Youth Sports Parents

Just in case there wasn't enough pressure....

2011-08-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

The latest from Williamsport - Little League World Series video scouting reports. Ugh.

Until It Hurts, the Video

2011-08-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

Beacon Press just put out this short clip about Until it Hurts. Thanks to Jessie Bennett, Digital Content Developer and Blog Editor at Beacon.

PGA Championship winner had a real childhood

2011-08-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Keegan Bradley, the new PGA Championship winner, set himself apart in so many ways last week. He won one of golf's four major championships in his first season on the PGA Tour. He won with an improbable back nine that included a triple bogey (to drop him five shots off the lead with three holes to play) followed by back-to-back birdies. Even more remarkably, he won the first major championship he ever played in.

There's one more biographical footnote that separates Bradley from other tour pros. He had a childhood.

More accurately, he had a normal childhood. Bradley grew up in Vermont, the son of a teaching golf pro. His aunt, Pat Bradley, was one of the most successful players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour in the 1970s and 1980s. The adults in Keegan's life had the good sense to allow golf to be a part of his life, not his whole life.

Increasingly, that's an unusual way for kids with sports talent to grow up, as Bill Pennington explained this morning in the New York Times.

Although he is the son of a club teaching pro and the nephew of the L.P.G.A. Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, he did not specialize in golf as a youngster. He did not enroll in a hundred golf camps or travel away from home, boarding in a golf academy. He did not follow the path that is now so common to precocious athletes in most sports across America, which is to say he spurned suggestions he should quit all other sports and play golf year-round.

Bradley grew up in central Vermont. He was a ski racer in the winter and a golfer in the summer.

“People ask me all the time how I could be a pro golfer from Vermont, and they assume I must have went south a lot,” Bradley said Saturday. “But the truth is that when it started to snow, I put my clubs in the basement and didn’t touch them.”

In Until It Hurts, I write about kids who become early specialists. By eight or nine years old, they are full-time soccer goalies or tennis players. A small percentage of these children become fabulous players. They become varsity college athletes, attending school on full athletic scholarship. A few even become professional stars playing in big stadiums and earning millions of dollars a year.

Sadly, most do not. They advance as far as their talent will take them, usually high school sports -and no farther. Or the steady diet of one sport - spring, summer, fall and winter - eventually wears them down before they even get that far. As I write in Until It Hurts, they become victims of overuse injuries, ruptured ligaments, growth-plate injuries and the like. Or the sport ceases to be fun. Or what they want to do. So they quit before ever reaching their potential.

Keegan Bradley's parents played it right. They allowed their son to have a childhood, to explore many interests and eventually to excel at one. Keegan is the hero this week. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley deserve their own slice of the spotlight.

A new study confirms an old one on kids and curves

2011-08-04T14:23:00.001-07:00

Back in 2009, I wrote an article for the New York Times citing a study that concluded there isn't much evidence to link curveballs and arm problems among kid pitchers. According to the study, the far more serious problem was overuse - too many pitches thrown over seasons dragging on too many months. It turned conventional thinking about kid pitchers and throbbing elbows on its head. Yet the study's primary author, Glenn Fleisig, was quite sure about which way his data pointed.

From the article:

Why for so many decades have most doctors and youth coaches believed otherwise? Fleisig said the evidence had been based largely on anecdotes, and that over the years those stories simply began to sound like fact.

“Why did people believe the world was flat? Because one guy told another it was flat and it looked flat. Until someone discovered that it wasn’t,” he said.

Fleisig took a lot of heat for the study and for refusing to back away from its conclusions. This week, vindication of sorts. A five-year study conducted at the University of North Carolina and commissioned by Little League Baseball reached the same conclusion.

As Glenn said in the Times article, no one is urging ten-year-olds to snap off a curve every other pitch. But data are data, and the curveball apparently isn't as harmful as many of us thought. And I have both hands raised on this one. In 2005, I wrote a piece for the Times lamenting the all-curve all-the-time approach of many youth pitchers at the Little League World Series. I should have been writing about pitch counts.

Paying for a field hockey tutor, before taxes

2011-07-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

This makes sense. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) just introduced a bill that would allow you and me to use pre-tax dollars to pay for heath and fitness expenses. So just as we can set aside a few thousands bucks (pre-tax) for medical expenses now, the same could be done to pay for the gym membership, the yoga class, maybe the youth soccer registration.

“Regular physical activity is the best preventive medicine we can prescribe,” Brady said this week. “This bill will give people another incentive to get active – to participate in that exercise class, join a sports team, or sign up for a fitness program.”

I like the idea. I see a few complications, though. Like what exactly is an allowable expense? I drop my kid off at the batting cage and she goes through ten dollars in quarters. My son enters the New York City Marathon. I sign up my kid for field hockey lessons at $50 a pop. I bought a Nintendo Wii. I bought six Nintendo Wiis. My wife had a baby on Monday. Tuesday, I order Baby Goes Pro on DVD. How far can I push this envelope?

What's truly remarkable about the bill - especially this week - is that it's supported by Republicans and Dems. Ron Paul and Earl Blumenauer, who I'm guessing rarely agree on what time it is, are co-sponsors. If nothing else, let's give this group credit for getting along.

A sports parents' guide to concussions

2011-07-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I completed the manuscript for "The Most Expensive Game in Town: The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today's Families." It's a book about Corporate America, big money and how they're changing the games that our kids play. Beacon Press is publishing in March. More about the book - and the reporting that went into it - in the coming months.

My next project is a book about kids sports and concussions. This time, I'm fortunate to be collaborating with Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon and pioneering expert in the field. Dr. Cantu is an adviser to the National Football League and one of those responsible for nudging the league to a more sensible place in protecting players. He's also co-founder of the Sports Legacy Institute, a remarkable organization studying brain disease among ex-athletes. More than 300 pro and amateur athletes have willed their brains to the institute, including the NFL Hall of Famer John Mackey, who died this month after a long struggle with dementia.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is publishing the book. We hope it will be a valuable resource for sports parents and coaches - kids too.

I'm meeting a number of remarkable former youth athletes whose experiences with concussions have forced them to quit sports. In many cases, they've turned their energies in other directions, often with the goal of sparing other kids the trouble that came their way. Here's one shining example, a short documentary on concussions created by Catholic University student TJ Cooney. You really ought to take a few minutes to watch this.

The Silent Epidemic from TJ Cooney on Vimeo.

Swipe your credit card at WorkOut Kid Web site

2011-07-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

In this space, we've commented before on kids barely old enough to cross the street alone yet who are Youtube sports stars - in auto racing, boxing, billiards, tennis, gymnastics. What am I forgetting? Something, I'm sure. The billiards champ was two. The prize fighter, all of seven, had a Web site and had recorded a hit single.

I just learned about the The WorkOut Kid. He's ten and - yes, an Internet sensation. The video above has already passed one million views on YouTube. At the WorkOut Kid Web site, there are the usual opportunities to swipe a credit card - $19.99 for the WorkOut Kid DVD, $29.95 for the WorkOut Kid backpack.

Kids' gyms and fitness training also are the subject of an article this week in Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Interesting piece that mostly explores how fitness clubs are catering to younger and younger customers.

From the BW article:

Jeff Martin, director of youth programming for CrossFit Brand X, a health club in Ramona, Calif., claims his business has doubled in the past three years and that the majority of his new clients are underage. “We have kids coming into our gym now who are 2½, 3 years old,” Martin says. Brian K. Maloney, director of fitness and education at New York City’s Visions Wellness Center, believes his gym is attracting a younger crowd mainly because it allows it. “Unlike a lot of health clubs and private gyms, which won’t let you work out in the weight room unless you’re 16 or older, our insurance covers younger members,” says Maloney, who charges $70 and up for pre-adolescent sessions. “We cater to people who have the money,” he says.

I see how the adults nudging these kids to center stage are benefiting - financially and otherwise. Still waiting for a sports medicine expert to step forward to say this is healthy for kids.

Thank you, Rabbi Michael Green.

Message to sports parents, unbuckle the high chair

2011-07-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

A new slant on the sports training for really young kids debate.

British medical experts conclude that children under five years old need three hours each day when they're not strapped or buckled down. That is, time free of car seats, high chairs, jammy jump-ups and so on.

From the BBC:

"Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, said all young children should be encouraged to be active.

"For children that are not yet walking, there is considerable international evidence that letting children crawl, play or roll around on the floor is essential during early years.

"Play that allows under-fives to move about is critical and three hours a day is essential."

Essentially, the message is that kids need to move to be happy and healthy, that kids who are restrained in various baby contraptions are more likely to be the adults who become immovable objects on the living room couch.

I see nothing in the BBC report to challenge earlier assertions in this space that structured exercise programs for babies and toddler are unnecessary. Or a waste of time and money. Just let your kid climb down from the high chair. And let her do what kids do.

Thank you, Paula Fernandes.

New comedy genre, pushy youth sports parents

2011-07-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

I fear there will be kindergarteners hanging from rims all over the country.

Thanks Ben Hyman.

Brilliant youth sports sign of the month

2011-06-23T05:13:00.001-07:00

This sign caught my eye. It hangs beside the first base dugout at the Little League field in Hood River, Oregon. Not your usual 60-foot diamond. This one comes with a view of a snow-capped mountain.

What I like about the sign is its dual purpose. Read it once, it's a recruiting pitch for new umpires. Read it twice, it's an admonition to the adults to keep their opinions - especially, the ones about whether their kid was safe or out at first base - to themselves.

"Harassment or heckling of an umpire will be considered a verbal application." Quite brilliant.

Thanks to my friend Laurie Stephens, mother of Ryan and Casey, for the tour.

Will sports parents heed call, limit sports drinks?

2011-06-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

If your child's pediatrician diagnosed a contagious bug and prescribed medication, what would you do? Same as most parents, no doubt. Get the medicine. Give it to your kid. When a child's health is at stake, we tend to follow doctor's orders.

Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a widely publicized clinical report regarding kids and sports drinks. The AAP recommended cutting back on such drinks for kid athletes. In so many words, the kids' doctors group found them to be unnecessary at best, and at times even harmful.

Dr. Holly Benjamin of the AAP Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness noted: “For most children engaging in routine physical activity, plain water is best, Sports drinks contain extra calories that children don’t need, and could contribute to obesity and tooth decay."

It's been three weeks since the AAP issued that statement. How many of us have heeded this simple advice? Anyone?

The sport-drink industry isn't exactly urging us to shut the spigot. Gatorade, for one, spends tens of millions each year in sports marketing. According to the Sports Business Journal, the four major sports leagues have deals with Gatorade as do a majority of teams in those leagues. Dozens of star players are paid to pitch the sports drink including Peyton and Eli Manning, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Garnett and Landon Donovan. Seventy-four college programs count Gatorade as a sponsor as do 13 college conferences and 11 bowl games.

Oh, and Gatorade is a highly visible sponsor of high school sports. Next spring, check out the ESPN Rise National High School Invitational Presented by Gatorade. I did last March. In a gym in suburban D.C., it was me, about 700 fans and about 700 Gatorade logos.

Maybe I'm off base and water is about to make a comeback as the kids' thirst quencher of choice. That would please your kid's doctor. It might not make the Manning brothers happy.

Least Essential Youth Sports Products, again

2011-06-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

As regular readers know, I am drawn to (ok, obsessed with) the shopping habits of sports parents - myself included. I'm particularly fascinated by senseless shopping, the things we buy that we truly don't need and our kids probably don't want. Things like....sports-ball furniture. Why settle for the ordinary when you could be sitting on a basketball?

"Whether you're decorating your child's bedroom or playroom, create a look their friends will envy!"

Retail price, $275. No assembly required. Not even an air pump.

What would you do to see your kid in a U.S. Open?

2011-06-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

Next week, the U.S. Open Golf Championship.

