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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER NEWS
BASEBALL MEDICAL CONFERENCE SET FOR OCTOBER. See Baseball 2017 Youth to the Big Leagues: Managing The Developing Player, October 11 - 13, Rosemont, Il.
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MAYO CLINIC SPORTS MEDICINE ICE HOCKEY SUMMIT ON CONCUSSION SET FOR SEPTEMBER 28 and 29 In Rochester, MN.
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September 22, 2017 - San Francisco, CA - The San Francisco Chronicle makes the case for licensing athletic trainers, and asks why California is the only State that doesn't do so. See How California Puts High School Athletes At Great Risk (titled Safety Sidelined in the paper edition), reported by Al Saracevic, San Francisco Chronicle, page A1. The Chronicle is not the only paper to notice that California is the only State that doesn't license certified athletic trainers. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has picked up on the story, too. See Local Athletic Trainers Back Push For State Licensing Program, reported by Lori A. Carter, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, March 11, 2017. Part of the reason that California doesn't license athletic trainers is because California's Governor has vetoed previous legislation. It is possible that the Governor may not know what an athletic trainer is. That's about the only rational explanation for vetoing a fairly non-controversial proposal that has passed in every other State. Note: It's nice to see the mainstream media picking up on this story; I've been on top of this for years. See California Sports Administrator Puzzled By Governor Brown’s Veto of AB 1890, MomsTeam.com, August 4, 2014.
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September 19, 2017 - Boston, MA - New Boston University Study Links Youth Football To Significant Health Risks Later In Life, reported by Cam Smith, USA Today.
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September 19, 2017 - Wheaton, IL - 5 Wheaton College Football Players Face Felony Charges In Hazing Incident, reported by Christy Gutowski and Stacy St. Clair, Chicago Tribune.
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September 10, 2017 - Fashion Over Function: A Safer Helmet Battles the 'Cool' Factor, reported by Sheil Kapadia and Tim McManus, ESPN.com
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September 8, 2017 - Little Rock, AR -1 Juvenile Shot After Fight Outside NLR High School Football Game, reported by Price McKeon, Arkansas Matters.
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September 7, 2017 - United Kingdom - Head's Gone: Shocking Moment Rugby Player Mark Meafua Hits Referee As He Was About To Be Carded That Saw Him Banned For Ten Years, reported by John Hutchinson, The Sun. A 19-year old junior rugby player loses it when carded and punches an 18-year old ref. The player will pay a steep price for launching his blow against the ref as he has received a ten year ban from rugby.
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September 4, 2017 - You've got to have money to play this game! See Kid Sports Inc: How Your Child's Rec League Turned Into A $15 Billion Industry, reported by Sean Gregory, Time Magazine, page 42 (note - the online version of the article is entitled How Kids' Sports Became A $15 Billion Industry).
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September 1, 2017 - Concussion Research Might Be Gradually Finding Ways to Cure CTE .... In Mice. Humans will have to wait at least a decade if the science advances. See The Race Is On For A 'Concussion Pill" As New NFL Season Begins, reported by Mike Tanier, Bleacherreport.com.
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September 1, 2017 - Kansas City, MO - The Park Hill School District requires all elementary and middle school students attending its football games to be accompanied by an adult in the aftermath of a number of spectator brawls. See Adult Supervision Required at High School Football Games After Park Hill School District Fight, reported by Ariel Rothfield, KSHB TV, September 8, 2017; and A Fight in The Stands at Park Hill Causes High School Football Game to End Early, reported by Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, September 1, 2017.
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September 1, 2017 - Where are all the poor kids in youth sports? How come there aren't more blacks in baseball? How come the private schools keep beating the public schools? Well, sports appear to have gotten so expensive that the poor folks got priced out, and now the middle class folks are feeling the crunch, too. See Parents Speak Out About The Skyrocketing Cost of Youth Sports, ABC News.
