ATHLETIC DIRECTORS
July 20, 2017 - San Mateo, CA - What Does An AD Do? Plenty, reported by Nathan Mollat, San Mateo Daily Journal.
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March 14, 2017 - Undervalued Athletic Directors Quitting At An "Alarming" Level. See Ways To Reduce Turnover of High School Athletic Directors by Dr. David Hoch, NFHS.org, March 14, 2017 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.
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BASEBALL/SOFTBALL BATS
Mt. Zion, IL - May 4, 2018 - Serious Injury Prompts Talk of Softball Masks, reported by Joey Wagner, Matoon, Il. Journal Gazette & Times Courier. This article is a follow up to Wagner's article in the Decatur Herald & Review, covering the injury. See Mount Zion Junior Ally Bruner Home After Line Drive To Face, April 24, 2018.
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ECONOMICS OF YOUTH SPORTS
August 1, 2024 - Mike Keenan's Sports Blog Sums It Up, and youth sports is just too darned expensive. See The Average Cost of Youth Sports: A Full Breakdown For 2024, jerseywatch.com.
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August 19, 2023 - Washington, D.C. - Cheating Allegations In D.C. Little League Put High Powered Parents at War, reported by Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post. Sometimes, things get ugly when you get youth sports, and parents with money.
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August 4, 2023 - Baltimore, MD - A documentary shows how the "pay to play" youth sports model is impacting the City of Baltimore. See "We Used To Win Here": A Salon Film, article written by Alexandra Clinton and D. Watkins, Salon.com. See Also, We Used To Win Here, the Salon Documentary.
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June 23, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA - 9-Year-Old Signs Six Figure NIL Deal With Sports Agency, reported by Iman Palm, KTLA - TV 5.
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May 23, 2023 - Shaker Heights, OH - Communities Rally Against Rising Youth Sports Costs, Local Nonprofit Leagues See Increase In Participation, reported by Clay LePard, ABC TV 5 (Cleveland).
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July 19, 2022 – England - In America, we wonder why there are so few black players in baseball. Now, we see England wondering why they’ve suddenly lost so many black players in women’s soccer. The common thread appears to be a sport that was once popular at the grassroots level becoming a club sport that requires a big financial investment to develop youth players. American baseball, and English women’s soccer have wonderful players, but are they the best they can actually be? See Does England’s Euro 22 Squad Have A Diversity Issue? How FA Aims To Reconnect With Grassroots. Reported by Mark Ogden, ESPN.
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July 18, 2022 - Baseball Diversity Highlights Early Stages of 2022 MLB Draft, reported by Dedrick Hendrix, callofthepen.com. Four of the first five MLB draft picks are black. So, has baseball solved the problem of so few African-Americans in baseball? Not really. These guys are the sons of former MLB players. They're one offs. The structural problem still exists.
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August 11, 2019 - Are we pricing out some kids from sports? See Kids Aren't Playing Enough Sports. The Culprit? Cost., reported by Kelly Cohen, ESPN.
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July 19, 2019 - Philadelphia, PA - Former West Catholic Football Coach Brian Fluck Charged With Theft, reported by Aaron Carter, Philadelphia Inquirer.
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March 27, 2019 - Reese, MI - Reese High School Football Coach Headed To Trial On Embezzlement Charge, Mlive.com.
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June 15, 2018 - Kent, OH - You've Gotta Have Money To Play Youth Sports - Even In Middle-America. See Has Playing Youth Sports Become A Luxury, reported by Michael Leonard, MytownNeO.com.
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October 7, 2017 - Portland, OR - Free Baseball Clinic Brings Awareness of Decline In Youth Sports Participation, reported by Lyndsey Hewitt, Portland Tribune.
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September 28, 2017 - What's Lost When Only Rich Kids Play Sports, reported by Linda Flanagan, TheAtlantic.com.
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September 4, 2017 - You've got to have money to play this game! See Kid Sports Inc: How Your Child's Rec League Turned Into A $15 Billion Industry, reported by Sean Gregory, Time Magazine, page 42 (note - the online version of the article is entitled How Kids' Sports Became A $15 Billion Industry).
----------------------------------------
September 1, 2017 - Where are all the poor kids? How come there aren't more blacks in baseball? How come the private schools keep beating the public schools? Well, sports appear to have gotten so expensive that the poor folks got priced out, and now the middle class folks are feeling the crunch, too. See Parents Speak Out About The Skyrocketing Cost of Youth Sports, ABC News.