Of 156 golfers in the tournament, five are teenagers. The youngest, Beau Hossler, is 16.

Check out these stories about Peter Uihlein and Ty Tryon who will be teeing it up at Congressional. Two kids who put everything they could into becoming tour players. Two stories that make you wonder: Would I let me kid do this?

Peter Uihlein's father, Wally, tells the Washington Times: "It was tough. It worked for us. We would not recommend it unless you went into the process eyes wide open."

We interrupt this youth sports blog....

2011-06-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

..so I can congratulate my son Ben.

The inaugural President's Cup in Baltimore was a major success. Eight private and public high school baseball teams participating. A single-elimination tournament. The title game at Camden Yards. Players sporting the caps of historic Baltimore Negro League teams. Honorary captains (and former Orioles) Paul Blair and Al Bumbry. A special appearance by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. Best of all, a commitment to do it again next year.

And in an odd moment, a battle between Gehrig and Ripken (See "Ripken and Gehrig on the same field...at last").

All credit to Baltimore City Council President Jack Young, with an assist from Ben.

Before a sports season, a question for your child

2011-06-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

This week, I was a guest on the NPR show Radio Times - a good discussion with lots of listener calls. At one point, I retold a favorite story from Until It Hurts - about Michael Stuart and the high-achieving hockey players in his family.

Stuart is an orthopedic surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minesota. He's also chief medical officer of USA Hockey - and in that capacity is deeply involved in the concussion debate in youth hockey. (I've posted video of Dr. Stuart speaking about that).

Michael Stuart is also a hockey dad. He has four children, now grown. Three boys have played professionally, two in the National Hockey League. His daughter was captain of the Boston College women's hockey team. So you can imagine how many chilly rinks Stuart has sat in the past 30 years.

The story about the Stuart family included in the book is disarmingly simple. Yet it makes a crucial point. Before the start of every hockey season, Stuart told me he would pull his kids aside one by one and ask if they wanted to play that season. As he explained, it was important that they knew the decision was theirs. In no way were they playing to please him.

"I didn’t ask the question, because I didn’t know the answer. I asked so my children would know there was no expectation. It was their choice. The point was made to them. “Gee, I don’t really have to play. Dad is even asking me if I want to.” The bottom line for children, or anyone, playing sports is you have to enjoy it. It’s hard to reach your potential if you’re miserable.”

The story prompted a great phone call from a mom who'd recently asked her kids whether they wanted to sign up again for soccer. Answer: Do we have to? That simplified her decision. This year, no soccer.

After the show, I received this message from Chris in Philadelphia on the same point:

I coach a U-12 girls travel soccer team. I coach soccer because I love the game and I love to teach. Soccer is my thing. Both of my children, currently 12 and nearly 15, played soccer but they no longer play.

After three years, my 12-year-old daughter and I agreed that she was not enjoying the experience of playing soccer and so she withdrew. While she played, she enjoyed spending time with me and her peers and enjoyed many moments of her experience.

My son played for five or six seasons but off the field, broke his toe twice, both times running through the house, in the middle of his soccer seasons. After missing a second season due to a broken toe, this fall, his first on the High School Freshman team, he withdrew from soccer and has decided he will not return.

Soccer is my thing, it does not mean my kids need to play. After all, my daughter is taking up writing and my son skateboards at least twice a week. They both have chosen well on their own.

Three books for sports parenting mavens

2011-06-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

Now where was I...Seriously, I've spent the last month working (furiously) on several projects. I'm up for air now.

I'm calling attention to several recent books written by friends/colleagues. These would be excellent additions to the nightstand.

Elevating Your Game: Becoming a Triple-Impact Competitor. Jim Thompson, the author, is founder of the Positive Coaching Alliance and a fervent believer in coach and parent education. Jim was interviewed about the book and kids sports last month in the New York Times.

Daddy's Little Goalie. Robert Strauss has written tenderly and humorously about the joy he has taken in his daughter's sports life. It's an exploration of the brighter side of youth sports. People who hang around this blog will enjoy the change of pace.

Parent Your Best. Jeremy Boone is a strength and conditioning trainer in Charlotte. Even though he's stronger than me, we share many of the same views about over-training, over-specialization and other "overs" spoiling youth sports. Some fitness types nudge kids into starting earlier and training harder than they should, perhaps because it's in their economic interest to do so. That's not Jeremy and I respect him for it.

Speaking about kids and sports tonight in Darien

2011-04-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I will be in Darien, Connecticut to speak about Until It Hurts at an event co-hosted by the Darien Library and YWCA Parent Awareness Network.

I'm especially looking forward to this one, as I have a previous connection to youth sports in Darien. In 2010, I wrote a piece for the New York Times about Peter Barston, an inquisitive 15-year-old and former rec league second baseman who wondered: Why do kids play sports in Darien? To get the answers, Peter launched a survey of hundreds of kids in town and came up with interesting results.

The number one reason kids in Darien play sports?

Not winning.
Not college scholarships.
According to Peter's research.....

Hope to see you there.

Why is tackle football for 5-year-olds a good idea?

2011-04-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

As of several years ago, Pop Warner Football sponsors a tackle division for five- and six-year-olds. I have a hard time understanding why.

Five-year-olds are not demanding tackle football. The five-year-olds I know demand 10 more minutes at the playground or chocolate milk with their peanut butter sandwich, not tackle football.

For those kids who are charged up about the sport, there's always flag football. Kids run around just as much and it's far less violent. Why put a helmet on these kids and tell them to run over each other?

PBS Frontline looks at high school football

2011-04-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

The remarkable thing about the sports concussions epidemic is that just when you think you could not be more alarmed about it, you get more alarmed.

Tonight, the reporting that stirs the concern is on Frontline and a documentary called Football High.

The show deals with many health risks in youth football - not just head trauma but heat stroke, obesity and the mindset that hitting a kid isn't as good as hitting a kid hard enough to crack his helmet.

The school profiled is Euless Trinity High School in Texas where these issues seem to be either chronically under appreciated or ignored.

One kid tells Frontline, “You’re only 17 once. I mean, I have the rest of my life to worry about pain and stuff like that. I can only, you know, play football for so long. I might as well use the time I have and worry about the effects later.”

That's the kind of thing that 17-year-olds are supposed to say. They're 17, after all. The adults are supposed to protect them from themselves. We don't do a very good job of that in sports.

New cause of concussions in youth sports, Madden?

2011-04-05T12:28:00.001-07:00

I never thought I could laugh at a story about kids' sports and head trauma. I changed my mind. The Onion reports on a growing health crisis - "long-term neurological consequences" from playing Madden football.

"The situation is far more serious than we had previously thought," said Vincent Wu, head of neuropathology at the IBIR. "Playing Madden football increases one's risk for a wide range of cognitive impairments, from difficulty focusing, to a decreased awareness of one's surroundings, to a generalized inability to engage with society at large.

"Playing so many simulated seasons takes a devastating toll," Wu added. "The human brain was never meant to withstand the brutal impacts of this game."

Clever. And a takeoff on a real news story published in the New York Times on Sunday. It revealed that the next generation of the Madden game - Madden 12 - "will be realistic enough not only to show players receiving concussions, but also to show any player who sustains one being sidelined for the rest of the game — no exceptions. Beyond that, in the background, the game’s announcers will explain that the player was removed because of the seriousness of head injuries."

So the trick is to play enough Madden to absorb the message without playing so much that you hurt yourself.

Using kid testimonials to sell bats? Not okay

2011-03-31T04:28:00.000-07:00

My reaction-

Has a kid using one of these bats ever swung and missed?

It's okay to sell bats. It's not okay to use kids to sell bats.

A kids' baseball tournament with a larger purpose

2011-03-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

I was running with a friend this morning. He told me about something quite odd that he had spotted while running through a city park a few days earlier. He hadn't seen anything like it in - he couldn't remember how long.

A group of city kids had gathered on a rec field. They were playing pickup baseball.

True, baseball may be the National Pastime. It isn't the city game. Not anymore. Equipment is too expensive. Fields in many urban areas are hard to come by. It's perceived to be too slow.

It isn't the game of African Americans either. Black players held nine per cent of roster spots in Major League Baseball in 2005, down from 18 per cent in 1991. A company called Scarborough Sports Marketing puts African American turnout at MLB games at eight per cent of total attendance. That's pretty bad considering that blacks make up 13 per cent of the U.S. population.

So, I like Baltimore's new President's Cup, just announced last week. It's a high school tournament that brings together public and private school kids in a friendly baseball tournament. It's a creative way of using sport to bridge social and economic gaps. And - key factor - a member of my family is involved in the planning.

Planning to be in Cape Girardeau, Mo. tomorrow?

2011-03-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

I will be there. So will Chris Nowinski, the remarkable activist who speaks out about head trauma in youth sports.

See you at Saint Francis Medical Center.

Youth sports as a force for positive social change

2011-03-21T04:02:00.001-07:00

It's easy to be cynical about what kids' sports aren't doing or aren't doing well enough. As regular readers of the blog know, it's a fairly lengthy list. We ought not to lose sight of the force for change that youth sports can be.

My friend Ken Shropshire passed along this short clip which highlights the work of several international aid groups that teach through sports - Grassroots Soccer, Peace Players and Partners of the Americas, among others. These groups and the inspiring people who run them take on big challenges like educating kids about HIV and promoting harmony among races. And it seems to be working.

For one day, no talk here about overuse injuries and out-of-control parents.

Return of Least Essential Youth Sports Products

2011-03-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since the last installment of Least Essential Youth Sports Products. This iPhone app certainly meets the criteria - dubious value, inflated claims.

I especially liked the scene at the end of the video when the coach/pitchman looks into the camera and announces: "This is the secret to becoming a professional player - and you can do it!" And only $1.99!

A prep game, and the starting pitchers are girls

2011-03-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

High school baseball in Los Angeles usually doesn't get our attention. But the challenges facing girls who play baseball frequently does. So we note an unusual (perhaps unique) occurrence in LA last weekend - a high school game in which both starting pitchers were girls

Cap tip to Marti Sementelli of Lake Balboa Birmingham High and Ghazaleh Sailors of San Marcos High School.

View more videos at: http://www.nbclosangeles.com.

Why would a kid be running a marathon anyway?

2011-03-04T06:44:00.001-08:00

Should children run marathons? In the New York Times, health and fitness writer Gretchen Reynolds recently asked this question. Her piece indicates that the research, such as it is, is inconclusive.

On the one hand, a recent study notes that the number of young runners seeking treatment for injuries related to the sport is rising, Overall, the number of injuries was 34 percent higher in 2007 than in 1994, she reports.

On the other hand, injuries to kid marathon runners supposedly are rare. In one study, a University of Minnesota researcher identified 310 kids 17 and under who ran the Twin Cities Marathon from 1982 to 2007. Just four "visited the race’s medical tent, and none required interventions beyond a brief rest."

Reynolds asks: "In other words, it’s safe for 11-year-olds to run a marathon but not to participate in the running program in phys ed class? How are parents supposed to interpret what could be seen as contradictory findings?

I interpret the studies this way.

Study No 1: More kids likely are running now than 16 years ago. And many are likely training harder than kids were back in the 90s. They are in most sports so the big news would be if runners unlike other youth athletes have dialed back their training.

Study No 2: Interesting idea but I wonder what is being measured. Would you expect a 12-year-old full of energy and blessed with fresh legs, having trained properly, to break down in his/her first marathon? Or second or third? I wouldn't. So the fact that few showed up in the post-race medical tent seems like a sidebar at best. The kids who continued to run marathons into their late teens and twenties would be interesting subjects. Were they slowed by overuse injuries? Did they lose enthusiasm for running at a rate higher than non-prodigies?

