SportsLetter

School vs Club rapidly becoming less of a choice

Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times reports that many high school athletes are forgoing playing sports for their schools in favor of joining clubs and travel teams they say give them the best chance of attracting college recruiters and coaches, a development Sondheimer has observed for some time, now.

From the Times:

With few exceptions, playing high school sports is no longer considered a vital pathway toward obtaining a college sports scholarship. College recruiters are relying more on club competitions, combines, camps and showcases to identify the majority of their recruited athletes.

Changes in NCAA recruiting rules, combined with the idea that the best and most efficient way to evaluate players is when they compete in all-star events, has made high school sports competition almost irrelevant for college recruiters in certain sports.

Golfers are scouted and recruited off their play in American Junior Golf Assn. tournaments. In tennis, the major events for boys and girls are in August when the USTA junior championships are held.

Football, basketball and baseball seem to be the exceptions, commented Sondheimer, but seemingly not for long: 

Football coaches can't visit schools to evaluate prospects during the summer. Basketball coaches can't watch players who aren't in high school-sanctioned events during the prep season. Baseball coaches can't watch players from early November through the last day in February.

But those sports are slowly tipping in the direction of the Olympic sports because of the increasing importance put on summer competition.

Player ejections in HS sports

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), which oversees high school sports in the state, has seen an increase in the number of ejections in several sports, including a "disturbing" rise in boys soccer, reports the Tri-City Herald.

About boys soccer, the Herald reported:

The WIAA noticed a disturbing trend during several years in the number of ejections for violent conduct and abusive language. In spring 2009, there were 42 ejections for violent conduct and 47 for abusive language.

It was the result of an "imperfect storm," said John Miller, a WIAA assistant executive director.

"I think it had to do with a lot of different things," he said. "Soccer is becoming a much more physical sport, and because of its nature, there's a lot more retaliation."

In response, the Herald reported, the WIAA implemented the most severe suspension policy in WIAA-sanctioned sports:

Effective last spring, the WIAA executive board's boys soccer policy requires players who are ejected for violent conduct or abusive language to receive a three-game suspension.

The definition of violent conduct in boys soccer applies to acts on and off the field, regardless of whether the ball is in play.

Violent conduct also includes using "excessive force or brutality" against an opponent "when not challenging for the ball," as well as against a teammate, spectator, official or other person, according to the WIAA policy.

While the 2010-11 school year saw a 22 percent increase in player ejections in football, the changes implemented in boys soccer seemed to have had an impact.

From the Herald:

In boys soccer during the 2010-11 school year, there were 129 player ejections in Washington.

That was down 26 percent from 175 ejections the previous season.

And the totals for violent conduct and abusive language also fell.

"I think it's going to take a few years to turn that culture around, but I believe we're headed in the right direction," Miller said.

Professional golf is kid stuff

A fourteen-year-old New Zealand girl won the New South Wales Open by four strokes Sunday becoming "the youngest winner of a professional golf tour event," according to ESPN.

From ESPN:

[Lydia] Ko, the world's top amateur, broke Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa's mark of 15 years, 8 months, and Australian Amy Yang's women's record of 16 years, 192 days in the Australian Ladies Masters.

The South Korean-born New Zealander shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 14 under for the tournament, four strokes clear of Becky Morgan of Wales. Ko came close to winning the tournament last year, but missed a putt on the last hole to lose by a stroke.

...Ko, a Grade 11 student at North Harbour near Auckland, plans to play about 30 tournaments this year, including professional events over the next two weeks at the Australian Masters at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and the LPGA's Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.

"I'll play in mostly amateur tournaments after that, and my schedule looks pretty busy for the next several months," Ko said.

CNN airs documentary on concussions in HS football

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, examines concussions in high school football in "Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Big Hits, Broken Dreams," which premiers this Sunday, January 29, 2012.

From a Sports Illustrated interview with Dr. Gupta about the documentary:

SI.com: How widespread is the problem?

Gupta: In high school players, it's estimated that about one in 10 players have probably had a concussion. Forty percent of them went back to play in the same game, and sixty percent of players who got knocked out cold by their concussion also went back to play the same day. If you start doing the math, you're talking about tens of thousands of kids every year who are literally taking a gamble. And this time the risk is their brain. Kids who don't know better are willing to gamble their entire futures on a sport that they love.

SI.com: From your research, what did you find most telling?

Gupta: One of the things that I really wanted to ask in the documentary was, if you create a safer game of football, is it still football? And the answer is yes. It can still very much be football if you don't use a three-point stance but you use a two-point stance. If you move the kickoff line five yards farther ahead so you get fewer kick returns -- which are the most dangerous part of the game. The culture is starting to change and it's not taking away from the sport that we are so passionate about.

