport gains popularity and struggles to take its place among other local youth sports programs.
Vicky Beckley is the local pee wee league's coordinator. She organizes the teams and sets schedules, making the league possible. Beckley said she gained an interest in the sport when her high school-aged sons signed up for wrestling at Vinton County High School. The high school team is a recent re-addition to the sports roster, having new life breathed into the program about five years ago after a years long absence.
"I begged them not to sign up," Beckley said. Like many, Beckley didn't know much about the sport of wrestling and wasn't all that willing to learn. But, as her sons progressed through the high school's program, she became more and more involved, learning all the ins and outs of the sport.
By Steve T. Gorches
February 7th, 2008
HEBRON -- Matt Gorby threw a six-count on his first ball of practice on Tuesday at Hebron Lanes.
He got an open frame, but still had a smile on his face.
The next frame resulted in a nine-count and simple spare.
Another smile was displayed on the countenance of the 17-year-old Hebron High junior.
The third frame brought a strike. The smile was a little bigger, but not much.
Gorby has plenty of reason to smile lately and it has little to do with strikes or spares or even open frames.
Yes, he did finish sixth in the Suburban Sectional last week to advance to Saturday's regional at Stardust Bowl I in Hammond. But the fact that he's bowling at all could be considered a miracle.
Grandieri's efforts to honor fallen friend stymied by University officials
By David Bernstein
February 7th, 2008
A captain in his senior season, Penn's Brian Grandieri has hit his share of big shots in his career. But even he'll tell you that the most meaningful points he ever scored weren't for Quakers coaches Fran Dunphy or Glen Miller.
They were for Evan Brady.
A neighbor, schoolmate and childhood friend of Grandieri, Brady was a standout lacrosse player for Rose Tree Media Optimist Youth Club, and seemed set to continue playing at Malvern Prep, a Catholic school outside of Philadelphia.
But on Sept. 11, 2001, at 15 years old, he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma - bone cancer.
Staff Report
November 7th, 2007
SNOW HILL — The Worcester County Recreation & Parks Department has established an official chapter of the National Youth Sports Coaches Association to train volunteer coaches on the appropriate methods of working with children in sports.
The department joins more than 2,200 organizations across the country that are conducting the NYSCA certification program to help ensure that volunteer coaches in their community have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
More than 1.8 million volunteer coaches have been trained by NYSCA, which is a program of the National Alliance For Youth Sports, a nonprofit organization that works to provide safe and fun sports for America’s youth.
Steve Miller will serve as the NYSCA chapter director for the Worcester County department.
November 7th, 2007
As Petaluma’s youth soccer season begins to wind down and 2,500 players get ready to hang up their cleats for another year, one very controversial game has provided Petaluma soccer parents and their children with a valuable opportunity to contemplate the importance of respect, good sportsmanship and considerate behavior on and off the sports field.
For many Petaluma kids, the soccer field is one of the very first places where these and other important values are introduced and instilled. That is, unless the parents or coaches fail to appreciate their significance.
That appears to be the case in the now-infamous game played by a Petaluma under-16 girls soccer team in Windsor recently in which angry verbal exchanges and profanity by players and parents alike culminated in the Petaluma coach unzipping his pants and bending over in a crude message of intense disrespect to the opposing coach and his team.
By Jacqueline Stenson
February 5th, 2008
In a nation where the Super Bowl is the most-watched night on television and professional athletes in a range of sports rake in millions of dollars in salaries and endorsements, it's not hard to see why many kids grow up idolizing athletes. Some sports stars may deny they are role models for a younger generation, but a new study suggests quite the contrary.
Among students in grades 8 through 12 who admitted to using anabolic steroids in a confidential survey, 57 percent said professional athletes influenced their decision to use the drugs and 63 percent said pro athletes influenced their friends' decision to use them. Eighty percent of users - and 35 percent of non-users - said they believed steroids could help them achieve their athletic dreams.
February 6th, 2008
2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Each weekend parents across America put their children -- some 35 million of them -- into the guiding hands of youth sport coaches, typically another parent or simply a volunteer. Many of these coaches face tough expectations: ensure equal playing time, guide their team to victory, and help boys and girls become the superstars they (or their parents) dream of. But when a coach and entire communities place character, sportsmanship, and the young athletes' well-being before wins, they demonstrate a level of responsibility that deserves recognition. That is why Liberty Mutual is recognizing 88 youth soccer and football coaches across the country with its Responsible Coaching Award and $500 grants, and is awarding $2,500 grants to 20 U.S. youth sports organizations that excelled at encouraging participation in an online youth sports-mentoring curriculum at www.ResponsibleSports.com.