----------------------------
August 16, 2017 - Davis, CA - Remember when sports was billed as the way to go from ghetto to glory? Well, now the socio-economics of sports is a whole lot more complex. Indeed, these days the rich folks do a lot more winning than the poor folks, and almost nobody goes from the playgrounds to the pros as almost nobody plays playground sports. Even inner city basketball is hyper organized these days. What do all the changes in how we play mean? Jeffrey Sacha, a post-doc fellow at U.C. Davis, has studied the new socioeconomics of youth sports. You can read about his work in the Davis Enterprises article, Can High School Sports Transcend Socioeconomic Status, reported by Ben Hinshaw. Sacha concludes, “Privilege and marginalization are more often than not reflected in high school sports ... which raises important doubts about the ability for sports participation to undermine structural educational inequality.”
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2009: Economics of Sport in The Boston Public Schools:
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'sFailing 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.
Special Report: How Athletes Go Broke by Pablo Torre, Sports Illustrated, March 23, 2009 page 80. For more on athletes and their money see Chris Chase of Yahoo Sports's study on athletes and their money (or lack of it). See Why Do So Many NFL Players Go Bankrupt by Chris Chase, Shutdown Corner, Yahoo Sports, September 18, 2009.
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
Special Report: Is Sports Still The Way To Escape Gangs and Violence? See How Dreams Die by George Dohrman, Sports Illustrated, June 30, 2008 page 54.
Sacramento Bee Special Report on Correlation Between Wealth and Winning In High School Sports - March, 2007
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.
Hurricane Katrina - Sports in New Orleans After Katrina
Sports Illustrated's Special Report: Two Years After Katrina by Alexander Wolff, Sports Illustrated, August 27, 2007 page 80.
NFHS Survey On Pay for Play In High School Sports - November/December, 2006
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.
GENERAL INFORMATION
February 2, 2024 - Oakland, CA - Not every program is run well or ethically. USA Today's articles on Lincoln University show sports at its worst. Even worse, the person in charge of the Lincoln University program had similar issues during a tenure as a high school athletic director and football coach. See: A College Football Start-up or The College Bishop Sycamore?, reported by Josh Peters and Tom Schad, USA Today; and Desmond Gumbs Juggles Boxing Deals, Suge Knight Project While Coaching Lincoln Football, reported by Josh Peters and Tom Schad, USA Today.
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January 30, 2024 - Los Angeles, CA - Why Youth Sports Drive Parents Crazy and 10 More Lessons From A Mom Who's Been Through It, reported by Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times.
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December 18, 2023 - Washington, DC - See The Washington Post's Special Report: The Divided States of Football. See: The Changing Face of America's Favorite Sport, reported by Dave Sheinin and Emily Giambalvo; A Violent Clash of Football Haves and Have Nots, reported by Albert Samaha; In Football's Epicenter, A Shifting Landscape, reported by Dave Sheinin; In A Midwest Football Hotbed, An Economic Divide, by Dave Sheinin; and Where Tackle Football Still Reigns, reported by Dave Sheinin.
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October 20, 2023 - Teens Are Quitting Sports As Social Media Ups Body Image Concerns, reported by Amy Norton, US News - Healthday.
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June 6, 2023 - USFL Founder Launches High School Football League With NIL Appeal, reported by Andrew Cohen, FrontOfficesports.com.
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October 16, 2018 - Youth Sports Still Struggling With Dropping Participation, High Costs and Bad Coaches, Study Finds, reported by Jacob Bogage, Washington Post.
HIGH SCHOOLS
October 2, 2023 - Raleigh, North Carolina - Legislature Strips North Carolina High School Athletics Association Of Much of Its Authority. Power is placed in the hands of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction effective in the 2024-25 academic year. The superintendent of public instruction could opt to have the NCHSAA continue on, but it could be difficult. The NCHSAA is barred from accepting corporate sponsorships, and even giving scholarships to students. See New High School Sports Legislation Will Become Law Without Governor's Signature, reported by Nick Stevens of High School OT, for WRAL.
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March 3, 2017 - Arizona - AIA Legislative Council Approves Year-Round Practice, reported by Scott Bordow, Arizona Republic. The AIA's new rules allow schools to offset the influence of clubs. Opponents say it may lead to more sports specialization.
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April 24, 2016 - HS COACHING - Maine - Help Wanted: Maine's School Administrators Struggle To Find Coaches by Steve Craig, Portland Press Herald.
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March 9, 2016 - HS LEGISLATION:Florida Senate Passes Sweeping School Choice, High School Sports Bill by Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel/Fox 35, March 9, 2016. This pending legislation would further liberalize Florida’s high school transfer rules.