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September 1, 2017 - Bogart, GA - Girl Not Allowed to Play Football, Prompts Debate At Private Schools, reported by Todd Holcomb, Atlanta Journal Constitution. You may think there's a Title IX issue here, but the Prince Avenue School appears to be a Christian school that receives absolutely no federal funding, making it exempt from Title IX. The short version of this is that Prince Avenue is a Christian school and doesn't let boys and girls play on the same sports team. But, there is a long-winded, pompous version promulgated by the most distinguished Col. Seth Hathaway, the head of School. Col. Hathaway argues that the combination of Prince Avenue being a K - 12 school and a Christian school prevents the school from letting girls and boys play on the same team. But, Col. Hathaway doesn't just come out and say this, oh no. Col. Hathaway came out and said this, according to the Journal Constitution: “While the school recognizes the changing roles of girls in organized sports, its covenantal partnership does not support the belief that mixed athletic contact sports should traverse a spectrum from high school varsity all the way down to the second grade,” Hathaway said in the statement. “This is a challenge unique to a PreK-12 school that is not a factor in traditional 9-12th grade high schools.” And when you put it that way, who's going to dispute it?
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August 29, 2017 - Washington, D.C. - WTOP radio in Washington, D.C. is running a multi-episode piece on the concussion crisis. Click here for Part 1 of the Bad Brains Special Report, reported by Noah Frank.
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August 26, 2017 - Westminster, CA - Boy, 13, Dies During Soccer Game in Westminster, reported by Timoya Shimura, Orange County Register, August 27, 2017. 13-year old Felipe Andres De La Cruz asked to be subbed out of a youth soccer game, and then collapsed on the bench and died. The cause of death was not determined at press time.
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August 25, 2017 - Denver, CO - Cheerleading Coach Fired After Being Caught on Video Forcing Teens Into Splits, CBS News Denver.
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August 23 2017 - Is the bell tolling for football? It's too early to tell, but anecdotal data shows the potential for a severe drop in participation in 2017-18 and statistical data showed a drop in 2016-17. See More Ominous Signs For Football, reported by Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, August 11, 2017 page B-1; Study on CTE Has Many Football Coaches, Players Reassessing Their Sport, reported by John Altavilla, Hartford Courant, August 3, 2017; and Hail Mary? Senator Seeks Legislation to Save Football Program, reported by Joe Zedalis, NJ.com, August 2, 2017 (reporting on a New Jersey State Senator's attempt to override State athletic rules to allow two schools to combine their failing football programs). Also, see High School Sports Participation Increases For 28th Straight Year, Nears 8 Million Mark, NFHS News, August 7, 2017 (while high school sports participation increased, the media focus was on a decline of 25,503 players participating in high school football nationally); Worth the Risk? Players, Coaches and Parents Wonder if Football Can Be Saved From Dangers of Hits to The Head, reported by Matthew De George, PA Prep Live, August 22, 2017; and Top New Jersey High School Drops Varsity Football Team Amid Slump in Players, Nationwide Debate, NBC-TV4, New York, NY., August 23, 2017.
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August 23, 2017 - Bremerton, WA - Court upholds firing of football coach for postgame on-field prayers. The court found that a public school coach, by virtue of his leadership position, would be tacitly imposing his religious views on the community by conducting a postgame prayer. This violates the First Amendment since the coach worked at a public school. The school had asked the coach to stop and he wouldn't; so the school terminated him. The court agreed with the school officials. It should be noted that this was a highly predictable ruling. Still, it is a controversial social and religious matter. The public likes seeing coaches lead postgame prayers - until we get a Muslim coach doing it (and that's the point). See Appeals Court Refuses to Reinstate Bremerton Coach Who Prayed after Games, reported by Mike Carter, Seattle Times, August 23, 2017.
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August 21, 2017 - Palo Alto, CA - Another reminder that Title IX covers more than just sports. The Palo Alto School District had a series of reports of sexual violence, and now it's paying well into the six figures to meet its obligations to investigate. See District To Spend More on Title IX Investigations, reported by Elena Kadvany, Palo Alto Weekly.
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August 18, 2017 - Adrian, MI - Officiating shortages hit Michigan and Wisconsin. See High School Officials Becoming Tough To Find, reported by Doug Donnelly, Adrian Daily Telegram.; and Nationwide Referee Shortage Felt In Wisconsin, reported by Saira Anwer, WMTV - 15, Madison, WI., August 17, 2017.
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August 16, 2017 - Davis, CA - Remember when sports was billed as the way to go from ghetto to glory? Well, now the socio-economics of sports is a whole lot more complex. Indeed, these days the rich folks do a lot more winning than the poor folks, and almost nobody goes from the playgrounds to the pros as almost nobody plays playground sports. Even inner city basketball is hyper organized these days. What do all the changes in how we play mean? Jeffrey Sacha, a post-doc fellow at U.C. Davis, has studied the new socioeconomics of youth sports. You can read about his work in the Davis Enterprises article, Can High School Sports Transcend Socioeconomic Status, reported by Ben Hinshaw. Sacha concludes, “Privilege and marginalization are more often than not reflected in high school sports ... which raises important doubts about the ability for sports participation to undermine structural educational inequality.”