On a long run the other day, I asked my friends who are marathoners to reflect on past races and to try to recall the youngest kids they had ever seen attempting 26.2 miles. Collectively, the dozen runners questioned had run 25 to 30 marathons. No one could recall a kid younger than, say, a junior or senior in high school. So maybe we're on the senior circuit. Or maybe, as we surmised, these young kids are finishing ahead - way ahead - of us.

Which raises another key question, especially around here: Is it safe for a middle-aged man with chronically tight hamstrings to run marathons?

Coach regrets bad behavior - with a camera rolling

2011-03-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

I found this interesting. The men's basketball coach at D-III Holy Family in Philadelphia shoves (perhaps "assaults" is the better word) one of his own players during a workout. The incident is captured on videotape and the coach is suspended.

Somehow, the coach and player end up as guests on Good Morning America. They are sitting next to one another at a table as a host asks the coach whether he wishes to apologize to the player and the player whether he is able to forgive the coach. It is an odd moment and I will not give away the ending.

Suffice to say the coach expresses regret for his actions. It seems to me he most regrets that the tape of this incident has gone viral.

I have known high school and college coaches who were severe with their players - in my judgment, overly so. I could respect them because it seemed to me that they remained in control. The stern treatment was a calculation on their part, a prod with a purpose. At times a particular rant might seem over the top to me. I could see the reasoning even if I disagreed with it.

This is different. It seems to me that John O'Connor just lost his head. Or mind.

Thanks Dave Tracey.

Best youth sports Web sites and blogs, including us

2011-02-25T04:07:00.000-08:00

It's nice to be noticed and particularly nice to be noticed by colleagues. That happened twice this week.

Over at jmbthinks, Janis Meredith cited this blog as one of "Five friends every sports parent should have." Other "friends" include the youth sports social-networking site Weplay.com and the blog Momsteam.com.

For Blogger.com, Fran Dicari, the proprietor at StatsDad has chosen his "Top 10 Youth Sports Blogs." This blog was included with the likes of Rick Wolff's Ask Coach Wolff, Dan Peterson's Sports Are 80 Per Cent Mental and Sports Girls Play. All worthy.

Thanks to Fran and Janis.

Remind me again, why shouldn't girls play baseball?

2011-02-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

About two years ago, I wrote an article for the New York Times about high school baseball and the girls (surmounting senseless obstacles) who enjoyed playing it. After writing the story, I made contact with Justine Siegal.

Then, Justine was an advocate for girls' baseball who was having modest success getting her message out. Now she is a media sensation and a person who is truly changing public attitudes.

The last few days, Justine has reached millions of people with her "Baseball for All" mantra. She had the brilliant idea to approach her hometown team, the Cleveland Indians, with a request to throw batting practice for the squad during a spring training workout in Arizona. A woman had never pitched BP to a major-league team.

Justine was on the mound yesterday, making history. The New York Times was there, and ran a piece today.

And MLB.com was there with its cameras.

Congratulations Justine. Remind me again, why do we discourage girls from playing baseball?

A satirical look at Pee Wee Football (I think)

2011-02-18T04:15:00.000-08:00

Q-If that Brent kid gets most improved, my son Garrison gets most heart.
A- The game ended 15 minutes ago. The kids are back there going nuts...The mayor just called and congratulated the team, guys...Come on.

Q-Just to clarify, every kid gets an award?
A-Ok, this is the last question I'll answer about awards. Yes, every player gets an award.

Q-If every kid gets an award, is it technically an award?
A-They're five. Who cares, all right? It's about fun. We just won the championship.

Q-Will there finally be an award for best snack mom?
A-I dunno Judy, maybe.

Have youth sports become too intense? Absolutely

2011-02-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

A few months back, I was contacted by an editor at The New York Times Upfront, a news magazine for teens, and asked to write a short piece on the subject: Have Youth Sports Become Too Intense?

I said yes. Yes, I'd do it. And yes, youth sports have become too intense.

My commentary was paired with an opposing viewpoint from a coach with the Chicago Magic, one of the country's elite soccer clubs. I spent an afternoon at a Magic practice outside Chicago when I was writing Until It Hurts. Highly skilled players. Highly motivated parents.

Here's the "Debate."

Legal troubles for family of infamous hockey dad

2011-02-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

The story of Thomas Junta is a sad one that over the years has grown even sadder. In 2002, Junta was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Massachusetts hockey dad. Junta and the victim, Michael Costin, got into a scuffle at a rink after their sons had mixed it up on the ice. They had words. They traded blows. And when it was over, Costin was dead, probably from a blow (or multiple blows) to the vertebral artery in his neck. Junta served about eight years in prison before his release six months ago.

Now Junta's son is in trouble. This week, the Boston Globe reports that Quinlan Junta, 21, was arrested and charged after a violent home invasion. According to the Globe the younger Junta and a friend stand accused of breaking into an apartment at gunpoint and beating up a 19-year-old who lived there with his mother. Then they allegedly robbed the victims of $800.

Junta and his alleged accomplice are charged with home invasion, armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, intimidation of a witness, and conspiracy to commit a crime.

At some point, this ceases to be a cautionary tale about youth sports mania and becomes one about a highly dysfunctional American family. I think we're there.

Thanks Marty Mazzone.

Kids, sports and injuries, according to sources

2011-02-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

We try to keep this a (mostly) commercial-free zone. Today is an exception. The New York Times is offering a series of on-line sessions on the topic of sports, kids and injuries. The class meets weekly starting in late February and the instructors are first-rate, Times reporters Gretchen Reynolds and Alan Schwarz.

The cost is $135. I hear it's an easy A.

Is football too dangerous for kids? (revisited)

2011-01-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

Wisest statement I've heard in a long time, from Chris Nowinski, president of the Sports Legacy Institute. Nowinski spoke about kids and sports concussions yesterday on NPR's Fresh Air.

"There is no such thing as informed consent for children on this issue. We have to give them a chance by educating them and forcing them to adhere to responsible medical practices by sitting out while their brains recover.

"And separating the kids' game of football from the adult game of football is something we need to do going forward. When you step back and hear old baseball players say they're lucky that they're adults getting to play a kids' game - I think of football the opposite way. We have kids playing an adults' game. You can't throw away kids' futures just to have a little fun after school and on the weekend."

Want to play in the Little League World Series?

2011-01-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

Little League Baseball just released its public-service announcements for 2011. Clever messaging in this one. It begins:

"There's only one Little League where the kids of summer take over the world. The Little League Baseball World Series. Televised worldwide. To be part of this, join a real Little League. Sign up today."

True, only kids playing in youth leagues affiliated with Little League Baseball have a chance to play in the LLWS.

Also true that the chance is nearly the same as digging up uranium in your backyard. About 2.4 million kids play Little League, most in the 10-12 division that holds its championship in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Fewer than 400 make it to that series each year.

It all points to the intense competition for youth players. The number of kids playing baseball in organized leagues is flat, even shrinking. The number of organizations trying to sign up those players - Little League, Cal Ripken, Dixie, travel leagues - expands every year.

Christina Taylor Green, 9/11/01 to 1/8/11

2011-01-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Canyon Del Oro Little League, where Christina played ball, will be issuing uniform patches in her memory - all players will wear them in the coming season. Leagues in Florida and California have already announced they will do the same. Patches are for sale at the league Web site with proceeds benefiting the Christina Taylor Green Memorial Fund.

Do youth sports parents really sound like this?

2011-01-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

Very clever and very amusing. From Jen Singer at Mommasaid.net.

A boy with long hair and other youth sports follies

2011-01-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

An Indiana child has been kicked off a middle school basketball team for wearing his hair too long. His parents have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the grooming policy.

From the Greensburg (Indiana) Daily News:

"The school's athletic policy bans hairstyles that "create problems of health and sanitation, obstruct vision, or call undue attention to the athlete." The policy also allows for coaches to add more restrictions. Current head varsity coach Stacy Meyer implemented a more restrictive policy to create a uniform, "clean-cut" image to the school's basketball program. Specifically, players' hair must be above the eyebrows, collars and ears. Recent pictures of the Haydens' son show the boy is perhaps a few snips away from meeting the policy. His hair is longer in the front, slightly brushing his eyebrows, and comes over his ears."

I take a dim view of rules that restrict participation in youth sports. And a dimmer one of rules that appear arbitrary and unnecessary as this one does. It is hard to believe that a boy with eyebrow-length bangs is a threat to the social order of Greensburg, Indiana.

It reminds me of the controversy about high school girls playing traditionally boys' sports such as wrestling and baseball. The abuse these girls put up with is amazing. The abusers are often disapproving coaches and parents concerned that a girl is depriving a boy of a roster spot, as if gender is some sort of birthright.

I wonder in what ways youth sports would be different if the tables were turned and children made the rules that we had to live by. My guess is there would be fewer coaches with hair-trigger tempers and overwrought parents making spectacles of themselves. And no rules about hair.

On being the parent of a youth sports prodigy

2011-01-05T01:38:00.001-08:00

The first word one of my sons (sorry, won't divulge which one) ever spoke was: bump. Not sure why. Just sure it was bump.

The second through sixth words were: "Tony Fernandez and Cal Ripken." He'd memorized the names and faces from a pack of baseball cards that found its way into the house. It was exciting to have an 18-month-old who could recite the names of two All-Star shortstops. So exciting that I wonder whether I would have been tempted to turn him into a YouTube star had there been YouTube at the time. Actually, I know I would have been tempted.

As the parent of a prodigy (sports, music or otherwise) it's hard keeping exceptional talent to yourself, as this CBS News piece explains very well.

Thanks, Ben.

A month later, more on sports training for babies

2010-12-30T04:56:00.000-08:00

The Today Show ran a piece on sports training for babies and toddlers yesterday. Worth a look, though most of the interviews are with people featured in last month's Times article.

I second what Brooke de Lench of Momsteam.com says at the end of the piece. Nothing in the medical literature supports the idea that babies gain coordination from sports exercise.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On youth football and protecting kids' heads

2010-12-28T05:09:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, The New York Times ran another great piece on head trauma in youth football. This time the subject was prevention. Alan Schwarz visited an unusual coach, Bobby Hosea, who teaches kids to tackle properly and safely -not leading with their heads.

Hosea is quoted in the piece: “When a kid gets paralyzed or dies, it’s not an accident — the injuries happen because people never teach kids how to tackle the right way. Everyone’s talking about head injury awareness, awareness, awareness. What are you going to do about it? It drives me absolutely crazy. It’s time for this to stop!”

I've been in head-trauma mode these past few days, reading about cause and effect. I picked up a terrific book, Head Games by Chris Nowinski. It's the story of Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and pro wrestler, unraveling the mystery of his own brain injuries. And in the process, triggering a national conversation.

I spoke recently with Dr. Robert Cantu, the neurosurgeon who diagnosed Nowinski and is now leading the debate about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an Alzheimer’s-like brain disease associated with repetitive head trauma. Cantu and Nowinski established the Sports Legacy Institute in Boston. Its mission is to raise awareness. It's succeeding.

Watch this. If you're a parent of a youth athlete, watch twice.

Watch this video on YouTube

In cheerleading case, bad outcome for everybody

2010-12-24T09:18:00.001-08:00

This case is getting attention nationally.

A Texas cheerleader is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether she was wrongfully kicked off the squad for refusing to cheer for a player during a basketball game. That player was a boy whom she accused of raping her at a party, a boy who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and received a suspended sentence.

I wonder why school officials got involved in the first place. And who is better off for them having stepped in? Both students were hurt. The girl because she was a cheerleader and now she isn't. The boy because few people outside Silsbee, Texas knew anything of an incident that I assume the boy regrets and is embarrassed about. Now it's a topic of national conversation.

Wasn't there a less confrontational, more equitable, way for the school system to handle this? Must have been.

