A recent study (described below) of High School athletes shows a disturbing trend that we unfortunately believe trickles down to the youth level as well. The mentality of many athletes (and parents) today of "it could never happen to me" or "the future of my hopeful sports career" to many greatly outweighs the facts of the dangerous outcomes they can face if they are wrong.

We have just two of many available examples of people who thought it could never happen to them but did. Their lives have been completely altered, not just in the fact of never being able to play again but one has to face challenges in everyday life (Sasha Pina) and the other, well let just says his family struggles with their loss everyday (Derek Sheely)... We share their story every time we are out in the community in hopes of stopping their story from being repeated by someone else.

Is it really worth it to not say something or to not take the added responsibility for your own safety and well being? I think the many people who have been affected by a concussion (a TRAUMATIC INJURY to YOUR BRAIN) as the result of playing sports will say no and wish they could go back in time to change their way of thinking but they can't... It is best to sit out! It is better to miss one game or the rest of the season than the rest of your life!

MONDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Many U.S. high school football players say they would keep playing after experiencing a concussion, even though they know it would put them at risk for serious harm, a new study reveals.

The findings suggest that educating players about concussion may not be enough to keep them safe after they suffer this type of brain injury, according to the researchers.

The study authors surveyed 120 high school football players in the Cincinnati area and found that one-quarter of them had suffered a concussion, and that more than half said they would continue to play even if they had concussion symptoms.

Seventy percent of the players had been educated about concussion and most of them could identify common signs and symptoms, such as: headache (93 percent); dizziness (89 percent); difficulty remembering and sensitivity to light (78 percent); difficulty concentrating (76 percent); and feeling like they were in a fog (53 percent).

The study also found that 91 percent of the players understood that there was a risk of serious injury if they returned to play too quickly after a concussion, but only half said they would always or sometimes report their concussion symptoms to their coach. Some even said that athletes with a concussion have a responsibility to play in important games.

There was no association between players' level of knowledge about concussion symptoms and their attitudes about the injury, according to the study to be presented Monday at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

"In other words, athletes who had more knowledge about concussions were not more likely to report symptoms," study co-author Dr. Brit Anderson, a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said in an American Academy of Pediatrics news release.

"These attitudes could leave young athletes vulnerable to injury from sports-related concussions," Anderson said.

"Although further study needs to be done, it is possible that concussion education alone may not be enough to promote safe concussion behaviors in high school football players," she concluded.

The data and conclusions of research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

SOURCE: American Academy of Pediatrics, news release, May 6, 2013

 

The media has reported recently that a 46 year old soccer referee by the name of Ricardo Portillo has died as the result of injuries he sustained from being punched by a 17 old during a recreational soccer game in a small suburb of Salt Lake City, UT. The teenager had punched the ref after the ref had cited him with a "Yellow Card" for pushing another player. A yellow card symbolizes an official caution of a major rule infraction in unsportsman-like behavior in soccer, a second yellow card in the same game results in the player being thrown out of the game and not being allowed to return to play for the rest of the match.

Mr. Portillo had suffered major internal trauma to the head as a result of the blow and resulted in him being rushed to the hospital where he slipped into a coma and then passed away a week later.

This story provides the perfect example to you as a player of "What Not To Do" and "How Not to Act" and the consequences of not thinking your actions or reactions through. Yes, we all hate to have someone call us out on something we have done wrong, especially if we don't think that we did anything wrong. Maybe the ref made a bad call, who knows? But even if he had made a bad call, that doesn't mean he deserved to be punched. Now the teen faces murder charges and a daughter no longer has a father all because a player didn't agree with a call.

In everyday life we face many such challenges like this. You must realize that there will be plenty of things you don't agree with in your life. You must learn how to control your anger and deal with them appropriately. If you get caught doing something wrong, take the blame it's rightfully yours, you can't get mad for someone catching you. If someone blames you for something you didn't do, you need to take it up with the proper people in charge. In adult life, we can do this through Supervisors, Managers, Law Enforcement, Courts and much more... In sports this can be your coach, team mom, league administrator, head referee or any number of people who can take the proper steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again, can give you better information on what is or isn't called and the reasons why. If they can't, then it's time to move on to somewhere else.

More on the Story: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56263774-78/portillo-police-news-soccer.html.csp

There is a letter floating around the web from a Volunteer Coach for Little League somewhere in the US, but it can be related to ANY sports coach. It also can relate to other volunteers within leagues and teams (i.e: Board Member, Team Mom, Coach, etc...).  Please take the time to read it and treat everyone with kindness in all youth organizations. Some people do not truly understand what it takes to be a youth coach that volunteers their time day in and day out. There are many behind the scenes things you may never realize your coach goes through...

Letter from a Volunteer Coach:

Today I heard a comment made about me behind my back. I started to turn around and look, but then decided better of it and kept my eyes on the field. My wife hears things like this more often than I do, because many of you don’t know who she is. She tells me what you say. I have received angry emails, full of “suggestions,” about who should be playing where and how I... lost that day’s game for the kids. I thought I’d write an open letter to all of you parents, even though I might never send it. I’ll start it this way: “I am a volunteer.” 

I’m the one who answered the call when the league said they didn’t have enough coaches. I understand that you were too busy. I have some news for you. I’m not retired. I’m busy too. I have other children and a job, just like you do. Not only do I not get paid to do this – it costs me money. I see you walk up to the game 15 minutes after it started, still dressed for work. Do you know I’ve already been here over an hour? Imagine if you had to leave work early nearly every day. I’ve never seen you at a practice. I’m sure you’re plugging away at the office. But I’m out here, on the field, trying my best to teach these children how to play a sport they love, while my bank account suffers. 