"The Responsible Sports program celebrates the dedication and selflessness of youth coaches who give of themselves to teach our children the rules of sport and fair play, and, in many cases, the rules of life," said Greg Gordon, vice president of Consumer Marketing at Liberty Mutual. "It also provides parents and coaches alike with a common platform to align community-sport priorities and expectations. The result is thousands of compelling and uplifting stories of the positive sporting environments that have been created for young athletes across America."
There is some excitement brewing within the young athletic world, especially at Chetek High School. This time, it's not about the basketball team, the football team, the volleyball team or even the wrestling team.
It's coming from bowlers.
By Rachel Westberg
February 6th, 2008
Over the last month, John Law, owner of Chetek Bowling & Billiards and Mad Jack's Pizza Shack, and Gene Schoenfuss, the high school girls golf coach, have been busy initiating a Chetek squad for the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club.
Back in late December, Law was contacted from the president of the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin about beginning a Chetek team. Law agreed and soon recruited Schoenfuss to help out. Law donated practice time at the bowling alley, and many other people donated extra equipment for the team. It did not take long to get a team together. In fact, there were enough students interested that two teams were established from the high school.
By Chris Dell
February 5th, 2008
Picture this. Goliath is trying to post up on David, and the giant can not seem to fight off his feisty defender. David then steals the ball and goes coast-to-coast for a layup with Goliath nipping at his heels.
Yamaris Guevarez finds herself in a similar situation every week.
Turn your head from the basketball court for a split second and you might miss her. The 10-year-old, 4-foot-9 guard has blazing speed and is literally a young girl among giants in the 11-17-year-old girls division of the Suncoast Youth Basketball League.
Last year, Yamaris averaged 20 points per game along with five rebounds and five steals in the 9-10-year-old division. She scored a season-high 26 points in two different games en route to a league title.
February 4th, 2008
Mack Attack Volleyball Club is a non-profit organization that fulfills needs of young athletes with desire to improve their individual and team playing skills in addition to goals of being recruited for college-level play.
Mack Attack Volleyball Club serves youth athletes from Northeastern Indiana and is a member of the USA Volleyball (USAV) -Hoosier Region, which is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
Mack Attack has recently expanded its program to include top players from the Angola area. The club has been in existence for four years and has grown to include 81 players from 15 different area schools for the 2008 season.
By kelly Lyell
February 5th, 2008
Major-league pitchers and catchers don't report to spring training for three more weeks. Position players report a week later.
Yet youth baseball and softball players in and around Fort Collins have been training for the past two months for their 2008 seasons. We've been going at it twice a week since December," said Rich O'Donnell, coach of the 13-and-under Fort Collins Cardinals baseball team. "It's not required, but the kids love it. At every practice, we probably have three-quarters of the kids."
O'Donnell and several other competitive baseball and softball teams are practicing regularly at Edge Sports Center, 4450 Denrose Court. They're hitting in batting cages off machines and live pitching, they're throwing and catching and fielding fly balls and grounders.
The Cardinals, who play at the highest level of youth baseball in the state (Division I) for their age group, will play their first tournament the first weekend of March.
By ken Pagan
February 4th, 2008
Cortney Benedict, co-ordinator for the Bridging the Gap program which promotes wheelchair sports opportunities for youths, said if just one person becomes interested, then the program is working.
A few local youths showed interest during Saturday's introductory wheelchair sports session at the North Bay YMCA, including 11-year-old Taylor Stinson.
Taylor, a Grade 6 student at South Shore Education Centre, spent the afternoon learning the basics of wheelchair tennis and basketball, before spending more than half an hour playing a scrimmage basketball game against her pesky nine-year-old brother, Quincy.
By Tom Jacobs
February 2nd, 2008
Sports build character — or so we have been told by coaches, fans and a fair number of academics. A young athlete — say, a member of a high school football team — learns what it takes to achieve a goal, absorbing on a visceral level such crucial concepts as teamwork, self-discipline and fair play.
Time out, cry some social scientists. Youth sports, they counter, instill a machismo mindset, promote a winning-is-everything mentality and reinforce the notion that physical violence is an acceptable way to resolve problems.
