Academic and Recruiting Issues Club Sports/Player Development Trends Diploma Mills Eligibility Issues Field Shortages General Information Legal Medical Metal Bats Race/Ethnicity Site Administration Special Reports Sports Doctors and Trainers Sports Done Right Steroid Information Supervision Issues Title IX/Gender Equity Urban/Inner City School Athletic Administration Transgender Athletes Urban/Inner City School Issues
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Academic and Recruiting Issues
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Club Sports/Player Development Trends
San Francisco, CA - April 20, 2009 - A South Korean Reporter Sees The Value of School Sports and The Inherent Flaws In The Club Sport Model. See Score One For Schools by Donald C. Collins, April 20, 2009.
Washington, D.C. - Jan. 23, 2007 - Knight Commission Explores the Changing Face of Recruiting - See Commission Told of Big Changes In Recruiting, by Jack Carey, USA Today, January 23, 2007 page 5C. Click here for more on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. For more on modern recruiting: Click here for The Washington Post's 2006 Player Chase Series.
July 20, 2006 - For more on the trend of year round club sports, see: For 7th Grade Jocks, Is There Ever An Off-Season? by David Sheff, New York Times, July 20, 2006.
Washington D.C. - 2006 - Follow the Washington Post's 2006 Series, The Player Chase, which examines youth basketball in the United States.
Diploma Mills - Are Your Athletes Taking Shortcuts?
Click Here for the Diploma Mill Page
Eligibility Issues (Note: Some eligibility issues are on the academic and recruiting issues page)
Racine, WI - March 2010 - In many places, an athletic is ineligible if they cut class on game-day. This is a pretty logical rule. After all, if you didn't go to school, why should you be allowed to show up after school to play in the big game? Monitoring this is a huge challenge, though. Teachers who coach have their own classes to run. Walk-on coaches aren't around to monitor. There are a lot of schools that find out about this problem after the absent student has already played. This leads to forfeits and bad feelings all the way around. Mike Podoll asks the key question: who is accountable? See Passing The Buck On Eligibility Issues: Who Is Ultimately Responsible For Overseeing Student-Athlete Eligibility by Mike Podoll, Coach and Athletic Director Magazine, April 2010, page 50.
Nevada - February 2010 - Western Sues To Get Forfeits Reversed, Delays State Playofs, Then Loses In First Round. Western High is reflective of a number of trends: First, Western reflects a trend of poor administrative work - some of this is caused by overworked athletic administrators (here, Western played a fifth year player); Second, an unwillingness to accept results (here, Western couldn't accept the forfeits required by their playing an illegal player); Third, Western reflects the trend toward a more litigious society (they went to court on three occasions, here - of course, Western probably views this as standing up for justice - but fighting for your right to cheat ain't justice). Western finally got two of its forfeits reversed, which put them in the playoffs where they promptly lost. There's an old schoolyard saying where a guy misses a free-throw after a disputed foul-call: yes, Western's loss is "cheater's proof." They need to be home. Cheaters don't belong on the court in the first place. For more on the Western saga see Western Files Another Appeal, Basketball Tournament Likely Delayed by Chase Keefer, Las Vegas Sun, Feb. 16, 2010; Appeal Causes High School Basketball Playoffs To Be Delayed by Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun, Feb. 17, 2010; and Cimarron Dismisses Western, Nevadapreps.com, Feb. 20, 2010.
San Francisco, CA - June 7, 2008 - Bridgemont Suspended For One Year: CCS Takes Unprecedented Action After Small School Fails To Follow Eligibility Rules by Will Reisman, San Francisco Examiner page 29. San Francisco's Bridgemont High School (and no I do not govern this school, I only govern San Francisco's public schools) played ineligible players, and committed numerous other violations including playing students who didn't attend the school (the article mentions one of these players) and having inadequately prepared physical forms.
Transfers - A Hot Topic In Every State. See, Parents, High School Officials At Odds Over Motivation for Athletes' Transfers by Ray Glier, USA Today, November 21, 2006.
Madison, NJ - August 11, 2010 - Lights Turn Neighbors Off In Jersey. People who live in places where fields are plentiful often find it hard to believe that some cities struggle to find enough field space and time to accommodate demand - especially youth demand. Recently, three New Jersey cities joined forces to bring lights to a field. They ran into an unpleasant surprise: the type of surprise that cities occasionally get when entrenched neighbors have become used to not having lots of kids playing lots of games on field. Yes, the neighbors don't want the lights, and they're putting up a fight. It happens in a lot of places, generally without a lot of publicity. In Madison, it's getting publicity. Neighbors vs. kids or outsiders getting in the way of the quiet enjoyment of one's property? It's all in how you look at it. See Madison Group Sues Chatham To Keep Light Towers Off Soccer Field by Ben Horowitz, New Jersey Star Ledger, August 11, 2010; Click here for Madison Neighbors Plea Chatham Township Ordinance, Summerduit.com, August 24, 2010.
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New York, New York - June 19, 2009 - Acts That Would Be Annoying and Mildly Expensive on Grass Become a Major Expense on Synthetic Turf. Recently, Adam Heinz and Matthew Gauck, two incredibly stupid teenagers, were arrested in Long Island. Their alleged crime? Setting fire to the synthetic turf football field at New Field High School (a rather appropriate name for this story). The damages? $35,000. This was probably a graduation prank, but pranks that cost $35,000 are not funny. See Two Teenagers Accused of Setting Fire to L.I. High School Football Field, 1010 Wins, June 19, 2009.
Rialto, CA, September 24, 2008 - School's New Grass Field Closes Due to Fire Ant Invasion. See Red Ants Invade High School Football Field, KTLA News, Rialto; California High School's Main Rivals Are Fire Ants, Associated Press published in Inside Bay Area.com. Rialto's not the only one with a problem. Virginia Beach just discovered fire ants in a local park. See Parents Concerned With Fire Ant Problem in V.B., WAVY-TV, September 15, 2008.
FIELD TURF DEBATES
November 2009 - EPA Conducts Comprehensive Study To Develop Consistent Methods Of Testing Turf Fields. In conducting this study, the EPA tested a very limited number of fields. The EPA did note that "concentrations of components monitored in this study were below levels of concern" Page vi of the Study. However, the EPA noted that they were conducting a testing protocol study and did not test a sufficient number of fields in this study to draw broad conclusions of any sort. The EPA's study will, hopefully, lead to more consistent testing methods and help resolve some of the conflicting information that we often see when people discuss synthetic turf. As any of you who have followed this issue know, the modern turf fields have consistently passed safety tests, but they have also been hit by a number of technical charges from environmental groups claiming the fields are deficient in any of a number of ways. A neutral, objective person studying this issue would basically get lost in all the conflicting data and studies, and wouldn't know what the heck was going on. Hopefully, the EPA's testing protocols will help add clarity - and of course, it is worth noting that the EPA, like most formal, government testing agencies, found the fields it tested were perfectly safe. For the EPA study, see A Scoping-Level Field Monitoring Study of Synthetic Turf Fields and Playgrounds, EPA, November 2009.
New York's Latest - Synthetic Turf is Safe and We're Going To Use Some of The New Infills. See N.Y. Study Shows Artificial Fields Safe by A.J. Perez, USA Today, June 3, 2009; and Two Cities Spurn Crumb Rubber in Artificial Turf by A.J. Perez, USA Today, June 11, 2009. It's pretty clear that synthetic turf can comply with federal lead standards but some groups don't like the rubber crumb infills. This has led to a host of new non-recycled tire infills such as Eco-Fill, Flex-Sand, and Geosafe. These products are the first in a wave of more eco-friendly products in the synthetic turf industry.
Synthetic Turf Council Says - Field Turf is Safe and We're Going to Voluntarily Remove Any Trace of Lead. California Says - Not So Fast, We're Going To Sue You and Make You Do It. The U.S. CPSC did an extensive study and found that Field Turf and Other Synthetic Turfs do not put children at risk from exposure to lead. See Feds: Synthetic Turf OK by Michael McCarthy, USA Today, July 30, 2008, page C1. Shortly after the CPSC study, the Synthetic Turf Council announced voluntary steps to make synthetic turf even safer by eliminating all lead. See STC Announces Voluntary Lead Reduction Standards, athleticturf.net. Promises aren't good enough for California. The Attorney General is filing a suit to force the Turf Council to make good on their offer. See Calif. Backs Mandatory Lead Removal From Field Turf by A.J. Perez, USA Today, September 3, 2008 Page 11C.
Turf Wars: The Winning Blow For Field Turf - Lead Is Not A Problem: Feds find that Field Turf and Other Synthetic Turfs do not put children at risk from exposure to lead. See Feds: Synthetic Turf OK by Michael McCarthy, USA Today, July 30, 2008, page C1. Get details from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) here. Click here for HTML (with links) and here for pdf version of CPSC Press Release: CPSC Staff Finds Synthetic Turf Fields OK to Install, OK to Play On, July 30, 2008. Click here for the official CPSC Report: CPSC Staff Analysis and Assessment of Synthetic Turf "Grass Blades", July 30, 2008. Click here for the CPSC's streaming video report.
Dispatching The Field Turf/MRSA Myth: Field Turf is Cleaner Than Grass!!! Penn State Study Shows That Field Turf Does Not Harbor MRSA. The study states, "In conclusion, there are generally lower numbers of total microbes present in the infill or fibers of the synthetic turf systems tested compared to natural turfgrass rootzones and Staphylococcus aureus bacterium were not found on any of the playing surfaces. Staphylococcus aureus bacterium were found on towels and other devices used by athletes." See A Survey of Microbial Populations in Infilled Synthetic Turf Fields by Andrew S. McNitt, Ph.D Soil Science, Dianne Petrunak, M.S. Plant Pathology, and Thomas Serensits, M.S. Candidate in Agronomy, on-line publication of Penn State University, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, 2008.
Home Carpets May Be A Bigger Problem Than Playing Fields. Lead in carpets sold at places like Ace Hardware and Home Depot may ultimately prove to be the real problem. This segment of the carpet industry is not nearly as competitive or as scrutinized as the playing fields. Standards aren't as high, and barriers to entering this segment of the carpet market are not nearly as intense. Ultimately, the real abuses in turf products may prove to be the innocuous carpet in your house. Click here for more information from the Center For Environmental Health's June 23, 2008 report, Legal Action Launched on Lead in Artificial Turf..
For A Comprehensive Powerpoint Report on Synthetic Turf Related Issues, see Medical Aspects of Artificial Sports Turf by Craig C. McKirgan, DO, June 23, 2008.
S.F. Turf Battle: Synthetic Grass for Playgrounds? by Justin Berton, San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 2008, page A1.
More Turf Wars: USA Today Follows Up On New Jersey "Astro Turf" Problems with, Artificial Turf: Health Hazard?: Concern About Lead Prompts Further Questions by Michael McCarthy and Steve Berkowitz, May 8, 2008, page C1. USA Today acknowledges the only problems so far have been found in old Astro Turf - not new Field Turf; reports on numerous studies and legislation nationwide.
Latest Field Turf Points To Remember: (1) It's old Astro Turf that has been found unsafe not new Field Turf. (2) Field Turf has passed all safety tests - everywhere.
TURF WARS: April 18, 2008 - Two turf fields in New Jersey shut down due to high lead levels. See Elevated Lead Levels Force Closing of 2 Artificial Turf Fields; Parsippany Fields OK by Angela Delli Santi, Associated Press - printed in Trenton Daily Record, April 15, 2008; and Study Looks at Lead Levels In Synthetic Fields by Michael McCarthy and Steve Berkowitz, April 18, 2008. Does this mean your field is unsafe? Probably not! The fields that shut down were old Astro Turf fields. These fields are a monofilament, nylon based product that look to the eye like a bright green carpet. Not even the Astro Turf company makes them anymore. The new turf fields use rubber (or polyethylene) fibers and look to the eye like grass blades. The most prominent manufacturer is the Field Turf, company. These new Field Turf type of products are certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, which awards LEED points for its use. The older Astro Turf type products most definitely are not certified as Green products. Your field is probably safe!
More Turf Wars - The Field Turf company notes that they're being lumped in with the Astro Turf type product. See FieldTurf Given Green Light by The NJDHSS, Field Turf Press Release, April 18, 2008. The Field Turf Company is probably correct that most media isn't drawing a distinction. They're also correct that that the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Clears Field Turf Style Products. See Local Athletes on Artificial Turf Are Not on Dangerous Ground by Greg Forester, Staff Writer, Princeton Packet, April 18, 2008. Unfortunately, the truth will not get in the way of a good story. Already in California, we can see State Senator Abel Maldonado getting ready to investigate these fields. See Study Looks at Lead Levels In Synthetic Fields. While there's nothing wrong with the legislature looking at a problem, there is something wrong with a legislator claiming he knows the answer before he conducts the study. Maldonado has already said, "These fields are a problem." It appears that objective work will not be coming out of this Senator's office anytime soon. Click here for a photo of a Field Turf field and click here for a photo of an old Astro Turf field to get a graphic illustration of the difference in field appearance.
April 25, 2007 - High Tech Solutions and More Efficient Land Use Can Address Some Field Shortages - See Technology To Help Cities Manage Booming USA by Haya El Nasser, USA Today, April 25, 2007 page 1A. Click here for photos of dedication of Roosevelt Park in Anaheim - the park sits atop an underground electrical substation and is an example of new technologies maximizing land use.
New York, N.Y. - April 1, 2007 - Some big cities are experiencing severe field shortages. This could affect your school's ability to play baseball, soccer and other outdoor sports. Click here for Too Many Men on The Fields (and Women and Children, Too) by Hiroko Masuike, New York Times, April 1, 2007. Is this happening in your city?
General Administrative Information (economic miscellaneous parents security spectators)
Pelican Rapids, MN - August 5, 2010 - 4-Day Week. Will It Help School/Sports? The down economy has led some school districts to discuss four-day work weeks. How does this impact sports? Pelican Rapids High School has just started the four-day week, and their athletic staff has some interesting observations. See 4-Day Week "Little Effect" On PR Athletics by John George, Fergus Falls (MN) Daily Journal, August 5, 2010. Click here for Minnesota Public Radio's Minnesota Today Show with Michael Caputo leading a spirited discussion on the 4-Day Week. Michael and his e-followers go into studies on the academic impact of the 4-day week (not many studies, a Louisiana study showed a drop in grades, and a New Mexico student showed an increase in grades because most of the students weren't doing much school-work on Fridays because so many students took long bus trips to Friday sports contests). See Four Day? Year Round? Early Start? When Should Kids Go To School?, Minnesota Today with Michael Caputo. MPR Radio, August 3, 2010.
San Diego, CA - August 2, 2010 - The down economy leads California schools to charge athletic participation fees. However, California has a free education clause in its Constitution. These fees don't pass constitutional muster in California. The constitutional bar doesn't stop schools from trying, though. Some Los Angeles schools tried to impose voluntary bus fees this fall. Their superintendent put the kibosh on these plans. A number of schools throughout the state charge students for pe equipment. That's a no-no, too. Of course, schools have gotten away with these practices for years, but when someone complains too loudly or hires a lawyer, the whole deck of cards comes crashing down. For San Diego's problems, see Student Fees Persist Despite Law by Tanya Sierra, San Diego Union-Tribune, August 2, 2010.
Michigan - June 9, 2010 - Down Economy Leads to Doubling Of Schools Charging Sports Participation Fees In Michigan. See Pay To Play On The Rise As So Are The Fees, Niles Star, June 9, 2010.
Springfield, Ohio – June 1, 2010 - In this economy, even success can create budget strain. The Ohio High School Athletic Association had to cut its travel reimbursement for member schools competing in state championships in individual sports. The hard times had even begun to impact track and field, the OHSAA’s most successful championship. See Track and Field Runs OHSAA Into The Red by Marc F. Pendleton, Springfield News-Sun, June 1, 2010; click here for Middletown Journal coverage; and here for AllBusiness.com coverage.
