Are Parents Who Allow Young Athletes To Play Contact or Collision Sports Guilty of Child Abuse?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 20:01. | comments

As long-time visitors to MomsTeam or readers of my blog and 2006 book, Home Team Advantage, know, I have always taken a somewhat expansive view of what constitutes child abuse in the context of sports.

Parents who allow their children - particularly elementary school age-children - to participate in collision sports are not engaging in child abuse simply by letting them play.

NHL Star Had CTE: Degenerative Disease Linked To Repeated Brain Trauma

An autopsy has revealed that former NHL star Rick Martin was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated brain trauma.

Brooke de Lench

Concussion Safety: Past, Present and Future

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 17:13. | comments

The other day I was asked in a radio interview what I thought were the biggest recent developments in concussion safety, and what I saw happening in the near future to protect our kids from the dangers of brain injury in contact and collision sports. Here are the five developments that I view as the most significant, and a seven-point "wish list" for what I hope to see in the not too distant future to make such sports even safer:

The other day I was asked in a radio interview what I thought were biggest recent developments in concussion safety, and what I saw happening in the near future to protect our kids from the dangers of brain injury in contact and collision sports. Here are the five developments that I view as the most significant, and a seven-point "wish list" for what I hope to see in the not too distant future to make such sports even safer:

Strength & Conditioning Coach: Bigger Better, Nutrition Key, Mental Toughness Essential

Physical Therapy: Parents Play Important Role

Reporting Concussion Signs and Symptoms: Be Honest, Be Smart

Concussion expert Dr. William P. Meehan, III says an athlete's failure to report concussions signs or symptoms can delay recovery, result in catastrophic injury in rare cases, and long-term problems.

Retiring From Sports After Concussion: No Magic Number

Medicine has not yet figured out how many concussions is too many. The number that leads to permanent deficits in memory, concentration, and other cognitive processes, and/or increases the risk of dementia and other problems later in life, is different for each athlete.