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HOME SCHOOLS
June 21, 2016 - Click here for the Home School Legal Defense Association's 2016 Survey listing state laws addressing home school students' participation in public school classes, sports, and extracurricular activities. You can click here for a list of athletic laws by state on the letshomeschoolhighschool.com website. Bills allowing home schooled students to play on sports are commonly referred to as Tim Tebow bills as Tebow, the great high school and college quarterback, was a home schooled student who played for his local public high school. You can see more about Tim and the homeschool lobby's effort to pass Tim Tebow bills on the timtebowbill.com website. And you thought that Tebow was just a quarterback - he's also the inspiration for a movement.
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February 9, 2016 - Richmond, VA - HOME SCHOOLS: Virgina Governor Vetoes Bill To Let Home Schoolers Play Sports at Public Schools by Graham Moomaw, Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 29, 2016. The Virginia home school lobby is powerful. This time they passed their bill and got it to the Governor's desk. Just four years earlier, they couldn't get the bill out of committee. See Virginia Senate Panel Kills 'Tebow Bill', reported by David Sherfinski, The Washington Times, March 1, 2012. Next time, the Tebow lobby will likely succeed in Virginia. They aren't going away.
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RACE AND SPORTS
May 15, 2024 - Virginia Beach, VA - Racism, Hate Speech, Harassment Evident On Kempsville Baseball Team, VBCPS Says, reported by Brendan Ponton, Conor Hollingsworth, WTKR - TV, Hampton Roads, VA.
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May 6, 20224 - Memphis, TN - Middle School Track Meet At Collierville High Marred By Racial Threats From Lacrosse Spectators, reported by Mark Giannotto, Memphis Commercial Appeal.
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April 15, 2024 - North Dakota - Racist taunts against Native Americans plaque North Dakota High School sports. See ND Lawmaker: Racist Taunts Need to Stop, reported by Mike Moen, Minot Daily News.
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March 27, 2023 - Las Vegas, NV - Ex-Durango Coach Says Administrator's Racist Actions led To Resignation, reported by Sam Gordon, Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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January 27, 2023 - Eden Prairie, Minnesota - High School Players Take Stand After Opposing Coach Was Reinstated After Racial Slur. See North St. Paul Cancels Basketball Games Against Eden Prairie, reported by Alexandra Simon, KARE 11 TV (Minneapolis). Click here to hear the North St. Paul High School coach defend his players' decision to not play.
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January 24, 2023 - Danville, CA - Officials Respond To Racial Slur At San Ramon Valley High Basketball Game, reported by Jeanita Lyman, DanvilleSanRamon.com, January 28, 2023.
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January 24, 2023 - Vermont - Officials Confront Scourge of Racist Behavior At Vt. High School Sports Events, reported by Katherine Huntley, WCAX - TV (Burlington, VT). The story contains links to a number of racial incidents at Vermont high schools. This is a bit surprising only because one does not tend to think that Vermont has enough diversity to generate a lot of racist incidents at high school events. Indeed, Vermont is 90% white. There are so few minorities that one's initial thought is that there aren't many opportunities for racial incidents at Vermont games. In this instance, one would think wrong.
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January 23, 2023 - Dalhart, TX - Fans Accused of Making Monkey Noises, using N-Word During High School Basketball Game, reported by Jamie Burch, ABC 7 News (Amarillo, TX).
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January 20, 2023 - Umatilla, OR - Student broadcaster thinks his mic is off; spews racist jokes for all to hear on air. Here's the Umatilla School District's Statement. For a report on the incident, see Superintendent Says Racist Comments During Umatilla High School Sports Broadcast Aren't A Laughing Matter, reported by Erick Peterson, Hermiston Herald (Hermiston, OR), January 23, 2023.
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December 21 ,2018 - Referee makes wrestler cut dreadlocks or forfeit match, reported by Tim Whelan, Jr., USA Today. This story gained national attention, and generated a civil rights investigation. See Ref Who Forced Black Wrestler To Chop Dreads Investigated By Attorney General, reported by Sergio Bichao, NJ 101.5, December 22, 2018, and Wrestler Dreadlock-Cutting Scandal: What We Know and What Gaps Remain A Week Later, reported by Patrick Lanni, NJ.com, December 26, 2018.
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February 14, 2018 - Columbia, SC - See US High Schools Continue To Drop 'Redskins' Mascot (report on national trend of dropping Native American imagery and nicknames), reported by Adam Zielonka and Dylan Sinn, The State (Columbia, SC).