Youth sports poll: Concussions don't worry kids

2010-12-20T05:07:00.001-08:00

The latest ESPN the Magazine includes an interesting survey. The Mag polled 600 people (300 players, 100 coaches, 100 parents, 100 athletic trainers) in 23 state about concussions. I like the questions, simple and neutral. Not much to like about the attitudes of players, though. A majority seems not to take concussions that seriously. Have a look at the question below. (Click on it for easier reading). More than half say they'd rather win a big game with a teammate suffering a concussion than lose without him.

The quick and easy way to interpret these findings is that the attitudes of players are the largest problem. Maybe. I'd say it's more complicated. Kids are sponges. They listen not only to what we say but what we do. They are influenced by education campaigns that warn of dangers from concussions. They also understand that as a society we value tough guys.

This is from Until It Hurts:

"Are adults sending messages, subtly or otherwise, that winning comes first and guarding the health of high school players second? Do youth players fear that they have to choose between listening to their bodies and satisfying their coaches and parents?

"In his New York Times piece, [Alan] Schwarz addresses these questions with powerful reporting. A physician at a Connecticut high school recalls sending a player from an opposing team to the sidelines with a concussion. The coach instructed the player to switch his uniform number and surreptitiously return to the game. A team doctor in Charlottesville, Virginia laments the recklessness of parents who will not listen to any advice that takes their child out of a game. “I have had parents tear up the form that I’ve filled out strongly recommending their child not play, and shop a doc to get their kid OK’d,” he says.

Bob Feller and the dad who built a batting cage

2010-12-16T05:05:00.000-08:00

The death of Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller yesterday is a sad occasion. Feller was the dominant pitcher of his day and a child prodigy. In his big-league debut, while on summer vacation from high school, he struck out 15 batters.

Today's obituary in the New York Times is a good read and reminds me that the present generation of parents is far from the first with big sports dreams for kids.

Check this, and the Feller interview below.

"Robert William Feller was born on Nov. 3, 1918, in Van Meter — population 300 — and grew up nearby on a farm where his father, Bill, devoted himself to hogs, wheat and corn, but most of all to raising a ballplayer.

"Bill Feller and his son listened to live broadcasts of Cubs games from Chicago and to re-creations on WHO Radio in Des Moines by a fledgling sportscaster named Ronald Reagan.

"The father played catch with his son, bought him a Rogers Hornsby model glove and a flannel baseball uniform, and built a batting cage. When Bob was 12, his father leveled pasture land to create a ballpark, complete with bleachers and scoreboard, and formed a team to showcase Bob against players in their late teens and 20s.

“My father loved baseball and he cultivated my talent,” Feller told Donald Honig in his 1975 oral history, “Baseball When the Grass Was Real.” “I don’t think he ever had any doubt in his mind that I would play professional baseball someday.”

Youth sports lessons are for players, not parents

2010-12-14T06:24:00.001-08:00

Over the years, I've written a lot about sports tutors for kids.

One of the most sought-after is quarterbacks guru Steve Clarkson. He charges $700 an hour. At that price you cater to a well-to-do clientele. Clarkson's students have included the sons of Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky and Snoop Dogg.

On the homefront, my children have hooked up with private coaches on occasion, though at a slightly lower rate. I wouldn't want to say how many runs knocked in to credit to those winter sessions in the batting cage. But I do know that Bill, my son's hitting teacher throughout high school, has become a family friend and remains a mentor to my son. Next spring, Bill is coaching a local high school team. My son is his assistant.

I like what big-leaguer Dirk Hayhurst says about private lessons. When in doubt always remember, it's not about you.

"[Y]our child is NOT you. If you love baseball and he doesn’t, why are you taking him to lessons? Are you hoping he’ll be what you thought you could be? This is a tough bullet to bite, but do it soon and save yourself some drama later. Instructors work with kids like this all the time; kids who don’t want to be there but don’t want to disappoint their parents. No instructor can teach a kid to feel for a sport the way you do."

Thanks to Dennis Anderson, a loyal blog follower in Lawrence, Kansas, for pointing out Hayhurst's blog.

Katie Couric weighs in on sports for babies

2010-12-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

Cal Ripken and a rec field for pickup sports

2010-12-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore - former home of the Colts and Orioles - was leveled years ago. Now on the site are a senior housing complex, a neighborhood playground, a YMCA and - as of yesterday - a special kids' rec field. A large chunk of the funding for the new field was supplied by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, named for the longtime Orioles coach and manager (and father of a Hall of Famer, Cal Jr.).

I've had several talks with John Hoey, president and CEO of the Y of Central Maryland, about his plans. We've talked about alternatives to highly organized youth sports, ways to encourage pickup games and other kids' play - for lack of a better term - lightly supervised by adults. John has good ideas. This field behind this Y could serve as a test tube.

Cold, windy weather for the ribbon-cutting yesterday. I was glad to be there.

Amused and appalled by sports training for babies

2010-12-06T04:59:00.001-08:00

Reaction around the Web to sports training for babies and toddlers ran the gamut from amused to appalled. (A friend sent this email: "Nice article -- although initially I thought I was reading The Onion. "Baby Goes Pro"??").

Here's a sampling:

Mira Jacobs, Shine
"Yes, you read that right, sports training. But Johnny can barely walk, you say? No matter. Between baby gyms and DVDs that introduce your 6-month old to baseball, basketball, golf, soccer and tennis by way of an animated monkey, Johnny will be making the Kindergarten A-string in no time."

Julie Ryan Evans, The Stir
"Sports for the most part are healthy activities that help improve fitness and teach cooperation and dedication, so why not start instilling those qualities young? How is it much different than reading to them from day one? And if they get really good while they're at it, well then that's a bonus. I mean, just look at Tiger Woods ... OK, bad example, but ..."

Thom Forbes, Marketing Daily
"In the end, I think that as long as the goals are to get kids moving their bodies in sustained exercise for the simple reason that millions of years of evolution demand it and not to create, as the Times article says, "the next Robinson Cano or Sidney Crosby," the trend is a good one."

Denise Schipani, Confessions of a Mean Mommy
"What’s sticking in my craw today is how these videos and programs latch on to what is actually a good idea — getting kids and parents enthused about physical activity — and twist it into yet another way for parents to be anxious and competitive, and pass those feelings on to their children."

My take on sports training for babies and toddlers

2010-12-02T04:13:00.000-08:00

Wednesday's New York Times ran my article on DVDs and group classes that introduce babies and toddlers to sports. A lot of reaction - pro and con - on the Times Web site. Last time I looked, 105 comments.

Each company cited in the article - and the entrepreneurs behind them - seems to be coming from a slightly different perspective. Doreen Bolhuis, who created the Gymtrix exercise videos, believes that babies truly can improve coordination by working out. She's quoted in the article on this point and during my interview with her spoke about it at length, telling me, “We sell babies short because they can’t speak yet. But they’re all about learning how their bodies work and about movement patterns. When we guide them they learn so much more quickly than if we leave it to chance and hope they’ll figure it out."

Other company executives quoted in the story cited different reasons for getting really, really young ones started in sports - fighting childhood obesity, getting them in the habit of being active and teaching the basics of games they may pick up later.

How many parents are buying videos and signing up for classes hoping to turn their babies and toddlers into superstars later on is impossible to say. Clearly some companies are appealing to that instinct, subtly or otherwise.

I had a small role in putting together this video which ran with the article on the Times site. It's worth a look.

Let's fund a documentary on girls and baseball

2010-12-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

Have a look at the video below. This seems like a great project. I'll be making a contribution.

I've written about obstacles facing girls who want to play competitive baseball several times. For years, baseball was a boys-only preserve. Girls were banned from most high school teams. They played softball if they played a ball-and-bat sport at all. Rules (and attitudes) seem to be changing - slowly.

Finally, a hat tip to a tireless advocate for gender equality in baseball. I'm full of admiration for Justine Siegal's commitment to and passion for this cause. Check out Justine's Web site, Baseball for All.

Toyota's gift to youth sports, Tiny Football League

2010-11-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

Corporate America has used youth sports to move merchandise for a long, long time. Somewhere around here I have a photo of the 1948 Little League World Series in which kid players wore corporate names in script across their jerseys.

Toyota hasn't gone that far. But the car maker is sponsoring the new and slightly off-center Tiny Football League. This league isn't exactly a league. It's a Web site, a Facebook group, a Twitter account, a bunch of Youtube videos and a contest in which one kid team wins $10,000.

I had a fleeting idea that this might be all about the betterment of kids' sports until I saw this post about the TFL on a marketing Web site:

"The online creative will be unified through an online content management system via @thisMoment that puts the campaign assets on the variety of Toyota's social media and Web platforms via its "Distributed Engagement Channel" that enables diverse content from different places to be distributed on one platform to multiple social environments."

Good luck to all teams that have marshalled campaign assets. (Entered the contest).

Is tackle football safe for five-year-olds?

2010-11-23T05:09:00.000-08:00

I've been critical of Pop Warner Football for its sluggish response to the sports concussion controversy. So only fair to note that last week the kids' league took a positive step, announcing the forming of a "Pop Warner Medical Advisory Board."

The board - composed of four physicians - will advise Pop Warner officials on a range of health matters, not just concussions.

First question for the panel: Is tackle football safe for five-year-olds?

The most watched play ever in youth football

2010-11-18T08:40:00.001-08:00

This 27-second video - showing a trick play in a middle-school football game - has been viewed 11.8 million times on Youtube.

Compare that to the audience for the following:

Obama inauguration speech, 4.6 million views.

Ray Lewis Old Spice Body Wash Commercial, 2.2 million.

Tiger Woods confessional press conference, 285,000.

Tina Fey reacts to winning Mark Twain Prize for Comedy, 63,000.

Future House Majority Leader John Boehner Pays Tribute to Marines and Wounded Warriors, 676

Overuse sports injuries in my family - and yours?

2010-11-16T04:01:00.000-08:00

The Albuquerque Journal has a good article this week on overuse injuries and how they can derail the sports lives of youth athletes.

Journal reporter Amanda Schoenberg spoke with coaches, ex-athletes and a pediatrician who treats sports injuries. A few months back, Amanda also called here to chat about Until It Hurts and to pick up information about Ben's elbow injury and my regret over having done a lousy job recognizing that my son might be at risk.

At the end of the piece Schoenberg includes six tips for keeping kids healthy in sports.

1. Drink plenty of water before, during and after a game. Dehydration often leads to heatstroke, which can sideline children indefinitely.

2. Listen to your body. Many injuries are due to the stress and overuse of muscles. Rest may be the only solution.

3. Use the proper equipment. From shin guards to swimming goggles, choosing the right safety gear can help prevent injuries.

4. Don’t return to the game until fully healed. Missing one game now can save young athletes from missing an entire season later.

5. Keep constant communication. Problems can’t be solved unless someone is made aware of them.

6. Seek advice from a health care provider if severe or chronic problems develop.

Kids' concussions and Lou Gehrig's Disease

2010-11-12T06:54:00.001-08:00

I meant to comment on this a few months back - but didn't. Lou Gehrig lives on as a sports icon in part because of his legendary tolerance for pain; he refused to leave games despite injuries that would have sidelined others for weeks.

Now researchers are asking whether Gehrig's refusal to acknowledge injury - and not Lou Gehrig's Disease - might have contributed to his death.

Youth football coaches, take note.

On kids and curves, big leaguers aren't experts

2010-11-08T05:21:00.001-08:00

The debate over when youth pitchers safely can begin experimenting with curve balls is about as old as the most elderly reader of this blog. I've found references going back 60 years.

As a rule, I pay attention to the advice coming from pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, biomechanics researchers. These are people who understand the human body, how it works and when it's stressed in risky ways. They don't always agree, and this article about youth pitchers and curves shows that. But the debates are over real issues.

On the other hand, I'm wary of the advice of pro baseball players and that includes those who rent themselves out as youth pitching coaches. They've tutored hundreds of kids, but does that qualify them as experts?