New Jersey - May 28, 2010 - What's A Poor State High School Governing Body To Do When The Government Intrudes In Its Affairs and Drives It To Financial Ruin? The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Is Finding Out The Hard Way: That's Right! An Idiot Politician Drives High School State Association To Near Bankruptcy. There's no nice way to put it. New Jersey Assemblyman John Burzichelli drove through legislation that required the New Jersey State Interscholastic Association to charge regular season prices for State High School Tournament games. Sounds good, huh? Well, maybe to a casual observer who thinks high school is like colleges or the NBA. High Schools charge pretty low prices in the regular season when they're playing in school or Rec facilities and traveling locally. However, state tournaments are massive, involve travel, facilities rentals etc.. They're also when the fans come out. Many high school governing bodies fund sports on their tournaments. When Burzichelli took away the NJSIAA's ability to charge for playoffs, the NJSIAA lost $900,000, putting them on the verge of going out of business. Their only option now is to charge higher student participation fees. Of course that won't sit well with Burzichelli either. Most people in New Jersey would tell you that the NJSIAA had no major problems until Burzichelli came up with his solution. So, while I seldom insult someone on this site, today I think we've just got to say that Assemblyman Burzichelli is an idiot. He single-handedly created an economic problem that didn't exist before. See Burzichelli May Be The Bad Guy, But No Way Can NJSIAA Cut Championships by Steve Politi, New Jersey Star-Ledger, May 28, 2010. For some background, see High School Wrestling Fans Pay Lower Ticket Prices After NJSIAA Complies With State Mandate by Jackie Friedman, New Jersey Star-Ledger, February 19, 2010. The story is on-going and not pretty. New Jersey Seeks To Save Championships by Cutting Back on Safety and Staff. That's right. Again there's no nice way to say it. New Jersey will cut staff and wrestling hydration testing in order to escape the financial ruin created by the idiot Burzichelli. Since wrestling hydration testing is a vital, national health and safety program, it is accurate to say that the NJSIAA is cutting back on safety, and allowing wrestlers to resume the danger practice of unchecked weight cutting that led to hydration testing. Bad choices all around - and the causal agent is our man, the idiot, Burzichelli. See N.J. Tournament of Champions, Individual State High School Titles May Be Saved by Jackie Friedman and Matt Stanmyre, The New Jersey Star-Ledger, June 1, 2010.
Los Angeles, CA - May 9, 2010 - Tight Budgets? Not For Some California Private School Football Coaches. See As Demand For High School Football Coaches Rise, Salaries Soar by Eick Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2010.
Phoenix, AZ - February 13, 2010 - Softball Community Fighting Park Closings by Derik Hettinger, The Valley Ledger, Feb. 13, 2010.
California's Elk Grove School District May Have To Cut Sports Next Year. More bad economic news. See Eliminating All Athletic Funding Proposed by John Hull, Elk Grove Citizen, October 1, 2009.
The Dark Side of Budget Reality: Sometimes You Can't Save Sports. See At Some Schools, Budget Cuts Put The Kibosh On Sports by Marlen Garcia, USA Today, September 2, 2009. South-Western City Schools cut sports, homecoming, prom and student government. Others make drastic cuts. The South-Western cuts made Sports Illustrated. See High School Lockout by Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated, September 28, 2009 page 70. For more, see The Impact of An Ohio School District's Decision To Cut Sports by Andy Staples, SI.com, September 17, 2009.
School Year Starts - Budget Reality Sets In - Even Wealthy Ventura County Schools Have a 25% Budget Cut. See States Across The Nation Pinch Their Pennies To Save Athletics, USA Today, September 2, 2009.
Hawaii - September 1, 2009 - Can Hawaii Survive? In Hawaii, High School Sports Are Far From Paradise by Dave Caldwell, New York Times, September 1, 2009. Without massive fund-raising, high school sports could suffer massive losses in Hawaii. One of the problems of an island region is the travel, which drives up costs in an already struggling economy.
Santa Cruz, CA - August 17, 2009 - Will Santa Cruz Coaches Work For Free? We will see. Santa Cruz's Pajaro Valley Unified School District cut all sports funds for this 2009-10 academic year, forcing individual schools to raise the funds for their sports program. Some schools may close the funding gap by not paying the coaches. See Some Local High School Coaches May Choose To Work For Free This Year by Ryan Moses, Santa Cruz Sentinel. The Pajaro District is on to something, here. I surveyed high school coaches' pay in part of Northern California two years ago, and, to make a long story short, it was clear that coaches are not in it for the money. My survey found some schools where a high school head coach made as little as $600 for coaching football. I also noted a large number of volunteer assistants. The Pajaro District may very well find that a number of coaches will work for free. It wouldn't surprise me to find that a lot of artists and musicians would do after-school instruction for free also. Many of these people are motivated by something other than money. Still, in the long run, this is poor public policy even though it may be a short term solution for Santa Cruz.
Florida - July 15, 2009 - Whoopsee. Florida has to rescind high school sports cuts. They cut without counting and ended up violating Title IX. See State Rescinds High School Sports Schedule Cuts After Lawsuit Over Impact on Girls' Teams by Ben Volin, Palm Beach Post, July 15, 2009. Times continue to be bad in Florida in 2010, but maybe not as bad as expected. When can you celebrate a $10 million budget cut? When you thought you were going to have a $30 million cut a month ago. See Brevard Schools Could Lose $10 Million by Megan Downs, Florida Today, March 30, 2010. Fewer cuts means a greater chance that sports programs will survive.
Philadelphia, July 10, 2009 - High prices and limited access to facilities gives rich folks a real advantage in a number of sports. So what happens when black campers rented the Valley Swim Club, a private, white swim club in the Philadelphia suburbs? Well, the white members just didn't like seeing all those black folks around. So they refunded their rental fees, kicked them out and launched an ugly racial controversy. The club members say that this isn't a racial issue; they just didn't like having their pool so overcrowded. the club says it refunded rental fees to non-black camps that rented the pool also. The campers and virtually everybody who is remotely familiar with the story believe the members didn't like their pool so overcrowded ... with black folks. Putting aside allegations of race, one has to wonder what kind of organization is dumb enough to rent its pool to one or more youth summer camps and then complain that the camps bring in a lot of kids: hey, that's what camps do and it's unethical to throw the campers out after you've taken their money and they've set up their summer camp schedule. Of course, if you ran the Valley Swim Club you'd surely rather be seen as stupid and unethical than racist. But a lot of people aren't buying Valley's claims of stupidity. See Ugliness In The Water At Valley Swim Club by Annette John-Hall, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 10, 2009; Swim Club Director: "We Don't Discriminate" by Zoe Tillman, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 10, 2009; Support Pours In For Campers Kicked Out of Suburban Pool by Ronnie Polaneczky, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 10, 2009. Click here for photos of news coverage and protests. For local television coverage, see Swim Club Members: "Nothing To Do With Race" by Vince Lattanzio, NBC News, Philadelphia, July 10, 2009.
When schools say they're going to charge a sport fee, do you ever wonder exactly what that fee is? Well, here are the fees for Sacramento's Colfax High School. See Sports Fees Spread At Capital-Area Schools by Melody Gutierrez, Sacramento Bee, June 21, 2009.
San Francisco, May 11, 2009 - The high price of golf combined with the struggling economy has led to a reduction of play on many golf courses. This has led to economic pressure to convert the courses to other use. This economic pressure becomes magnified when combined with other pressures. In San Francisco, environmental pressure has combined with the economic pressure, leading to a face-off between golfers and environmentalists. The long-term effect of this will be a reduction in opportunities for youth from areas that already struggle to fund golf - of course, groups that seek to convert golf courses would say this is a small price to pay. See Sharp Elbows by Curt Sampson, Sports Illustrated - Golf Plus Section, page G3, May 11, 2009.
Seattle, WA - May 1, 2009 - Sports Cuts Don't Just Hit High Schools; Colleges Are Losing Money, Cutting Sports, Too. See University of Washington Drops Men's, Women's Swim Programs by Greg Lamm, Puget Sound Business Journal, May 1, 2009.
Los Angeles, CA - April 6, 2009. L.A. Budget Cuts – These Could Be The Biggest Yet. But Maybe Not. L.A. Unified just passed massive budget cuts. However, the L.A. Unified's deficit is so big that sports is but a small piece. In other words, massive sports cuts won’t help L.A. balance its District budget. Still, though, cuts are coming. How deep and where isn’t clear, but you can see how uncertainty leads to trauma, worry and yes, efficiency. See LAUSD Budget Crunch: Interview with District Athletic Director Barbara Fiege by Mark Dittmer, LA High School Sports Examiner, April 6, 2009; and LAUSD Budget Crunch Interview with Barbara Fiege - Part 2 by Mark Dittmer, LA High School Sports Examiner, April 6, 2009. 2010 POSTSCRIPT: LA – Moving Forward In The Face of $1.4 Million In Athletic Cuts. See Los Angeles City Section Faces $1.4 – Million Budget Cut by Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, January 26, 2010. This $1.4 million cut comes a year after LA made $600,000 in athletic transportation cuts. As the spring progresses, we will hear of more Districts making cuts.
Lewiston, Maine - January 27, 2009 - Budget Cuts The Maine Way - The Maine Principal's Ass'n (MPA) gets out in front with limits on scrimmages, cutbacks on qualifiers to State Tournaments, and a freeze on officials' fees. Not everyone is thrilled with planning from above. Students have protested and the Maine Legislator has threatened to take away the MPA's jurisdiction over high school sports. See Funding Feud: MPA's Proposal to Cut Sports Budget Draws Mixed Reviews, Protests by Randy Whitehouse, Maine Sun Journal, January 18, 2009; and MPA Panel Rejects Most Cuts by Randy Whitehouse, Maine Sun Journal, January 27, 2009.
Sacramento, CA - January 26, 2009 - State Budget Solutions: Tax Golf Says Ca's Governor. See Schwarzenegger Wants To Tax Golf, Auto Repairs by Steve Lawrence, Associated Press Wire in San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 2009.
San Jose, CA - December 10, 2008 - East San Jose School Chief Proposes Eliminating Sports To Save Budget. See East Side Union Chief To Propose A Budget That Eliminates All Sports by Joe Rodriguez, San Jose Mercury News, December 10, 2008. This is a classic pattern. Budgets get tight and school chiefs propose eliminating sports. As the pattern plays out, parents, students and the community complain and protest. The local, state and even national media trumpet the story. Eventually either a private sponsor steps up, the schools impose sports fees, or sports are saved but at a reduced level. The wise school chief announces the cuts well in advance to give the process time to play out. The big question is whether the pattern will play out as it did in the past now that the economy is experiencing the most severe recession in 70 years. If the pattern doesn't play out, the East San Jose School Chief's bluff may get called. Will he hold 'em or fold 'em? We'll see soon - and we'll see in a whole lot of other places. too. FOLLOW UP - East San Jose School Chief's revised proposal saves sports, imposes major cuts, and imposes student charges and mandatory fundraisers. See San Jose's East Side High Schools Consider Plans To Save Sports by Sharon Noguchi, San Jose Mercury News, February 27, 2009.
Atlanta, GA - Oct. 26, 2008 - Controversial Fees: Metro Prep Athletes Pay To Play by Todd Holcomb, Atlanta Journal-Constitution.. In tough economic times, schools are passing a lot of costs on. This is but one example.
Mt. Vernon, NY - August 11, 2008 - Mount Vernon's Basketball Program In Danger Because of School Budget, Associated Press Wire in New York Daily News, August 11, 2008; and For Many Student Athletes, Gave Over by Winnie Hu, New York Times, July 28, 2008. These stories actually understate the case. Mt. Vernon's sports budget was cut. The fall and winter sports were saved by private efforts, incluiding a $100,000 donation by alumnus Denzell Washington. Mt. Vernon's spring sports still in jeopardy at end of December. See Mount Vernon Spring Sports Still Need $65,000 to Play On by Hannan Adely, Lower Hudson Journal News, December 29, 2008. FOLLOW UP: Mount Vernon saved its sports program. See Spring Sports Officially Back in Mount Vernon, Lower Hudson Journal News, March 14, 2009. This good news in Mount Vernon, which had the alumni and community support to sustain this effort, is not going to be replicated everywhere. The economy will cause some casualties.
Stealing the Money - Fiscal Management Can Be A Weakness In Many Youth Programs. A Washington mom realized this and is now accused of running off with $50,000. See Soccer Mom Charged With Stealing More Than $50,000 From Fife Youth Club by Brian Everstine, Tacoma News Tribune, August 2, 2008. Don't think she's the only one. It also happened in Naples, Florida. See Play Ball: Theft of Little League Funds Won't Deter Organization by Valli Finley, Naples News, March 28, 2008; and Little League Treasurer Accused Of Embezzling Over $130,000, Mid Hudson News (N.Y.), July 9, 2009 (that's a very rich Little League Program, isn't it). Sometimes, it's not embezzlement but carelessness. In Evansville, IN., a thief stole $1,300 in team funds when an administrator briefly walked away from the registration table. See Thief Makes Off With Evansville Youth Baseball Funds by Gavin Lesnick, Evansville (IN) Courier & Press, April 26, 2009. Fiscal Mismanagement can also strike at very high level organizations. Danny Rennels, the head of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, was let go for misappropriating funds. See OSSAA's Rennels Is Fired by Barry Lewis, Tulsa World, March 10, 2009. And in 2010, we saw Little League get burned as an umpire's group absconded with over $30,000 in officials' fees. See Valley Husband and Wife Arrested in Umpire Fraud Scheme by Andrea Wilson and Mary Ellen Resendez, ABC News Phoenix, AZ, March 4, 2010; and Husband, Wife Accused of Stiffing Little League Umpires Arrested by Catherine Holland, Arizona Family, March 3, 2010.
Economic Woes: Schools Plan For Hard Times To Come: See School Sports Programs Fight To Stay Alive In Struggling Economy by Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated.com, July 11, 2008; and Massive Budget Cuts Hammer High School Athletics by Ben Volin, Palm Beach Post, June 30, 2008. Hawaii Almost Loses JV Sports. See JV Sports Dodges A Bullet, Barely, Honolulu Advertiser Blog, August 8, 2008. ADs Could Be In Trouble - Hawaii Legislature Moves ADs' Money Out of Reserved Account and Into School's General Fund A Month After Saving JV Sports. See High School Athletic Directors' Pay Now Part of General Funds - Some Fear Positions Could Be At Risk As Money Gets Tighter by Loren Moreno, Honolulu Advertiser, September 8, 2008, and AD Jobs Hopefully Safe Despite Budget Change, Honolulu Advertiser Blog, September 9, 2008..
School/Community Partnerships Help Buffalo High School Athletics - May Set A Template In A Tough Economy: See Good as New by Michael Popke, Athletic Business Magazine, January 2008.
Participation Fees: 2008 - Sports Participation Fees May Be Tempting For Schools - But The National Association of Secondary School Principals Comes Out Against Them. Click Here For Details.
Participation Fees: A Tempting and Common Solution for Many High Schools. See Participation Fees - Attempts To Keep Athletic Programs Afloat by Emily Cerling and Bob Herman, High School Today, Nov. 2007, page 10 (published by NFHS). But Be Careful: Participation Fees Are Not Always Legal. See Hartzell v. Connell, 35 Cal.2d 899, 201 Cal.Rptr. 601, 679 P.2d 34 (Ca. Supreme. Ct. 1984) (athletic participation fees violate the "free education clause of the California Constitution). For news articles, see Pay to Play Is A Shutout We Can't Afford by Joan Ryan, San Francisco Chronicle, May 9, 2003. If you're in a state where participation fees are unconstitutional, you should note that there's always a lawyer waiting to sue. In California, the U.S. Justice Foundation has filed numerous class action suits. Click here for information on USJF's legal actions.