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February 11, 2018 - Utah - Racism In Utah High School Sports. Yes, it happens in Utah more than you'd think. See When Fans Hurl A Racist Slur, Utah High School Players Try To Roll With It. But That Doesn't Mean They Think It's OK, reported by Maddie Lee, Salt Lake Tribune.
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February 9, 2018 - Forbes's Excellent Youth Sports Columnist Bob Cook Asks, What's Behind All The Racism At Youth Sports Events?, Forbes.com.
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January 8, 2018 - What would you do if the opposing team called themselves the "Wet Dream Team" and showed up wearing uniforms that said, "Knee Grow" and "Coon"? Well Cincinnati area youth league basketball teams were put to the test when this occurred. See Team Kicked Out of League for Offensive Basketball Jerseys, reported by Chris Mayhew, Cincinnati Enquirer.
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October 14, 2016 - Baltimore, MD - Can one partnership help increase the numbers of African-American sports journalists, address issues pertaining to African-American female athletes, and help increase the number of African-American head football coaches in college and the NFL? Well, ESPN's TheUndefeated.com, the long-awaited ESPN site focusing on African-Americans, race, sports and culture, is attacking all of these issues. TheUndefeated.com just announced a journalism partnership with Morgan State University, the HBCU located in Baltimore to explore all of these issues ... and more. See The Undefeated and Morgan State University Announce Journalism Partnership (Research Will Focus On The Image of Black Female Athletes and The Path Of Black Coaches To The NFL), reported by Jill Hudson, TheUndefeated.com.
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SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
July 14, 2023 - Sonora, CA - Sonora Union High School District Faces 2 Sexual Misconduct Lawsuits, reported by Alex MacLean, The Union Democrat. A former coach and a counselor are the alleged perpetrators.
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July 13, 2023 - Santa Cruz, CA - A Coach Accused ,Again and Again, reported by Gus Garcia-Roberts, Washington Post.
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July 10, 2023 - Franklin, TN - Tennessee Soccer Coach Charged After Videos On His Phone Show Boys Being Raped, Police Say, reported by Francisco Guzman, USA Today.
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February 16, 2018 - Greenville, SC - Even bowling has been hit by an abusive coach. See Deputies: Youth Bowling Coach Arrested For Criminal Sexual Conduct With a Minor, reported by Savannah Sondov, WHNS - Fox Carolina, Greenville.
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February 15, 2018 - South Brunswick, NJ - Where's Waldo? Volunteer youth soccer coach Waldo Milla-Guerra joins the rather lengthy list of youth coaches allegedly involved in sexual misconduct. See Volunteer Soccer Coach Arrested On Child Porn Charges, reported by Jeff Goldman, NJ.com.
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February 14, 2018 - Marblehead, MA - Youth Hockey Coach Christopher Prew Now Accused of Sexually Assaulting Eight Boys, reported by Scott J. Croteau, Masslive.com.
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February 13, 2018 - Liverpool, England - England's version of the Larry Nasser/USA Gymnastics' scandal. Barry Bennell, a former English youth soccer coach, convicted of sexually abusing multiple players. See Paradise For Young Boys: Perv Ex-Soccer Coach Guilty on 36 Charges, Associated Press report in New York Post.
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January 24, 2018 - Larry Nassar Sentenced Up to 175 Years In Prison For Decades of Sexual Abuse, reported by Eric Levinson, CNN.
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October 31, 2017 - Think Child Sex Abuse Can't Happen in Your Youth or High School League: Think Again. We mostly hear about the most prominent incidents - like USA Gymnastics' and USA Swimmings' scandals. But, here are a few small town abuse cases: See Former Coach Charged With Child Sex Abuse Was Go-To Guy In Community, reported by Tanya Eiserer, WFAA (Kaufman County, TX), October 31, 2017 (multiple allegations of abuse against Edward Mann, a long-time youth baseball coach); Southern Nash HS Teacher, Coach and Alum is Charged in Raleigh With Student Sex Crimes, reported by Ron Gallagher, Charlotte (NC) News and Observer, October 31, 2017 (allegations of statutory rape against Joshua Sessoms, a science teacher and coach); HIV Positive Ex-School Aide Indicted on More Sex Abuse Charges, WUSA - Channel 9, Charles County, MD, October 23, 2017 (multiple allegations of abuse against Carlos Bell, a middle school teachers' aide and high school track coach).
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July 20, 2017 - San Mateo, CA - What Does An AD Do? Plenty, reported by Nathan Mollat, San Mateo Daily Journal.
