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Rival Schools, Rival Sports and the Consoling Power of High School Athletes

by Tim Donovan
Copyright 2010 SUNY Youth Sports Institute
August 12, 2010

High school baseball and men's lacrosse are seen as rival sports. They share the same season, compete for the same athletes, the same fans, same spotlight. Yet this spring Suffern baseball and Rye lacrosse, rival New York suburban schools separated by thirty miles and the Hudson River, were joined through a small act of grace. One high school team understood the suffering visited upon their opponents - and sought to console them.

In late March 2010 Suffern High School baseball players, Vincent Crotty and Christopher Konkowski were on their way to practice on a rainy Tuesday when their car was in an accident with a garbage truck. The seniors died that day. Best friends and future teammates at SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica, the loss of Crotty and Konkowski was life-changing for the tight-knit Rockland County community.

On May 6th, barely a shadow after the accident, Rye High School was scheduled to travel to Suffern High School for a Varsity boy's lacrosse game. One parent in the Rye lacrosse community read about the tragedy and contacted the Rye Coach and Athletic Director. They had an idea on how the Rye lacrosse team could both honor the two Suffern baseball players and at the same time and console their Suffern opponents on losing their friends and classmates.

Before the game, without fanfare and in a silent demonstration of solidarity with the Suffern school community, the Rye lacrosse team placed Suffern Blue stickers on each Rye player's red, white and black helmet. The numbers 7 and 19 were the baseball uniform numbers of Suffern's Vincent Crotty and Christopher Konkowski.

The Section One lacrosse official for that game Brian McKeever, retired NYFD, has seen a lifetime of loss and grace. Brian was moved by these young men. Rivals on one level, they delivered solace and humanity on a higher plane. This silent gesture summoned the power of young people in sport. On that day it had the power to bridge one river, two schools and two rival sports. As they honored the lives of two bright young athletes, they brought honor to us all.

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Sports-Related Concussions on the Rise in Kids

Study Shows Hockey and Football Lead Youth Sports in Number of Concussions

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Aug. 30, 2010 -- The number of young children treated in hospital ERs for concussions they got while playing on sports teams has doubled in just a decade, a new study shows.

While the concussion rate is higher among high-school-age athletes, researchers say the rate among younger athletes is both significant and rising.

The study represents the first attempt to document the national incidence of sports-related concussions among children in elementary and middle school.

When We Name Our Kids After Athletes

By DAN SHANOFF, New York Times

"Timothy Tebow Shanoff." It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

In the lead-up to the birth of my son last week, baby names were on the brain -- and on the table.

Sports fans are willing to do a lot of irrational things -- scream helplessly at the TV, play dress-up in player jerseys, or worse, dress down to bare chest and spray paint, even in freezing weather. But perhaps nothing hits closer to home than sports' influence on children's names.

It's not like my wife and I were actually going to name our kid after Tim Tebow, our favorite athlete. That would be as ludicrous as naming your kid after, say, Brett Favre. (As Eric Mangini did -- Zach Brett Mangini.)

Weighty Issue

A fitness center injury lawsuit illustrates the importance of a proper risk management plan.

By John T. Wolohan, AthleticBusiness.com

As any administrator or employee involved in the sports and recreation industry will acknowledge, one of the most important tasks is to control or limit an organization's exposure to financial risk -- either through insurance or by taking corrective actions that mitigate risk. While there are many ways to reduce an organization's exposure, one of the best is to develop a risk management plan.

In developing an effective risk management plan -- which can include everything from the frequency and type of maintenance required on equipment to proper emergency procedures and training for personnel -- it is essential that sports and recreation administrators try to identify any and all risks that may be associated with an activity. As a result, one of the first steps is to conduct a risk audit, during which administrators walk around the facility and inspect for potential dangers. Inspection of all equipment for wear and tear is important, since the facility is liable for any injuries suffered on defective or broken equipment that it knows, or should have known, poses a danger to users.

It is not enough, however, to conduct only a single or annual audit. For a risk management plan to be effective, it is essential that the plan incorporate a regular, systematic inspection program that includes a written record of the inspection, including who conducted the audit, the date, any defects found, and any remedies taken to correct them.

Contact Sport

A rash of batted-ball injuries has renewed debate over the performance of baseball and softball equipment.

