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North Carolina Moves To Require Athletic Trainers for Every High School

Add North Carolina to the growing list of states that is getting serious about high school sports safety.

During the past school year, five North Carolina student-athletes died, including football players Matt Gfeller, Atlas Fraley, and Jaquan Waller (the last from second impact syndrome), and two basketball players.

In the wake of the deaths, the state is taking four important steps to improve the safety of high school sports.

High School Sports Safety: California Poised To Jump on the Bandwagon

A new day, a new state high school sports safety bill.

Or so it seems.

Last week, it was the state of Washington passing bills to improve concussion safety by requiring pre-season concussion education of athletes and parents, and adoption of the strictest return-to-play concussion guidelines in the country. The bill awaits the governor's signature.

California Ski and Snowboard Safety Organization:Making Snow Sports Safer

The tragic death last week of actress Natasha Richardson after hitting her head during a ski lesson at a resort in Canada has been widely - and my opinion, correctly - viewed as a cautionary tale about the risks of participating in winter sports, the need for participants to wear helmets and to take even the most seemingly minor head injuries seriously.

High School Sports Safety Law Passes Kentucky Legislature But Could Have Done Much More

A bill requiring all high school coaches to complete a 10-hour sports safety course and pass an exam before the 2009-2010 school year was passed this week by the Kentucky legislature, but not before important safety provisions were strippped from the bill.

New Law On Sports Concussions: A Great Step In the Right Direction

Every once in a while a news item comes across my desk that deserves a special shout-out.  Such was the case today. 

Link Between Early Specialization And ACL Injury Increase: No Surprise to Me

Today's annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons brought some news sports parents need to hear.

Watching Kids Play Sports Can Be Tough For Some Safety-Conscious Parents

My first-born son, Taylor (granted, he is only older than his two triplet brothers by a minute!), has taken up a new sport: Ice climbing. He loves it, but I have to say I am less than thrilled. Should I worry?

I am often asked by safety-conscious parents for advice on how to be less nervous watching their children play sports. The questions come from first-time sports dads watching their children play sports against bigger kids to moms who admit to biting their nails during their sons' wrestling matches and football games.

Education, Not Testing Key To Winning Steroid Battle

If you saw the recent stories  about the preliminary results of the two-year, $6 million dollar high school steroid testing program in Texas, you might be confused.

A-Rod's Admission of Steroid Use Another Lesson For Kids That Users Are Just Cheating Themselves

The admission by New York Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez that he used performance enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers is just the latest in a sorry stream of admissions about the use of steroids by current and former Major League Baseball players.  President Obama said Rodriquez's confession to ESPN's Peter Gammons "tarnishes an entire era to some degree."  He re-stated the obvious when he said  that drugs use by sports stars "sent the wrong message to the nation's youth."

High School Football Coach Charged With Negligent Homicide in Heat-Related Death: A Needed Wake-Up Call?

The news last year that a Kentucky high school football coach was charged with reckless homicide in the heat-related death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin was not a shock to me.*

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