----------------------------
March 14, 2017 - Undervalued Athletic Directors Quitting At An "Alarming" Level. See Ways To Reduce Turnover of High School Athletic Directors by Dr. David Hoch, NFHS.org, March 14, 2017 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.
-------------------------------
BASEBALL/SOFTBALL BATS
Mt. Zion, IL - May 4, 2018 - Serious Injury Prompts Talk of Softball Masks, reported by Joey Wagner, Matoon, Il. Journal Gazette & Times Courier. This article is a follow up to Wagner's article in the Decatur Herald & Review, covering the injury. See Mount Zion Junior Ally Bruner Home After Line Drive To Face, April 24, 2018.
--------------------------------
ECONOMICS OF YOUTH SPORTS
August 1, 2024 - Mike Keenan's Sports Blog Sums It Up, and youth sports is just too darned expensive. See The Average Cost of Youth Sports: A Full Breakdown For 2024, jerseywatch.com.
--------------------------
August 19, 2023 - Washington, D.C. - Cheating Allegations In D.C. Little League Put High Powered Parents at War, reported by Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post. Sometimes, things get ugly when you get youth sports, and parents with money.
-------------------------------------
August 4, 2023 - Baltimore, MD - A documentary shows how the "pay to play" youth sports model is impacting the City of Baltimore. See "We Used To Win Here": A Salon Film, article written by Alexandra Clinton and D. Watkins, Salon.com. See Also, We Used To Win Here, the Salon Documentary.
-------------------------------------
June 23, 2023 - Los Angeles, CA - 9-Year-Old Signs Six Figure NIL Deal With Sports Agency, reported by Iman Palm, KTLA - TV 5.
----------------------------------
May 23, 2023 - Shaker Heights, OH - Communities Rally Against Rising Youth Sports Costs, Local Nonprofit Leagues See Increase In Participation, reported by Clay LePard, ABC TV 5 (Cleveland).
---------------------------------------------
July 19, 2022 – England - In America, we wonder why there are so few black players in baseball. Now, we see England wondering why they’ve suddenly lost so many black players in women’s soccer. The common thread appears to be a sport that was once popular at the grassroots level becoming a club sport that requires a big financial investment to develop youth players. American baseball, and English women’s soccer have wonderful players, but are they the best they can actually be? See Does England’s Euro 22 Squad Have A Diversity Issue? How FA Aims To Reconnect With Grassroots. Reported by Mark Ogden, ESPN.
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July 18, 2022 - Baseball Diversity Highlights Early Stages of 2022 MLB Draft, reported by Dedrick Hendrix, callofthepen.com. Four of the first five MLB draft picks are black. So, has baseball solved the problem of so few African-Americans in baseball? Not really. These guys are the sons of former MLB players. They're one offs. The structural problem still exists.
----------------------------------------
August 11, 2019 - Are we pricing out some kids from sports? See Kids Aren't Playing Enough Sports. The Culprit? Cost., reported by Kelly Cohen, ESPN.
------------------------------
July 19, 2019 - Philadelphia, PA - Former West Catholic Football Coach Brian Fluck Charged With Theft, reported by Aaron Carter, Philadelphia Inquirer.
--------------------------------
March 27, 2019 - Reese, MI - Reese High School Football Coach Headed To Trial On Embezzlement Charge, Mlive.com.
--------------------------------------
June 15, 2018 - Kent, OH - You've Gotta Have Money To Play Youth Sports - Even In Middle-America. See Has Playing Youth Sports Become A Luxury, reported by Michael Leonard, MytownNeO.com.
------------------------------
October 7, 2017 - Portland, OR - Free Baseball Clinic Brings Awareness of Decline In Youth Sports Participation, reported by Lyndsey Hewitt, Portland Tribune.
-------------------------------
September 28, 2017 - What's Lost When Only Rich Kids Play Sports, reported by Linda Flanagan, TheAtlantic.com.
---------------------------
September 4, 2017 - You've got to have money to play this game! See Kid Sports Inc: How Your Child's Rec League Turned Into A $15 Billion Industry, reported by Sean Gregory, Time Magazine, page 42 (note - the online version of the article is entitled How Kids' Sports Became A $15 Billion Industry).
----------------------------------------
September 1, 2017 - Where are all the poor kids? How come there aren't more blacks in baseball? How come the private schools keep beating the public schools? Well, sports appear to have gotten so expensive that the poor folks got priced out, and now the middle class folks are feeling the crunch, too. See Parents Speak Out About The Skyrocketing Cost of Youth Sports, ABC News.
