High School Football Playoffs: Not A Time For Concussion Safety To Take Back Seat To Winning

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Thu, 11/21/2013 - 21:52. | comments

As the 2013 high school football season enters the home stretch, with teams fighting to stay alive in the playoffs, or preparing for traditional end-of-the-season games on Thanksgiving morning, the risk of concussion is an ever-present concern.

But now is not the time to put winning ahead of safety.

Even in the best of times, studies show that high school football players face what one recently called a ‘culture of resistance' to reporting to sideline personnel that they are experiencing concussion symptoms.

As the 2013 high school football season enters the home stretch, with teams fighting to stay alive in the playoffs, or preparing for traditional end-of-the-season games on Thanksgiving morning, the risk of concussion is an ever-present concern. But now is not the time to put winning ahead of safety.

Muscle Cramps: Common and Painful But Preventable

Almost every athlete (and, anyone reading this right now) has had muscle cramps at some point. Because they are so common, it is important to understand how they can happen with everyday activities, and that they there are a number of remedies to prevent and treat muscle cramps to reduce occurrence and intensity.

Food News from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Experiencing the Food & Nutrition Expo at the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetic Association's annual convention is an eating adventure! Several hours and many calories later, I emerged from the Expo with a sampling of items that can contribute to an effective sports diet. Here is brief snapshot of some of what I saw.

Brooke de Lench

Olympic Hockey Star Julie Chu: Commitment + Honor + Unity = CHU

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 11/12/2013 - 22:51. | comments

On Monday, I was able to catch up with three-time Olympic medalist Julie Chu, member of the U.S. Women's National Ice Hockey team, who just happens to be living and training for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia in my neck of the woods outside Boston.

I decided it was a great time to ask her to reflect back on her hockey journey over the past twelve years, and to hear about how she and her team are preparing for the challenge of replacing the Canadian women atop the podium this time around.

Knowing that three-time Olympic medalist Julie Chu was training for the Winter Games Sochi, Russia just around the corner, Brooke de Lench decided it was time to catch up with the captain of the U.S. Women's National Ice Hockey team, whose career she has been following for a dozen years.

Brooke de Lench

New Concussion Report's Failure To Discuss Impact Monitoring Unfortunate Omission

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 11/05/2013 - 15:34. | comments

The MomsTEAM staff and I are still digging into the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council's three-hundred-some-odd page report on sports-related concussions in youth sports,^[1] but one thing jumped out at me at my first pass: When I did a search in the report for a discussion of impact monitoring devices (a/k/a hit sensors), I found only one brief mention of sensors in the committee's recommendation that the Centers for Disease Control fund large scale data collection efforts for research purposes, including data from impact sensors.

Conspicuous by its absence from the new IOM/NRC report on concussions in youth sports was any mention of the use of real-time impact monitoring systems on the sports sideline. Unfortunately, the lack of any such discussion will just end up making it that much more difficult to get the message out that the benefits of real-time impact monitoring, and place an additional obstacle in the path to their use.

Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.

Youth Sports Heroes of the Month: Matt Labrum and Staff (Roosevelt, Utah)

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Thu, 10/31/2013 - 19:10. | comments

On Friday night, September 20, Judge Memorial Catholic High School of Salt Lake City downed the Union High School Cougars, 40-16. Football games played in rural Utah normally do not make news outside the local area, but this matchup on Union's home turf in Roosevelt (population: 6,100) attracted national attention for the post-game bombshell that Union head coach Matt Labrum and his staff dropped in the Cougars locker room. Football gear in locker

The coaches assembled the team, suspended every player, and collected their uniforms.

Football teams in rural Utah normally do not make news outside the local area, but after Judge Memorial Catholic High School of Salt Lake City beat the Union High Cougars, the post-game bombshell Union head coach Matt Labrum and his staff dropped on his team in the locker room attracted national attention for the lesson they were about to teach about character.

Advice to Parents: Empower, Don't Baby Injured Athlete During Rehabilitation Process

A growing body of evidence suggests that psychological factors play an important role in determining whether an athlete makes a successful return to sport following injury. Physical therapist Keith Cronin, DPT, OCS, CSCS, says it is important for parents to support an injured athlete but to empower, not coddle them during the rehabilitation process.

Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.

Youth Sports Hero of the Month: Terrance Washington (Louisville, Ky.)

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 14:42. | comments

For West End Yellow Jackets football coach Terrance Washington, practice at Russell Lee Park in Louisville, Kentucky on the night of September 12 seemed just like any other practice. Then, as he was putting the Mighty Mite Division team through its paces, he heard parents yelling that a two-year-old girl had just fallen 15 feet into a dark abandoned well 50 yards from the field.

"We were scared, we were screaming, we couldn't get it together," the little girl's cousin said later. "Fortunately . . . , Washington didn't hesitate."

It started out like any other practice for Lexington, KY youth football coach Terrance Washington. But then, as he was putting his team through its paces, he heard parents yelling that a two-year-old girl had just fallen about 15 feet into a dark abandoned well about 50 yards from the field, and he didn't hesitate.

Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy: What Sports Parents Should Know

In recent years, platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) injections have been used to treat a variety of sports injuries, ranging from severe tendonitis to muscle tears, but there is an ongoing debate among sports medicine doctors as to its effectiveness, especially given its cost. We explore both sides of the controversy.

Brooke de Lench

"The Smartest Team": Staking Out The Sensible Middle In The Polarized Debate About Football

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 15:36. | comments

It has been an exciting week for those of us who worked so hard over the past two years to produce The Smartest Team: Making High School Football Safer.

After kicking off with our premiere on Oklahoma Educational Television (OETA - PBS) in August, and with stations in North Carolina and Colorado having aired the documentary in September, the beginning of October marks the first full week of broadcasts on PBS stations in more than ten states.

The buzz about the PBS documentary, "The Smartest Team," has been overwhelmingly positive, but some appear to be working overtime, on Twitter, through a whisper campaign, and via other back-channel means, to cripple MomsTEAM's ability to get its message out. Brooke de Lench explains.

Team of Experts