Sports Participation Fees Come Under Attack – From A Powerful Foe
We’ve seen small regional groups challenge sports participation fees. For example, in California, the U.S. Justice Foundation has filed numerous class action suits. Click here for a reprint of a Fresno Bee article on the U.S. Justice Foundation's Fee Fights. Now, the ACLU is getting in the act, leading to the oddity of the ultraconservative U.S. Justice Foundation and the ultra liberal ACLU fighting on the same side.. my, my but sports does lead to some strange partnerships and we always said that sports brought people together. The ACLU has opposed Rhode Island’s new sports participation fee on the ground that it violates the Rhode Island Constitution. See ACLU To File Complaint Over Sports Fees, Saying They Violate State Law by John Hill, Providence Journal, December 22, 2009.
More Participation Fee Issues: For more on participation fees, see To Play Sports Many U.S. Students Must Pay by Erik Brady and Ray Glier, USA Today, July 9, 2004.
Public/Private Tensions! At the risk of greatly oversimplifying things, these issues boil down to two issues: (1) Public schools can't compete with those rich private guys and need to break off; and (2) Those strict transfer and residency rules either should or shouldn't apply to private schools because it's just not fair!!! The side of the scale a state comes down on often depends on whose winning championships, and proximity to borders. For an example of the problem, see The Great Divide by Greg Scholand, Athletic Management, May 2007.
Will Gas Prices Affect High School Sports? See Athletic Budgets: At What Cost? by Earl Vaughan, Jr, Fayetteville Observer, April 10, 2008, page 5C.
Special Report: After School Program Funding - Funding Mechanisms That Support Services For Children and Youth In Other Jurisdictions by Chicago Metropolis 2020: the Chicago Out-of-School Time Project, September 9, 2007
Canton, MA - August 9, 2007 - High School Sports Fees Drive Canton HS to institute a "Save Our Sports" campaign. See Groups Says Drive To Cut Sports Fees Nearing Goal by Ryan Menard, Massachusetts Patriot Ledger, August 9, 2007. Note: Many schools must engage in fundraising. We often think of fundraising to build fields or fix facilities. This story illustrates a basic reality of high school sports: that fundraising often exists just to keep the program operating at a bare bones level, and that many schools charge students to play.
Detroit, MI - April 3, 2007 - Arts, Sports Face DPS Cutbacks by Jennifer Mrozowski, Detroit News, April 3, 2007. Broke school faces $118 million deficit. Arts, sports, teachers all face cuts. Some schools will be closed. When budgets are low, arts and sports are always the first to go. Scroll down to see similar problems in Richmond, CA in 2004 and Akron, Ohio in 2006.
Sacramento, CA - March 25, 2007 - Special Report: Longest Odds - Overmatched - Advantages, Not Talent, Separate Tennis Players by Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee, March 25, 2007 page A1.
Sacramento, CA - March 24, 2007 - Special Report: Longest Odds - Rich Win, Poor Lose In High School Sports by Phillip Reese and Tim Casey, Sacramento Bee, March 24, 2007 page A1.
November/December 2006 - NFHS Survey finds 47% of students participate in high school sports, 65% of schools do not make students pay fees, the schools that charge fees tend to charge less than $100 per student, and sports costs less than two percent of a school's total budget. In short, you get a lot of bang for your buck in a high school sports program. See Survey Provides New Info On High School Athletics by Amanda Personett, The NFHS News, November/December 2006 page 1.
October 2006 - Click here for Lauren Oosterlinck's October, 2006 article on page 8 of the NFHS News, Schools Turn To Corporate Sponsorship For Funding.
New York, N.Y., August 26, 2006 - Paying to Play At School by Debra Nussbaum, New York Times, August 26, 2006. Many schools are turning to charging students to participate in sports - but some states ban this. Click above for more.
Akron Ohio, June 2006 - APS Board Reinstates Junior Varsity Sports by Jeff Gorman, Akron Leader, June 29, 2006. Watch out - sports are often amongst the first things cut. Thirty years ago, many school districts eliminated middle school programs. Could this be the start of a new trend to dump JV programs, leaving only varsity sports? Probably not - but you never know.
Portsmouth, N.H., June 25, 2006 - Paying to Play At School by Emily Aronson, Portsmouth Herald, June 25, 2006.
Akron Ohio, May 2006 - Big cuts to sports, music, arts in Akron. See Akron School Board Cuts 82 Teaching Positions by Jeff Gorman, Akron Leader, May 18, 2006.
Richmond, CA, 2004 - West Contra Costa County School District Athletic Cuts Hurt Schools in California's East Bay. See Students' Walkouts Protest Sports Cuts by Laura Counts, Oakland Tribune, March 10, 2004. School Basketball Players Travel By Foot To Final Game by Wyatt Buchannan, San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 2005 (and strangely enough the team won its first league game of the year after their 3 mile walk to the game - hey, who needs money and buses?).
New York, N.Y., Oct. 2000 - Hard Times Cripple A Football Legacy; Broke Erasmus Team Sits Out A Season by Alan Feuer, New York Times, October 14, 2000.
Los Angeles, CA - July 27, 2010 - Student Sues High School Because Coach Gave Her The Wrong Date For State Championship Tennis Match. The student is asking for $25,000 on the ground that the coaches' error cost her an opportunity for a college scholarship. While this is sheer coaching incompetence, it probably did not cost the student a chance for a college scholarship. Indeed, the student was only a junior when this occurred, and a junior who qualifies for a state championship singles tennis match in California is highly likely to get a scholarship. Further, even if the student doesn't get a college scholarship, there's likely to be little nexus between her failure and this one match. Finally, the student wasn't denied a right, but a privilege as participation in high school sports is a mere privilege. The failure to grant a privilege is not likely to result in the type of speculative damages the student seeks. However, the student certainly is going to win something. She's an incredibly sympathetic plaintiff. She also relied to her detriment on an expectation built up by a coach who was, if nothing else, charged to coach her in a competent manner. The student was the intended beneficiary of the coach's contract with the school, and will receive some damages for the emotional pain she suffered as a result of the coach's negligence in supervising her per that contract. This pain won't link to the cost of a college scholarship; it could be more and it could be less. Ultimately, it won't matter as this case is not going to court. The school district will settle and settle fast. See Azusa High School Tennis Player Sues School Board Over Forfeited Tennis Match by Thomas Himes, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, August 11, 2010.
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Miramar, FL - June 9, 2010 - In Florida, Record $260,000 Fine For School That Played Ineligible Students and Practiced Against Non-Students. See Parkway Academy Gets Record $260,800 Fine, Lakeland (FL) Ledger, June 9, 2010 page C-1.
Our Changing World! The President is African-American, the most famous seven-footer is Chinese and now an All-Black High Inner City High School Rugby Team? Yes, they're believed to be the first all-black high school rugby team. See The Unlikely Scrum by Will Bardenwerper, New York Times. Let this be an object lesson - don't limit your students.
Ultimate Fighting: Coming Soon To A School Near You! That's right, kids are being trained in this. It's only a matter of time before those kids get older and ask for a new school sport. Most states ban combat sports so these kids will probably not succeed - but stranger things have happened. See Kids Encouraged To Punch, Kick - Associated Press (story and video) on CNN.Com, March 27, 2008. Click here for ABCNews.com coverage..
Fort Myers, FL - March 19, 2008 - School administrators occasionally have to worry about alcohol related problems. Here, a teacher/coach was arrested for DUI right after a game. Best to have a district policy of no alcohol on campus. It won't prevent the occasional flare-ups, but it will make it clear that the school/district had no role in sanctioning the problem. See Lee County Teacher and Coach Arrested For DUI, WBBH - nbc-2.com, Fort Myers, FL, March 19, 2008.
Florida, December 24, 2007 - Some Florida Cities Have Started Requiring Volunteer Coaches To Wear Badges Indicating They Have Been Fingerprinted. Fingerprinting Coaches Is Old Hat, But The ID Badge Seems To Be A New Trend. Of course, as administrators everywhere can attest, a lot of volunteer assistant coaches just seem to show up without fingerprinting and without a school, team or league's knowledge. Will this new trend spread? See Cities Require Background Checks, ID Badges For Sports Coaches by Nick C. Sortal, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Dec. 24, 2007.
Philadelphia, PA - October 12, 2007 - School moves night game to afternoon after off-campus gun incident. See Gun Incident Postpones Spring-Ford Football Game by Diane Mastrull, Philadelphia Inquirer, October 12, 2007.
Austin, TX - October 4, 2007 - School Principal Catches Heat When She Tries To Shut Down Football Because Too Many Players Were Getting Hurt. See Johnston Students Rally to Build Varsity Team Support, KXAN.com.
Scottsdale, AZ - September 15, 2007 - Strange But True - Stadium Lights Won't Start Because Somebody Stole the Copper Wire. See Game Nixed Because of Stolen Copper Wire, FoxNews.com, September 15, 2007; Copper Wire Thieves Force End To Football Game, ABC15.com, Phoenix, September 15, 2007. This problem could spread because of the value of copper wire: See Heavy Metal Mayhem by R.J. Anderson, Athletic Management, October 2007.
Portland, OR, March 7, 2007 - Castillo Steps Into High School Sports Uproar, KATU.Com. State School Superintendent seeks to reduce power of high school state athletic association after re-leaguing controversy. Two hot issues arise here. First, who should control high school sports: high school athletic associations or the state schools chief? Second, re-leaguing issues are always controversial as they impact travel, economics, and success on the field.
November, 2006 - Faculty Only by Athletic Management, October/November 2006. Schools everywhere want to increase the number of teacher coaches as walk-on coaches don't have the daily nexus with the academic environment of the school. This article details a Missouri high school that requires all coaches to be full-time teachers and discusses how they made it work.
Administrators must manage parents. Parents can create sportsmanship problems and they can get fired up over their childrens' playing time and start pressuring coaches, occasionally resulting in coaches resigning or being fired because they won't kowtow to the parent. To see problems created by parents, visit the sportsmanship page and either click on the sports parent issues bookmark or scroll down to the sports parent issues section.
This Might Be The Future Of Game Security. Britain Makes Camera That "Sees" Under Clothes, Reuters News Service, March 9, 2008. There are times where an administrator has to "wand" the crowd. This is an absolute nightmare as it causes lines that are so long that spectators often miss the start of the game. Wanding is such a burden that it's avoided even in those gyms where an administrator knows that the crowd is tough. The more viable alternative is to simply hire so much security that a strong deterrent effect is created. The antiterrorism movement is slowly but surely creating devices that will do body scans without the lengthy delays. Ultimately, these devices will show up in airports, but eventually the price will come down and they may be the device that allows for crowd screening without the lengthy delays. In short, this is the wave of the future, but that future is a long way off. Right now, these experimental devices are simply too expensive. p.s. - don't worry, the device uses something called "t-rays" that can't see your "private parts." For more, click here for ThruVision.
The Cost Of Keeping High School Games Safe - Fights Between Fans, Parents Force Schools To Pay Thousands In Security Fees, CBS News.com February 3, 2007 (Parents, Fans and Spectators' Poor Behavior Costs Some School Districts Hundreds of Thousands Per Year In Security Costs).
July 2009 - New Mexico Court Rejects Baseball Rule. Screens Behind Home Plate Are Not Enough Says N.M. Court in allowing injured baseball's suit to go forward. This is highly unusual. For 100 years, screens behind home plate were definitely enough. Click here for the court's opinion.
Storm Warning by Tim Sloan, Referee Magazine, November 2006, page 27 (what do you do about fans storming the court after a win?).
Legal (coaches' liability coaches' overtime contact sports exception field trips informed consent metal bats state association & league rules student rights)
Can a coach kick players off a team for criticizing him. Well ... maybe. Maybe not. Remember, public school coaches are state employees so first amendment rights may be involved. Whistle blowers probably can't be kicked off the team. People who back-talk the coach can. The problem - as always - occurs in the middle ground with those athletes who try to tell administrators or parents of their dissatisfaction. Click here for a pretty good discussion on The Sports-Law-Blog.
Click here for Kahn v. East Side Union High School District, which protects coaches from liability for risks inherent in a sport unless the coach goes well beyond ordinary negligence and enters the realm of reckless conduct. Note, Kahn squares with the standards of assumption of risk which protect players from liability for injuries to other players caused by risks inherent in a sport. See Knight v. Jewett, 3 Cal.4th 296 (1992) for a player vs. player case. Click here for the amicus brief in Kahn.
Of course, one should never get too secure as a coach. Standards of proof vary from state to state, and what one jury calls ordinary negligence could be gross negligence in the minds of another jury. In August, 2009, the New Springville Little League on Staten Island decided it was better to settle than fight a lawsuit brought by a 12-year old who injured his knee while sliding. The parent, who sued on behalf of her son, argued that the boy wasn't properly taught how to slide. This case looks like a case that the coach could have won so it seems a bit surprising that the case was settled. Nonetheless, the settlement should serve as a lesson for all coaches to not assume that only gross negligence will lose a suit. A coach can be sued at any time for any reason and the only true protection is good insurance. See Staten Island Mom Settles Suit With Little League and Coaches Over Knee Injury by Glenn Nyback, Staten Island Live - silive.com - August 3, 2009.
Coaches' Overtime Pay Under The FLSA
Over the past decade a number of schools have been unpleasantly surprised to find that they owe their coaches overtime pay under The FLSA; often, the coaches themselves were surprised. Here are a few documents that can help you figure out how to handle this difficult and expensive problem.
John Glenn's Cheerleading Coach's Position In Jeopardy by Mark Hicks, The Detroit News, April 24, 2007 (FLSA forces District to terminate school clerk who doubled as cheerleading coach).
United States Department of Labor's November, 2005 Opinion Letter
Keeping Score on Overtime by Greg Scholand, Athletic Management Magazine, April/May 2005.
Working Overtime by Laura Smith, Athletic Management Magazine, August/September 2004. This article makes clear why some school districts have prevented anybody except for teachers from coaching. Click here to read about a school that only hired faculty members to coach because it's better for the school community. They got an unintended legal benefit under the FLSA.
Madison, WI - January 27, 2009 - Court Rules Cheerleading is Contact Sport, espn.com, January 27, 2009; Ex-Cheerleader Loses Suit Against Student, School District After Fall, cnn.com, January 27, 2009.
Field Trip Safety Laws Before Congress - HR 4265, introduced in December, 2007 is designed to set standards to improve safety on out of town and overnight school field trips. The bill will require background checks for chaperones, mandatory room checks and mandatory curfews on all field trips. The Bill is called "Phylicia's Law" in honor of Phylicia Moore, a New Jersey student who died on a field trip. Click here for Bill Tracking. For information on Phylicia see, Lawmaker Wants Safety Measures In Wake of Student's Death, Newark Star-Ledger, December 3, 2007.
Informed Consent Form and Liability Waivers
Legal release forms where student-athletes release all legal claims against a school are usually unenforceable. See Before You Cheer...'Sign Here.' by Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor, March 12, 2002 for general information. Click Here for an example of how the law handles this issue in a school setting (this example is from Washington State) Click Here for an example in a non-school setting.
Schools Need To Use Informed Consent Forms, telling students and their parents what harms and risks the students can incur in sports. See Fair Warning by Dr. Richard P. Borkowski, Athletic Management June/July 2000. Click here for a sample informed consent form.
Have Your Athletic Directors Save The Informed Consent Forms Until the Student Turns 21 - Remember, some states allow injured minors to sue for as long as up to three years after the minor turns 18 even if the minor's parents chose not to sue.Click here for more information on sports medical care
Metal Bats
Click here for metal bats page
State Association and League Rules
March 7, 2009 - Can State Associations Control Their Broadcast Rights? I mean, come on, if you ran a high school state association and you had a state championship game you know darn well you'd enter into contracts for tv rights, radio rights, and streaming webcast rights. But not so fast! The Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) webcast an entire football game. Now, the WIAA, the organization that runs Wisconsin high school athletics, is in court to make sure this never happens again. If the WNA wins, what's to stop a television network from just broadcasting the games? Why would any news outlet ever need to buy the game rights again? For more on this, see WIAA Says Principle At Stake In Lawsuit With Gannet Co., Wisconsin Newspaper Association, Appleton Post-Crescent, March 7, 2009. Click here for the WIAA's Statement on this.