----------------------------
August 16, 2017 - Davis, CA - Remember when sports was billed as the way to go from ghetto to glory? Well, now the socio-economics of sports is a whole lot more complex. Indeed, these days the rich folks do a lot more winning than the poor folks, and almost nobody goes from the playgrounds to the pros as almost nobody plays playground sports. Even inner city basketball is hyper organized these days. What do all the changes in how we play mean? Jeffrey Sacha, a post-doc fellow at U.C. Davis, has studied the new socioeconomics of youth sports. You can read about his work in the Davis Enterprises article, Can High School Sports Transcend Socioeconomic Status, reported by Ben Hinshaw. Sacha concludes, “Privilege and marginalization are more often than not reflected in high school sports ... which raises important doubts about the ability for sports participation to undermine structural educational inequality.”
---------------------------------------
2009: Economics of Sport in The Boston Public Schools:
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'sFailing 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.
Special Report: How Athletes Go Broke by Pablo Torre, Sports Illustrated, March 23, 2009 page 80. For more on athletes and their money see Chris Chase of Yahoo Sports's study on athletes and their money (or lack of it). See Why Do So Many NFL Players Go Bankrupt by Chris Chase, Shutdown Corner, Yahoo Sports, September 18, 2009.
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
Special Report: Is Sports Still The Way To Escape Gangs and Violence? See How Dreams Die by George Dohrman, Sports Illustrated, June 30, 2008 page 54.
Sacramento Bee Special Report on Correlation Between Wealth and Winning In High School Sports - March, 2007
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.
Hurricane Katrina - Sports in New Orleans After Katrina
Sports Illustrated's Special Report: Two Years After Katrina by Alexander Wolff, Sports Illustrated, August 27, 2007 page 80.
NFHS Survey On Pay for Play In High School Sports - November/December, 2006
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.
GENERAL INFORMATION
February 2, 2024 - Oakland, CA - Not every program is run well or ethically. USA Today's articles on Lincoln University show sports at its worst. Even worse, the person in charge of the Lincoln University program had similar issues during a tenure as a high school athletic director and football coach. See: A College Football Start-up or The College Bishop Sycamore?, reported by Josh Peters and Tom Schad, USA Today; and Desmond Gumbs Juggles Boxing Deals, Suge Knight Project While Coaching Lincoln Football, reported by Josh Peters and Tom Schad, USA Today.
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January 30, 2024 - Los Angeles, CA - Why Youth Sports Drive Parents Crazy and 10 More Lessons From A Mom Who's Been Through It, reported by Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times.
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December 18, 2023 - Washington, DC - See The Washington Post's Special Report: The Divided States of Football. See: The Changing Face of America's Favorite Sport, reported by Dave Sheinin and Emily Giambalvo; A Violent Clash of Football Haves and Have Nots, reported by Albert Samaha; In Football's Epicenter, A Shifting Landscape, reported by Dave Sheinin; In A Midwest Football Hotbed, An Economic Divide, by Dave Sheinin; and Where Tackle Football Still Reigns, reported by Dave Sheinin.
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October 20, 2023 - Teens Are Quitting Sports As Social Media Ups Body Image Concerns, reported by Amy Norton, US News - Healthday.
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June 6, 2023 - USFL Founder Launches High School Football League With NIL Appeal, reported by Andrew Cohen, FrontOfficesports.com.
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October 16, 2018 - Youth Sports Still Struggling With Dropping Participation, High Costs and Bad Coaches, Study Finds, reported by Jacob Bogage, Washington Post.
HIGH SCHOOLS
October 2, 2023 - Raleigh, North Carolina - Legislature Strips North Carolina High School Athletics Association Of Much of Its Authority. Power is placed in the hands of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction effective in the 2024-25 academic year. The superintendent of public instruction could opt to have the NCHSAA continue on, but it could be difficult. The NCHSAA is barred from accepting corporate sponsorships, and even giving scholarships to students. See New High School Sports Legislation Will Become Law Without Governor's Signature, reported by Nick Stevens of High School OT, for WRAL.
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March 3, 2017 - Arizona - AIA Legislative Council Approves Year-Round Practice, reported by Scott Bordow, Arizona Republic. The AIA's new rules allow schools to offset the influence of clubs. Opponents say it may lead to more sports specialization.
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April 24, 2016 - HS COACHING - Maine - Help Wanted: Maine's School Administrators Struggle To Find Coaches by Steve Craig, Portland Press Herald.
