


By Clem Richardson
April 14th, 2008
Daily News
When Frank Reali 3rd was found dead in his Staten Island real estate office a year ago this month, his parents pledged to do something in his honor to benefit the community.
What Francine (Fran) and Frank Reali came up with could transform high school sports in this town, maybe nationally.
The couple, owners of Safari Realty on Staten Island, wants to provide free magnetic resonance imaging scans for all students about to begin high school sports.
MRI scans provide noninvasive but remarkably accurate pictures of a patient's body.
Produced by passing the patient through a powerful, often circular magnet, these photos can show even the tiniest injury or abnormality.
By the Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue's Community Relations Team
April 8th, 2008
Spring has arrived! And as the weather becomes nicer, individuals are spending more time outdoors enjoying a variety of outdoor activities and sports especially our youth. And although being active is healthy for the mind, body and soul you are susceptible to injuries as well.
According to Safe Kids USA, each year, more than 3.5 million children, in the U.S. under the age of 15 are treated for sports injuries. Older children are more prone to sports-related injuries because they are larger, faster and more competitive. This particular age group, 5 to 14, account for nearly 40 percent of all sports-related injuries treated at emergency rooms.
In team sports, the majority of injuries (62 percent) occur during practice, not games, with the extent of those injuries ranging from heat illness to traumatic head and neck injury (21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries are sports or recreation related), with cardiac disease being the number one cause of death among athletes.
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?
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 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.
| Adirondack CC | 4/1 & 4/8 |
| Broome CC | June 7, 2008 |
| Cayuga CC | Fall 2008 |
| Clinton CC | May 27, 2008 |
| Corning CC | |
| Columbia-Greene CC | July 19, 2008 |
| Dutchess CC | May 18, 2008 |
| Erie CC | TBA |
| F.I.T. | TBA |
| Finger Lakes CC | May 28th, 2008 |
| Fulton-Montgomery CC | May 15, 2008 |
| Herkimer CC | June 2008 |
| Hudson Valley CC | May 6, 2008 |
| Jamestown CC | March 2008 |
| Jefferson CC | May 21, 2008 |
| Mohawk Valley CC | March 29, 2008 |
| Monroe CC | TBA |
| Nassau CC | 3/1 & 3/11 |
| Niagara CC | May 28, 2008 |
| Onondaga CC | April 26, 2008 |
| SUNY Orange CC | TBA |
| SUNY Rockland CC | May 6, 2008 |
| Schenectady CC | Summer 2008 |
| Suffolk CC | June 6, 2008 |
| Sullivan CC | TBA |
| Tompkins Cortland CC | May 5, 2008 |
| Ulster CC | April 8, 2008 |
| Westchester CC | March 25, 2008 |