January 29, 2009 - State Associations and Religion. Will the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Accommodate the Jewish School That Won't Play Basketball on The Sabbath? Will the Jewish School Lose and Let Colorado Off The Hook? In 2008, the CHSAA said it would not adjust its State Basketball Tournament to accommodate Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy, a Jewish school whose religion precludes them from playing sports from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. See Sabbath Conflict May Stop Colo. Jewish School's Playoff Run, USA Today, February 28, 2009. The CHSAA never had to address the issue, though, since Herzl lost in an early round of the tournament. See Sabbath Hoops Controversy Deflected - For Now by John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News, February 29, 2008. The CHSAA took a hard stand on this one. Their position is a strange one; there's almost no way they'd win this case. The Michigan High School Athletic Association had the exact same case in February, 2008. They, too, took a firm stand and they went down in flames. Click here for a report on the Michigan case. The Oregon School Activities Association lost this same battle in 2003 when they refused to adjust championship schedules to accommodate seventh day adventists. Click here for that story and see Basketball Roundup: Court Backs Portland Adventist by Mike Wilson, Portland Oregonian, Feb. 15, 2008 for a report on the appeal, which was also decided in favor of the Adventists. The CHSAA got off the hook last year, but Herzl is still a very good team this year. The issue may resurface and the CHSAA may not like what it's going to get.
Washington, D.C. June 21, 2007 - High Court Rules Recruiting Limits Do Not Violate Free Speech, espn.com (publishing AP wire service story). For more, see the Supreme Court's published opinion in Tennessee Secondary Schl. Ass'n v. Brentwood Academy (2007). Click here for the oral argument. The Supreme Court reversed the 6th Circuit's decision in Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary Schl Ass'n, 443 F.3d 410 (6th Cir. 2006).
San Francisco, CA - May 8, 2009 - Photos and Video Images Can Create All Sorts of Legal Problems - But Usually Big Companies Are More Careful Than This. EA Sports Sued For Using College Athlete's Likeness In Video Game. See Suit Targets NCAA Athletes' Likeness In Video Games by Steve Wieberg, USA Today, May 8, 2009. Remember, athletes own their marketing rights. Photographers and video game makers can't just snap and sell.
Chicago, IL - September 23, 2008 - If you miss, you'll get paddled. Chicago Coaches Use Corporal Punishment Behind Closed Doors To Make Athletes Tow The Line - But They Just Got Caught! See Painful Lessons: Students Face Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, September 23, 2008 and CPS Takes Action on Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, October 6, 2008 (also includes video companion piece - click here for video text). For more, See Morgan Park HS Investigated For Corporal Punishment, by Michael Fielding, Southwest Observer, October 8, 2008 and Student Athletes Report Corporal Punishment, WBBM News Radio 78, September 24, 2008; and Is Corporal Punishent Still Practiced?, reported by Katy Walls, WGEM TV, Quincy, Illinois, September 24, 2008.. You may think corporal punishment is obsolete, but you'd be wrong. Click here for the Human Rights Watch's report on corporal punishment in a number of States. A brief legal note: Corporal punishment is barred in Chicago's public schools, but it is not unconstitutional should one's state decide to allow schools to do it. The governing legal case on this matter is an old (well - relatively old) Supreme Court decision, Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977), in which the Court held that the eighth amendment doesn't bar corporal punishment as it only applies to criminals, and corporal punishment does not unconstitutionally deprive students of a due process liberty interest because our long history of taking kiddies to the woodshed to receive corporal punishment means that we have a grand historical tradition of corporal punishment. Click here for an on-line edited opinion of Ingraham v. Wright; and Click here for comments on Ingraham v. Wright. Chicago Public League Athletic Commissioner Davis Takes Strong Steps To Prevent Any More Butt Kicking Coaches. See Chicago Public School Sports Director Calvin Davis Clarifies New Coaches' Policy, Chicago Tribune, March 26, 2009.
Woodland, CA - March 29, 2008 - Sacramento Parents Protect Cheerleaders From Unauthorized Photos - See Bee Writer Pleads Not Guilty In Porn Case by Hudson Sangree, Sacramento Bee, March 29, 2008. A group of vigilant cheerleading administrators kept their eyes out for people who look out of place or film more than one team. They caught Gilbert Chan, an off-duty Sacramento Bee photographer, filming the contest. Chan tried to hide his camera - to no avail. Note - Chan probably hasn't committed a pornography crime here. The cheerleaders are fully clothed normal cheerleaders. Chan may have committed trespass. One does wonder why a grown man is filming cheerleaders when he has no kids in the contest and wasn't on business for his newspaper or attempting to make sales as a commercial photographer. It may not be pornography, but in this day and age we can't have strangers videotaping kids' games. For more see Bee Reporter Pleads Not Guilty To Porn Charge, KCRA TV Sacramento, March 28, 2008. Note: This problem keeps repeating. In March, 2009, a 29 year old man went to a high school drill and dance competition and took "upskirt" photos of the female participants' "spankies." See Voyeur Suspect Reportedly Admitted Taking Photos by Jeremy Pawlowski, The (Olympia, WA) Olympian, March 3, 2009. This man reminds us of the Sacramento man. Basically, there are some people up there who want to put your kid on their website, and if your kid happens to be scantily clad, young and in shape - well all the better for these voyeuristic camera people. Since young athletes just happen to be scantily clad, young and in shape, they are an occasional target. For more on this problem, and the legal issues involved see Collins's article, Who Is Snapping Pictures of Your Child?
California, February 2008 - California Assemblyman Cameron Smyth Introduces Legislation To Ban Photos of Minors on Pornographic Websites! Smyth's AB 2104 prohibit a person from preparing, posting, or publishing a photograph or image of a minor under 18 years of age, without the minor's knowledge or consent, on an Internet Web site containing obscene matter.
Click here for text of AB 2104. Click Here for Smyth's Discussion of His Anti-Porn Legislation
There is some question regarding whether states can regulate national and international transactions, and if so, to what extent. Assemblyman Smyth is reacting to photos of high school water polo players ending up on internet porn sites, and he should be commended for protecting these children. Unfortunately, the Assemblyman and the students have stumbled into a Constitutional hotbed. States may not have full discretion to regulate the internet because a state cannot unduly restrict interstate (and international) commerce. Fortunately, Assemblyman Smyth's legislation should withstand any challenges and be found Constitutional. After all, what he's really saying is don't come into California and take a picture without the child's consent and then post it on a porno site. The State's interest in protecting minors should prevail against any burdens on interstate commerce. Of course the greater question here is why Assemblyman Smyth limited his legislation to minors. Why not go all the way and protect adults from camera phones in locker rooms? The idea of Smyth's legislation is admirable. We can tell when a site is a porn site as opposed to a non-pornographic site with cheesecake photos. Smyth is smart enough not to try to protect Allison Stokke, the pole vaulter whose photos were plastered onto non-pornographic sites due to their "sexiness." After all, protecting Stokke would pretty much close the internet to photos since every athlete and every kid looks "sexy" in someone's eyes and the Commerce Clause and First Amendment would bar such overbroad legislation. However, there's no reason not to go all the way and protect adults from porno site postings also. I don't know why Smyth has limited himself. Maybe somebody should ask him! Smyth should expand his Bill and protect us all. Even if he doesn't, we owe him for taking a stand for our kids.
Orange County, CA - Jan. 19, 2008 - Who's Taking Your Child's Photo and What Are They Doing With It? Photos of Teen Water Polo Players Show Up On Porn Sites! by Scott M. Reid and Dan Albano, Orange County Register, January 19, 2008. These kids were just competing, but water polo players wear Speedos and somebody, somewhere decided that a young athletic person in Speedos has an inherent sex appeal that we don't generally think of when we're watching a youth athletic contest. This is very similar to last year's Allison Stokke case where photos of a female pole vaulter were posted on a website and marketed as sexy pinup shots. For information on Stokke, seeTeen Tests Internet's Lewd Track Record by Eli Saslow, Washington Post, May 29, 2007 page A01. Reprinted in Charleston Daily Mail as - Internet Photos of Pretty Pole Vaulter Create Unwanted Attention, June 1, 2007. For more on the water polo matter, see: Porn Sites Post Pics of Prep Polo Players by Matt Null, North County Times (California), January 23, 2008; and Water Polo Players Are Caught In The Web, New University Newspaper (U.C. Irvine) Editorial Board, January 28, 2008.
Norwalk, CA - May 29, 2007 - Teen Tests Internet's Lewd Track Record by Eli Saslow, Washington Post, May 29, 2007 page A01. Reprinted in Charleston Daily Mail as - Internet Photos of Pretty Pole Vaulter Create Unwanted Attention, June 1, 2007. Note: The Stokke case raises some interesting questions about what rights a student-athlete has about his/her photo being posted on the internet or even placed in a newspaper. As a general rule, if a student engages in public athletic competition they won't be able to do much about their photo being taken and placed in a newspaper or on the internet. However, if that photo is sold to the public the student may have some rights on the ground that his/her name or likeness is being used for commercial gain without his/her permission (which explains why major league baseball players are considering suing some on-line fantasy baseball league providers - they claim the league couldn't function without selling their names and they haven't granted permission). Of course, if the photo is part of a newspaper or magazine, then one is not going to succeed on having one's name or likeness sold to the public without one's consent because one has entered a public forum. This explains why your local sports page can run a student's picture, but Bob the professional photographer cannot simply sell a student's photo without permission. The following article has a nice explanation of some of the legal obstacles Stokke confronts: Pole Vaulting Gets Her Lots of Internet Looks - Not All By Sports Fans by Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2007. Reprinted in Concord Monitor as Web Turns High School Athlete Into Reluctant E-lebrity, June 3, 2007.
Montana - January 2005, Can Your School Be Liable for Failing To Secure Its Locker Room? Harry A v. Duncan, No. 03-13-H-DWM, 2005 WL 61414 (D. Mont. Jan. 13, 2005) sheds light on this issue. In this case, a school district was not liable where it did not provide adequate security to prevent a group of boys from surreptitiously videotaping the girls' locker room. This case was affirmed by the 9th Circuit in 2007 in Harry A. v. Powell County Sch. Dist. (9th Cir. 2007). For details see, School District, Officials Off-The-Hook For Girls' Locker Room Videotaping by Linda Coady, Esq., Privacy Litigation Reporter, Vol. 2, Issue 5, Jan. 25, 2005.
Annual Injury Report
2009 Annual Report - TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT - FALL 1982 - SPRING 2008 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Director National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and Robert C. Cantu, M.D., Medical Director, National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (THIS IS THE ANNUAL REPORT COVERING THE 2007-08 ACADEMIC YEAR)..
Concussions
Concussion Update: San Jose Football Player On The Road To Recovery - A Heart-Touching Illustration of the Need for Better Concussion Care. See Teen Upbeat After Near-Fatal Football Injury by Tom Fitzgerald, San Francisco Chronicle, January 25, 2010.
January 4, 2010 - Detroit, MI - NFL doctor blasted at Congressional hearings on concussions. Although the focus of the hearings is on the NFL, a number of high ranking youth and high school administrators spoke, including Bob Colgate of the NFHS. See Lawmakers Grill Doctor for His Views On Concussions by Alan Schwarz, New York Times, January 4, 2010.
Washington, D.C. - January 3, 2010 - Congressional Hearings on concussions in Detroit coincide with more injuries and with NFL looking for a better helmet. See NFL To Weigh Rule Changes After Studying Helmets by Howard Fendrich, Washington Post, January 3, 2010. These injuries aren't limited to the NFL nor to football as Niki Popyer, a female basketball player, can attest. See Girl Who Sustained 11 Concussions Seeks New Law by Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press.com, December 15, 2009, and Teen's 11 Concussions Sideline Normal Life by Deborah Roberts and Lee Ferran, ABC News, December 4, 2009. The attention paid to concussions has some odd results. California's high school governing body, the California Interscholastic Federation CIF), took the lead on this issue years ago before anybody else was paying much attention to the issue. However, in the last year Washington and Oregon passed even tougher laws than California's. Now, the CIF is getting some heat after a Thanksgiving Day Concussion almost killed a San Jose athlete. See Other States, NFL Have Tougher Concussion Rules Than California by John Woolfolk, San Jose Mercury News, January 3, 2010.
December 26, 2009 - NFL Gets Real on Concussions But Has More Work To Do, Boston Globe, December 26, 2009.
Washington, D.C. - December, 2009 - Senate Chimes in With Concussion Bill. S 2840 would provide grants to local school districts for concussion care - but in a debt plagued economy can the Senate afford this? Click here for bill text.
December 2009 - The Indiana Sports Concussion Network: Taking a Stand For Responsible Health Care. Indiana uses ImPact Baseline testing to battle concussions. For more, visit the Methodist Sports Medicine Concussion Management web page. Methodist Sports Medicine does impact testing for $5 per student, and they claim to be the exclusive certified concussion management consultant in Indiana.
November 1, 2009 - San Francisco, CA - NFL Concussion problem - it affects all levels of football. See Concussion Findings Keep Getting Scarier by Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle, November 1, 2009, page B1.
October 28, 2009 - Congress Asks, "Is This Sport Too Dangerous?" Rep. Conyers wants concussion data from high schools, colleges and NFL. The jury is still out on this one, but football's concussion is an extremely serious threat to the future sustainability of this sport as we know it. Of course, with Congress's involvement, it will take years - maybe decades - before bold steps are taken but we will see incremental steps in the next few years at every level of sport. See Goodell Defends NFL Efforts On Concussion To House Committee, SI.com, Oct. 28, 2009.
October 19, 2009 - Best Selling Author Malcolm Gladwell Rings In On Concussions and Football. See Offensive Play by Gladwell, The New Yorker, October 19, 2009, page 50.
New York, N.Y. - September 30, 2009 - NFL acknowledges concussion risks. Could this lead to enhanced safety at the youth, high school, and college level? Only time will tell. See Dementia Risk Seen In Players In N.F.L. Study by Alan Schwarz, New York Times, September 30, 2009 page A1.
August 13, 2009 - Rawlings' new S100 baseball helmet is latest advance in battle against concussions. The S100 has extra padding and design elements that allow it to withstand the impact of a 100 mph fastball. Click here for details. Will players accept it and will rules bodies increase their standards are the big questions. It's too early to know what rules standards may change, but David Waldstein says acceptance may be slow in his New York Times article, Safer Batting Helmet Draws Resistance From Some Players, August 13, 2009. The new S100 joins the Xenith football helmet and Schutt Ion football helmet in the vanguard of a new wave of head protection.
August 4, 2009 - Did a coach ignore a high school player's serious head injury? Concussions, helmet safety, pressure from coaches to play through head injuries, and secondary impact syndrome all in play in big East St. Louis lawsuit. See Illinois High School Football Player's Injuries Draw Lawsuit, AP Wire Service in USA Today, August 4, 2009.
May 14, 2009 - Washington Concussion Law: New Return To Play Law Is Major Step In Preventing Head Injuries. See Washington State: Tough New Sports Concussion Law by Greg Bell, Seattle Times, May 14, 2009.
February 2, 2009 - Time Magazine Chimes In On Concussions in Hard Knocks: How To Keep High School Kids With Concussions On The Bench by Sean Gregory, Time Magazine, February 2, 2009.
