All Articles by Brooke de Lench

Peak Performance In Classroom And Sports: Ways Parents Can Help

There are several ways parents can help kids achieve peak performance in the classroom and in sports.

Athletic Success: An Accident of Birth?

If your child plays hockey or softball and is celebrating a birthday this month, congratulations, your kid is very lucky!

Why is that, you may ask?

Numerous studies have shown give kids in sports where teams are grouped by age born early in the age-group year (January for hockey and softball, May for baseball, and August for soccer) a number of advantages over their younger teammates.  Should success in sports really depend on the month of an athlete's birthday?

Bug Off! Why 'Skeeter Skidaddler May Be An Ideal Team Fundraiser

How many times have you watched a game or tournament and the only thing you recall years later were the flies and mosquitoes?

I can remember coaching many a Memorial Day soccer tournament, and mostly what I recall were the black flies that always seemed to hatch at the same time (Is it just me or does it seem that many athletic fields are built close to swamps?) Not to mention the bites I got from those nasty green heads when I was trying to sunbathe on the sandy beach where I grew up in Massachusetts.  'Skeeter Skedaddler

Prayers for Jack Jablonski

Everything I do today will be overshadowed by concern for a young raising star hockey player, Jack Jablonski, and the struggle he is going through days after suffering partial paralysis from a severed spinal cord when he slammed head first into the boards when he was illegally checked from behind by two opposing players during a holiday tournament in Minnesota.

Everything I do today will be overshadowed by concern for a young raising star hockey player, Jack Jablonski, and the struggle he is going through days after suffering partial paralysis from a severed spinal cord when he slammed head first into the boards when he was illegally checked from behind by two opposing players during a holiday tournament in Minnesota.

The Winter Olympics: Coming Up Faster Than You May Think!

Prior to 1992, both the summer and winter Olympic games were always held in the same year. Now, for the first time since 1992, we will be treated to two Olympic Games this year, winter and summer.

The inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are set to begin a ten day run on Friday, January 13, 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria, and MomsTeam's Brooke de Lench can't wait.

Baseline Neurocognitive Testing Before Winter Sports Activities: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

I remember one time, when my kids were six, going ice skating at a new rink with my sister Drew, her daughter Courtney, and my triplet sons. The excitement of a new rink and lots of kids zipping around provided for a lot of great fun and laughs, but ended, unfortunately, in an accident and a terrifying trip to the hospital, the memory of which is still vivid.Girl lacing up figure skates

Baseline neurocognitive testing in team sports such as hockey, lacrosse and football is increasingly common, but it might be a good idea to have kids tested before they participate in winter sports such as recreational skating, snowboarding or skiing as well.

Top Youth Sports Story of 2011: New Concussion Safety Laws

Every day at MomsTeam the staff talks about the best and worst youth sports stories of the day. Each year we vow to post a Top Ten list, as do our friends at the Positive Coaching Alliance, with their "Top 10 Responsible Sports Moments," or, select the top youth athlete, as the folks do at Sports Illustrated for Kids.

But we realized that selecting ten stories or one kid to highlightt when there are over 50 million kids playing sports in fifty states just isn't possible. The simple fact is that there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of "responsible moments" and millions of great young athletes whose spirit, desire to excel, and sportsmanship deserve to be recognized.

The top youth sports story of 2011 had to be the passage by twenty states of strong concussion safety laws, says longtime concussion safety advocate, Brooke de Lench.

Angela Ruggiero: My Personal Reflections On Her Retirement

This is a success story virtually without equal in women's sports in the post-Title IX era. A story not only about the success of one remarkable young woman, but about her parents and those, like me, who were privileged to watch her grow from a starry-eyed and talented teenager to the mature, self-assured woman she is today; a story which should serve, not only as an inspiration to any youth athlete who wants to reach the elite level in their sport, but for their parents as well.

Two days ago, Angela Ruggiero held a press conference to announce her retirement from women's ice hockey, two weeks after she told me of her decision.

The story of Angela Ruggiero is virtually without equal in women's sports in the post-Title IX era.  It is a story not only about the success of one remarkable young woman, but about her parents and those, like me, who were privileged to watch her grow from a starry-eyed and talented teenager to the mature, self-assured woman she is today.

Training Program Can Reduce Female ACL Injury Risk, Improve Athletic Performance

Two ACL injury prevention programs significantly reduce injury rates among female athletes while improving athletic performance, says a 2011 study.  Experts hope the findings will lead to greater compliance with training and widespread adoption of intervention programs.

No Video Games After Concussion: A Defense

The other day I received an email from a neuropsychologist at a well-known New England medical center (I'll call him "Dr. A" for short) wondering whether there was any evidence to support the recommendation made in a number of articles in our concussion center, as well as videos, that, as part of the cognitive rest a concussed student-athlete needs during concussion recovery, he or she should not play video games:

When a neuropsychologist at a leading New England medical center is skeptical about the basis for MomsTeam's recommendation against a concussed student-athlete playing video games while symptomatic after concussion, Brooke de Lench provides the backup and ends up winning praise for the site's concussion center.