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March 9, 2016 - HS LEGISLATION:Florida Senate Passes Sweeping School Choice, High School Sports Bill by Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel/Fox 35, March 9, 2016. This pending legislation would further liberalize Florida’s high school transfer rules.
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HOME SCHOOLS
June 21, 2016 - Click here for the Home School Legal Defense Association's 2016 Survey listing state laws addressing home school students' participation in public school classes, sports, and extracurricular activities. You can click here for a list of athletic laws by state on the letshomeschoolhighschool.com website. Bills allowing home schooled students to play on sports are commonly referred to as Tim Tebow bills as Tebow, the great high school and college quarterback, was a home schooled student who played for his local public high school. You can see more about Tim and the homeschool lobby's effort to pass Tim Tebow bills on the timtebowbill.com website. And you thought that Tebow was just a quarterback - he's also the inspiration for a movement.
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February 9, 2016 - Richmond, VA - HOME SCHOOLS: Virgina Governor Vetoes Bill To Let Home Schoolers Play Sports at Public Schools by Graham Moomaw, Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 29, 2016. The Virginia home school lobby is powerful. This time they passed their bill and got it to the Governor's desk. Just four years earlier, they couldn't get the bill out of committee. See Virginia Senate Panel Kills 'Tebow Bill', reported by David Sherfinski, The Washington Times, March 1, 2012. Next time, the Tebow lobby will likely succeed in Virginia. They aren't going away.
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RACE AND SPORTS
May 15, 2024 - Virginia Beach, VA - Racism, Hate Speech, Harassment Evident On Kempsville Baseball Team, VBCPS Says, reported by Brendan Ponton, Conor Hollingsworth, WTKR - TV, Hampton Roads, VA.
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May 6, 20224 - Memphis, TN - Middle School Track Meet At Collierville High Marred By Racial Threats From Lacrosse Spectators, reported by Mark Giannotto, Memphis Commercial Appeal.
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April 15, 2024 - North Dakota - Racist taunts against Native Americans plaque North Dakota High School sports. See ND Lawmaker: Racist Taunts Need to Stop, reported by Mike Moen, Minot Daily News.
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March 27, 2023 - Las Vegas, NV - Ex-Durango Coach Says Administrator's Racist Actions led To Resignation, reported by Sam Gordon, Las Vegas Review-Journal.
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January 27, 2023 - Eden Prairie, Minnesota - High School Players Take Stand After Opposing Coach Was Reinstated After Racial Slur. See North St. Paul Cancels Basketball Games Against Eden Prairie, reported by Alexandra Simon, KARE 11 TV (Minneapolis). Click here to hear the North St. Paul High School coach defend his players' decision to not play.
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January 24, 2023 - Danville, CA - Officials Respond To Racial Slur At San Ramon Valley High Basketball Game, reported by Jeanita Lyman, DanvilleSanRamon.com, January 28, 2023.
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January 24, 2023 - Vermont - Officials Confront Scourge of Racist Behavior At Vt. High School Sports Events, reported by Katherine Huntley, WCAX - TV (Burlington, VT). The story contains links to a number of racial incidents at Vermont high schools. This is a bit surprising only because one does not tend to think that Vermont has enough diversity to generate a lot of racist incidents at high school events. Indeed, Vermont is 90% white. There are so few minorities that one's initial thought is that there aren't many opportunities for racial incidents at Vermont games. In this instance, one would think wrong.
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January 23, 2023 - Dalhart, TX - Fans Accused of Making Monkey Noises, using N-Word During High School Basketball Game, reported by Jamie Burch, ABC 7 News (Amarillo, TX).
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January 20, 2023 - Umatilla, OR - Student broadcaster thinks his mic is off; spews racist jokes for all to hear on air. Here's the Umatilla School District's Statement. For a report on the incident, see Superintendent Says Racist Comments During Umatilla High School Sports Broadcast Aren't A Laughing Matter, reported by Erick Peterson, Hermiston Herald (Hermiston, OR), January 23, 2023.
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December 21 ,2018 - Referee makes wrestler cut dreadlocks or forfeit match, reported by Tim Whelan, Jr., USA Today. This story gained national attention, and generated a civil rights investigation. See Ref Who Forced Black Wrestler To Chop Dreads Investigated By Attorney General, reported by Sergio Bichao, NJ 101.5, December 22, 2018, and Wrestler Dreadlock-Cutting Scandal: What We Know and What Gaps Remain A Week Later, reported by Patrick Lanni, NJ.com, December 26, 2018.