What brings this to mind is a comment last week by Dave Johnson, former big-league pitcher with the Orioles and Tigers, now a broadcaster with the Orioles. Johnson gives pitching lessons, his son is a prospect in the Orioles organization. He's a nice guy.

Johnson was quoted by blogger Roch Kubatko:

"For me, it's like, go back to when you teach a kid to throw a curve ball. Is 10 too soon? Is 12 too soon? The fact is, we don't know. We really don't know. Some guys have great curve balls and have arm trouble their whole careers. Others don't ever have arm trouble. Some start at 12 and never have a problem. Some start at 11 or 15 and say, 'I blew my arm out. I threw too many curve balls in Little League.' There's no way to say definitely."

Next time, Johnson should say:

"I've been giving lessons for years. But you know what? I'm really not the best person to ask. I do know this: While there is no conclusive medical evidence that curves are bad, the top surgeons say don't throw them until 15. That's good enough for me. In fact, if I catch any Little Leaguer goofing around with curve balls the sentence will be a season playing lacrosse!"

Thanks Ben

Take the "Business of Youth Sports" survey

2010-10-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

For my next book, I'm asking for help from sports parents.

The book will deal with the business of youth sports and I'm seeking stories about how - and how much - we spend to keep our children on teams, in uniforms, with private coaches and a lot more.

I've worked up a brief survey of 10 questions. The last question invites you to share with me stories about money you've spent (or saved) in youth sports. That could be why you paid $250 for a child's baseball bat instead of $39.99, the most expensive travel-team fee you've ever absorbed or whatever comes to mind.

The Positive Coaching Alliance included the survey in its weekly "Connector" email yesterday and the response from that group has been terrific. If you'd like to participate, click the link below.

Thanks, Mark

Click here to take survey

Clergy chooses prayer over travel tournaments

2010-10-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

Newsday recently asked clergymen at several Long Island houses of worship how they would counsel parents whose kids have sports activities on the Sabbath.
Jimmy Jack, senior pastor, Freedom Chapel International Worship Center, Amityville:

"When after-school and curricular activities conflict with our Sunday church service, we challenge our families to balance their school activities to be the exception of the rule, not the norm."

The Rev. Peter F. Casparian, Christ Church, Oyster Bay:

Our kids are so overscheduled that a Sabbath Sunday without sports and other youth activities would seem to be a break...
I don't think that anyone is going back to the days depicted in the 1981 Academy Award-winning movie "Chariots of Fire," where the evangelical Christian athlete refused to run an Olympic race on the Sabbath.

Rabbi Ian Jacknis, South Huntington Jewish Center, Melville:

If it was me as a parent, my kids just couldn't go to a lot of things they had to go to. It is hard when you're a minority and want the majority to be understanding. The Sabbath is what it is. The holiday is what it is.

Here and there, sports parents are drawing the line on Sunday sports participation, though perhaps not always for religious reasons. Some are aligned with Taking Back Sundays an intriguing program based in Minnesota. Parents behind this effort take a pledge that Sundays will be off-limits for all organized sports. No travel games, AAU shoot-arounds, out-of-town tournaments and all the rest. These are principled folks. And, for now, small in number.

Little League Series voice ought to know better

2010-10-08T03:37:00.001-07:00

Anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs are among the most destructive forces in sports today from the professionals ranks all the way down to youth leagues. So the comments this week of Brent Musburger were quite puzzling.

Speaking to a journalism class at the University of Montana, Musburger offered the following observations:

-Steroids shouldn't necessarily be banned for professional athletes. "I think under the proper care and doctor's advice, they could be used at the professional level."

-Journalists covering the steroid issue are largely uninformed. "I honestly have thought that the journalism youngsters out there covering sports got too deeply involved in something they didn't know too much about."

-It's premature to judge whether steroids pose a health risk to athletes. "I've had somebody say that, you know, steroids should be banned because they're not healthy for you. Let's go find out. What do the doctors actually think about anabolic steroids and the use by athletes? Don't have a preconceived notion that this is right or this is wrong."

Musburger was given an opportunity to back away from these statements the next day. Instead, through a publicist at ESPN, Musburger told the Associated Press that he stood by his comments and that the issue of steroids "belongs in the hands of doctors and not in the hands of a journalist."

The journalist seemingly most out of touch on this issue is Musburger. As Gary Wadler, who leads the committee that determines the banned-substances list for the World Anti-Doping Agency, told ESPN (Musburger's employer, by the way.)

"He's categorically wrong, and if he'd like to spend a day in my office, I can show him voluminous literature going back decades about the adverse effects of steroids. They have a legitimate role in medicine that's clearly defined. But if it's abused, it can have serious consequences."

Among Musburger's roles at ESPN (and ABC) is serving as lead broadcaster at the Little League World Series. He has been a fixture in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, site of the tournament, for many years.

There's no attempt here to say that Musburger was preaching steroid use among youth athletes. Of course he wasn't. Still a person whose name and voice are so closely associated with the most-watched youth sports event in the world ought to use better judgment. Stick to what you know, Brent. It isn't medicine and, judging from this week, it isn't responsible journalism either.

Study: Brain impairment in high school football

2010-10-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

Just a matter of time before high school football players were diagnosed with the same sort of brain injuries discovered in college and pro athletes, I wrote this morning.

Looks like that prediction was a day late.

From today's Chicago Tribune:

Of 21 high school players monitored for a full season by a team of researchers from Purdue University, four players who were never diagnosed with concussions were found to have suffered brain impairment that was at least as bad as that of other players who had been deemed concussed and removed from play.

"They're not exhibiting any outward sign and they're continuing to play," said Thomas Talavage, an associate professor at the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue and the lead researcher on the study. "The cognitive impairment that we observed with them is actually worse than the one observed with the concussed players."

The report, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Neurotrauma, found that some players received more than 1,800 hits to the head during practices and games, some with a force 20 times greater than what a person would feel while riding a roller coaster.

Rethinking youth football and risks of head trauma

2010-10-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

Last week, we raised the question: Is football too dangerous for kids? Just so inherently violent that, before a certain age, say 13, the simple act of participation places kids at an unacceptably high risk of serious injury? For those of us persuaded that it's a question worth raising, here's Exhibit A.

So far, research has linked head trauma resulting in permanent brain injury to football players as early as the college ranks. Last month, the New York Times reported on the case of Owen Thomas, captain of the football squad at the University of Pennsylvania.

Thomas, an outwardly happy student and accomplished player, hanged himself after what the Times story described as "a sudden and uncharacteristic emotional collapse." Thomas was 21, the youngest player yet discovered with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease thought to affect moods and impulse control.

Is there any doubt that a high school player soon will be diagnosed with C.T.E?

Banning youth football may not be the answer. But the response has to be very bold. The best suggestion I've heard so far comes from Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard defensive tackle and co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine.

Last Sunday, Nowinski wrote a piece in the Times that proposed this:

Football needs “hit counts” like youth baseball has “pitch counts.” In baseball, all kids are subject to restrictions because some may suffer cumulative injuries to their elbows. Yet in football we’ve never thought the brain, which is more important than the elbow, could be subject to the same kind of cumulative injury. That is insanity.

I imagine there will be lots of comment about how difficult it would be to monitor hits and enforce a "hit count." For years, youth baseball coaches said the same thing about pitch counts, which are now uncontroversial and common.

Youth league president has an unusual day job

2010-10-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

A dedicated volunteer for a youth sports association in Keller, Texas has an unusual day job. Should he be disqualified from serving as the organization's president? One parent thinks so. Interesting issue and one that few leagues have had to navigate.

Least Essential Youth Sports Products of 2010

2010-09-28T06:35:00.000-07:00

Stumped for that perfect birthday gift? Give your child the present of a lifetime with an assist from Call My Play. Simply submit a one-minute youth sports highlight reel and for $49.99, a sports announcer will record a memorable play-by-play call to go with it. An extra $100 buys you a true major-league voice such as the broadcaster of the NBA Golden State Warriors.

It doesn't matter which sport your child loves to play. It doesn't matter how old she is.

I found the call on this highlight interesting. The announcer makes a lighthearted reference (near the end) to the young pass receiver who broke his finger "just like his brother did two weeks earlier."

Premium Demo featuring the voice of Greg Papa - Julian "Jellybean" Havens, Seattle, WA from Joshua Beil on Vimeo.

In Sioux Falls, high school sports for 7th graders

2010-09-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

The Sioux Falls, South Dakota public schools may soon allow seventh and eighth graders to jump the line and compete in high school sports. This would apply in six sports in all: wrestling, tennis, golf, gymnastics, cross country and track and field.

Under the proposal, parents would have to sign a waiver testifying that their child is ready "academically, socially and emotionally." In other words, every child will be ready.

The most-cited reason in support of this change is that other high schools in the Sioux Falls area already are playing seventh graders. In fact, some kids apparently have left for private schools in pursuit of this opportunity.

"Other schools that we're competing against all do it," noted one school official.

I fail to see why a seventh-grader should be thrown into a cross-country meet with 11th graders, no matter how talented she or he may be. Neither does the local newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. This week, it editorialized:

"These students will be socializing with high schoolers who might be dealing with issues and conversations that they aren't ready for yet. There also are travel requirements. And there's the undeniable fact that some parents are just way too driven by competition for their kids' own good."

Is football too violent for kids? If it is, then what?

2010-09-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

The scrutiny over youth sports concussion seems to get more intense by the day. Last week the New York Times ran four articles - pieces on concussions in youth basketball (we also blogged on this), a suspected link between the suicide of a college football player and years of head trauma, a NFL middle linebacker who was permitted to wobble back into a game despite having taken a major blow to the noggin and renewed speculation that head trauma occurs routinely (and is under-diagnosed routinely) in youth sports.

Over the weekend the Philadelphia Inquirer's deputy editorial page editor asked whether football is just too darn dangerous for kids.

Youth football organizations need to be taking the lead in sharing accurate information and encouraging frank discussion of this issue. On my last visit to the Pop Warner Web site, I couldn't find either. The lead articles were "Enter the 2010 Pop Warner Photo Contest" and "Vote for Pop Warner National Championships."

This is not Pop Warner's responsibility alone. But as the largest organized kids' football league in the country, it should be speaking loudly about this issue. And speaking out in every possible forum, including its Web site. So should countless other youth football leagues around the country.

Meanwhile, I recommend Stop Sports Injuries as an excellent source of information about concussions and many other common injuries in youth sports.

Is football too violent for kids? And if it is, then what?

A $59.6 million high school football field

2010-09-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

The town of Allen, Texas has just broken ground on a $59.6 million high school football stadium. This sort of money buys a very nice stadium.

The field at Allen Eagle Stadium, scheduled to open in 2012, will be 15 feet below grade and covered with artificial turf. Seating capacity is said to be 18,000 including 5,000 reserved seats with seat backs. Other amenities that are unusual for high school fields: A video scoreboard, two-level press box and observation deck.

It is worth noting that Allen Eagle Stadium won't be the largest high school football stadium in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. The stadium in nearby Mesquite holds 20,0000.

Some may argue that spending this sort of money on a high school football stadium is excessive. But not everyone. Note this comment from a reader on the Dallas Morning News Web site.

I live in Rowlett and do not know a soul in Allen. What I do know is these people voted that they wanted this stadium and were willing to pay for it. What is wrong with that? That is the reason we vote. Do you want the people of Allen telling you what to do in your town? I doubt you do.

The three best states for high school badminton

2010-09-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

The National Federation of State High School Associations has just released its annual head count of kids participating in youth sports. This is always interesting stuff.

The number of kids playing high school sports reached another record during the 2009-2010 school year, 7.6 million.

According to the survey, 55.1 percent of students enrolled in high schools participate in athletics.