So which is it? A series of studies in recent years have come to different conclusions, with academics unable to agree on even the seemingly simple question of whether high school athletes are more likely to engage in violent behavior.
By Scott Spruill
February 1st, 2008
Winning isn't everything.
Maybe you thought that saying had become nothing more than a punch line, the hard edge of contemporary youth sports having no room left for such a battered ideal.
Truth is, it's out there and strong as ever. A powerful and heartwarming example recently came from a 12-year-old wrestler from Ellensburg, Connor Sherwood, who regarded his compassionate deeds as simply "trying to help someone out."
At a three-team competition at Prosser's Housel Middle School, one team had among its members an eighth-grader with cognitive and physical disabilities. The idea for this boy, let's call him Doug, was to take part as a manager and perhaps share some mat time in practice with the team.
By Kelly Lyell
February 4th, 2008
Sarah Rudeen tried soccer, basketball and track and field growing up.
The Fossil Ridge High School senior was into volleyball the most, she said. Until she discovered lacrosse in junior high school.
"I think we just saw an ad in the paper, and we just signed up and started playing," Rudeen, now a captain on the Fort Collins Havoc girls lacrosse team, said after an indoor practice Thursday night at Edge Sports Center. "We didn't know anything. We had to learn everything, because really it was a brand-new sport. No one had any experience."
Lacrosse actually is touted as the oldest sport in North America, having originated with Native Americans. But it's still relatively new in the West, and Rudeen and classmate Kate Gohari, the Havoc's other captain and also a Fossil Ridge High senior, said they routinely have to explain the sport. And not just in school but wherever they might be.
By Bill Gosse
February 2nd, 2008
Aside from a child's parents, there is only one person in youth sports who is more important — a child's coach.
Based on the emphasis placed on sports in today's society, this is an extremely vital person in their life. An individual can go a long way in determining whether a child will pursue sports in the future. These coaches have opportunities to provide positive, worthwhile experiences or potentially scar kids for life. It's only fitting how kids remember great coaches — just like a favorite teacher.
In my travels for TeamScore, it's alarming how many times parents have expressed a concern about their child's coach. Sometimes, parents expect too much, but other times, they have legitimate gripes.
By Josh Hachat
February 2nd, 2008
NEWARK -- Tim Carr was sure the growth of the Upward Basketball and Cheerleading League in Licking County eventually would slow down and plateau.
That was two years ago -- and he's still waiting. The league continues to flourish in the Newark area nearly seven years after it started with 79 participants. This year, the league has 582 youths from 5 years old to ninth grade involved.
"I prepared a couple years ago to not have as many people, but it never happened," said Commissioner Tim Carr, who also is the senior pastor at Northside Baptist Church. "The biggest thing I see is that people that are happy with it are telling their friends."
By Roger Belgrave
February 2nd, 2008
BRAMPTON - Jacob loves to run, but a prosthetic leg often makes it difficult to keep up with friends.
As the eight-year-old's buddies grow older, they become physically faster, stronger and more agile explained Sarah Calvert, Jacob's mother. It can be frustrating for the energetic youngster and a parent trying to find activities that recognize her son's special needs.
Variety, the Toronto children's charity organization, may have the answer for Calvert, her son and other local families facing a similar dilemma. Renowned for providing integrated sports and life skills programs for disabled and developmentally challenged children and youth, Variety is piloting its Adapted Physical Education Program in Brampton.
The 11-week program will give local children and youth facing physical or developmental barriers a chance to take part in various sport and recreation activities. Variety is hosting its program at St. Edmund Campion Secondary School, 275 Brisdale Dr., just west of Chinguacousy Road and Sandalwood Parkway.
By Darrell Cuenca
January 31st, 2008
The superintendent of Virginia Beach’s public schools wants all of the city’s interscholastic soccer players to wear mouth guards this spring.
But Dr. James Merrill said this week if there’s enough opposition from parents, he’ll reconsider his stance.
“It’s a little short of a mandate right now,” Merrill said. “I’m very, very firm and interested, but I’m still listening to opinions and getting feedback.”
With less than a month until practice officially begins, a number of Beach District coaches have expressed opposition to Merrill’s decision, but they’ve declined comment and said repeatedly they’ve been advised not to speak out about the issue.
Numerous parents and players also disagree with Merrill’s position on mouth guards. No other district or city in the Eastern Region requires soccer players to wear mouth guards.
By Andrew Clucas
January 8th, 2008
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