October 26, 2007 - New Football Helmets Invented to Battle Concussions - But They're So Expensive!! See The Next Generation? by Graham Roberts, Bedel Saget, New York Times, October 26, 2007; and Harvard ex-QB Develops New Protective Helmet by Stephen Cooney, Hofstra Chronicle.com, November 15, 2007. Click here for the Xenith helmet's website and click here for the Schutt Ion helmet's website. Click here for Press Release on Schutt Ion helmet winning 2008 Athletic Trainers Association Convention's Best Performing Helmet Award.
October 25, 2007 - Click here to see ESPN's Report on Concussions in High School Sports: Outside the Lines: High School Concussions.
October 2, 2007 - Concussion Studies Show Girls Are More Vulnerable by Alan Schwarz, New York Times, Oct. 2, 2007.
March 27, 2007 - Click here to listen to Getting The Hard Facts On Sports Concussions by Ton Goldman, NPR Talk of The Nation Show, March 27, 2007.
Football Annual Injury Reports
2009 Annual Report - TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT - FALL 1982 - SPRING 2008 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Director National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and Robert C. Cantu, M.D., Medical Director, National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (THIS IS THE ANNUAL REPORT COVERING THE 2007-08 ACADEMIC YEAR)..
February, 2009 - Annual Survey of Football Injury Research - 1931 - 2008 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Chairman, American Football Coaches Committee on Football Injuries and Bob Colgate, Assistant Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (Note: This report is updated annually).
2008 Annual Report - TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT - FALL 1982 - SPRING 2007 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Director National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and Robert C. Cantu, M.D., Medical Director, National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (THIS IS THE ANNUAL REPORT COVERING THE 2006-07 ACADEMIC YEAR)..
July 16, 2009 - Annual Survey of Football Injury Research - 1977 - 2008 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Director National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and Robert C. Cantu, M.D., Medical Director, National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (Note: This report is updated annually).
February, 2009 - Annual Survey of Football Injury Research - 1931 - 2008 by Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., Chairman, American Football Coaches Committee on Football Injuries and Bob Colgate, Assistant Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (published by National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research) (Note: This report is updated annually).
H1N1
September 15, 2009 - In the past, leagues stopped post-game handshakes due to fights - as you can see on at the post-game handshake bookmark on the sportsmanship page. Now, post-game handshake problems and health have joined hands so to speak as the NCAA has recommended an end to post-game handshakes in volleyball in order to prevent the spread of the H1N1 Flu Virus. Will it work? The experts say no! See H1N1 Experts: Handshake Halt Hardly Helps: NCAA Urges Hold On Volleyball Tradition by Andy Gardiner, USA Today, September 15, 2009 page 10C. Between H1N1 and MRSA, an athlete hardly knows where to turn these days. Your best bet is to listen to your athletic trainer. That's easy to do at the college level, but at the high school level, you may be out of luck. Only Hawaii requires certified athletic trainers in high schools. A California Bill suggests that high schools get trainers, but doesn't require them. Is California being mealy mouthed, here? No. They're just acknowledging fiscal reality. Not everybody can afford the cost.
Heat Related Information
Connecticut - April 2010 - Study Shows Football Uniforms Contribute to Heat Exhaustion. Now, it didn't take a study to see the self-evident truth that on a 95 degree day all those pads and helmets can get really hot. Or, in scientific terms, "the protective equipment and clothing worn during an American football contest establish a microclimate above the skin surface that reduces heat dissipation to the environment via radiation, convection, and evaporation. From a thermoregulatory perspective, this microclimate may predispose an athlete to exertional heat exhaustion or exercise-induced hyperthermia." The American Football Uniform: Uncompensable Heat Stress and Hyperthermic Exhaustion by Lawrence E. Armstrong, PhD, FACSM; Evan C. Johnson, MA; Douglas J. Casa, PhD, ATC, FNAST, FACSM; Matthew S. Ganio, PhD; Brendon P. McDermott; PhD, ATC; Linda M. Yamamoto, MA; Rebecca M. Lopez, MS, ATC; and Holly Emmanuel, MA, ATC, Journal of Athletic Training, Volume 45, Number 2, April 2010 page117 at 117 (April 2010).
Tennessee - September 2009 - Tennessee High Schools Link Practice/Participation To Heat Index. Click here for heat index chart. How does this heat index work? The heat index factors in temperature and relative humidity. Mandatory water breaks are called for at certain temperatures, and activity is reduced at certain levels. Tennessee isn't the only place to do this. Arizona uses the heat index, too. They are undoubtedly not the only ones. For more, see High School Heat Index Policy Now In Effect, AP Wire Story in Blount County Times, August 4, 2009. Click here for Arizona's policy.
While Tennessee and other states attack heat problems, there are widespread pockets of resistance. See Despite Deaths, Schools Resist Changing Heat Plans by Paul J. Weber, Associated Press, September 14, 2009. Click here for article in Sacramento Bee.
Louisville, KY - January 22, 2009 - High School Coach Charged In Death Of Football Player by Brett Barrouquerre, Associated Press Wire in Boston Globe, January 23, 2009. Kentucky High School Football Coach Charged With Reckless Homicide In Player's Death, Associated Press Wire on Fox News.com, January 22, 2009. Jason Stinson, the coach, was ultimately acquitted. See Jury Finds ex-PRP Coach "Not Guilty" of Player's Death, Bennett Haeberle, Fox 41, Louisville, KY, September 17, 2009.
General Safety Information
Orlando, FL -
McMinnville, OR - August 21, 2010 - A high school team suffers one of the strangest medical incidents we've seen over the past few years. Players from McMinnville High School Caught Compartment Syndrome. Compartment syndrome is a rare soft-tissue condition that manifested in extreme swelling, and excessive creatine kinase levels in the McMinnville players' blood, a condition that could cause kidney damage. A number of McMinnville players needed surgery to reduce swelling in their triceps. The cause of the illness is a mystery, leading to speculation on everything from heat to an intense weight workout to excessive creatine use as potential causes. See Two McMinnville Players Released; Others 'Waiting For the Numbers To Drop' by Jerry Ulmer, The Oregonian, August 21, 2010; Mystery Illness Hits Oregon High School Team, by Dr. Jennifer Ashton, CBS News, August 23, 2010.
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Dearborn, MI - August 15, 2010 - What do you do if your City is 30% Muslim, it's Ramadan, it's hot, and you're trying to run two-a-days to get ready for the football season? One school solved this problem by practicing at 11:00 at night. That's right, 11:00 at night. During Ramadan, Muslims can't eat or drink from sunup to sundown. So, rather than have dehydrated players, Fordson High School shifted the time of practice. See Dearborn Fordson Coach Changes Practice To Honor Ramadan by Mick McCabe, Detroit Free Press, August 15, 2010. Click here for USA Today reprint, titled Michigan Prep Team Moves To Night Practice During Ramadan.
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Brooklyn, NY - August 2, 2010 - "Take It Like A Man:" The words of a coach, asking to be sued for 5 million dollars. Remember, 'tis far better to apply first aid than to disparage the athlete whose finger is broken in three places. See "Take It Like A Man" by Edmund DeMarche, New York Post, August 2, 2010.
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New Mexico - July 27, 2010 - New Mexico Activities Association Website Warns Athletes of Alcohol Dangers. The NMAA launches its lifeofanathlete.com site as part of its health mission because it’s about more than sports. See Website Warns High School Athletes Dangers Of Alcohol by Jim Halley, USA Today, July 27, 2010.
Indianapolis, IN - July 1, 2010 - NCAA Sickle-Cell Trait Testing Gearing Up For August Start. See Lawsuit Spurred NCAA To Screen All Athletes by Brett Zarda, USA Today, July 1, 2010 page C-1.
The NCAA began pushing its Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to adopt this recommendation in 2009. See NCAA Recommends Testing To Confirm Sickle Cell Trait Status In Student-Athletes. NCAA News Release, June 29, 2009.
The drive behind this recommendation was the 2006 death of Rice University athlete Dale Lloyd. Lloyd was not the only athlete to have his death linked to sickle cell trait, which is distinct from the actual disease. Approximately 10 other athletes with sickle cell trait have died during exercise over the past 10 years. Now, it is a bit odd that we will see testing for sickle cell trait, which kills approximately one athlete per year, but we don't mandate EKGs. The reason appears to be cost.
Blood testing for sickle cell trait costs $10. An EKG costs $88 according to a recent Stanford estimate (interestingly, Stanford concluded that the EKG is well worth the cost, click here for details). An echocardiogram would cost hundreds more. Also, much of the sickle cell trait expense is record-tracing since all US babies are screened for the trait already. In short, it just isn't expensive to require this.
The down-side to gathering sickle cell trait information is the question of what to do with it. Approximately ten percent of African-Americans have sickle cell trait. Do we bar them from participation? Do we make them sign waivers? Do we tell them they can't play? Let's face it, they've been playing and the cost of participation is one death per year. This could make for some interesting lawsuits.
We do know that there are some concerns about discrimination against people who show the trait. See NCAA's Sickle Cell Test Plan Raises Fears by Erin Allday, San Francisco Chronicle, September 14, 2009. Let's hope that sickle cell trait testing doesn't work its way down to the youth and high school levels - at least not until someone can either develop medicine or figure out what to do with the information. Nonetheless, this is probably good PR for the NCAA.
June 2010 - Overuse Injuries: The Ugly Side of The New Youth Sports Culture. The modern trend toward sport specialization and year-round play has led to a rash of very serious overuse injuries among youth athletes. For a report on this new and disturbing trend, see A Children’s Crusade by Mark Hyman, Scorecard Section, Sports Illustrated, June 7, 2010, page 18.
Nashville, TN - May 28, 2010 - Vanderbilt University and Nashville Public Schools Work Together For Free Athletic Health Care. See High School Physicals Program Surges by Leslie Hast, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Reporter, May 28, 2010. The combination of tight budgets and an increased focus on athletes' health make this a model for the type of programs that will allow sports to continue to thrive.
New York, New York - May 12, 2010 - High School Pitch Counts: New York Posts Pitch Counts To Discourage Overuse. Will Others Follow? See New York High School League Is Posting Pitch Counts by Harvey Araton and Andrew Keh, New York Times, May 12, 2010.
2009 - iHydrate - Where the iphone and hydration meet! Alright, this just had to happen. iHydrate, the Apple iphone's latest application, can provide the heat index, schedule hydration reminders before, during and after an athletic activity, and tell you how much to drink based on urine color and the amount of weight you've lost while working out. Now, you can be high-tech and healthy at the same time.
September 2007 - Administrators: Play It Safe. Click Here For the NFHS's Video, Minimizing Risk - A Shared Responsibility.
May 3, 2009 - New Mexico Activities Association Suspends All Athletic Activities For a Week Due To Swine Flu. Click Here for NMAA's Press Release. For years, coaches have gotten around administrative restrictions on athletics. In some cases they did so legally and in some cases illegally. It is inevitable that somewhere some school is going to practice - and may be even play despite a shutdown from their State Governing Body. In New Mexico, it took less than a day for the inevitable exploiting of all possible loopholes. See We're Talking About Practice? Athletic Period Opens The Door For Some Prep Workouts During Swine Flu Dead Week by Jason Groves, Las Cruces Sun-News, May 5, 2009.
May, 2009 - Texas, Alabama Shut Down High School Sports Due To Swine Flu. Click Here For Details.
Heart Problems In Young Athletes
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM):
Click Here For General Information on HCM.
Click Here For the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association.
Click Here For stopsuddendeath.net
HCM will affect 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 high school athletes each year. Put another way, approximately 50 teenagers a year will die from HCM in America. We can screen for HCM with an EKG, but the cost is prohibitive and nobody in America requires this as it would require expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars to save the one person who might die in your community. Put another way, would your school district spend a six figure sum to prevent a death that will probably only occur only once every 100 to 200 years? Probably not. That's why this problem has to be attacked with broad based community support. Looked at from an economic perspective, fighting HCM makes no sense, but looked at from a social, moral and equitable perspective it's an imperative.
Toronto, Canada - May 17, 2010 - 17-Year Old Zac Herold Forced To Retire Before First Pro Match by Carter Daly, yahoosports, May 17, 2010; and Teen TFC Prospect Zac Herold Forced To Retire by Daniel Girard, Toronto Star, May 17, 2010. Using EKGs to test for HCM leads to some sad stories of athletes having to retire or undergo heart surgery. These stories strike a chord; they're emotional stories. They are a far cry better than reading about a dead athlete, though. Remember, not all heart stories have a sad ending (and let's be blunt, Zac's story is sad - it just could have been sadder if he had died). Sometimes you get a Ronny Turiaf story where an athlete comes back after heart surgery. An echocardiogram discovered that Ronny had an enlarged aortic root. Ronny returned from open heart surgery to become a successful NBA player. Click here for Ronny's story and info on his foundation.
University of
Georgia's Athlete's Heartbeat program screens athletes for heart problems. Boston Scientific
and a host of organizations, including the Black Coaches Association, push for
program expansion with their Close The Gap Initiative. See
BCA Focuses on Heart
Health by Greg Johnson, NCAA News, March 11, 2008. Also, see
Boston Scientific Launches Educational Initiative To Address Disparities In
Cardiovascular Care, Reuters News Service, February 4, 2008.
Boston Scientific's Close The Gap program is aimed at addressing
disparities in
cardiovascular care for the underserved patient populations of women, black
Americans and Latino Americans. According to Reuters, "Close the Gap
will work to increase awareness of cardiovascular risk factors through community
programs involving faith-based organizations, collegiate and professional
athletic teams, and patient advocacy groups. A key focus of the campaign
will be to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest as a leading cause of death
among young athletes. Toward this end, Close the Gap has established a
close relationship with the Black Coaches and Administrators organization, a
national nonprofit whose members are mentors and leaders in their communities.
Statistics reveal that in the United States, a young competitive athlete dies
from sudden cardiac arrest every three or four days. The average age of
those who die is 17.5 years, ninety percent of them are male, and more than half
are black."
Arizona Program Attacks HCM - Provides Free Physicals and EKGs for Athletes. Click Here For Details on Arizona's TOPS Program.
Click here for the Black Coaches & Administrators' Informational Bulletin on HCM: Sudden Death On The Athletic Field, August 28, 2008.
Maryland Program Offers Free HCM Detection at State Track Meet: See USA Today's Article on the Maryland program: Young Athletes Urged To Get Screened For Heart Trouble by Jim Halley, USA Today, May 22, 2008.
Click Here For Background on HCM and A List of Athletes Who Have Died Of HCM
Articles & News Coverage on HCM
California - February 9, 2010 - It's pretty easy to ignore teen sudden heart death - until it strikes close to home. About 50 teenage athletes a year die from sudden heart death (HCM) per year. That's a statistically small 1 in 200,000. If you taught at a school for your entire working life, you would probably never see a death from this problem. It's pretty easy to ignore and for the most part it has been. But when it strikes an area in a cluster, that area sure notices. In the San Francisco Bay Area, a football player died. See De La Salle Student Dies During Basketball Game by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2009. Then a basketball player died and another one collapsed within a week of each other. In the Bay Area, the teenage heart is front page news and people are gaining awareness of the need to have an EKG as part of a sports physical. See Rare Heart Conditions A Danger To Teen Athletes by Victoria Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, February 5, 2010. Also, see Teen Basketball Player Speaks Out After Collapsing From Heart Attack, reported by John Sasaki, KTVU Channel 2, San Francisco, Feb. 8, 2010.
El Sobrante, CA - January 31, 2010 - El Sobrante School Basketball Player Dies by Joe Garafoli, San Francisco Chronicle, January 31, 2010 page C-2 (published in print under the heading, Autopsy Set For Teen Basketball Player). Another unfortunate, sudden death of a young athlete. This sounds like a heart related death - although we won't know until the autopsy. It is worth noting that this tragedy occurred at a 24 Hour Fitness Center that presumably had an AED. AEDs are extremely valuable tools, but nothing beats having an EKG with a follow up Echo if needed as part of a sports physical. Unfortunately, few places in the country offer this valuable service that can help detect a cardiac problem before an athlete begins competing.