By Paul Steinbach, AthleticBusiness.com
April 29, 2010

News this spring of injuries to baseball and softball pitchers from batted balls has been coming at us like a screaming line drive -- forcing some sports administrators to try, again, to get a handle on the issue of bat performance and player safety.

On April 24, Chris Jakubauskas of the Pittsburgh Pirates was hit in the head behind his right ear, landing him in the hospital and on the 15-day disabled list with a head bruise and concussion. Earlier in the month, two college pitchers were tagged: Vanderbilt freshman Corey Williams had his right kneecap split in half by a line drive April 3 and was out for the season following surgery; and on April 1, Arizona's Kurt Heyer was hit in the head and briefly hospitalized.

These incidents followed an even more injury-ridden March. During spring training, Marc Rzepczynski of the Toronto Blue Jays suffered a broken finger that cost him six weeks of the season beginning March 30, and the New York Yankees' Damaso Marte was hit in the lower back and removed from a game March 17.

Study: Required Coaching Training Does Not Lead to Attrition

Non-school youth athletics could not survive without volunteers. Every year recreation and youth sports directors are faced with the challenge of filling volunteer positions with knowledgeable, effective personnel. Many have voiced concerns about overtaxing their volunteers' valuable time with mandatory training/certification in adolescent development, youth coaching, safety and health, sport psychology, etc. A recent study conducted by the SUNY Youth Sports Institute (Spring 2010) suggests these concerns are unfounded.

While forty percent (40.5%) of the study's participants explained that their choice of not mandating some form of coaching certification is based upon a fear of losing coaches, less than three percent (2.5%) actually had a coach leave due to a mandatory training requirement. The results of the study suggest that the primary reason coaches vacate their volunteer roles is that their children "graduate" from the program.

Read the findings

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Young will have to change names to escape 'cyber past' warns Google's Eric Schmidt

The private lives of young people are now so well documented on the internet that many will have to change their names on reaching adulthood, Google's CEO has claimed.

By Murray Wardrop, Telegraph.co.uk
Published: 7:00AM BST 18 Aug 2010

Eric Schmidt suggested that young people should be entitled to change their identity to escape their misspent youth, which is now recorded in excruciating detail on social networking sites such as Facebook.

"I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time," Mr Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal.

In an interview Mr Schmidt said he believed that every young person will one day be allowed to change their name to distance themselves from embarrasssing photographs and material stored on their friends' social media sites.

The 55-year-old also predicted that in the future, Google will know so much about its users that the search engine will be able to help them plan their lives.

CIF reaches agreement on metal bats

State's governing body of high school sports is adopting new safety standards and assemblyman is expected to withdraw his bill that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on non-wood bats.

August 10, 2010|Eric Sondheimer - Los Angeles Times

The California Interscholastic Federation has reached agreement with Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) on new safety standards for metal bats, which is expected to result in Huffman withdrawing his bill, AB 7, that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on non-wood bats for high school baseball games next season.

Huffman said he will hold a news conference Wednesday in Sacramento with Marie Ishida, the CIF's executive director.

On Friday, during a conference call, the executive committee of the CIF passed a requirement that aluminum bats used for 2011 must meet the new BBCOR performance standards if the bats are commercially available by Jan. 1.

BBCOR gauges the trampoline effect of a ball coming off a bat instead of simply the speed of the ball after it's hit, and the new standard is aimed at decreasing bat performance by 10% to 15%, making the game safer.

Parents: Don't cross the line when pushing your child to excel

Hope A. Smith - Editorial Columnist, CANCERSTINX@AOL.COM
Published: August 13, 2010

"Bad News Bears," the original little league comedy starring Walter Matthau, was on TV last night. I hadn't seen it in years, so I tuned in to the last 20 minutes.

It inspired me to think about youth sports, after I watched the scene where the opposing team's coach hit his child, the pitcher, for making a bad pitch. I was laughing at the movie until I saw that scene, about which I'd forgotten.

There are far too many instances when parents pressure their children into playing sports or participating in some other extracurricular activity. Particularly in sports, where the competition is fierce, there are occurrences whereby parents' anger spins out of control. Some parents believe their child is the next Michael Jordan, or the next

Bret Favre. They seem to forget that, as the old saying goes, "It's just a game."
All one has to do is search YouTube for a plethora of parents behaving badly at youth sporting events.

There are parents cussing a blue streak at each other on the bleachers. There's a father attacking a referee. And there are mothers pulling out each other's hair.