Mercy, running clocks and Texas HS football

The organization that oversees non-public high school sports in Texas has instituted a "mercy rule.  According to ESPN, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) will put into place in the 2012-2013 a rule for football and basketball that:

mandates that any game which reaches a 40-point difference after halftime, will be subject to a running clock for the remainder of the game. This includes plays that end out of bounds and play stoppages for fouls in both sports.

Having a running clock in a game that is "out of reach" is not that uncommon in high school football if both coaches agree.  The TAPP rule makes the running clock mandatory.

Naturally, not all coaches were in agreement over the rule.

From ESPN:

Current coaches in TAPPS were not notified or polled on the subject of a mercy rule before the legislation came to be law, which didn't sit well with some coaches, like Dallas Lutheran football coach John Bronkhorst ...

...To Bronkhorst, a 75-point, one-sided game isn’t over at halftime, leaving the last two quarters as a sort of formality. That second half is a lesson in adversity and a chance to gain game-speed practice for the remaining games in the season.

The instances Bronkhorst has been offered the “mercy” of a running clock in the second half, including the 75-0 loss, he has respectfully declined.

“The officials came to me at halftime and asked if I wanted to run the clock and I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ ” Bronkhorst said. “It’s not to be cruel to my team because it’s a teaching opportunity. It’s an opportunity for us to learn in life you’re not going to get bailed out. We need to learn how to overcome adversity, and I can tell you right now, we grew from that game.”

TAPPS director Burleson disagreed:

“Extra reps against someone who is getting hopelessly beat?” Burleson said. “We couldn’t find anyone in our group that comes from a wide spectrum and they weren’t all in agreeance with this rule. It shortens the time you’re in misery. Now the losing coach doesn’t have to beg for mercy and the winning coach doesn’t have to make that decision or else look like the bad guy. We have taken on the role of the bad guy.”

Section 130 of the TAPPS Constitution and Bylaws states the purposes of the athletic program for the participant schools are: (C) to regulate competition so that students, schools and their fans can secure the greatest educational, social, recreational and aesthetic benefits from the contests, (E) to preserve the game for the overall benefit of the contestant and not sacrifice the contestant to the game, and (F) to promote the spirit of good sportsmanship and fair play in all contests.

This week in youth sports embezzling news

The former treasurer of a youth sports organization in Roanoke, Virginia, pleaded no contest to one count of felony embezzlement, reports the Roanoke Times.  Bob Collis had stolen about $85,000 from the nonprofit Greater Southwest Athletic Association by writing checks to himself.  He repaid the full amount and, as a result, was charged with stealing "only" $8,000.  In a plea agreement Collis "received a three-year suspended prison sentence, was placed on probation for a year and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service."

Across the country, in San Marino, California, "San Marino High School football coach Mike Mooney pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft embezzlement Tuesday for stealing $20,000 from the funds from the school booster clubs," according to the Pasadena Star-News.  Mooney was sentenced to three years of probation and 20 days of community service.

And, just to show that stealing money from children is not a uniquely American pastime, the Vancouver Sun is reporting that the former treasurer and chairman of the Richmond Youth Soccer Association in British Columbia has been sentenced to two years in jail and ordered to pay full restitution for embezzling a staggering $204,407 over a five-year period from 1998-2003.

From the Sun:

Listing the mitigating factors, Judge Chen noted that [Debbie] Judd has otherwise lived a law-abiding life, and although she "obfuscated" when initially confronted, she quickly admitted her crimes, cooperated with the RCMP investigation and pleaded guilty at first opportunity.

The judge also noted that her crimes continue to haunt her and her family. As result of the adverse publicity, the entire Judd family has been shunned by the Richmond community, and by the soccer community at large. They moved to the Calgary area, where Judd's husband secured a job as a soccer coach, but when news of Judd's misdeeds followed them there, he lost his job.

Not even Courteney Cox will be welcome

The cougar will not be the mascot of a new high school in Draper, Utah, because school board members "expressed concerns over the appropriateness of using a mascot title that, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, can be used as a slang word for 'a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man.'"

Future students of the new school -- to be opened in 2013 -- had the opportunity to select the school's colors and mascot.  After the votes were tallied the navy, silver and white school colors chosen by students were kept, but the Canyons School District replaced Cougar with Charger.

From KFOR.com:

With 23 percent of the votes, future students had selected the Cougar as the school's mascot, but Canyons School District said that board members expressed concern over the use of Cougar because it's used as a derogatory term for some women.

They also said that the Cougar is also a mascot for three other Utah schools, plus Brigham Young University, whose school colors are also blue and white. Corner Canyon High School is the first in Utah to use the Charger as its mascot.