St. Louis, MO - August 24, 2009 - 13 year old football player dies after running one lap. HCM? Too early to tell. See Death of Athlete, 13, Sparks Heart-Testing Debate, MSNBC.
May 8, 2009 - HCM and Sudden Cardiac Death In Young Athletes, by Don Collins on momsteam.com.
.
November 16, 2008 - Student Athlete, 12, Dies of Heart Ailment by Jason Freeman, Chicago Sun Times, (reprinted on highbeam.com).
November 10, 2008 - Athletes' Sudden Deaths Raise Questions: Congenital Condition is Often Missed In Routine Sports Physicals by Jennifer L. Boen, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, November 10, 2008.
September 4, 2008 - High School Soccer Player Dies After Practice, CBS-13, Antelope, CA.
May 28, 2008 - Students Mourn Loss of Northwood High School Football Player by Cathy Tran, Tim Burt, Sean Emery and Dan Albano, Orange County Register, May 28, 2008.
February 19, 2008 - Glen Oaks' Star Veal Collapses, Dies During Game, Associated Press on ESPN.com.
December 10, 2007 - Following The Trail of Broken Hearts by David Epstein, Sports Illustrated, December 10, 2007 page 90.
November 25, 2005, Protecting Our Varsity Athletes, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Community Health Improvement Clerkship, Block 4 (the U of R's comprehensive study on the pros and cons of using EKGs).
September, 2003 - Sudden Death In Young Athletes by Barry J. Maron, M.D., New England Journal of Medicine, 2003; 349: 1064-75.
Pre-participation Physical Exams
April, 2010 - Sweeping Changes Coming to Standard PPE Form. See Panel Endorses Preparticipation Physicals For Every Child, Pediatricsupersite.com, April, 2010.
San Francisco, CA - June 7, 2008 - Bridgemont Suspended For One Year: CCS Takes Unprecedented Action After Small School Fails To Follow Eligibility Rules by Will Reisman, San Francisco Examiner page 29. San Francisco's Bridgemont High School (and no I do not govern this school, I only govern San Francisco's public schools) played ineligible players, and committed numerous other violations including playing students who didn't attend the school (the article mentions one of these players) and having inadequately prepared physical forms.
Jupiter, FL - July 19, 2007 - Florida School Fined and Placed on Probation For Fraudulent Pre-Participation Physical Exam Form. The State Association audit revealed that the form was not signed by the doctor, an exam was not conducted, and the box allowing the student to participate was not checked. Can schools be liable for this? Probably! The school needs to take reasonable precautions and those precautions probably include having non-athletic personnel spot checking some of the forms. See Jupiter Christian Wrestling Program Put On Probation For Four Years by Stacy Hicklin, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 19, 2007. Also, see FHSAA Press Release: Jupiter Christian School Reprimanded, Fined for Violations in Wrestling Program, July 18, 2007.
Connecticut - December, 2006 - New Connecticut rule allows pre-participation physicals to be valid for 13 months. Physicals are generally valid for 12 months throughout the country so this is a radical change. The Connecticut change acknowledges insurance restrictions that allow students to have a free physical only once a year. If the timing of the free physical doesn't mesh with the student's sports participation, the student could have a problem. Connecticut is not the only state to allow physicals to extend for more than 12 months. In Wisconsin, a physical is good for two years. Click here for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association's Medical Policies and Procedure Guide.
Staph Infections
Chicago, IL - January 20, 2009 - Researchers Find Staph Germs Rise At 'Alarming' Rate by Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press Wire in San Francisco Chronicle, January 20, 2009.
Londonderry, NH -December 2, 2008 - Middle School Wrestler Diagnosed With MRSA, reported by Prat Thakkar, New England Cable News. MRSA hasn't gone away. This middle school appears to have had excellent sanitation practices and they still ended up with a MRSA case.
Downey, CA - July 25, 2008 - High School Wrestler Dies From Staph Infection. See Mother Says Son Died From Complications From Staph Infection by Gary Mihoces, USA Today, July 25, 2008.
October 2007 - The Month From Hell: Schools Across The Country Close Due To Staph Infections. For a summary of the 2007 problems, see Governments Urged To Make Killer Bugs A Priority by Robert Davis and Jennie Coughlin, USA Today, October 18, 2007. Also See, Staph Infection Causes Precautions at NHS by Nancy K. Crevier, The Newtown (Connecticut) Bee, October 18, 2007 (student was a football player); Schools Try To Allay Fears About Staph by Daniel de Vise and Marisa Glod, Washington Post, October 19, 2007 page B01 (31 students in D.C., and Maryland - most of whom are athletes - plus a teacher and firefighter suffered staph infections); 10 Men Contract Staph Infections in NY, USA Today, October 19, 2007 (9 Iona college athletes plus one coach are involved in this outbreak); Richmond School Cleaned After Staph Infection Reported, WRHR.com TV 13, Richmond, Indiana (student was a football player - team forfeited a football game, shutting down its program to sterilize the school); Michigan Player Hit With Staph, Associated Press, October 19, 2007 (1 Troy, MI. football player diagnosed, 8 others have symptoms); Staph Cancels Games, But Page To Play, by Gerald Witt, Greensboro News Record, October 19, 2007 (multiple athletes affected, soccer and football games canceled - 6 infections at East Forsyth High); Staph Infection Worries Close 21 Virginia Schools, Reuters, October 17, 2007; More Staph Infections Pop Up In West Virginia, WCHS ABC Channel 8 - Charleston, W. VA, October 18, 2007; and MRSA: Fighting The Superbug, 60 Minutes, November 11, 2007.
What Is MRSA and How Do Do We Deal With It? The Massachusetts Bureau of Communicable Disease Control Provides Helpful Questions and Answers About MRSA For School Athletics Professionals. For Other Resources See: : mrsaresources.com (click here for mrsaresources.com's publications)
MRSA In Wrestlers: Coaches and Officials Will Be Checking For Skin Lesions. States should only allow wrestlers with lesions to compete with a physician's release. Click here for the NFHS Skin Lesion Release Form.
Youth Sports Injuries
April 13, 2009- Are parents a major factor in the increasing number of overuse injuries in kids? Probably! See The Kids Aren't Alright by Mark Hyman, Sports Illustrated, April 13, 2009, page 14.
November 29, 2008 - MRI Shows New Types of Injuries in Young Gymnasts, Radiological Society of North America Press Release. We hear so much about eating disorders with young gymnasts that we sometimes forget what a grueling sport they're in. The sport exacts a physical toll that has lifelong consequences including necrosis in the knuckles and an increased chance of early osteoarthritis. Click here for coverage in Science Daily, and see the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's coverage - New Twist Found In Gymnast Injuries by Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 10, 2008.
June 8, 2008 - Every So Often, It's Good To Be Reminded That Youth Pitchers Should Not Be Overused and Should Be Careful In Throwing Splitters, Screwballs and Curveballs. Many interscholastic and youth leagues guard against this with pitching limits in their rules. Some don't. The results are occasionally quite bad. For more, see Young Baseball Players Increasingly Face Injury, Surgery by Phil Galewitz, USA Today.
San Francisco, CA - April 15, 2007 - Unhealthy Competition: Young Kids are Training Like Professionals, and Have The Injuries To Prove It by Regan McMahon, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, April 15, 2007 page 9.
How come there are so few African-Americans in Baseball? Blacks in baseball? Sabernomics.com thinks they have the answer. See What Caused The Decline of African-Americans in Baseball, Sabernomics.com, March 17, 2010.
San Francisco, CA - April 23, 2007 - Why Baseball Is Now So White by C.W. Nevius, San Francisco Chronicle, April 23, 2007 page A2.
Site Administration: Administrators - Get Ready To Run Your Sites
Click Here For The CIF San Francisco Section's Site Administration Guide: An Excellent Tool For Administrators.
San Francisco, CA - September 23, 2009 - The economy is making schools think about may of their expenditures. The San Francisco Unified School District's Board of Education looked at their security costs. Is this a wise place to cut in light of the many bad acts and even violent acts in high school? Obviously, reasonable people disagreed, studied the matter and voted to keep police officers at their sporting events. See Police Returning To High School Sporting Events by Kamala Kelkar, San Francisco Examiner, September 23, 2009.
Greenville, N.C. - September 6, 2008 - Did East Carolina Overreact to A Spectator Celebration? Look, we all know the fans don't belong on the field. Yet, time after time we see spectators rush courts and fields. This results in field damage and the occasional injury. So, many organizations attempt to police the field. That's a good thing on the one hand. On the other hand, it does raise the possibility of an excessively physical response to what most people perceive as a benign act. To some extent the administrator is damned if they do and damned if they don't. If you don't police your field and somebody gets hurt in an excessive celebration, you're damned for not doing. If you do police your field and the police get too physical you're damned for doing. Well, East Carolina is damned for doing. See East Carolina Investigating Fan, Police Confrontation After Game by Andy Gardiner, USA Today, September 9, 2008 (this story ran on page 10 C under the Title East Carolina Looks Into Claim of Excessive Police Force). East Carolina will implement changes by using only local officers from now on, in an attempt to police the field with officers who may be more familiar with their community. See Allegations of Excessive Force Prompt Changes at ECU, AP Story on ESPN.com, September 10, 2008.
For End of Year (2007) Tips On Site Security, See Curbing Violence At Athletic Events by Jay Hammes, High School Today, December 2007 (published by NFHS). For more, see Friday Night Fights by Michael Popke, Athletic Business, January 1, 2006.
Site Administration Includes Site Security. Schools need to provide "appropriate" security or they can be liable for injuries to spectators and officials. Schools can be found liable for things that are foreseeable. So if you don't provide security for your site when you have the big game with 3,000 fans your school could pay the legal price if someone is injured. On the other hand, you probably won't be liable when you don't provide security for the JV game on Saturday morning before 30 parents - unless those parents have some history of violence. The site administrator may be enough security for that game. For more, see my Jan. 2007 article: When Security Leaves You On Your Own. Also, click here for Talaszan v. Northridge Arena Soccer League (arena was liable because previous violence made need for security foreseeable) and see McKee v. Gilg, 96 Ohio. App.3d 764, 766 (1994) (baseball team not liable where fan misconduct was not foreseeable).
June 18, 2008 - The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Releases Its Consensus Statement on Appropriate Medical Care for Secondary School-Age Athletes. For News Coverage, see Athletic Trainers Pushing For "Athletic Health Care" In High Schools by Gary Mihoces, USA Today, June 18, 2008.
Terre Haute, IN. August 2006 - Trainers Put In Long Hours With Sports Teams, Terre Haute Tribune Star, August 27, 2006 by Andy Amey.
Pennsylvania, 1998 - Being a Team Physician: The How's and Why's by Ken Fine, M.D., University of Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Journal, Volume 11, Spring 1998, pages 40-46.
Click Here For Sports Done Right, The University of Maine's comprehensive sportsmanship report that defines what a healthy sports community should look like. Many School Districts Throughout the Country Have Adopted This Model.
Steroids
Bryan, TX - June 22, 2010 - Does everybody deserve a second shot? Texas High School hires former Baylor Coach Dave Bliss. Let's see, Bliss started rumors that a murdered player was a drug dealer in order to hide his violations of NCAA rules and he gets to be in charge of high school students? Where are the standards? See Disgraced Ex-Baylor Coach Bliss Gets A Shot At Redemption by Jeff Miller, USA Today, June 22, 2010.
Victor, N.Y. - July 16, 2009 - Youth Baseball Coach Goes Ballistic, Shoves Player. We've seen so many bad things from coaches in the last few years, that this almost doesn't register. However, anytime a 48 year-old grown man physically attacks a kid you have to wonder what's going on. This coach just lost it, screaming profanities and shoving a 13 year old boy at a baseball practice. Coaches have really gotten a bad name after the Chicago incidents a year ago, where coaches paddled kids. Those acts were intentional, thought-out attempts to motivate. They were certainly ill-advised, and not appropriate but there once was a time where people used corporal punishment. There was never a time when anybody advocated a coach simply losing it and attacking a kid. The Chicagoans were out of tune with modern standards of decency and child care. This coach is worse. He just shouldn't be around kids. See Baseball Coach Accused of Shoving Player, WHEC News 10, Rochester, N.Y.
Dallas, TX - April 3, 2009 - Dallas School Paddling Case Never Prosecuted, Houston Chronicle, April 3, 2009.
Upswing in Rise of Coach/Player Inappropriate Relationships Is Clear. Do Coaches Need Psycho-Social Training? Chris Stankovich, an Ohio Psychologist says, "Let's Start Now." See Psychologist: Coaches Lack Ample Training by Jim Halley and Jeff Zillgit, USA Today. Also, see Counselor Lobbies For Coaches To Get More Training by Aaron Blankenship, Upper Arlington (Ohio) This Week (detailing Stankovich's on-going efforts). Is Stankovich correct? Well, in the last month or so we've seen an Idaho volunteer volleyball counselor accused of having sex with a student, a lacrosse coach convicted of assault for "goosing" one of his players, an AAU coach indicted on 13 counts of sex with an underage member of his girls' basketball team, and an Indiana PE teacher (granted she isn't a coach) enjoying a nude sauna while on a field trip with underage students.
University Heights, OH - December 17, 2008 - Hathaway Brown Assistant Coach Accused of Assaulting Player During Game by Patrick O'Donnell, Cleveland Plain Dealer. This is an interesting supervision issue. The coach allegedly grabbed the player's arm, yelled at the player and then threw her arm aside. The parent, who filed charges, acknowledges that the alleged grabbing was not sufficient to bruise or harm the player, but is disturbed (quite properly, I might add) that an adult in a position of authority would get physical with a child in front of a large (800 people) crowd. The parent has stated that if the coach feels sufficiently comfortable to grab a child and shake her arm in front of a crowd, he may feel less restrained in a private practice session. In light of the coach paddling issues in Chicago, the parent may well have a point.
Chicago, IL - September 23, 2008 - If you miss, you'll get paddled. Chicago Coaches Use Corporal Punishment Behind Closed Doors To Make Athletes Tow The Line - But They Just Got Caught! See Painful Lessons: Students Face Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, September 23, 2008 and CPS Takes Action on Corporal Punishment, a Dave Savini Report, CBS 2 Chicago, October 6, 2008 (also includes video companion piece - click here for video text). For more, See Morgan Park HS Investigated For Corporal Punishment, by Michael Fielding, Southwest Observer, October 8, 2008 and Student Athletes Report Corporal Punishment, WBBM News Radio 78, September 24, 2008; and Is Corporal Punishent Still Practiced?, reported by Katy Walls, WGEM TV, Quincy, Illinois, September 24, 2008.. You may think corporal punishment is obsolete, but you'd be wrong. Click here for the Human Rights Watch's report on corporal punishment in a number of States. A brief legal note: Corporal punishment is barred in Chicago's public schools, but it is not unconstitutional should one's state decide to allow schools to do it. The governing legal case on this matter is an old (well - relatively old) Supreme Court decision, Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977), in which the Court held that the eighth amendment doesn't bar corporal punishment as it only applies to criminals, and corporal punishment does not unconstitutionally deprive students of a due process liberty interest because our long history of taking kiddies to the woodshed to receive corporal punishment means that we have a grand historical tradition of corporal punishment. Click here for an on-line edited opinion of Ingraham v. Wright; and Click here for comments on Ingraham v. Wright.
Parents Defend State Championship Coach. Don't Fire Him - We Want Him to "Hit That Butt!" See Supporters of Basketball Coaches Accused of Paddling Make Plea to Chicago School Board by Carlos Sadovi, Chicago Tribune, December 18, 2008. School District Tries To Change Culture. See Schools Take Aim At Paddling Culture: New Program Battles Old-School Discipline by Carlos Sadovi, Chicago Tribune, January 12, 2009.
