NOCSAE and Helmet Sensors: An Ounce Of Prevention

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Sun, 08/11/2013 - 14:06. | comments

There is still confusion about the recent position, or should I say positions, taken by NOCSAE over the past month, first deciding that the certification of any helmet with a third-party add-on would be viewed as automatically void, then, this past week, making a 180-degree U-turn and leaving it up to the helmet manufacturers to decide whether affixing impact sensors to the inside or outside of a helmet voided the certification. Unless you read my article on NOCSAE's original decision and Lindsay Barton's this past week on its clarification, and perhaps even if you did, you are probably scratching your head and wondering what the heck is going on!

Well, I am scratching my head, too.

With all the controversy surrounding NOCSAE's recent rulings on the effect of third-party add-ons on helmet certification, what Brooke de Lench and others are wondering is why NOCSAE isn't asking the helmet manufacturers to explain to them and the rest of us how a 2-ounce piece of plastic stuck to a 4+ pound football helmet has them so worried? Whether the NOCSAE rulings were intended to put the brakes on the market for helmet sensors to give the helmet manufacturers time to catch up, it is hard to see how it won't have exactly that effect, she says.

Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.

Youth Sports Heroes of the Month: Acts of True Sportsmanship 1200 Miles Apart

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Thu, 08/01/2013 - 22:15. | comments

In early July, the clock showed less than three minutes to play and coach Brian Murray’s Ellicott Hawks were down by double digits in their Mid American Youth Basketball tournament game in Pueblo, Colorado. With the outcome apparent, the Canutillo (Tex.) Select Junior Varsity put 16-year-old Adrian Martinez into the game for the first time.

Adrian practices hard, but he sees little action in games because his mother says that the coach fears that someone will injure him. She is fine with her son’s limited playing time because “just the simple fact that he sits on the bench with the rest of the team as a player and not just as a manager means a lot to him.”

Fourteen years ago, Adrian Martinez was diagnosed with autism.

Letting a basketball player score points or a wrestler register a pin runs counter to every instinct of athletes who are trained to want to win. True sportsmen care about the score, and they do not normally let up on the opponent during the game. But true sportsmen also care about respect for the opponent’s dignity, as we find out from Doug Abrams in this month's Youth Sports Heroes.

Brooke de Lench

NOCSAE Voiding of Certification For Sensor-Equipped Helmets: A Big Blow To Player Safety

Last week many of the technology manufacturers who have been working diligently to produce products to make helmeted sports such as football safer were dealt a severe, if not crippling, blow by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) when, out of the blue, it decided to view modification of helmets with third-party after-market add-ons as voiding its certification, which could only be regained if the helmet is retested with the add-on. Newcastle Racers wearing three different football helmets

Brooke de Lench believes that the new NOCSAE ruling voiding the certification for sensor-equipped helmets could not have come at a worse time, just as football - from the youth level to the NFL - is gearing up for the 2012 season. If not reversed or modified, de Lench fears that it will have harsh real-world consequences; not just on sensor manufacturers but on player safety and consumer choice.

Brooke de Lench

"Crash Reel": Not Just A Documentary About Traumatic Brain Injury But Teaches Important Life Lessons, Too

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 07/15/2013 - 17:16. | comments

For the past month I have been trying without success to find the time to join the makers of the new Crash Reel poster documentary, "Crash Reel," at one of their premiere screenings. It is a movie I have been very eager to see for a number of reasons. Finally, over the weekend, I was able watch the film, which airs tonight on HBO at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

I am so glad I finally was able to see the film. Not only did it exceed all of my expectations, but, it evoked in me a mix of both wonderful and sad memories from my past.

The new HBO Documentary "Crash Reel" is a "must see" for all sports parents. It is not just an inspiring story of snowboarder Kevin Pearce's recovery from traumatic brain injury but is chock full of very powerful life lessons, many that will be ones parents will want to share with children, says MomsTEAM's Brooke de Lench.