According to Fox Sports:

Instead the board members chose a war horse as the school mascot noting the alliteration of Corner Canyon Chargers. It was also an image of strength that could unify the community, the board noted.

There has been no comment, as yet, from the ASPCA or those with excessive credit card debt.

The 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games

The 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck kicked off today (or tonight for those in Austria) with a "fun-filled start ... thanks to the youthful energy of the participants and fresh approach of the Youth Olympic Games format," according to the official site.

From the site:

From 3 to 22 January 2012 Innsbruck and Seefeld will play host to the 1stWinter Youth Olympic Games, which will see 1,058 athletes aged 14 to 18 from over 70 nations compete in 63 sporting competitions and, together with youngsters from the local region, take part in a one-of-a-kind Culture & Education Programme. The idea behind this mixture of sport and culture is to support young people in their personal and sporting development and to raise their interest in the Olympic Values.

According to WYOG 2012's Facebook page there will be no live coverage on television but Fox in Australia has put together a nice highlights schedule.

And, finally, no international sports competition is complete without a mascot.  Meet Yoggl, an alpine chamois who "lives in the steep and rocky moutains which tower above the Olympic venues of Innsbruck, Seefeld and Kühtai:"

The chamois represents the way of life and the landscape of the Games’host region, while his colourful pixel outfit merges traditional style with modern elements. Yoggl’s sporty appearance reflects the athletic aspect of the event, and his youthful character will spark the enthusiasm of young people from all over the world for the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games as well as the Olympic Values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship.

However, above all Yoggl is a lucky charm for the young athletes taking part in the Games and a vivid example of the Innsbruck 2012 motto: ‘Be part of it!’

 

 

 

 

Concussions in high school football

Grantland's Jonah Lehrer has an excellent piece on concussions in high school football. 

If the sport of football ever dies, it will die from the outside in. It won't be undone by a labor lockout or a broken business model — football owners know how to make money. Instead, the death will start with those furthest from the paychecks, the unpaid high school athletes playing on Friday nights. It will begin with nervous parents reading about brain trauma, with doctors warning about the physics of soft tissue smashing into hard bone, with coaches forced to bench stars for an entire season because of a single concussion. The stadiums will still be full on Sunday, the professionals will still play, the profits will continue. But the sport will be sick.

The sickness will be rooted in football's tragic flaw, which is that it inflicts concussions on its players with devastating frequency. Although estimates vary, several studies suggest that up to 15 percent of football players suffer a mild traumatic brain injury during the season. (The odds are significantly worse for student athletes — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 2 million brain injuries are suffered by teenage players every year.) In fact, the chances of getting a concussion while playing high school football are approximately three times higher than the second most dangerous sport, which is girls' soccer. While such head injuries have long been ignored — until recently, players were resuscitated with smelling salts so they could re-enter the game — it's now clear that these blows have lasting consequences.

The consequences appear to be particularly severe for the adolescent brain. According to a study published last year in Neurosurgery, high school football players who suffered two or more concussions reported mental problems at much higher rates, including headaches, dizziness, and sleeping issues. The scientists describe these symptoms as "neural precursors," warning signs that something in the head has gone seriously wrong.

Lehrer also highlights Mater Dei High School in Orange County, California.  In spite of being on the "leading edge of concussion prevention and treatment for high school football players," the coaching staff at the football powerhouse still struggles "on a daily basis to effectively manage the risk of concussions among their players."

Unfortunately, not every high school football program is as strict about secondary impacts as Mater Dei. According to a 2009 survey of 1,308 concussion incidents reported by school trainers, more than 40 percent of athletes return to the field too quickly. What's worse, the most severe concussions are often ignored: The same survey found that 16 percent of football players who lost consciousness after being hit returned to the field the very same day.

While Mater Dei has radically altered its response to concussions — "I look back and I can't believe the way it used to be," [trainer Mike] Fernandez says — the school is increasingly focused on concussion prevention, if only because there is little to do in the aftermath of a brain injury but wait. "I think there used to be an attitude that concussions were an inevitable part of football, like ankle sprains," Fernandez says. "And maybe they are. But we still need to do everything possible to keep them from happening."

Pitch invasion of soccer moms results in a save!

A 60-year-old referee at a high school soccer game in Houma, Louisiana, collapsed on the field during a game last Tuesday, but survived due to the quick thinking of three moms watching the game from the stands.

From Houma Today:

Tommy Manor said he doesn't remember refereeing the girls' soccer game at Vandebilt Catholic High School Tuesday afternoon.

