Brooke de Lench's blog

Celebrate Dr. King By Teaching Youth Athletes About Character

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 01/16/2012 - 14:20. | comments

Twenty-five years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s life was first honored with a national holiday and nearly 50 years after the civil rights leader's "I Have a Dream" speech, black and white sports fans alike view the sports world as far more racially progressive and unifying than the rest of society, according to a recent online survey conducted for ESPN. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Brooke de Lench

First Winter Youth Olympics Opens in Innsbruck

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 14:42. | comments

The inaugural Winter Youth Olympics began a ten-day run last night in Innsbruck, Austria. The opening ceremony featured classic and modern dance, and video flashbacks to 1964 and 1976, when Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics. Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Games logo

The inaugural Winter Youth Olympics began last night in Innsbruck, Austria, bringing together 1,059 elite youth athletes aged 15 to 18 from 70 nations to compete in 63 medal events in seven sports.

Brooke de Lench

High School Coaches of the Year: A Flawed Selection Process?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 16:41. | comments

As it has for the past thirty years, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association yesterday announced its 2011 National Coaches of the Year, honoring high school coaches in the top 10 girls and boys sports by participation numbers, along with one coach in another high school sport.

According to the NFHS, the awards are presented to individuals who have gone above and beyond and who exemplify the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct and moral character, and who carry the endorsement of his or her respective state high school association.

The 20 high school coaches recognized by the National Federation of State High School Association Coach's Association are no doubt great coaches deserving of the awards, but perhaps it is time for the NFHS to put in place a process for identifying the coaches on the other end of the spectrum, not by surveying other coaches, but by asking all the other stakeholders - players, athletic trainers, and parents - who see them every day what they think.

Brooke de Lench

Parents Who Interfere: Was Quitting The Only Way Out For Coach?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 16:17. | comments

This weekend a father from Michigan sent me an article in the Detroit News about a highly successful high school basketball coach in his daughter's league who had just quit as a result of what the newspaper described as "extreme parental interference."

He wanted to know what I would suggest to the coach, who happened to be a personal friend.

Coaches who don't have problems with pushy parents tend to be the great communicators; they let them know where they stand early, before the season even starts, at a preseason meeting.

Brooke de Lench

Athletic Success: An Accident of Birth?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Sat, 01/07/2012 - 20:36. | comments

If your child plays hockey or softball and is celebrating a birthday this month, congratulations, your kid is very lucky!

Why is that, you may ask?

Numerous studies have shown give kids in sports where teams are grouped by age born early in the age-group year (January for hockey and softball, May for baseball, and August for soccer) a number of advantages over their younger teammates. Should success in sports really depend on the month of an athlete's birthday?

Brooke de Lench

Bug Off! Why 'Skeeter Skidaddler May Be An Ideal Team Fundraiser

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 01/06/2012 - 14:13. | comments

How many times have you watched a game or tournament and the only thing you recall years later were the flies and mosquitoes?

I can remember coaching many a Memorial Day soccer tournament, and mostly what I recall were the black flies that always seemed to hatch at the same time (Is it just me or does it seem that many athletic fields are built close to swamps?) Not to mention the bites I got from those nasty green heads when I was trying to sunbathe on the sandy beach where I grew up in Massachusetts. 'Skeeter Skedaddler

Brooke de Lench

Prayers for Jack Jablonski

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Thu, 01/05/2012 - 15:05. | comments

Everything I do today will be overshadowed by concern for a young raising star hockey player, Jack Jablonski, and the struggle he is going through days after suffering partial paralysis from a severed spinal cord when he slammed head first into the boards when he was illegally checked from behind by two opposing players during a holiday tournament in Minnesota.

Brooke de Lench

The Winter Olympics: Coming Up Faster Than You May Think!

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 14:27. | comments

Prior to 1992, both the summer and winter Olympic games were always held in the same year. Now, for the first time since 1992, we will be treated to two Olympic Games this year, winter and summer.

The inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are set to begin a ten day run on Friday, January 13, 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria, and MomsTeam's Brooke de Lench can't wait.

Brooke de Lench

Baseline Neurocognitive Testing Before Winter Sports Activities: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 01/03/2012 - 15:51. | comments

I remember one time, when my kids were six, going ice skating at a new rink with my sister Drew, her daughter Courtney, and my triplet sons. The excitement of a new rink and lots of kids zipping around provided for a lot of great fun and laughs, but ended, unfortunately, in an accident and a terrifying trip to the hospital, the memory of which is still vivid. Girl lacing up figure skates

Baseline neurocognitive testing in team sports such as hockey, lacrosse and football is increasingly common, but it might be a good idea to have kids tested before they participate in winter sports such as recreational skating, snowboarding or skiing as well.

Brooke de Lench

Top Youth Sports Story of 2011: New Concussion Safety Laws

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 01/02/2012 - 19:23. | comments

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.