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February 14, 2018 - Columbia, SC - See US High Schools Continue To Drop 'Redskins' Mascot (report on national trend of dropping Native American imagery and nicknames), reported by Adam Zielonka and Dylan Sinn, The State (Columbia, SC).
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February 11, 2018 - Utah - Racism In Utah High School Sports. Yes, it happens in Utah more than you'd think. See When Fans Hurl A Racist Slur, Utah High School Players Try To Roll With It. But That Doesn't Mean They Think It's OK, reported by Maddie Lee, Salt Lake Tribune.
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February 9, 2018 - Forbes's Excellent Youth Sports Columnist Bob Cook Asks, What's Behind All The Racism At Youth Sports Events?, Forbes.com.
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January 8, 2018 - What would you do if the opposing team called themselves the "Wet Dream Team" and showed up wearing uniforms that said, "Knee Grow" and "Coon"? Well Cincinnati area youth league basketball teams were put to the test when this occurred. See Team Kicked Out of League for Offensive Basketball Jerseys, reported by Chris Mayhew, Cincinnati Enquirer.
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October 14, 2016 - Baltimore, MD - Can one partnership help increase the numbers of African-American sports journalists, address issues pertaining to African-American female athletes, and help increase the number of African-American head football coaches in college and the NFL? Well, ESPN's TheUndefeated.com, the long-awaited ESPN site focusing on African-Americans, race, sports and culture, is attacking all of these issues. TheUndefeated.com just announced a journalism partnership with Morgan State University, the HBCU located in Baltimore to explore all of these issues ... and more. See The Undefeated and Morgan State University Announce Journalism Partnership (Research Will Focus On The Image of Black Female Athletes and The Path Of Black Coaches To The NFL), reported by Jill Hudson, TheUndefeated.com.
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SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
July 14, 2023 - Sonora, CA - Sonora Union High School District Faces 2 Sexual Misconduct Lawsuits, reported by Alex MacLean, The Union Democrat. A former coach and a counselor are the alleged perpetrators.
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July 13, 2023 - Santa Cruz, CA - A Coach Accused ,Again and Again, reported by Gus Garcia-Roberts, Washington Post.
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July 10, 2023 - Franklin, TN - Tennessee Soccer Coach Charged After Videos On His Phone Show Boys Being Raped, Police Say, reported by Francisco Guzman, USA Today.
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February 16, 2018 - Greenville, SC - Even bowling has been hit by an abusive coach. See Deputies: Youth Bowling Coach Arrested For Criminal Sexual Conduct With a Minor, reported by Savannah Sondov, WHNS - Fox Carolina, Greenville.
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February 15, 2018 - South Brunswick, NJ - Where's Waldo? Volunteer youth soccer coach Waldo Milla-Guerra joins the rather lengthy list of youth coaches allegedly involved in sexual misconduct. See Volunteer Soccer Coach Arrested On Child Porn Charges, reported by Jeff Goldman, NJ.com.
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February 14, 2018 - Marblehead, MA - Youth Hockey Coach Christopher Prew Now Accused of Sexually Assaulting Eight Boys, reported by Scott J. Croteau, Masslive.com.
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February 13, 2018 - Liverpool, England - England's version of the Larry Nasser/USA Gymnastics' scandal. Barry Bennell, a former English youth soccer coach, convicted of sexually abusing multiple players. See Paradise For Young Boys: Perv Ex-Soccer Coach Guilty on 36 Charges, Associated Press report in New York Post.
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January 24, 2018 - Larry Nassar Sentenced Up to 175 Years In Prison For Decades of Sexual Abuse, reported by Eric Levinson, CNN.
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October 31, 2017 - Think Child Sex Abuse Can't Happen in Your Youth or High School League: Think Again. We mostly hear about the most prominent incidents - like USA Gymnastics' and USA Swimmings' scandals. But, here are a few small town abuse cases: See Former Coach Charged With Child Sex Abuse Was Go-To Guy In Community, reported by Tanya Eiserer, WFAA (Kaufman County, TX), October 31, 2017 (multiple allegations of abuse against Edward Mann, a long-time youth baseball coach); Southern Nash HS Teacher, Coach and Alum is Charged in Raleigh With Student Sex Crimes, reported by Ron Gallagher, Charlotte (NC) News and Observer, October 31, 2017 (allegations of statutory rape against Joshua Sessoms, a science teacher and coach); HIV Positive Ex-School Aide Indicted on More Sex Abuse Charges, WUSA - Channel 9, Charles County, MD, October 23, 2017 (multiple allegations of abuse against Carlos Bell, a middle school teachers' aide and high school track coach).
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