“I don't remember going to the game. I woke up, and I was in the ICU saying, ‘What am I doing here?' ” Manor, 60, said.

Manor, a longtime referee and coach for various sports, collapsed during the middle of the game. He survived, but officials said that was because of the diligent work done by three moms watching the game in the stands.

Daria Hebert, one of the mothers, noticed that several parents started pointing at the field. A large group of players had gathered around the middle of the field, pointing at the referee, she said.

“We were yelling ‘Call 911 immediately,' ” Hebert, 46, said.

Hebert and a parent of a Lutcher player, Rhonda Zeringue, started performing CPR on Manor and helped keep him alive and stable until paramedics were able to get to the field. Another Vandebilt parent, Sandee Ellender, also assisted.

“It was kind of a blur, but I did my part and opened the airway,” Hebert, a registered nurse, said.

In a few minutes, Bayou Cane firefighters arrived and had to use an automatic electronic defibrillator to shock Manor's heart back to life. He was then taken to Terrebonne General Medical Center, where he remains today.

“I could have been dead for all I know, and I guess I was,” Manor said.

Congress may consider mandating school PE

At some point this year Congress may spend time reworking the federal education law, and some members will consider adding language that would mandate PE in the public schools.

According to The Bellinghame Herald:

In Bellingham, children in kindergarten through second grade get 40 minutes of structured PE time a week; older elementary kids get double that. Both are below the state requirement of 100 minutes a week for those ages; the school district says it compensates with health teaching and other unstructured activities.

In New York, a city audit found that only 6 percent of the city's schools came anywhere near the required two hours of PE for elementary-age children each week.

"It's obviously a clear problem," said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. "Childhood obesity is spiking, and actually our overall health is to some degree declining."

When Congress considers overhauling its federal education law early this year, Smith and a bipartisan group of 84 other House members want to include language that would pressure schools to offer more PE. Their idea is to force school officials to issue yearly reports on how much time students engage in physical activity, making it easier for the public to compare schools.

"Most schools offer physical education and health, but now we want to keep track of that," Smith said. He said schools would be offered "a broad encouragement to say, 'Hey, we ought to be paying attention to physical health.'"

It's all part of a plan to try to fight an alarming increase in childhood obesity. Recent studies have shown that 17 percent of the nation's 6- to 19-year-olds are obese, and that more than a third are overweight. Those rates have about doubled in the past three decades.

We do it for the kids

Last July SportsLetter told you about Washington DC Councilman Harry Thomas, Jr., who had been accused of stealing almost $300,000 from a city grant designated for a youth baseball program.  Thomas denied any wrongdoing and hired an attorney, who in turn created a legal defense fund to help cover the costs of defending Thomas against a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Apparently the defense was unsuccessful.

Today Thomas, Jr. plead guilty to the charges after resigning his council seat Thursday night.

From the Associated Press via the Washington Post:

A former D.C. councilmember pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling more than $350,000 in government funds earmarked for youth sports and arts programs and admitted that he spent the money on a luxury SUV, travel to exclusive golf courses and clothing.

Harry Thomas Jr., resigned his council seat Thursday night — a condition of his plea agreement — just hours after being charged with theft from programs receiving federal funds and filing a false tax return.

...Thomas, who for months had maintained his innocence, did not directly address the accusations in federal court but replied, “Guilty as charged, your honor” when asked how he wished to plead.

You hate it when classes interfere with football

Late last month a high school football coach in Florida resigned after 10 months on the job as a coach in "one of Palm Beach County's top academic public schools," according to the Palm Beach Post.

From the Post:

[Jessie] Hester, 48, said the job at one of Palm Beach County's top academic public schools "wasn't the right fit" for him. The academic pressures the students faced made it difficult for the football team to practice and prepare for games, Hester said, adding that his team would go weeks without a full practice because his players had other school obligations.

The Chargers finished 4-6, missing the playoffs and tying for third in a five-team district.

"There are great, great people at the school, and great kids," Hester said, "but it was just not a good fit for me. It was too difficult to do the things I wanted to do in that situation."

It was no secret that Suncoast, with its nationally ranked academic programs and rigorous academic requirements, would be a more challenging job than Hester's previous job at his alma mater.

In three seasons at Glades Central, one of the premier high school football programs in the nation that is perennially loaded with talent, Hester coached the Raiders to two state championship games and a 36-4 record.

In three seasons at Glades Central, one of the premier high school football programs in the nation that is perennially loaded with talent, Hester coached the Raiders to two state championship games and a 36-4 record.

He was fired by Glades Central a week after his team's second consecutive loss in the 2010 state finals. The administration at the school said Hester's teams didn't live up to the school's academic expectations, a charge that Hester disputed.