Other curiosities from the survey:

In California, there are 38.920 girls playing high school volleyball. In Vermont, just 25. (Only two schools have teams).

Three states offer boys' badminton: Kentucky, California and Maryland.

Two offer canoeing: California and Hawaii.

There were 33 male field hockey players in Ohio.

Two girls played baseball in Kentucky last season (on the same team). In New Hampshire, there was one.

Check it all out here.

Concussions up for basketball players - but why?

2010-09-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

A just-released study points to a a major rise in the number of kids suffering serious head injuries while playing basketball.

According to the study published today in the Journal Pediatrics, kid players 5 to 19 treated in hospital emergency departments for basketball-related traumatic brain injuries rose 70 per cent from 1997 to 2007.

Assuming this is right, why would that be? I got a call from a reporter Friday (the study was embargoed until today) wanting to discuss that and hear any theories I might have.

My first thought - shared by many, probably - is that heightened awareness about concussions is a large factor. There's been so much publicity about the unseen harms of concussions, not just lately but going back to the mid 2000s. I highly recommend this piece from 2007 written by Alan Schwarz of the New York Times. It's remarkable in showing how little attention coaches, parents and players were paying to head injuries.

A second theory. Were substantially more kids playing basketball in 2007 than in 1997? I haven't been able to answer that, not directly. As close as I've been able to come is to establish that there were many more kids playing high school sports at the end of that 10-year span than the start. Total participation for all high school sports grew from 6.3 million in 1997-98 to 7.4 million in 2007-2008.

Here are things I believe are NOT responsible: Kids are getting bigger and faster (not that much bigger and faster); referees are allowing more physical play (zero evidence supporting that); sportsmanship is in steep decline so more elbows are flying (even more far-fetched).

This isn't the first study to point out how ignorant we all were about head injuries in youth sports. Doubtful it will be the last

How pushing a kid can push a kid out of sports

2010-09-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

I was a guest on Bloomberg Radio last week. A few days later, I received this wonderful note from former minor-league player Phil Rosengren.

My name is Phil Rosengren and I am a former minor league pitcher. I'm now the trader for a small hedge fund in CT, but I stay involved in the game by giving pitching lessons to young ballplayers on weekends. I've encountered my share of crazy baseball dads, and I often find myself asking who is really the one invested in this training, the young pitcher or the dad.

I was fortunate to go to Northwestern University on a baseball scholarship, was later drafted by the Cleveland Indians and went on to play 7 years in the minor leagues. But it almost didn't happen. When I was 10 years old I quit Little League. I was always an athletic kid who loved sports, but I was sensitive, and overzealous coaches, parents and players had taken the fun out of the game. I got back into organized baseball when I was 13 thanks to some careful coaxing from my parents. This time I was ready, and my love for pitching drove me to excel. Had my parents forced me to keep playing when I was 10 there's a good chance I would have rebelled and never wanted to pick up a baseball again. This is a story I often relate to parents and young players, particularly when parents come to me freaking out that their son isn't throwing strikes, wanting me to turn their 10 or 11 year old son into the next Roger Clemens.

Another concern I share is the rise of injuries among young pitchers. I had Tommy John surgery myself as a minor leaguer (performed by Dr. Andrews), and I'm sure much of the damage to my elbow was done in high school - a combination of being overworked and under-conditioned. I was first diagnosed with a sprained ligament when I was 18, but with rehab I was able to pitch again for several years before it finally gave out. One of the reasons I work with young pitchers is to teach them proper mechanics, conditioning, and hopefully give them the best shot at staying healthy and enjoying success on the mound for years to come. The tragedy is that the young pitchers with the most talent/potential are often the ones at highest risk of injury. Unfortunately, the growing trends towards travel ball and kids pitching more and more games at younger ages has only made matters worse.

I feel most of the time parents and coaches have good intentions, but there's clearly a need for education about the dangers of competitive youth sports, particularly specialization at a young age (I went to high school in the mid '90's, just before this trend really took hold, and was lucky to be able to play 3 sports, imagine that!).

Thanks for sharing, Phil. I've added you to our honor roll for pro athletes, past and present, who speak up about youth sports gone awry.

TV ratings dive for Little League World Series final

2010-09-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

Bulletin from last month's LLWS: Apparently, a few people weren't watching.

Sunday's Japan/Hawaii championship game drew a 2.0 overnight rating on ABC, down 29 per cent from last year's game between California and Taiwan (2.8) and down 43 per cent from Georgia/Japan in 2007 (3.5).

Could it be that coverage - about 50 televised games in August - has reached a saturation point?

Why being a national sports hero at 12 isn't great

2010-08-31T04:54:00.000-07:00

From Until It Hurts:

"Sport psychologist Richard Ginsburg is one of many who is deeply troubled by the morphing of youth sports games into top-rated TV shows. The attention and pressure focused on Little Leaguers during the World Series, in particular, he says is “preposterous.” “Adolescent sports aren’t meant to be entertainment for adults,” says Ginsburg who treats youth athletes and their families at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital.

The stage is too big for kids so young, he says. And the experience can be especially cruel when in front of millions a child ballplayer lets a ball dribble through his legs, thus disappointing not only teammates but the hordes of adult fans hoping to return home as world champions.

“A child that age can’t differentiate their performance from who they are as a person. If I had a son playing at that level I’d have a real concern about protecting his childhood,” he says

I was reflecting on that conversation with Dr. Ginsburg as I previewed ESPN's latest 30 for 30 documentary, Little Big Men. It's the story of the Kirkland, Washington Little Leaguers, the upset kids who toppled mighty Taiwan to win the 1982 LLWS. The focus is Cody Webster, the team's star pitcher and slugger, who has spent the past 28 years coming to terms with the experience and, judging from the film, mostly succeeding.

This is well worth watching - tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The piece includes interviews with eight of the Kirkland stars, including Webster. who now coaches a travel team and, according to the ID at the end of the movie, is starting some sort of youth baseball school. This is the quote, from Webster, that sticks with me.

"I tell parents, 'Give 'em a chance. Let 'em succeed. I can guarantee if you push 'em too hard, they'll be done in a year or two. I've seen it. It's just not worth it. It's a game ... always will be."

In The Heartland, the troubled state of kids' sports

2010-08-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

Today the Columbus Dispatch published Day Two of its series, Little League, Big Costs. It's an impressive package of stories on the plight of youth sports. All the usual topics addressed by Dispatch reporters Mike Wagner, Todd Jones and Jill Riepenhoff but with a depth and thoroughness that you rarely see in such coverage.

Sunday, the Dispatch shared results of a poll pegged to these stories. The newspaper canvassed 1,000 Ohio high-school students and 218 coaches and came up with a pretty interesting (though not surprising) picture of the youth sports world.

According to the survey:
50 percent began playing between the ages of 6 and 9
31 percent of athletes paid more than $1,500 a year to participate
26 percent of those hurt while playing youth sports said the injury affected their ability to play any sports
20 percent said their parents pressured them to play youth sports.

The package also includes a few videos and I'm recommending that you definitely have a look at one found here (See "Little leagues, Big passions"), in which a no doubt well-intended dad admits to at least six cardinal sins of sports parenting in one breath. Not sure, but I believe that's a record.

Thank you, Jay Weiner

Relive your kid's no-hitter again, again (and again)

2010-08-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

I wrote this for today's New York Times. It's a look at how technology is changing youth sports. The biggest change: We can now follow our kids' sports lives on laptops and Smartphones.

The article looks at two emerging companies melding high tech and youth sports. Youth Sports Live sets up and maintains Web cams at neighborhood baseball and softball fields. Games can be viewed on demand at the company's Web site. (The monthly fee is $14.95). Want to relive the thrill of your kid's first home run again and again (and again). Youth Sports Live will sell you a DVD for $19.95.

The other company is Fungo Media. Ted Sullivan, its founder is a former minor-league baseball player and Harvard MBA who's pitching an iPhone app that functions as a virtual scorecard for kids' baseball and softball. It's called GameChanger. Pay $10 for the season and GameChanger sends pitch-by-pitch updates to your handheld gadget.

I wasn't able to work in all the details. One thing I left out was a description of all the stats that GameChanger collects and can serve up - like the number of first-pitch strikes your 11-year-old is tossing, how often the leadoff tyke swings at the first pitch, on and on. For a Little League game.

This is cool. But does it heap more pressure on kid athletes and give them new reasons to head for the exits? That's what the piece is really about.

Roger Clemens, when he was a nice guy

2010-08-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Is it me or is this not quite as funny as it was 15 years ago?

No new trial for notorious hockey dad Tom Junta

2010-08-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

The most notorious sports parent of all time? It has to be Thomas Junta, the Massachusetts hockey dad who got into an argument with another dad in the locker room of the local rink, left to go to his car, came back to the rink, confronted the other dad, pummeled him with his bare fists and killed him.

It was a highly publicized, wrenchingly tragic case that cost two families their fathers. One died in the brawl. The other has been languishing in prison. (In 2002, a jury convicted Junta of involuntary manslaughter).

The case has been on appeal almost non-stop for eight years and Junta continues to lose every legal fight in state and federal courts. On August 12, Junta's losing streak continued when a U.S. District Court judge nixed Junta's latest plea for a new trial.

Not to wade too deeply into the legalese, but I want to share this about Junta's appeal:

During the trial, the medical examiner testified that the victim, Michael Costin, likely died from a blow (or multiple blows) to the vertebral artery in his neck. That helped win the conviction.

Before the trial, the medical examiner was speaking at a conference, showed slides of Costin's injuries and said the fatal one might have occurred from something less violent - a visit to a chiropractor.

Junta's lawyers said the prosecution did not reveal the medical examiner's statements about the case during the conference. That denied them the chance to question the medical examiner. That, in turn, denied Junta a fair trial and, they argued, entitled their client to a do-over. Last week Junta learned he isn't getting one. Go here for the judge's reasoning.

Junta's sentence was six to 10 years. Appeal or no, he should be a free man soon.

This will be the last post to include the word vertebral.

Thank you Ed Wiest.

One hand up - way up - for trainers on the sidelines

2010-08-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

This story, unfortunately, will be repeated a dozen times during pre-season high school football workouts. Brandon Burkes, a promising linebacker in Greensboro, N.C., cracked helmets with a teammate in practice and broke his neck in two places. This one ends happily. Thanks to a quick medical response, Brandon suffered no paralysis. His football-playing days are over, though.

The story raises two important questions: Should certified athletic trainers be present for all high school football workouts and games? (Check the video, it does a decent job talking about it). Second, should heart-function exams (ECGs) be mandatory for all high school athletes?

The answers are yes and yes. Yet in most states, neither is required. Not to say that a trainer or sports doc will be missing from sidelines at the neighborhood gridiron this fall. In my hometown, and maybe yours, trainers and docs in the big sports medicine practices voluntarily attend high school games. Not all. But as many as they can handle. It's a good business development thing - a way for a sports doc to get face time with future patients. But mostly it's a neighborly thing. Many of these folks truly do enjoy putting young athletes with wrenched backs and twisted knees back together.

The whys - and why nots - of ACL reconstruction

2010-08-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Interesting and important piece last week on the New York Times "Phys Ed" blog on ACL injuries and whether the most aggressive treatment (surgery) is always best. Research just published in the New England Journal of Medicine raises real doubts. Patients who had ACL reconstruction- an expensive and relatively complicated operation - were followed in a study by researchers from the University of Sweden along with a second group that opted to forgo surgery and be treated with physical therapy only.

Surprising outcome. The Times reports, that “more than half the A.C.L. reconstructions” currently being conducted on injured knees “could be avoided without adversely affecting outcomes.”

