Youth Sports Hero of the Month: Terrance Washington (Louisville, Ky.)

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 14:42. | comments

For West End Yellow Jackets football coach Terrance Washington, practice at Russell Lee Park in Louisville, Kentucky on the night of September 12 seemed just like any other practice. Then, as he was putting the Mighty Mite Division team through its paces, he heard parents yelling that a two-year-old girl had just fallen 15 feet into a dark abandoned well 50 yards from the field.

"We were scared, we were screaming, we couldn't get it together," the little girl's cousin said later. "Fortunately . . . , Washington didn't hesitate."

It started out like any other practice for Lexington, KY youth football coach Terrance Washington. But then, as he was putting his team through its paces, he heard parents yelling that a two-year-old girl had just fallen about 15 feet into a dark abandoned well about 50 yards from the field, and he didn't hesitate.

Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy: What Sports Parents Should Know

In recent years, platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) injections have been used to treat a variety of sports injuries, ranging from severe tendonitis to muscle tears, but there is an ongoing debate among sports medicine doctors as to its effectiveness, especially given its cost. We explore both sides of the controversy.

Brooke de Lench

"The Smartest Team": Staking Out The Sensible Middle In The Polarized Debate About Football

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 15:36. | comments

It has been an exciting week for those of us who worked so hard over the past two years to produce The Smartest Team: Making High School Football Safer.

After kicking off with our premiere on Oklahoma Educational Television (OETA - PBS) in August, and with stations in North Carolina and Colorado having aired the documentary in September, the beginning of October marks the first full week of broadcasts on PBS stations in more than ten states.

The buzz about the PBS documentary, "The Smartest Team," has been overwhelmingly positive, but some appear to be working overtime, on Twitter, through a whisper campaign, and via other back-channel means, to cripple MomsTEAM's ability to get its message out. Brooke de Lench explains.

Female Athletes: Eat Right, Train Smarter, and Get Enough Rest, Advises Cards' Doctor

If you are parenting a female athlete, you may have a tough time convincing her to take your advice, even if you enjoyed a successful sports career yourself. Perhaps she will listen to an orthopedic surgeon for a major league baseball team who, before she became a doctor, was a triple jump champion and record-holder in high school track in Iowa.

Protein Supplements: Serious Athletes Don't Need Them, Research Suggests

The American College of Sports Medicine 2013 Annual Meeting was chock-full of useful nutrition information. In the second in a series of articles, sports nutritionist Nancy Clark discusses some additional research findings from the meeting.

Contact Brooke

Publisher / Founder

Brooke de Lench

Mail Address

MomsTeam.com

Att: Editors
60 Thoreau Street, Suite 288
Concord, Massachusetts 01742
USA

Email:

delench@MomsTEAM.com

Telephone:

+1 (781) 775-0280 (media line only)

+1 (800) 474-5201

Brooke de Lench

Improving Football Safety: Is It Up To Parents?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 09/02/2013 - 14:48. | comments

Now that the concussion lawsuit filed by retired National Football League players has apparently been settled (remember: the judge still has to give her approval), it's time to focus on the upcoming football season, and working to make the sport safer at every level of the game. Missy Womack

Sincerest form of flattery

We could sit back and wait for the N.F.L., National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS), USA Football and Pop Warner to lead the way on football safety.

Football safety is largely up to parents, argues Brooke de Lench, working with all other groups in their community with a stake in making football safer, including independent football organizations, school boards, school superintendents, athletic directors, coaches, school nurses and psychologists, and other health care providers, to improve football safety at the grassroots level.

Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.

Youth Sports Hero of the Month: Pierre Garcon (Washington Redskins)

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 21:50. | comments

"I'm ready for a sports hero who doesn't treat the world like his spittoon," Golf Digest columnist Tom Callahan told the New York Times two years ago.

I think that Callahan was off-base in his blanket dismissal of professional athletes and their better instincts. Most pros recognize the responsibilities that come with being in the public spotlight; most obey the law, and many devote time and energy to community betterment. Pros make headlines when they stray, but most do not stray. Pierre Garcon with team that won uniforms

Most professional athletes recognize the responsibilities that come with being in the public spotlight; most obey the law, and many devote time and energy to community betterment. But few pros likely serve their community as earnestly as Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcon.

Middle School Headgear Mandate For Soccer, Lacrosse, and Field Hockey Came As Surprise

The recent move by the Princeton (NJ) school district to require headgear for all middle-school soccer, field hockey and lacrosse players has generated controversy. MomsTEAM's sports concussion neuropsychologists has concerns about the effectiveness of such headgear and says the focus needs to be on education, training, rules enforcement, and hiring more athletic trainers.

Baseline Balance and Computerized Neurocognitive Tests Recommended For Sports With High Concussion Risk

William P. Meehan, III, MD, Director of the Sports Concussion Clinic at Boston Children's Hospital, recommends both baseline balance and computerized neurocognitive testing for athletes playing sports with high concussion risk, but two 2012 studies suggest that comparing a concussed athlete's scores on post-concussion neurocognitive tests to those of athletes of the same age and gender is sufficient for purposes of concussion management and return-to-play decision-making.

Team of Experts