On the other hand, some parents don't want the coach to "hit that butt."
New York - 2005 - Hitting that butt wasn’t such a good idea for Drew Sanders. Sanders was convicted and even forced to register as a sex offender in 2005 for spanking his basketball players. No parents leaped to Sanders’s defense. See Basketball Coach Accused of Spanking Players by Anthony Ramirez, New York Times, July 7, 2005; and Punishment Should Match The Crime, Integrity In Youth Sports, November 29, 2005.
Westborough, MA - April 9, 2010 - Coach Frank Arena didn't "hit that butt." Instead he fired lacrosse balls at his players as a punishment. This didn't go over very well with parents and with his school's administration. See Lacrosse Coach Suspended After Throwing Balls At Players, reported by Erin Hawksworth, Fox 25 Boston, April 9, 2010; Lacrosse Coach Suspended After Alleged Team Abuse, reported by Bill Shields, WBZTV, Boston, April 10, 2010. This story even went national - in the Huffington Post, which almost never covers sports - especially high school sports. Ultimately, the coach resigned. Click here for resignation story.
September 2008 - The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) team up to produce new video: The Role of The Principal In Interscholastic Athletics. Click here to download.
Los Gatos, CA - September 8, 2008 - Fired Coach Arrested, Charged With Vandalism and Arson. This story explains why so many organizations use security to escort terminated employees from the premises. You never know how angry a fired employee can be - although most people don't return and try to burn the building down like Brian Butcher allegedly did after being fired as an assistant high school football coach! See Los Gatos Teacher's Aide Arrested In Vandalism, Arson Case, The Californian, September 8, 2008; Los Gatos Coach Arrested on Multiple Charges, NBC-11, September 8, 2008; Ex-Los Gatos High Teacher's Aide/Coach Charged With Intent To Commit Arson by Jesse Mangaliman, San Jose Mercury News, September 8, 2008; and Fired Coach Held In Vandalism by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, September 9, 2008.
Liberal, KA - June 10, 2008 - Volunteer Coaches - Yes, They Are Your Responsibility. Volunteers can get you in trouble just as fast as your paid coaches. In C.T. v. Liberal Sch. Dist, 06-2093-JWL (D. Kan 2008), the Liberal School District avoided Title IX liability because they were unaware of their volunteer weight coach's misconduct, but they could still be subject to vicarious liability - which means the employer of the volunteer coach is financially responsible for the volunteer's negligent misconduct. Click here for an interesting take on the Title IX issues in C.T.
Indiana Court of Appeals Rules That Teacher and Coach Positions are Separate For Purposes of FMLA so A School District Is Not Required To Restore a Coach's Job After The Coach Is Out On Sick Leave Even Though The Coach Is Entitled To Restoration of His Teaching Duties. Click Here To See The Opinion in Gary Community Sch. Corp. v. Powell (2008). A school will occasionally have coaches who can't fulfill their coaching obligations because of issues they encounter as teachers. Those issues can range from allegations of wrongdoing, injuries, and a number of other issues. This creates problems if the coach returns to teaching and wants his/her job back. It creates budgetary problems when the coach also demands backpay for the time he/she was out. After all, the school does have to pay the person who filled in as coach. This is a very important economic decision for school athletic departments.
Undervalued Athletic Directors Quitting At An "Alarming" Level. See The Alarming Turnover Rate of Athletic Directors by Dr. David Hoch, CMAA, NFHS's High School Today, April 2008, Page 14. People really don't know what goes into running an athletic program. This absence of knowledge makes it hard for athletic directors to get the tools they need to do the job right. Schools don't make up for the lack of tools with a big paycheck so the inevitable occurs. Little pay plus little reward equals high turnover. Worse, some of the best people go and some of the people who stay develop coping mechanisms that may not always lead them to maximize their ability to be top notch athletic directors. In business terms, if we were in the business of finding good managers we would doomed to failure because we have a bad business model and a poor working environment.
March, 2008 - The AD: The Overlooked Factor In a Good High School Sports Program
If you've ever wondered what your athletic director does - often for little or no reward - look no further. The March, 2008 NFHS High School Today gives you a peek inside of A Day In The Life of a High School Athletic Director by Robert Zayas. For more on ADs, see Being the Athletic Director of Hillsborough High School, Kids' Sports Magazine, Spring 2008; and Female Athletic Director Takes Pride In Her Charges by Dick Scanlon, Polk County Ledger (Florida), December 24, 2007.
Cambria Township, PA - January 30, 2008 - Not Man Bites Dog - But Man Bites Wrestler!! Coach Fired For Biting Wrestler. See Central Cambia Coach Bites Wrestler, Loses Job, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jan. 31, 2008; Click Here For ESPN Coverage from Jan. 30, 2008; Central Cambria Coach Accused Of Biting Wrestler To Resign by Susan Evans, Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, Jan. 29, 2008.
Ripon, CA Nov. 16, 2007 - Cheerleaders Suspended From School For "Skirt Lifting" Cheer: See
Ripon Cheerleaders Suspended For Showing Bloomers, KCRA.com - Sacramento, November 16, 2007. The cheerleaders positively supported their team and were not negative toward their opponents. However, they struck a sensitive chord by writing "Indians # 1" across the back of their bloomers, and then lifting their skirts to show their words of support. The cheerleaders ultimately got suspended from school for defying administrators who told them to stop cheering. This isn't poor sportsmanship per se, but it may approach a sexual line that school administrators don't want to cross.
Leeds, ME. February 2, 2007 - Coach Fired For "Check Manhood" Comment, Newsday (Associated Press). For local coverage see Incidents Sting Coach by Randy Whitehouse, Maine Sun Journal Feb. 2, 2007
Chattanooga, TN. January 19, 2007 - Ooltewah High Coach Suspended After Alleged Racial Remark, The Chattanoogan.com (the coach later admits to using the "N" word to describe the opposing team and is fired).
McKinney, TX - Jan.2, 2007 - We've Heard of Special Treatment For Athletes - But Now, We're Seeing Special Treatment For Cheerleaders! See Mean Girls by Gretel C. Kovach and Arian Campo-Flores, Newsweek On-Line, Jan. 2, 2007. Cheerleaders can be difficult to supervise. They are team supporters, but they're not the average student-spectator as they appear to be school- sanctioned since they wear uniforms; they are competitive - in fact, the better teams really do compete, and quite intensely; they are perceived as elite; and they raise issues of officially sanctioned sexuality. The combination of these qualities leads to fascinating television so it's no surprise to see the McKinney incident being made into a TV movie. See Schoolgirls Go Wild In Lifetime TV Movie, Reuters News Service, February 22, 2008.
Marin County, CA - December 2003 - Marin Independent Journal's Special Series on Off-Campus Coaches Click here for Most Prep Mentors Aren't Teachers by Geoff Lepper, December 21, 2003; Working Away From School Has Its Benefits and Drawbacks by Joe Wolfcale, December 21, 2003; Plenty of Success Stories, by Jeremy D. Malamed, December 21, 2003; Fewer Adults Willing To Coach by Derek Arild, December 22, 2003; Tradition Lives on In America's Heartland by Ryan Metcalfe, December 22, 2003; Off-Campus Coaches Have Almost No Job Security by Ryan Metcalfe, December 22, 2003; How One Marin Off-Campus Coach Juggles Work Duties With Team Responsibilities by Geoff Lepper, December 23, 2003; and That Was Then, This Is Now by Dave Albee, December 24, 2003. Click here for coverage of the MIJ's coverage.
For Advice on Transportation Scheduling and Other Travel Issues See, Who Needs Wiper Blades? by Dr. Richard P. Borkowski, Ed.D, CAA, MomentumMedia.com, February/March, 2002.
Lock Haven, PA - July 22, 2010 - Title IX Problems Cut Both Ways: This Time The Men Are Suing, And Suing, And Suing. See School Locked In Gender War: Men Allege Bias, Women Assert Fairness, Both File Lawsuits by Erik Brady, USA Today, July 22, 2010, page C-1.
Jupiter, FL - May 16, 2010 - Women's Flag Football - Hot New Sport Causes Rift Between Women's Sports Advocates. Some Title IX advocates view flag football as a new sports opportunity for women in sports. Others agree (since it is a new opportunity), but contend the sport is an artificially contrived sport that exists just to help solve Title IX problems. Florida school administrators say where the rubber hits the road, they can hardly keep up with the demand. Could it be that everybody in this argument is correct? See No Tackling, But A Girls' Sport Takes Some Hit by Katie Thomas, New York Times, May 16, 2010.
Washington, D.C. - April 20, 2010 - Title IX Model Survey Policy To Be Rescinded by Erik Brady, USA Today page C1, April 20, 2010. For the past decade, one way of complying with Title IX was to use an interest survey. Critics of the survey argued that non-responses were construed as lack of interest. The Office of Civil Rights, now under the direction of the Obama administration, will now require schools using the model survey to provide other indicators of a lack of interest. Examples cited in the USA Today article are "participation in club sports and tracking trends at feeder" schools. And, yes, the title of the USA Today article is misleading since the survey can still be used - but the Title does make the point that a big change occurred in how the survey can be used.
Washington, D.C. - March 10, 2010 - DC's Coolidge High To Hire Nation's Only Female Head Varsity Football Coach. Is she the first? That's not clear. But she appears to be the only one in anybody's recent memory. See D.C. High School To Hire First Female Head Varsity Football Coach by Stephen Spielwak, MaxPreps.com, March 10, 2010; Natalie Randolph To Coach Coolidge High School Football Team by Alan Goldenbach, Washington Post, March 9, 2010. The first challenge for an urban high school coach is to get her players eligible. Randolph has hit the ground running. See A Football Coach Used To Tests Insists Her Players Pass Theirs by Juliet Macur, New York Times, May 9, 2010.
Eaton, CO - October 5, 2009 - Score One For Title IX: It's More Effective Than Beating Up the Coach Who Won't Let the Girl Play! See Football Coach Throws Punch Over Girls' Right To Play by Emily Friedman, ABCNews.com, October 7, 2009; and Flag! Coaches Brawl Over Girl Playing Youth Football by Alan Gathright and Tyler Lopez, Denver Channel, October 6, 2009.
Florida - July 15, 2009 - Whoopsee. Florida has to rescind high school sports cuts. They cut without counting and ended up violating Title IX. See State Rescinds High School Sports Schedule Cuts After Lawsuit Over Impact on Girls' Teams by Ben Volin, Palm Beach Post, July 15, 2009.
New York, N.Y. - Feb. 28, 2009 - Girls in Baseball: A Growing Trend. See Challenges For Girls Playing High School Baseball by Mark Hyman, New York Times, February 28, 2009. In Bayonne, N. J. one Girl Throws A Youth League No-Hitter. See 12 Year Old Girl Fires Perfect Game Against Boys, NBC Sports, April 24, 2009; and Perfect-Game Jersey Girl To Throw Out First Pitch at Citi Field by Michael Buteau, Bloomberg News, April 24, 2009.
Fresno, CA - February 24, 2009 - Some Things Never Change! Another Title IX Suit at Fresno State. This one's a retaliatory discharge and gender discrimination in hiring charge from a Fresno State Track Assistant. Fresno State has already paid out over $16,000,000 from previous Title IX suits. Is this piling on? Maybe. Did Fresno State ask for it? Yes, most definitely. Fresno State's previous problems include blatant retaliation against a basketball coach and the creation of a hostile work environment that was so bad that the athletic department once posted a weekly "Ugly Female Athlete of The Week" Award on bulletin boards. This stuff wouldn't fly in any workplace. For information on the latest Title IX problem at Fresno, see Fresno State Athletics Faces Another Lawsuit: Pagel Latest To Take School to Court on Discrimination and Title IX Complaints by Jeff Davis, Fresno Bee, Feb. 24, 2009.
New York, NY - January 18, 2009 - NYC Schools Will Move Girls' Soccer To Fall, Title-IX Blogspot, January 18, 2009; City Shifts Girls' Soccer From Spring To The Fall by Javier C. Hernandez, New York Times, January 18, 2009.
McDonough, GA - August 29, 2008 - Girl Kicker Booted Off School Football Team by Kathy Jefcoats, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Report: Kicker Dismissed by Georgia Team For Being a Girl, ESPN.com, August 30, 2008 (Kacy Stuart, a 14 year-old freshman kicker, is tossed off her high school football team. Why? "Simply because she's a girl.") .
Fort Wayne, IN - August 10, 2008 - Title IX: No Small Task: Colleges with Fewer Students Struggle Finding Equity by Stacy Clardie, The Fort Wayne, In. Journal Gazette, August 10, 2008.
Oregon - June 9, 2008 - Did University Use Title IX As An Excuse To Cut Wrestling? See Wrestlers Sue Oregon: University Wants To End Program, restore Baseball by William McCall, Associated Press, published in seattlepi.com. Click here for coverage in Southern Oregon Mail Tribune. For years wrestling programs have been cut in order to strike a better gender balance in order to help schools comply with Title IX. This doesn't make the wrestling community very happy as they've become the whipping boys for Title IX compliance. Here, though, the cuts in wrestling have been offset by a University adding a men's sport that they weren't playing previously. The University used Title IX as an excuse, but a Title IX excuse won't fly since the University replaced the men in wrestling with men in baseball. Wrestlers won't be happy here. Women's groups won't be happy either as they won't like Title IX being used in a cynical manner for pretext cuts to a male sport. The University of Oregon is going to take some well deserved heat here - and the matter may end up in court under Oregon statutes that establish prerequisites for the dropping of a University program. In October, 2008 Oregon ultimately won a dismissal of a lawsuit against it for dropping wrestling. See legalnewsline.com for details.
Summer, 2008 - Cheerleading In The Context of Title IX and Gendering In Sport by Rebecca Boyce, The Sport Journal, Vol. 11, Number 3, Summer 2008 (published by the United State Sports Academy).
May 27, 2008 - Let's Face It, Wrestling Programs Have Been Cut Since the Advent of Title IX. However, they may get a new lease on life as the growth of women's wrestling is beginning to penetrate high schools and even smaller universities. See Women Want To Wrestle; Small Colleges Oblige by Katie Thomas, New York Times, May 27, 2008 Page A-1.
Beaverton, OR - May, 2008 - When Should Girls Be Allowed On The Boys' Team?
If turnaround is fair play, does this mean we should ask when the boy should be
allowed on the girls' team? TheHoop, a Beaverton, Oregon, private club is
facing these questions because one of its girls' basketball players is just too
good for the girls. See
Oregon Basketball Ace Kept off Boys Team by Tom Hallman, Jr., Seattle
Times, May 18, 2008;
Girl Barred From Boys' Basketball Team, KOIN Channel 6, Portland, May
14, 2008. Is it fair to have even the best girl play with other girls?
Well... maybe! See
Gender Bias Cuts Both Ways by Gwen Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle, May
27, 2008 page C1. Also, see
Crossing Gender Divide
in School Sports Not New by Charles Walsh, Connecticut Post, April 24,
2006. What if it's a sport where there's no girls' team? In that
case, the girls should get to play on the boys' team. See
Indiana High Schools Reverse
Decision Preventing High School Girl From Playing Baseball, Muncie Free
Press, February 29, 2008;
Click here for story on Women's Sports Foundation Website.
Michigan - April 2, 2008 - Michigan's Title IX Bill Is Due - And It's A $7.4 Million Whopper!!!
The Michigan High School Athletic Association lost a decade long legal battle last year. The MHSAA was found to have violated Title IX by playing girls' basketball in the fall and boys in the winter - amongst other scheduling issues. Michigan has now joined the rest of the country in playing girls and boys' basketball in the same sports season, but the plaintiffs' lawyers' fees bill is in and the MHSAA has to pay $7.4 million. See Federal Judge: Michigan Prep Sports Group To Pay $7.4 Million by Fred Girard, The Detroit News, April 2, 2008. Click here for information on Communities for Equity, the group that brought the suit against the MHSAA. To read the fee decision click here. It is interesting to note that Hawaii confronted this issue also. Rather than fight, they opted to join America and play boys and girls' basketball at the same time. This doesn't mean that they're always happy about it, but they did it - and the world kept turning. For an example of their dissatisfaction, see Concurrent Seasons Cause Problems, Honolulu Star Bulletin, February 13, 2008.