I know. I make mistakes. In fact, maybe I’m not even that great of a coach. But I treat the kids fairly and with respect. I am pretty sure they like coming to my practices and games, and without me or someone like me, there’d be no team for them to play on. I’m part of this community too and it’s no picnic being out here on this stage like this. It’s a lot easier back there with the other parents where no one is second-guessing you. 

And I also know you think I give my son or daughter unfair advantages. I try not to. In fact, have you ever considered that maybe I’m harder on him than on the others? I’m sure he hears plenty of criticism at school from classmates, who hear it from you at home, about what a lame coach I am. And if, even unconsciously, my kids are getting a slight advantage because I know them better and trust their abilities, is that the worst thing in the world, considering the sacrifice I’m making? Trust me, I want to win too. And if your son or daughter could guarantee we’d do that, I’d give them the chance. 

After this game is over, I’ll be the last one to leave. I have to break down the field, put away all the equipment and make sure everyone has had a parent arrive to pick them up. There have been evenings when my son and I waited with a player until after dark before someone came to get them. Many nights I’m sure you’ve already had dinner and are relaxing on the couch by the time I finally kick the mud off my shoes and climb into my car, which hasn’t been washed or vacuumed for weeks. Why bother cleaning it during the season? Do you know how nice it would be if, just once, after a game one of you offered to carry the heavy gear bag to my car or help straighten up the field?

If I sound angry, I’m not. I do this because I love it and I love being around the kids. There are plenty of rewards and I remind myself that while you’re at the office working, your kid is saying something that makes us all laugh or brings a tear to my eye. The positives outweigh the negatives. I just wish sometime those who don’t choose to volunteer their time would leave the coaching to the few of us who do.

Las Vegas, NV – April is National Youth Sports Safety Month and to mark the occasion local non-profit the LVSportz Foundation has just announced their new P.A.S.S. Program. P.A.S.S. stands for Positive And Safe Sports and is an easily remembered acronym the organization came up with to help parents, coaches and children remember how every child’s youth sports experience should be.

Statistics have shown that more than 70% of children who start playing sports before the age of 10 dropout of sports related activity by the time they reach High School. Various studies and surveys from universities and organizations from across the U.S. have found that reasons attributing to this drop included: Injuries; Unsafe Conditions; Criticism and Yelling; No Playing Time; Too Much Emphasis on Winning; Not learning; Boredom; and more…

Brian Bartolome, Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation stated that “Youth Sports is an essential element to keeping our kids healthy and fit and can help to form core life values and skills. Having our children participate in youth sports can help to strengthen their future and the future of our community. Unfortunately, many parents and coaches have lost their focus on why kids play sports and the true purpose of youth sports. They may start out with the true intention of youth sports participation but quickly become intertwined with the views of others of having that future Scholarship or Pro Athlete and start to develop a Win-At-All-Cost attitude.”

He also stated that “We as adults need to stop living our childhood sports dreams through our children. If our children have those dreams themselves, then we as parents need to ensure they reach it properly, safely and for the right reasons.”
The program features information via their website and also includes an in-person community outreach program where the foundation visits local youth sports teams, leagues, schools and other community organizations to talk to parents, kids and coaches about being positive and safe during youth sports participation.

Information is customized to how the local environment here in Southern Nevada affects each issue. Each program or clinic is specifically tailored towards the organization they are visiting and for who the information is being presented to and includes separate components that are directly geared towards parents, towards children and towards coaches.

Also joining the LVSportz Foundation in the program is 18 year old Sasha Pina who suffers from the long-term effects from a major concussion she incurred while playing soccer over 2 years ago. She will be sharing her story of how it happened and her long road to recovery after suffering a major Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as the result of playing sports.

The organization states it is not their intention to scare parents or their children away from playing sports, in fact they want to get more children involved in sports and want to keep them involved for life. They want to give them the tools to properly recognize when an issue arises and how to handle them when they do happen. Their overall goal is to hopefully prevent them from even happening in the first place.

For more information on the program, parents, kids, coaches, school administrators, team administrators and league administrators are all encouraged to visit the programs homepage at http://lvsportz.com/pass today. Scheduling a clinic or program is simple and they do not charge for the program.

About the LVSportz Foundation
The LVSportz Foundation is a multi-faceted Nevada non-profit whose goal is to help Southern Nevada youth Get in the Game, Enjoy the Game and Stay in the Game. We offer positive sports tools, sports safety information, youth sports registration assistance, free youth sports clinics and youth sports recognition as well as news and announcements on every aspect of youth sports in the Southern Nevada area.

Some coaches tolerate bullying by older or more prominent athletes on the team. “Boys will be boys” is their attitude, and we should add that “girls will be girls” because hazing is common among girls, although less so than with boys. But even mild bullying may result in unseen but substantial harm to the victim.

Bullying often leads to depression when a victim can’t see a way out, and depression can lead to suicide in extreme cases. As a coach of character you must have zero tolerance for any bullying on your team.

You should also have no tolerance for hazing. After decades of darkness, hazing of athletes by athletes is being recognized as serious misbehavior. In the past, coaches often saw hazing as part of a ritual to build team cohesiveness, and condoned or even encouraged such practices. But hazing is contrary to the moral values of the Athletes’ Character Code.

As a coach you should recognize subtle and outrageous hazing practices for what they are—the mistreatment of fellow human beings. Incidents such as the following are demanding that coaches take an active role in preventing hazing:

• New York—Four members of a high school football team sodomized members of the junior varsity. The players were charged with a crime, and the coaches were fired.
• California—The senior girls of a high school soccer team forced four freshman girls to drink alcohol until the girls vomited or collapsed.
• New Jersey—Freshman soccer players were abused physically and thrown in the mud as part of an annual hazing event. The head coach and two assistants were dismissed because they allowed it to happen.