Study Examines Differences in Male, Female ACL Injuries

A new study appearing in this month's issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine adds to the growing body of research noting differences in injury rates and severity of ACL injuries among males and females. This particular study, involving researchers from Washington University School of Medicine and the Santa Monica (Calif.) Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation, found that male soccer players are more likely to sustain ACL injuries in their dominant kicking legs, while females are more likely to suffer ACL injuries in their supporting legs.

As with past research, these findings confirm that female athletes are far more susceptible to ACL injury. In fact, females are as much as six times more likely to tear their ACLs, and every year one out of every 10 women participating in intercollegiate athletics (and one in 100 female high school athletes) suffers an ACL injury.

Bridging the great basketball divide

Players caught between AAU, school coaches

By SAM KHAN JR.
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Aug. 2, 2010, 10:20PM

During a basketball game, most coaches constantly move along the sideline, pointing at their players while shouting instructions.

There's a lot of finger-pointing off the court as well, but not of the instructional variety.

When it comes to a player's best interests and development, there is a constant tug of war between Amateur Athletic Union coaches and high school coaches. And fragmented relationships have resulted from the power struggle between the two groups.

Their styles of play often are different -- and the circumstances make it almost impossible for them not to be. High school programs often run structured offensive systems and put emphasis on preparation and knowing one's opponent. Teams will play two games a week (more if they play in a tournament) and often have at least two days of practice between games, with the exception of the three tournaments each high school is allowed to play during the non-district season.

Kentucky schools cancel practices as heat index soars

Practices moved or canceled; heat sickens 6 rowan players

By Jim Warren and Shawntaye Hopkins - jwarren@herald-leader.comshopkins

Six Rowan County High School football players were treated for heat exhaustion after becoming ill during practice Wednesday morning, and Fayette County schools later canceled all its football practices for the day as record temperatures pushed heat indexes well above 100 degrees in many areas of Kentucky.

Penny Alderson, assistant principal at Rowan County High, said one player remained under observation at St. Claire Regional Medical Center late Wednesday afternoon, although he appeared to be doing well. The other five were released, she said. The six players became ill around 10 a.m. during the team's morning practice, she said.

Meanwhile, Fayette County Public Schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said football practices at all district schools were canceled about 11 a.m. Wednesday, after heat indexes at practice fields at Henry Clay and Bryan Station high schools were measured at 103. District policy calls for practices to be halted at a heat index of 103, Deffendall said, even though it is one degree less than required by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. Other outdoor activities, such as marching band practices, also were canceled unless they could be moved inside, Deffendall said.

It's prime time for sports injury prevention

ugust 06, 2010 Seacoastonline.com

It's mid-summer in New Hampshire and soon enough high schools across the state will be kicking off fall sport tryouts, workouts and practices.

Although the lazy days of summer have just ended, students soon must ramp up quickly to ready themselves for competitive matchups and rivalries in all fall athletics. These include those that produce some of the higher injury rates in scholastic sports, namely football, field hockey, soccer and cross country. This dangerous combination of de-conditioning, coupled with the short preseason of fall athletics, is a recipe for many injuries.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high school athletes account for an estimated two million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year. Not only are youth athletes injuring themselves playing sports more often, but the types of injuries and the magnitude of injuries that we are seeing have changed.

More youth athletes are suffering from injuries that previously would have only been seen in professional level athletes. Overuse and serious acute injuries are becoming more common. As the intensity and demands of youth sports continue to rise, young athletes are more vulnerable than ever to these types of injuries

Blackmon: Youth sports aren't 'do-over' for parents

Athens Banner-Herald

Published Wednesday, August 04, 2010

by Myra Blackmon

We spent a delightful few days over the weekend with our two grandsons (and their mother). They are 8 and 11, both good athletes, and are looking forward to the beginning of their fall sports. The elder will enter middle school, where he'll have the opportunity to play on a school team for the first time.

That got me to thinking about school sports and some of the craziness that surrounds them. Perhaps we need to spend a few minutes remembering why we have school sports in the first place.

We encourage kids to play team sports to learn how to work with others toward a common goal. Playing on a team also teaches them about the value of loyalty, both to teammates and their school. Those skills are important for success out in the real world.

We should remember that we don't encourage kids to play sports to provide bragging rights or entertainment for parents. Certainly, parents need to be appropriately involved - supporting coaches, keeping up with what's happening, making sure their kids show up for practice, helping with booster clubs or carpool driving. Screaming instructions to your kid from the stands or, worse, screaming instructions at the coach are good for bringing on a case of laryngitis, but not much else.