Barbara Bleiweis

The Road to Varsity - Mentoring Milestones on the Road Ahead

Submitted by Barbara Bleiweis on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 20:24. | comments

It's been five weeks since I moved to the Tarheel State, and in that time I have attended two basketball officiating clinics. The first was held at UNC Charlotte and served as an introduction into North Carolina high school basketball. The second was a teaching camp at Liberty University, run by NCAA officials and my fourth summer attending that camp.

A high school basketball official's attendance at two summer officiating camps teaches her some valuable lessons on the Road to Varsity.

Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.

Youth Sports Heroes of the Month: FC Brossard (Quebec) U14 AA Soccer Team

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 14:31. | comments

Ordinarily, teen athletes do not assume the initiative to defend the civil rights of vulnerable minority children. Amid their other activities and interests, teens usually join sports teams to play, and not to take political stands. But when they faced Granby in suburban Montreal on Saturday, June 8, the previously undefeated FC Brossard U14 AA boys soccer team took a stand that helped make life better for dozens of other boys they had never met. FC Brossard soccer team

Teens usually join sports teams to play, and not to take political stands. But when they faced Granby in suburban Montreal on Saturday, June 8, the previously undefeated FC Brossard U14 AA boys soccer team took a stand that helped make life better for dozens of other boys they had never met.

Tim Twellman

The Cost of College & Your Post-Graduate 1:1 Ratio

Submitted by Tim Twellman on Fri, 06/28/2013 - 18:50. | comments

Today, there is an increasing number of college graduates with student debt. While the sources and numbers may vary, recent estimates suggest that the average student debt for a college graduate is rising from around $25k to $35k. While many factors play a part in this national average, the fact remains that the college graduates are graduating with more and more student debt every day. And, many of these recent grads don’t even have jobs…

Do you understand your post-graduate 1:1 ratio?

Gretchen Rose

Season Tickets For Texas High School Football: Priceless

Submitted by Gretchen Rose on Sun, 06/16/2013 - 16:42. | comments

I wonder how much a ticket would cost to see Game 7 of a Boston Red Sox World Series game at Fenway Park. What would some "Cheeseheads" in Wisconsin do to get tickets for the NFC championship at Lambeau Field, January snow and all? A ticket to any NBA final with Michael Jordan playing would have been priceless. In some years, a single ticket to the Texas/OU game during the State Fair of Texas can cost thousands. Map of Texas with fooball pin in Dalls

No doubt about it, sports fans love their teams and the games they play. Because for some games and some teams are so iconic that the money and time spent are priceless. High school football is that way for one Texas mom.

Brooke de Lench

Reducing Sexual Abuse in Youth Sports Requires A Team Effort

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 06/07/2013 - 19:12. | comments

NOTE: This article is from an earlier blog, yet remains important.

Earlier this spring I had the honor of being invited to speak at the "Safe to Compete: Protecting Child Athletes from Sexual Abuse" summit in Washington, DC, sponsored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.

The summit brought together over fifty of the nation's largest youth-serving and youth-sports organizations, as well as child development, youth sports and prevention experts, to discuss strategies for protecting children from sexual abuse while playing sports.

The need to redouble efforts to prevent sexual abuse of athletes by their coaches was driven home to Brooke de Lench over the past couple of weeks, which has seen a sharp spike in reports in the media about youth sports coaches accused and convicted of, and sentenced to probation or jail for sex crimes against young athletes.

Brooke de Lench

Newcastle-Moore, Oklahoma Tornado Hit Close To Home

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 06/03/2013 - 19:34. | comments

Two things have weighed heavily on my mind the past two weeks: the tornadoes that have ravaged the Oklahoma City area, and the professional and amateur storm chasers who risk their lives to follow them.

On May 20, 2013, as I watched coverage of the EF-5 Newcastle-Moore tornado on CNN, I was worried about the football community in Newcastle, a town I had grown to know, respect and appreciate over the 8 months I spent visiting last year while producing and directing The Smartest Team documentary.

Two things have weighed heavily on Brooke de Lench's mind the past two weeks: the Newcastle-Moore tornado that ravaged the Oklahoma City area, and the professional and amateur storm chasers who risk their lives to follow them.