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Top Youth Sports Story of 2011: New Concussion Safety Laws

Every day at MomsTeam the staff talks about the best and worst youth sports stories of the day. Each year we vow to post a Top Ten list, as do our friends at the Positive Coaching Alliance, with their "Top 10 Responsible Sports Moments," or, select the top youth athlete, as the folks do at Sports Illustrated for Kids.

But we realized that selecting ten stories or one kid to highlightt when there are over 50 million kids playing sports in fifty states just isn't possible. The simple fact is that there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of "responsible moments" and millions of great young athletes whose spirit, desire to excel, and sportsmanship deserve to be recognized.

The top youth sports story of 2011 had to be the passage by twenty states of strong concussion safety laws, says longtime concussion safety advocate, Brooke de Lench.

Angela Ruggiero: My Personal Reflections On Her Retirement

This is a success story virtually without equal in women's sports in the post-Title IX era. A story not only about the success of one remarkable young woman, but about her parents and those, like me, who were privileged to watch her grow from a starry-eyed and talented teenager to the mature, self-assured woman she is today; a story which should serve, not only as an inspiration to any youth athlete who wants to reach the elite level in their sport, but for their parents as well.

Two days ago, Angela Ruggiero held a press conference to announce her retirement from women's ice hockey, two weeks after she told me of her decision.

The story of Angela Ruggiero is virtually without equal in women's sports in the post-Title IX era.  It is a story not only about the success of one remarkable young woman, but about her parents and those, like me, who were privileged to watch her grow from a starry-eyed and talented teenager to the mature, self-assured woman she is today.

No Video Games After Concussion: A Defense

The other day I received an email from a neuropsychologist at a well-known New England medical center (I'll call him "Dr. A" for short) wondering whether there was any evidence to support the recommendation made in a number of articles in our concussion center, as well as videos, that, as part of the cognitive rest a concussed student-athlete needs during concussion recovery, he or she should not play video games:

When a neuropsychologist at a leading New England medical center is skeptical about the basis for MomsTeam's recommendation against a concussed student-athlete playing video games while symptomatic after concussion, Brooke de Lench provides the backup and ends up winning praise for the site's concussion center.

My New Year's Resolution for 2012: More Blogging

Last week I was having lunch with a group of national journalists while on a trip to Wahington, when one of them wondered out loud why I didn't do a blog entry every day, especially, she said, since they were so great.

It was nice, of course, to have my blog praised by such a well-known and respected journalist, but more to the point: why don't I write a daily blog?

The answer, I told her, was that I actually do: I spend at least two hours in an average day responding to questions from MomsTeam readers, enough to probably fill three blog posts; but, because I send them via e-mail, they don't technically qualify as blogs (web-log).

Brooke de Lench's New Year's Resolution is to try to post a blog every day based on the best questions she gets via e-mail and her responses. 

Youth Sports Safety Summit: Attending in Dual Role As Advocate, Member of Media

 

The Capital, Washington, D. C.

MomsTeam's continuing mission from the day I launched the site in August 2000 has been to improve the safety of our young athletes and prevent catastrophic injury and death. 

Today, I am excited to be in Washington, D.C. for a one-day Youth Sports Safety Summit hosted by the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA). 

Today, I am excited to be in Washington, D.C. for a one-day Youth Sports Safety Summit hosted by the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA).  I am attending in a unique and dual capacity, both as a member of the  Youth Sports Safety Alliance and as a member of the media. 

Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal: What Happens When Media Spotlight Fades?

The alleged sexual abuse of boys by a longtime coach at Penn State* has focused media attention once again on the issue.  For the parents of the alleged victims, of course, their worst nightmares have come true. But what could have been done to prevent it? And is the culture of male sports itself at least partially to blame?

The sad fact, as noted in an article by Michael Hartill, a lecturer in the Department of Sport and Physical Activity at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, England who has studied sexual abuse of boys in sports extensively, is that "the largely unregulated world of children's sport has typically been slow to address the issue of sexual abuse of youth athletes." 

The alleged sexual abuse of boys by a longtime coach at Penn State has focused media attention once again on the issue.  For the parents of the alleged victims, of course, one their worst nightmares has come true. But what could have been done to prevent it? And is the culture of male sports itself at least partially to blame?

Are Parents Who Allow Young Athletes To Play Contact or Collision Sports Guilty of Child Abuse?

As long-time visitors to MomsTeam or readers of my blog and 2006 book, Home Team Advantage, know, I have always taken a somewhat expansive view of what constitutes child abuse in the context of sports. 

Parents who allow their children - particularly elementary school age-children  - to participate in collision sports are not engaging in child abuse simply by letting them play.

Concussion Safety: Past, Present and Future

The other day I was asked in a radio interview what I thought were the biggest recent developments in concussion safety, and what I saw happening in the near future to protect our kids from the dangers of brain injury in contact and collision sports.  Here are the five developments that I view as the most significant, and a seven-point "wish list" for what I hope to see in the not too distant future to make such sports even safer:

The other day I was asked in a radio interview what I thought were biggest recent developments in concussion safety, and what I saw happening in the near future to protect our kids from the dangers of brain injury in contact and collision sports.  Here are the five developments that I view as the most significant, and a seven-point "wish list" for what I hope to see in the not too distant future to make such sports even safer:

Impact Indicator: New Tool in Concussion Toolbox

If you are anything like me, worrying about your kids' safety is woven deeply into the fabric of your DNA.  As the mom of  a football player, I know football moms are no exception. No matter how strong we may appear to be on the outside, worry is our constant companion, especially when it comes to injuries, like concussions.

So what's a mom to do? Live with it in anguish? Or do something about it?

More and more moms are choosing, like I have been for more than a decade, to be pro-active about their kids' safety in sports, and, in doing so are turning to an unlikely source - technology - to ease their fears.

More and more moms are choosing, like I have been for more than a decade, to be pro-active about their kids' safety in sports, and, in doing so are turning to an unlikely source - technology - to ease their fears.  One of the new products on the market, to which MomsTeam is proud to give its Seal of Approval. is the Impact Indicator from Battle Sports Science.

Mouth Guards and Concussions: The Continuing Controversy

If you have been following the subject of concussions in sports for any length of time, as I have for more than a decade, the question always seems to come up: do mouth guards prevent concussions?

The answer, at least to this point, seems to continue to be no, or, perhaps more precisely, we don't know.  Jigsaw of head with missing piece

If you have been following the subject of concussions in sports for any length of time, as I have for more than a decade, the question always seems to come up: do mouth guards prevent concussions? The answer, at least to this point, seems to continue to be no, or, perhaps more precisely, we don't know. 

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