Link between vitamins, kids' behavior explored

By Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun

A bad diet may lead to bad health for many inner-city kids. And it may also lead to bad behavior.

That's the conclusion of some public health experts who are advocating for vitamins and other nutritional supplements to curb youth violence and to increase learning. The controversial idea is getting a fresh hearing in Baltimore, where advocates for the disadvantaged are considering testing it on city kids.

If it's proven that a tablet a day can tick up test scores and dial down violence, it could be a cheaper and easier means of improving a lot of young lives than costly and labor-intensive treatments, according to the Abell Foundation, which wants to determine whether a Baltimore study would be worthwhile.

"We wanted to see what the scientific view was at this point in time," said Robert C. Embry Jr., foundation president. "It seemed like there was something there worth exploring."

The joy of youth baseball

Home Cookin'

Published: Sunday, August 1, 2010 5:04 PM CDT - thenewsdispatch.com, Michigan City, IN

Back in 2006 when my brother came home from serving a tour in the Navy, we decided it might be fun to coach a youth baseball team together.

The idea's intent was two-fold: We loved baseball and wanted to take a crack at teaching the game, but also it was to serve as some good bonding for the two of us.

So we took the reins of a 10-and-under team in Trail Creek and had a blast doing it. This past week, I wrapped up my fourth season as a youth baseball manager, even with my brother now residing in Toronto.

I often get the question asking why I do it without a kid in the league. That fact does set me apart from most of the other coaches. Almost everyone involved in youth baseball has a kid on the team.

But not me. Some people think I'm a little off my rocker to get involved in such an endeavor without a child in the lineup.

After all, as any teacher might be able to tell you, dealing with a group of youngsters can be, at times, frustrating.

But 99.9 percent of the time I find it to be one of the most gratifying things I do.

For the most part, the kids are so eager to learn more about the game, especially at the 12-and-under level, which is where I've coached the last few years.

Learning the ropes: Jumping rope provides deceptively good exercise

Amber Smith / The Post-Standard

If you notice people jumping rope in Solvay, just know they're on a fitness kick. They may be a little nostalgic, too.

Rene Bibaud - - jump-roper extraordinaire - - made her annual visit last week, teaching physical education classes at the schools and an evening community-wide assembly where, she says, she is ''hopefully, revitalizing that spirit."

David Lassman / The Post-Standard

Jump rope expert Rene Bibaud (left) and her assistant Nakean Wicklift (right) teach a physical fitness class at Solvay Elementary School with 2nd grader Anna Hinson (center) doing double dutch jumping.

That spirit ... of creative fitness, of getting outside and doing something physical for fun, of delighting in improving your abilities.

The jump-rope, she points out, is an inexpensive piece of exercise equipment that you can use almost anywhere for a good workout. "Depending on how you jump, it's on par with running" in terms of calories burned, Bibaud says.

For parents, the jump-rope is retro, a toy they remember from childhood. For kids in physical education classes, it's something new. And for students at more than 40 schools in Central New York, it's part of a major fundraiser for the American Heart Association. (Jump Rope for Heart takes place during April, May and June.)

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Amateur Update: Sports venues are a wise Investment

by Ed Hruska, Post-Bulletin

If you spent any time traveling around Rochester during the weekends in June you probably noticed a lot of activity. The Rochester area sports business just completed a record month for hosting youth amateur sporting events.

There was a large variety of regional, state and national tournaments which included wrestling, baseball, softball, pool, soccer, swimming, weightlifting, volleyball, figure skating, gymnastics, golf, track, lacrosse and basketball. More than 1,500 athletes accompanied by approximately 6,000 fans and family were guests of our city during that time.

A key factor in being selected and hosting these numerous events is the ability to utilize quality sports venues. Gone are the days when the dads fixed up the neighborhood baseball field and the kids chose teams and played for the fun of it. Today all sports require top facilities to make competition fair and enjoyable. Restrooms, concessions, bleachers with all the trimmings are usually required.