The article continues, "Part of the reason for A.C.L. surgery’s popularity is that by most measures, it works. In the current study, most of the group members who had reconstructive surgery reported that their injured knees felt healthy after two years and that they had returned to activity — not, in most cases, at the same level as before their injuries, but they were active. Significantly, their knees also were notably more “stable” than the joints that hadn’t been surgically fixed. Stability is, in theory, desirable. A stable knee rarely gives way.

The article, though, goes on to explain that sports docs and researchers are split on the importance of a 'stable" knee. There seems to be agreement that it's very important for athletes in pivot, cut, change direction sports like basketball and lacrosse. In straight-ahead activities like running and biking, it appears to be less important. (There's even disagreement about that, though.)

I say the decision to have surgery on a damaged ACL is more complicated. A few years ago, I wrote an article about a spike in Tommy John surgeries being performed on high school pitchers. I interviewed James Andrews and Lewis Yocum, two prominent sports orthopedists, about the increase in the number of such patients showing up in their operating rooms. Yocum expressed his concern that sometimes he was operating on kids with limited futures in baseball. Maybe a year or two more of high school ball and that was it.

"Just because we have a hammer doesn't mean everything is a nail. Obviously, the surgery isn't designed for everybody," Yocum said.

The parallel carries only so far. And every kid deserves the best knee that modern medicine can provide. But everything isn't a nail.

Hat tip to my pal Ed Wiest.

One coach speaks out about specializing in sports

2010-08-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

This isn't the first post in this space about reasons to encourage kids to play many sports - not just the one that a parent wants to coach or a child seems to have decent ability in. More like the third. Or thirtieth.

But just when you begin to think there's nothing more to say about early specialization, there's more to say. Roc Murray is baseball coach at Rocklin High School in Northern California. He's the 2010 California Coach of the Year as voted by the California Coaches' Association. (I take this to mean he had a better year than Phil Jackson and Joe Torre).

It's rare for a high school coach to take a stand against specialization, in part because when kids are specializing in the sport they're coaching it's great for their programs. Or so the thinking goes. I had a chance to speak with Roc Murray last week. My first thought: This guy is a lot less interested in his win-loss record (though his seems to be excellent) than in developing the young kids who comes through his program. My second thought: Too bad my kids never had a chance to play for Roc Murray.

Roc is dead-set against specialization, even for high school athletes and especially for the kids playing on his teams. He wrote a short article about why. "Playing only for one sport, and one team, and one coach, promotes the idea that if you want something bad enough you should disassociate yourself from all other contacts. This disassociation keeps players from gaining experiences that will enhance decision-making both on and off the field or court."

I have a new favorite team in California high school baseball.

Kids baseball on TV? Check your local listings

2010-08-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

Sure, I took off the entire month of July. Didn't everyone?

MLB Network just announced that August is Youth Baseball Month, by which it means that it has beefed up coverage of youth games over the next 30 days. MLB Network has coverage of the RBI World Series, National Youth Baseball Championship and the Ripken World Series. Twelve games in all including two from Cal Ripken's kids' baseball campus just up the road from me in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Over on ABC/ESPN, it's Extreme Youth Baseball Month, a game a night and sometimes two or three. As always, the sister networks have all 30-something games live from the Little League World Series. And, as in recent years, they'll also present games from U.S. regionals so we can watch teams as they punch their tickets to Williamsport.

All told, that's roughly 75 youth baseball games on national TV this month.

So I'm wondering. Why baseball? What about this sport as played by boys still waiting for their Bar Mitzvahs (well, a few may be) draws us to our televisions, La-Z-Boys, microwave popcorn? The thought of any network - ESPN, Versus, the Food Network, Home Shopping Club - making time for 75 youth football games is preposterous. It wouldn't happen. Same for basketball, soccer, every single other kids sport you can name. Yet among cable sports nets there seems to be an insatiable appetite for crackerjack 11 and 12-year-olds playing baseball.

It's not only the sport. There's also something magical about the age. ESPN aired the finals of the Big League World Series this week, Little League's 16-to-18 division. Did you watch it? Read about it? Know about it?

What's different about 12 years olds? About baseball?

"What are your goals for a child playing sports?"

2010-06-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Peter Barston is back with another question. Peter is the remarkable teen from Darien, Connecticut who enlightened us last winter with an unusual research project.

Peter, assisted by his dad, decided he had to get to the bottom of this question: Why do kids play sports? So he put together a survey and passed it out to hundreds of kid players in his hometown. When he'd analyzed the responses, Peter concluded the following. Kids play sports for fun. Not for scholarships. Not so they can advance to travel ball. Not to win necessarily. Playing for fun was the most cited answer in every sport, among girls and boys and across every age group.

This week, Peter is sharing data from his survey of parents. He polled several hundred in his hometown asking: What are your goals for your child playing sports?

Here are responses from 141 football parents.

Encouraging stuff. Hats off to the exceptional (and presumably truthful) sports parents of Darien.

MY GOALS FOR MY CHILD PLAYING FOOTBALL-RANKED IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

1. TO HAVE FUN
2. TO BE PART OF A TEAM AND LEARN TEAMWORK
3. TO IMPROVE HIS SKILLS AND LEARN TO PLAY FOOTBALL THE RIGHT WAY
4. TO STAY IN SHAPE AND GET EXERCISE
5. TO INCREASE HIS SELF-CONFIDENCE
6. FOR THE EXCITEMENT AND CHALLENGE OF COMPETITION
7. TO MAKE FRIENDS
8. TO GET TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF COMPETITION, SUCH AS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
9. TO WIN
10. TO HELP HIM GET INTO THE BEST POSSIBLE COLLEGE
11.TO EARN A COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP

"An unlikely source of hope in Newark, NJ"

2010-06-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Inspiring coach. Wonderful story.

When the adults chase refs to the locker room

2010-06-10T05:42:00.000-07:00

What's the worst thing you've ever seen happen to a ref or umpire at a youth sports game?

I heard some doozeys recently while working on this article for the New York Times.

A football official in Oregon told me about being chased from the field to the locker room after a game, then having adults pounding on the door trying to get in.

A basketball ref, also in Oregon, recalled being doused with a large cup of soda.

A basketball official in Ohio remembered working a rec league game last season in which the parents on the losing side took umbrage at a couple of close calls. A disturbing chant began building on their side of the court: Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech.

The consequence of all this is that lots of qualified officials are heading for the exits. As the story explains, shortages of umps and refs in volleyball, football, soccer, among others, have cropped up in many parts of the country. In multiple surveys, when officials are asked why they're quitting, they cite fans and coaches who give them a rough time. Too much of a hassle, they say, for 40 bucks or whatever the going rate might be.

When people talk about the damage that's done when adults get out of hand at kids' sports games, this isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But ask the folks who're searching for officials. It's a problem.

Wanted: Families on the path to college sports

2010-06-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

I've begun work on a second book on the business of youth sports. I'll be exploring ways in which the commerce side of things is shaping the experience that kids are having.

I have some interesting stuff in my notebook and some promising reporting trips planned over the next few months. If you have suggestions, comments, thoughts on the subject, I'd be happy to hear from you.

One thing I plan to examine in the book is the (surprisingly) complex process of helping a child reach his/her goal of becoming a college athlete - combines, placement services, etc.

My thought is to choose two or three families that I would stay in touch with through a recruiting season. In the book, I'd write about the choices they faced and decisions they made.

So I'm asking readers of the blog for help. If you know a family that might be interesting to follow, drop me a note here. I'll supply more details about what would be involved.

Many thanks, Mark

"We see kids hurt before they become athletes"

2010-06-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Suddenly - and encouragingly - overuse sports injuries are getting a lot of attention this month in some prominent publications.

James Andrews gets much of the credit. Two articles this week focus on the surgeon's new initiative Stop Sports Injuries. Andrews sees a startling number of kids with overuse injuries in his clinic in Birmingham. This year, as president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, he nudged the surgeons' organization into backing STOP.

The STOP program launched in April - with Andrews doing a round of interviews and the unveiling of an impressive Web site. More stuff is coming, including - if Andrews can find the millions in funding that he seeks - a National Youth Sports Day when sports docs would fan out to youth leagues around the country preaching about the dangers of starting too soon and doing too much.

Already, Andrews has lined up an A-list of STOP spokespeople, friends and ex-patients, including Charles Barkley, Jack Nicklaus, Terry Bradshaw, Bo Jackson, and John Smoltz, among them.

The Boston Globe ran this article Thursday.

I wrote a piece for Sports Illustrated in the current issue (June 7). In it, Andrews says: "I don't think epidemic is too strong a word. We're seeing kids hurt before they even have a chance to become athletes."

Education is a helpful thing, no doubt. What Andrews is doing - and what he has talked his star patients into assisting with - is fabulous. The key will be to persuade those of us with big ambitions for our kids that we're not helping them reach their potential as athletes. If anything, the opposite is true. Tough being a hot-shot travel team player with a cast on your leg or arm in a sling

New York Times weighs in on overuse injuries

2010-05-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

Jane Brody wrote about overuse injuries in youth sports in Tuesday's "Personal Health" column in the New York Times. The headline: For Children in Sports, a Breaking Point. I was glad to see it for a couple of reasons.

First, it brought attention to an issue that doesn't get very much - or as much as it deserves. Despite forums like this one and the efforts of many sports medicine experts, overuse injuries (totally avoidable if a few basics rules are observed) remain an under-reported issue. Among parents and coaches (my observation), there just isn't a sense of urgency about the problem.

Second, Brody cited Until It Hurts. In the column, she devotes several paragraphs to my brain-lock moment as a youth baseball coach (when I paid scant attention to my son's complaints of a sore shoulder). On that score, she refers to my "misguided behavior" and "foolish shortsightedness." She got it right both times.

The column reached a lot of readers. Wednesday morning, it ranked among the ten most e mailed articles in the newspaper.

I like Brody's long view of the problem:

"Clearly we’ve gone too far when the emphasis on athletic participation and performance becomes all-consuming and causes injuries that can sometimes compromise a child’s future."

We're the worst behaved sports parents on Earth!

2010-05-26T05:49:00.001-07:00

We're Number One! We're Number One!

It's official. A recent survey of sports parents worldwide concludes that the worst behaved adults on Earth are...us.

Reuters/Ipsos polled 23,000 adults in 22 countries for observations about parental behavior. Its findings: "People living in the United States (60 percent) were most likely to witness unsavory behavior by a parent followed closely by residents of India (59 percent), Italy (55 percent), Argentina (54 percent), Canada (53 percent) and Australia (50 percent). But people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Japan and France were the least likely to see parents behaving badly while their children played sports."

Here's the complete list (as posted by the Josephson Institute)

United States (60%)
India (59%)
Italy (55%)
Argentina (54%)
Canada (53%)
Australia (50%)
Spain (42%)
Belgium (39%)
Great Britain (37%)
Sweden (35%)
Germany (35%)
South Korea (34%)
Poland (32%)
China (31%)
Brazil (31%)
Russia (30%)
Netherlands (28%)
France (26%)
Japan (25%)
Mexico (25%)
Czech Republic (24%)
Hungary (16%)

The Heart Association names its price - $1.5 million

2010-05-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal is good. Tofu is healthy. But if you're looking to do your heart a real favor, buy a Nintendo Wii.

The American Heart Association seems to be saying that. This week, it announced it has joined forces with Nintendo. It is endorsing Wii (even Wii bowling?) as legitimate exercise. Its logo will be displayed on Wii boxes.

The heart association gets $1.5 million over three years from Nintendo. It make you wonder about a lot of things including this: Shouldn't the reputation of an iconic wellness organization be worth more than that?

Thanks Dirk

A softball coach, eight strikeouts and a shoe

2010-05-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

News item:

"A California high school girl's softball coach has apologized for requiring eight players who struck out during a recent game to drink soda pop out of a team member's shoes, a school district official said." (third item).

Questions I'd like to ask the coach:

When the first player took a sip, did it still seem like a good idea?