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August 16, 2017 - Kingsport, TN - Why do we need to run background checks on coaches? See 11 Men Including Middle School Coach Charged in Human Trafficking Sting in Kingsport, reported by Lauren Hoar, WBIR TV. In case you're curious, the sting consisted of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation posting web ads for sex with underage girls. The coach was one of four people facing felony charges for a sting operation that lasted only four days. That's a lot of bad actors caught in a limited amount of time.
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August 15, 2017 - Boston MA - The Concussion Legacy Institute Rolls Out its Team Up Speak Up program: the program has coaches "speak up" with a brief concussion awareness speech, and teammates pledge to speak up if they see a teammate take a hit to the head. Another step toward changing the concussion culture. For a report on the program see Tell Coach If Your Teammate Takes A Hit, Concussion Program Urges, reported by Rob Ferguson, Toronto Star.
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August 14, 2017 - Chicago, IL - United Center Evacuated After Fights During Basketball Championship Game, reported by Liz Nagy, ABC-TV 7. Multiple large brawls break out inside and outside of United Center during summer youth basketball championship game. The crowd was capped at 10,000 for the event, but far more fans came to see the championship of the ironically titled "West Haven Community Safe Summer Basketball League." The brawls featured folks who were being kicked out, folks who couldn't get in, gang bangers, and a bunch of twelve and thirteen year-old kids who appeared to play a major role in the violence. Also see, Organizers: Kids As Young As 12 Behind United Center Basketball Brawl, reported by Stefano Esposito, Chicago Sun-Times, August 16, 2017.
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August 14, 2017 - San Gabriel, CA - Strange but true. A former high school baseball player is suing his former school because the coach benched him. These cases are generally dismissed on the ground that sports participation is not a right but a mere privilege. But, this one has a twist. The student is alleging that the benching and the coach's demeanor are tantamount to bullying. This still sounds like it's on shaky legal ground, but it's not far from bullying to charges of racial or some other type of discrimination; so Robbie Lopez, the student bringing the suit, may fool us all and get past a motion to dismiss if he can just slip some charges of discrimination into his case. We will see. See Former Los Altos Baseball Player Sues Coach After Being Benched, Claims Bullying, reported by Hayley Munguia, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
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August 10, 2017 - Indianapolis, IN - NCAA To Require Education In Sex-Abuse Awareness, reported by Ralph D. Russo, Associated Press Wire Service Story in San Francisco Chronicle.
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August 10, 2017 - New York, NY - Long Island High School Football Player, 16, Dies After Log Being Used In Practice Drill Fell On His Head, reported by Aaron Showalter and Graham Rayman, New York Daily News.
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August 8, 2017 - Does anecdotal information about pro football players with CTE get in the way of statistical reality? MomsTeam's Brooke de Lench argues that it does. See CTE: Is The Media Scaring Young Athletes to Death?, Huffington Post.
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LATEST COLLINS ARTICLES/INFORMATION
Don’t Be Liable For A Member’s Mistake, NASO Advisor, April 2017, page 6 (National Association of Sports Officials).
Should I Sign The Waiver?, It’s Official, Monthly Newsletter of the National Association of Sports Officials, April 2017, page N8.
All Pre-participation Evaluation Forms Are Not Created Equal, momsteam.com, May 2008 (updated July 25, 2017).
FROM THE ARCHIVES
January 6, 2017 - See Forbes.com's Bob Cook's insightful piece on how poorer kids - especially girls - simply have fewer sports participation opportunities. This article illustrates Title IX issues at poorer schools and it touches upon the root causes of many of the public/private issues that plaque youth sports. There is a reason that the richer schools win. Cook nails it. See It's Tough For Low Income Kids, Especiallly Girls, To Participate In Sports.
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August, 2015 - Title IX has done a lot for girls, but the benefits of Title IX are slower to trickle down to schools with high concentrations of minority and low-income students. See Finishing Last: Girls of Color and School Sports Opportunities, National Women's Law Center Report.
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