Long Beach, CA - March 6, 2008 - Court Finds Title IX Facilities Violation At Long Beach Wilson High School. Converting on-campus dedicated gymnastics space into a weight room discriminated against the girls' gymnastics team by showing a disregard for their practice conditions even though the District did not intend to eliminate the team. See Wilson High Broke Law On Gym Decision, Judge Rules by Kevin Butler, Long Beach Press Telegram, March 6, 2008..
January 10, 2008 - Movement to Reduce Male Practice Players Gains Traction in Division III. See Let The Women Play by Donna Ledwin, Inside Higher Education, Jan. 10, 2008.
Fresno, CA - December 6, 2007 - More Title IX Problems At Fresno State: This Time The Former Basketball Coach Wins $19 Million Dollars. See Fired Fresno State Coach Wins $19M in Sex Discrimination Lawsuit, USA Today, December 6, 2007; and FresnoBee.Com Editorial Opinion Blog, December 6, 2007. (Note: this award was later reduced to $6.6 million - still not bad, but remember you have to have the misfortune of being the victim of discrimination to get this money. See Ex Fresno State Coach Agrees To Take $6.6 Million, San Francisco Chronicle, February 14, 2008).
Fresno, CA - October 11, 2007 - Fresno State, Former Associate Athletic Director Reach Settlement, KSEE TV 24 Fresno, Oct. 11, 2007 (Diane Milutinovich wins $3.5 M from Fresno State in gender equity retaliatory discharge case).
NFHS: September, 2007 - Title IX -- 35 Years and Counting: A View of Educational Equity: Part One of Two by Peg Pennepacker, CAA, High School Today (published by the NFHS), September 2007 page 6. and Title IX -- 35 Years and Counting: A View of Educational Equity: Part Two of Two by Peg Pennepacker, CAA, High School Today (published by the NFHS), October 2007 page 8.
July 11, 2007, NCAA, Government Often Differ On Title IX Compliance Statistics by Jodi Upton and Erik Brady, USA Today, July 11, 2007.
Fresno, CA - July 9, 2007 - Lindy Vivas, a fired Fresno State women's volleyball coach, wins Title IX retaliatory discharge suit on grounds she was fired for complaining about equal access and equal treatment. See Jury Awards Former Dogs Coach $5.85m: Panel Finds Unanimously On Majority of Questions In Discrimination Suit by Bryant-Jon Anteola, Fresno Bee, July 10, 2007. Also see Fresno State Coach Gets Title IX Award, Kansas City Star, July 9, 2007.
Fresno, CA - July 4, 2007 - Problems in Women's Sports! Fewer Female Coaches Every Year. This article also details the severe problems at Fresno State that led to Lindy Vivas's successful Title IX suit. Things were so bad that male coaches staged an Ugly Women Athlete's Day, definitely creating a hostile work environment. See Female Coaches Are Leaving Collegiate Ranks by Garance Burke, Fresno Bee, July 4, 2007.
Washington, D.C. - June 25, 2007 - OCR Tells Colleges: Don't Cut Pregnant Athletes' Scholarships Or Else!! Actually, OCR is a bureaucracy enforcing Title IX and there actual language is much more dry. Stephanie Monroe, from the OCR, did make a powerful statement that, "terminating or reducing financial assistance on the basis of pregnancy or a related condition is prohibited under Title IX." Click here for OCR's letter to colleges.
June 5, 2007 - Who's Playing College Sports? Trends In Participation by The Women's Sports Foundation, June 5, 2007.
Texas - May 14, 2007 - OCR denies boys claim that he can play on girls' volleyball team under Title IX. Click here for OCR's May 2007 Denial Letter.
San Diego, CA - April 20, 2007 - Level The Playing Field by Chris Moran, San Diego Union Tribune, April 20, 2007 page B1 (Girls' softball facilities significantly worse than boys' baseball - school allegedly fires coach for complaining about it).
Harrisonburg, VA - April 19, 2007 - One common approach to solving Title IX issues is to cut men's sports. James Madison University has stirred up controversy by cutting 10 sports - 7 men's and 3 women's. The great number of sports has stirred up debates and legal action over how to achieve equity. See One School's Title IX Debate by Erik Brady, USA Today, April 19, 2007 page C1.
Detroit, MI. April 3, 2007 - Scheduling Equity In High School Sports! Huge Change For Girls' Sports by Fred Girard, Detroit News, April 3, 2007. MHSAA loses lawsuit over inequities in sports seasons. Michigan was one of the few, if not the only, states to play girls' basketball in the fall and boys in the winter. They had other scheduling issues that were found to violate Title IX. Now they must adjust. How will they do it? See Changes Pose Tough Challenges For Schools by Tom Markowski, Detroit News, April 3, 2007.
New York, N.Y. - February 17, 2007 - Girls in High School wrestling have to compete against boys as there aren't enough girls in most states to have girls' teams. What's the impact of this? Click on More Girls Take Part In High School Wrestling by Tamar Lewin, New York Times, February 17, 2007 page A1. For more, Click here for Girl Wrestlers Buck Tradition (by Walter Grable, Indianapolis Star January 25, 2001), a story on Hannah Paarlberg, a girl wrestling against high school boys in Indiana. Hannah later transferred to California and became the first girl to wrestle her way to the State Tournament by defeating all of her male competition, making her the most accomplished high school female wrestler we are aware of.
February 11, 2007 - After Title IX? High School Reporting, Op. Ed. by Marci Seman published in Southwest Florida Herald-Tribune, Feb. 11, 2007 (this piece advocates the High School Sports Information Collection Act of 2003, which did not pass but was introduced as the High School Sports Information Collection Act of 2007). The 2003 Act did not pass - click here for details.
February 7, 2007 - Follow the High School Sports Information Collection Act of 2007 by clicking on the following: Bill Summary, Bill Text, Bill Status.
Birmingham, AL. 2006 - Important Title IX whistleblower protection established in Jackson v. Birmingham Bd. Of Educ. in the U.S. Supreme Court: Click here for Going The Distance: How one coach's refusal to give up changed Title IX law for everyone, gaining permanent protection for coaches who speak out against gender equity, AthleticSearch.com, 2006. See Washington Post Article, High Court Supports Title IX Protection: Law Now Covers Whistleblowers by Charles Lane, Washington Post, March 30, 2005 page A01.
Title IX Status of Competitive Cheer.
July 21, 2010 - The latest in the ongoing debate about whether competitive cheer is a sport: The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) states that competitive cheer can be a sport if a team was picked primarily on athletic ability, operated like other sports teams, competed more than it supported other teams, had a defined sports season, and was run by an athletic department. The Women's Sport Foundation listed these guidelines in a Q and A. These factors were the industry standard. However, a federal court has ruled that intercollegiate competitive cheer simply doesn't meet these factors. Indeed, OCR has never found an intercollegiate competitive cheer team to be a sports team - although some lower levels of cheer have been found to be competitive sports.
The basic problem is that competitive cheer really doesn't have a set season. It goes all year and appears to be linked to apparel companies and competing sponsoring organizations' attempts to profit. There's no clear set of rules either. The rules vary from place to place. All these problems were exposed in Biediger v. Quinnipiac University, which was just decided on July 21, 2010 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The court refused to count competitive cheer as a competitive sport. This led the court to rule that Quinnipiac University violated Title IX by canceling its Women's Volleyball team. The cheer participants aren't countable athletes so Quinnipiac is going to have to either play volleyball or find another women's sport. The ruling doesn't mean that cheer can't be a competitive sport, but as currently structured it's unlikely to be ruled a competitive sport. Sounds like the competing organizations and apparel companies need to sit down, create a season, create some rules, and basically run a sport. They won't do it, though. It's against their economic interest.
For fallout from Biediger v. Quinnipiac University, see Competitive Cheer Fans See Acceptance In Future by Katie Thomas, New York Times, July 22, 2010.
Competitive Cheer Can Be a Sport Under Certain Circumstances. The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) measures the following factors to determine whether cheer is a sport:
whether selection for the team is based upon objective factors related primarily to athletic ability;
whether the activity is limited to a defined season;
whether the team prepares for and engages in competition in the same way as other teams in the athletic program with respect to coaching, recruitment, budget, try-outs and eligibility, and length and number of practice sessions and competitive opportunities;
whether the activity is administered by the athletic department; and,
whether the primary purpose of the activity is athletic competition and not the support or promotion of other athletes.
Some groups meet the test:
See Talequah, OK - 2000 - Title IX Settlement Recognizes Cheer As A Competitive Sport.(remember this is not a published opinion so it is not binding upon any non-parties, but it is part of on-going recognition that competitive cheer is a sport under the right circumstances).
For More Information
See the OCR's October 18, 2001 letter to the MHSAA on competitive cheer, and the OCR's April 11, 2000 letter to the Minnesota High School League on competitive cheer. The April 11, 2000 letter sets out the governing standards for when competitive cheer is a sport. For on-going updates on this issue click here for Title-IX.blogspot's discussion of cheer. Click here for Title-IX.blogspot's home page.
The Women's Sports Foundation Provides Excellent Guidance In This Q & A:
Q: Can cheerleading be considered a
varsity sport?
A: No in the case of traditional cheerleading where cheerleaders perform at
athletic events and participating in no or few cheerleading competitions each
year. Yes if the cheerleading team has a coach, practices as frequently as a
regular varsity team, and competes against other cheerleading teams on a regular
basis and more frequently than it appears to cheer for other teams.
Cheerleaders Fight Back – Publishing Injury Survey To Show Their Sport Is Not Unsafe. See American Association of Cheerleading Coaches And Administrators’ Annual Sports Injury Study, October 2009.
Cheer Is Becoming More and More Controversial As It Occupies A Gray Area Between Competition and Team Support. Injuries, Deaths, and Sexuality Add To That Controversy. For examples of the Dangers of Cheerleading see Cheerleader Death Highlights Danger of Sport by Dan Childs, ABC News, April 18, 2008. For Boston Globe coverage see Cheerleader Hurt In Contest Dies: Her Lungs Collapsed, Officials Say by Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, April 18, 2008. For a good synopsis of the controversies surrounding cheer see Give me A 'C' For Controversy by Sharon Jayson, USA Today, August 23, 2005.
Cheer Safety: Starts With The Coach. See Cheerleading Injury Rates Being Misreported by Jim Lord, NFHS High School Today, October 2008, page 14. This article also has information on the states that require AACCA coach safety certification. At present, Alaska, Minnesota, Montana, Arizona and Florida have safety certification requirements, and Arkansas, Oregon and Maine will require safety certification by the start of the 2009-10 school year.
Cheer Safety: More competitive and more dangerous than ever. See Cheerleaders Take High-Flying Risks Under Untrained Eyes by Melissa Rohlin, Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2009.
Court
Rules Cheerleading is Contact Sport, espn.com; Ex-Cheerleader
Loses Suit Against Student, School District After Fall, cnn.com.
For a thorough legal review of this case, see
Cheerleading A Contact Sport, Court Says by Don Collins on
momsteam.com.
Title IX Links
Good Sports, Inc. - The Title IX Specialists
Links To Groups Attempting To Reform Title IX
Saving Sports (A college organization seeking to reform Title IX).
Pregnant Athletes
Click here for the Women's Sports Foundation's Issues Related To Pregnancy and Athletic Participation: The Foundation Position, 2008. Is a position needed? Oh yes. This does come up as Texas high school student Mackenzie McCollum found out when she tried to play while pregnant. See High School Pregnancy, ESPN Outside The Lines, November 29, 2009; Pregnancy Raises Participation Issue in Texas by Tom Bergeron, rivals.com, December 9, 2009..
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES - WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THEY COME TO YOU?
It's a pretty safe bet that your youth and high school program don't have any standards for transgender athletes. You may have thought about what to do when a girl wants to play on a boys' team, but what happens when that strapping young lad says, "Hey dude, I think I'm really a girl and that's who I want to play with."? Well - don't feel alone. Few if any youth leagues have thought about this. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is the only high school state association that has regulations for this. The WIAA couldn't find any youth and high school regulations so they basically lifted the IOC's transgender regulations. The WIAA regulations hold that you play in the gender that your State classifies you. If you have sexual reassignment surgery before puberty, you can play as a member of the new gender. If you have it after puberty, you wait until you have had two years of hormonal therapy following the surgery. Click here for the Washington transgender regs and go to Section 18.15.0. See what the Women's Sports Foundation Says About the IOC Regs.
Click here for the Women's Sports Foundation's Chalk Talk: Inclusion of Transgender Athletes on Sports Teams.
For Articles, See:
After Years of Torment, Bates All-Ameican Godsey Makes A Difficult Gender Self-Identification Decision by Stan Grossfield, Boston Globe, March 3, 2006.
Shoulder Pads, Pom-Poms, and The Angry Inch: Washington's High-School Sports Regulators Find Themselves In A Transgender Bind by Laura Onstot, Seattle Weekly, October 17, 2007.
Tackling Transgender Issues, Athletic Management Magazine, Feburary/March 2008.
Urban/Inner City School Athletic Administration
Boston, MA - Funding Issues, Facilities Problems, Violence - and They Can't Win When They Play The Rich, Suburban Schools: A Classic Example of The Difficulties Of Running Inner City Sports Programs. See The Boston Globe's Failing Our Athletes Series: Part 1: Missed Opportunities: Boston's Student-Athletes Face a Sports Program In Distress by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 21, 2009; Part 2: Competing Under Fire: Deadly Violence Often Part of Life For Young Athletes by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 22, 2009; Part 3: Eligibility A High Hurdle: Just Getting Enough Student-Athletes Into the Game Can Often Be A Struggle by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 23, 2009; Part 4: Ill Equipped To Compete: Poor Facilities and Gear Put Athletes Behind Before The Games Even Start by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 24, 2009; Part 5: Coaches In The Crossfire by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 25, 2009; Part 6: That Awful Empty Feeling: With Spirit and Support Lagging, Lack of Attendance Is a Growing Concern by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 26, 2009; and Part 7: City Seeks Heroes To Rescue School Athletics by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 27, 2009. Also, see: AD Is Hindered By Demanding Workload by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 21, 2009; Flaherty Presses Menino To Get Aid by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 22, 2009 (Mayor Menino is under pressure to find creative ways to fund school sports: the hot proposal is to tax professional and college athletic contests); If They Can Play, Chances Are They Don't Stay by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 22, 2009 ("those darn private schools are stealing all the good athletes" is the cry of public schools in Boston - and throughout the country); Higher Standards A Point of Contention by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 23, 2009 (Boston requires a 1.67 GPA while the State minimum GPA is a mere 1.0); Politicians Weigh In On City Inequities by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 23, 2009; They Have Miles To Go Before They Play by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 24, 2009; It's Not Unusual To Get Shut Out of A Sport by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 25, 2009; and Hockey Programs Fall Through The Thin Ice by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, June 26, 2009.
Washington, D.C. - Aging Facilities and Scarce Funds Tax The Very Good People Who Run This Program. See D.C. Public Schools Play Catch Up In Area Athletics by Alan Goldenbach, Washington Post, June 16, 2007, page E 01.
Los Angeles, CA - Think violence in interscholastic sports is a recent trend? Think again. There have been periodic outbreaks of gang violence at interscholastic contests for years. In this example from 1991, two L.A. schools cancelled a game due to the threat of gang violence. See Fearing Gang Violence, School Forfeits A Game by Robert Reinhold, New York Times, Sunday, November 3, 1991.