All Articles by Brooke de Lench

The practice of cutting athletes from middle or high school teams, while it has existed for at least fifty years, is arguably the most controversial practice in youth sports. While the arguments proponents advance in favor of cutting are well-known, the practice is outmoded and needs to be re-examined in light of twenty-first century realities.

Because one of the keys to keeping athletes safe when it comes to concussion is education, a concussion education and safety meeting should be held for parents and athletes should be held before every season. Ideally, the meeting should include presentations by medical doctors, former athletes, and parents of concussed current or former athletes.

With pre-season practices beginning around the country for fall sports such as football and soccer which have high concussion rates, it is important for parents and athletes to be on the same page as the coaches and medical staff on the subject of concussions. The best way is for the coach to hold a concussion education and safety meeting for parents and athletes before every season.

Children are particularly vulnerable to adverse health effects of vehicular air pollution.

The consensus of medical experts is that playing fields should not be located any closer than 500 feet and ideally 1,000 feet from busy roads.

Before your community decides to build new playing fields near a busy highway, it should consider whether children's health could be harmed.

It is sad but true that our sports culture all too frequently extends extra privileges to athletes because of their presumed special status, a phenomenon commonly called  "the jock culture." While that culture at the nation's middle and high school isn't going to go away any time soon, there are steps parents can take to at least avoid reinforcing its  negative aspects.

It is well-established that playing sports is good for boys.  Indeed, some experts contend that, given  the way they hard-wired, boys need sports and competition because they provide healthy ways to channel their intense physicality and aggression and feel strong.