What happened to making players run laps around the field?

Other questions come to mind? Post them here.

A first for a New York Little League - Sandlot Day

2010-05-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

I was searching for a league planning to hold a Sandlot Day (when kids organize their own games, with little oversight by adults) when I stumbled on a league that already had. The Philipstown, N.Y. Little League staged its Sandlot Day on May 2.

I spoke with the league president, Eddie Berry. He told me the kids had a blast. About 60 showed up out of 310 in the league.

A few nice touches. Kids were encouraged to use wood bats, provided by the league. A coach brought a snow-cone machine. Most of the players wore shorts and sneakers. Uniforms were not allowed.

Berry said attendance lagged because the Sandlot idea was hard for some of the kids to figure out. "A lot didn’t have any idea what Sandlot Day was all about," Berry said.

I asked the league president about things that had gone better than expected and things that hadn't gotten as well he hoped.

On the plus side, Berry said no one had gotten hurt. That had been a concern for some of the coaches.

On the minus, there were a few complaints from the kids. Not all could be attributed to Sandlot Day, though. It was a very hot day and some players said it was too hot for baseball. Others said the games were boring because they didn't know what the score was.

Berry gently explained, that's Sandlot Baseball.

Another view: UVA teams should "finish the race"

2010-05-06T04:49:00.000-07:00

Today, a response to Tuesday's post from Tim Holley, athletic director at the Gilman School in Baltimore. Tim and I agree on most things in the realm of kids and sports. We disagree about the Virginia lacrosse situation. Tim makes a thoughtful case that the seasons should go on, partly in tribute of Yeardley Love, partly to aid in the healing of UVA athletes.

From Tim:

I think that while the tragedy is about as devastating as things could get for a school program, there is some merit in moving forward with the season so that the kids on those teams have something else to do other than dwell on what has happened.

Interestingly, this hit home for me because my oldest daughter was a friend of the victim. She called me wailing on the phone from Syracuse and talking about this was too much for her to bear and that what was the point in going on! I tried to comfort her by saying that life does go on, and that God wants us all to carry on until He says the “race is over.”

I told her that she still had to finish her tasks (exams, graduation, interviews, etc.) and that Yeardley would encourage her (as she would her teammates and schoolmates) to do that if she were able. I said to her that the best way to honor Yeardley’s life (and her own) was to continue to strive to be the best that she can be. I told her that if the Good Lord called ME home today, I would want her to keep her appointments and continue to strive to be as successful as she could be. That would honor my life more than her mourning.

As you know full well, when your children hurt, it hurts you more. I didn’t know Yeardley, but the pain of her death still struck me as a teacher, coach, and dad - particularly as dad (in this case directly and indirectly).

There does have to be some respect and deference given to the seriousness of the circumstances and the grief process for both families and the institutions involved (UVA, Notre Dame Prep, and Landon). I think that all involved will and have already started to pay appropriate deference.

This is a cliché, I know, but I do think that both kids involved (the victim and perpetrator) would want their teammates to continue to strive for what they had been working for together. I think that those kids on both teams need to “finish the race” and that would be the best way to honor their fallen teammates and to continue on in as healthy a manner as possible.

In fact, I believe that the remainder of the season will serve as a comfort (and maybe a healthy respite from the grief) for all during this difficult time. I believe that our old fellow alumnus, Mr. Littlepage, made the appropriate decision. My sense, too, is that the process he took to arrive at the decision was appropriate as well.

There are no rights or wrongs here. If UVA had decided to cancel both seasons, that would have been a fine decision as well. It appears to me, after some soul searching and discussion, that they made a good decision for the benefit of all concerned.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

A violent death fails to stop a lacrosse season

2010-05-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

The apparent murder of University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love is what people where I live are talking about because Yeardley was from Baltimore. My heart goes out to the victim's family, the accused's family, Yeardley's roommate who discovered her dead.

I surfed over to the US Lacrosse Web site for the lacrosse news angle. Sure enough, there was one. Reportedly, both the UVA men's and women's lacrosse teams plan to continue playing despite losing teammates (one in jail, one to be buried soon). The men's team is No. 1 in the country. The women also are headed for the NCAA Tournament beginning May 15. I question whether they should and wonder how they could go on with their seasons. In these circumstances, how does a kid think about lacrosse?

Virginia's athletic director, Craig Littlepage, is one of steadiest hands in college sports. This would be a good time to show it by overruling the players, the coaches and the lacrosse boosters.

Will youth leagues sign up for Sandlot Day?

2010-04-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for the New York Times about a concept called Sandlot Day.

It's a new idea - sort of. Developed by the SUNY Youth Sports Institute at Cortland, the grand plan is for youth leagues to designate one day during their seasons when adults cede control to the kid players. They make decisions about the important stuff - who plays on which team, lineups, batting orders, whether stealing is allowed, if three strikes really means you're out. (Or get back in there and keep swinging).

As the article states, institute director Tim Donovan hopes to cajole about two dozen baseball leagues around New York State to test out Sandlot Day this season. It'll be interesting to see whether he reaches the goal. For the moment, the effort is limited to baseball, though it certainly could work for other sports.

I just noticed that the Pittsford Little League near Rochester, also cited in the article, has penciled in a Sandlot Day on June 20. I'll be looking for others.

Wedding bells for Olympic gymnast, Kerri Strug

2010-04-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Former gold medal gymnast Kerri Strug just got married. Nice story in Sunday's New York Times.

She's 32 and a project manager for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Washington. Her new husband, Robert William Fischer III, is a lawyer in the Washington Congressional office of Representative Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas.

The couple met two years ago through a mutual friend.

The article tells of the couple's courtship. It also touches on the tough choices - uneven bars, yes; boys, no - that Strug made to become a champion.

From the Times:

Ms. Strug, who acknowledged “not dating much and living a sheltered life” during her gymnastics career, said that she felt an immediate connection with Mr. Fischer.

“I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I was very attracted to him,” she remembered. “My entire adolescence was geared toward one thing: gymnastics. It’s like I was living in this big gymnastics bubble. I never went to my high school dance, and didn’t date much, so my criteria for dating men was really just put together in theory, not practice.”

Little League movie is whiffing at the box office

2010-04-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

Take the story of a heroic Little League team. Add a sappy love story. Mix in flat dialogue, one-dimensional characters, an ending that's predictable. What have you got? A lousy movie about a heroic Little League team, apparently.

Which brings us to The Perfect Game, which debuted in theaters last week. Horrible reviews. Interesting (to me) is that the real story of the 1957 Little League World Series champs from Monterrey, Mexico seems infinitely more entertaining than the dramatized version. Check out (below) a mini documentary about the team - the first from outside the U.S. to win a Little League World Series.

Little League Baseball is rallying support for the film. In a blast email today, though, it acknowledges, "Without [better attendance], the movie may not last in theaters much longer."

What a new study ignores re: Tommy John surgery

2010-04-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

A new study finds that 95 percent of skeletally mature high school pitchers were satisfied with their Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. Almost as many (94.7 percent) returned to competitive baseball.

This is great news for young players who've been over pitched to the point that their elbows just quit. If they have the surgery, they're likely to be happy with the results. All but a few will get back to playing baseball.

My son had Tommy John surgery in 2006. He returned to baseball and, four years later, I think would say he's satisfied with the results. Still, it was an experience well worth avoiding. A few reasons why:

It's a serious operation performed under general anaesthesia. I can remember well my son's surgeon meeting with us before surgery and seeking his signature on a consent form. It detailed the things that could go wrong during this or any major operation: chance of damage to arteries or nerves, blood clots, stroke and death.

The rehab is grueling. It took months of work - two or three as I remember - before my son could straighten his arm. It was another month or two before he began gently tossing a baseball and his first game back as a pitcher was more than a year after the operation. For much of that time, he was seeing a physical therapist each week, sometimes several times a week.

There were doubts and setbacks. After some workouts - this was many months into his recovery - he'd report strange feelings in his arm. Phantom pains. Numbness. It was difficult to know whether these signaled that the operation had failed or simply were part of the healing process. In any case, they caused concern.

It wasn't cheap. I don't know the full amount that we and our insurance carrier spent getting my son's fastball back. Conservatively, I'd say $15,000.

So while I'm glad that Tommy John surgery has recorded a 95 percent patient satisfaction rate, my question to parents of young pitchers: How much more satisfying would it be to avoid the surgery?

Why do kids play sports? Peter Barston still asking

2010-04-07T06:13:00.001-07:00

Back in January, I wrote a piece for the New York Times about Peter Barston, a young man from Darien, Connecticut who had spent many hours studying the reasons kids play sports.

Peter, 15, put together a survey listing 11 potential reasons. The top answer again and again was the simplest: To have fun. As the article noted, i=t was the top response from football and basketball players, from boys and from girls, and from players in each grade from fourth to eighth. In the basketball survey, 95 percent of boys and 98 percent of girls cited fun as a reason for playing, nearly twice the number who mentioned winning.

I just got a note from Peter telling me he has added two more sports to his research: baseball and softball programs in Darien.

Here's what he found this time around - essentially more of the same.

In the softball survey, the top five reasons given by youth players:

1. To Have Fun
2. To Make Friends
3. To Improve My Skills and Learn to Play Softball the Right Way
4. For the Excitement and Challenge of Competition
5. To Be Part of a Team and Learn Teamwork

"To Win" was No. 9.

In the baseball poll, here are the most cited reasons:

1. To Have Fun
2. To Make Friends
3. To Improve My Skills and Learn to Play Baseball the Right Way
4. To Stay in Shape and Get Exercise
5. To Be Part of a Team and Learn Teamwork.

"To Win" was No. 8.
"To Earn a College Scholarship" was No. 10.
"Because My Parents Asked Me To Play" was No. 11, dead last.

What's in a name? A youth sports league is asking

2010-03-28T04:29:00.000-07:00

I received this the other day.

I am not involved in the research and don't know the researchers. But the project seems worthwhile so I am passing it on.

We are currently conducting research for a national youth baseball league to find out how people view the word "Dixie". Would you be willing to help us in our project?

We have a survey of about 10 questions that will take people no longer than five minutes to complete.

This is a link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J3JYJNW

The email didn't mention it, but I assume the reference is to Dixie Baseball, an organization that as of 2005 included about 400,000 players. The league has a sullied past. It formed in 1955. That year, a Little League program in South Carolina composed of all African American players entered the annual post-season tournament (leading to the Little League World Series). This was during the days of institutionalized segregation.

All-white Little Leagues around the state balked. They refused to play the black team. Instead, 61 leagues organized their own tournament. Eventually, the movement grew into Dixie Baseball. Now Dixie leagues are in 11 states. The organization long ago outgrew its racist roots. Now, it appears open to shedding its name.

In 2005, the 50th anniversary of the controversy, Little League Baseball honored the black players from South Carolina. Nice story.

I recommend participating in the poll.

Fawcett takes issue with extreme sports parenting

2010-03-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Adding another name to the youthsportsparents honor roll. That is, a list that recognizes pro and Olympic athletes for speaking up about sports parenting taken to the extreme.

Joy Fawcett won two gold medals playing for the U.S. Olympic soccer team. Now she has three soccer-playing daughters, age 8, 12 and 15, who play competitively but mostly for fun.

In Saturday's San Jose Mercury News, Fawcett says she often (too often) sees many parents "stomping around on the sidelines." She told the paper, "Parents just go a bit crazy."

We know.

Fawcett was involved in starting a youth soccer club in Orange County, California. She's also an activist of sorts speaking about responsible sports parenting. On our list of outspoken athletes, she joins, among others, Dusty Baker, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Dumars and Mark Messier.

On Opening Day, Oh say can you see?

2010-03-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

What's the most stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner you've ever witnessed at a youth baseball league Opening Day? Nominations are now open.

Here's the winner in the 10-year-old category.