Not only are these sport venues used by thousands of guests on the weekends, but they are also used by the youth of Rochester all year around. More than 10,000 area youth participate in local youth sports! Whether it is the National Volleyball Center, the Rec. Center pool and figure skating rinks, the Graham Arenas, Watson or Mansour soccer fields or the Regional Sports Center and Stadium/Bubble; these venues are used by our area youth to develop their skills, make friends and get much needed physical exercise. This helps to create a healthier community and a more desirable quality of life for the citizens of the Rochester area.

N.F.L. Asserts Greater Risks of Head Injury

by Alan Schwarz, New York Times

The National Football League is producing a poster that bluntly alerts its players to the long-term effects of concussions, using words like "depression" and "early onset of dementia" that those close to the issue described as both staggering and overdue.

The poster, soon to be hung in locker rooms leaguewide, becomes by far the N.F.L.'s most definitive statement on the cognitive risks of football, which it had discredited for most of the past several years as academic studies and reports of deceased players' brain damage mounted.

The new document also warns players that repeated concussions "can change your life and your family's life forever," a clear nod to retired players' wives who have spoken out on the issue, occasionally before Congress. A draft of the poster also features photographs of unnamed youngsters in various sports with the reminder, "Other athletes are watching."

The new poster, which will also become a brochure given to all players, presents a stark change in league approach. It replaces a pamphlet given since 2007 that said, "Current research with professional athletes has not shown that having more than one or two concussions leads to permanent problems if each injury is treated properly," and also left open the question of "if there are any long-term effects of concussion in N.F.L. athletes."

The sobering new warning could affect not just the behavior of current N.F.L. players and youth athletes, but also how retired players' claims of cognitive decline are handled under the disability plan operated jointly by the league and the players union.

"That poster is shocking," said Domonique Foxworth, a cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens. "It gives people facts before they take risks. But it's not exactly a new revelation."

Soccer coach inspired by mentor

JOANNE FOX Soccer coach reviews a recent match with the Gateway City Fusion, a girls soccer club team at the Jeffrey C. Dible Soccer Complex, South Sioux City, Neb., Thursday, July 15, 2010. (Sioux City Journal, Joanne Fox)

By Joanne Fox - jfox@siouxcityjournal.com - Sioux City Journal

SIOUX CITY -- An individual who was instrumental in bringing soccer to a much higher level in Siouxland is the reason why one of his former players took on soccer coaching himself.

"It was the only way I saw to really pay him back for all of the direction he gave me," said Shane Tymkowicz of the late Domenick Guarneri, who also pioneered the soccer program at Briar Cliff University.

Tymkowicz now serves as a volunteer coach for the Gateway City Fusion, a girls soccer club team. He had played club soccer in the mid- to late-1980s under Guarneri, who later went on to be president of the Iowa Soccer Association. Although the Heelan graduate did not participate in the sport in college, when his daughters indicated an interest in soccer, he began helping out.

"When my own kids started playing, I didn't want to be the coach," he admitted. "But somebody found out I knew something about the sport and next thing I knew, I'm the coach."

Elmira Small Fry Football & Cheerleading	Aug 21
Groton Youth Football & Cheerleading	Aug 18
Jamaica Bulldogs Youth Football and Cheer	Aug 6
Marlboro Youth Football and Cheerleading	Jul 31
Mid-Hudson Pop Warner Football and Cheerleading Conference	Aug 14 Aug 21 Aug 28
Town of Moreau	Aug 17 Aug 18
New Hartford Pop Warner Football	Jul 28
Rosedale Little League	Sept 9
Watertown Cyclones Pop Warner Football and Cheer	Jul 28
Westchester Youth Football League	Aug 25
Broome Community College	Aug 10 Sept 15 Oct 14 Nov 18
Dutchess Community College	Jul 29 Aug 5
Finger Lakes Community College	Jul 29 Oct 27
Hudson Valley Community College	Aug 10 Sept 15 Oct 21 Nov 18
Mohawk Valley Community College	Jul 28 Sept 30 Oct 26
Onondaga Community College	Sept 15 Oct 19 Nov 18 Feb 24, 2011
Suffolk County Community College	Aug 3
Ulster County Community College	Sept 11 Oct 30
Westchester Community College	Aug 5 Aug 19

Main Page

State's governing body of high school sports is adopting new safety standards and assemblyman is expected to withdraw his bill that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on non-wood bats.

Players caught between AAU, school coaches

By SAM KHAN JR.Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Aug. 2, 2010, 10:20PM

Practices moved or canceled; heat sickens 6 rowan players

Home Cookin'

By SAM KHAN JR.
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle