Youth Sports Hero of the Month: Matthew Marotta (Prince George, British Columbia)

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Sun, 03/02/2014 - 17:39. | comments

On Sunday, February 16, the Nanaimo (B.C.) Clippers edged the Prince George Cougars, 3-2, on a hotly disputed goal in the final moments of a hard-fought double-overtime pee wee hockey tournament game in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The victory moved the Tier I Clippers into fifth place in the 43rd annual Vernon Coca-Cola Invitational.

When a pee wee hockey team lost in controversial fashion in overtime, the coach decided not to go through the traditional post-game handshake line to congratulate the winners. Except for one player, who shook his head when his head coach called him to leave the ice with the rest of his team.

Brooke de Lench

Research Papers and Peer-Reviewed Studies: A World of Difference

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 02/25/2014 - 13:54. | comments

Note to reader: I wrote this blog on February 25, 2014 and updated it to include new information and updates one year later February 25, 2015 about a new "helmet add-on paper.

Last week, we posted to the site a group of four articles about a peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Neurosurgery showing that football helmet design affected concussion risk among a large group (or what scientists call a "cohort") of college football players.

Last week, we reported on a peer-reviewed study showing that football helmet design affected concussion risk. At the same time, we received a press release about an abstract of a research paper on football helmets reporting that they do very little to protect kids against the rotational forces that cause concussion. MomsTEAM decided not to report on the paper, and here's why.

Tim Twellman

Live in this Moment and Live

Submitted by Tim Twellman on Sun, 02/09/2014 - 15:46. | comments

As a 16,17 year old I never really paid much attention to the future. The future was always the next weekend, the next party, this weeks test and this week’s game. It was hard just to manage this small window of time. Looking back at this way of thinking it really is not a bad way of thinking. All of us need to live more in the moment to really experience what is right in front of us. We have great friends, we have great parents, we are provided with great teachers. We are meeting new opportunities each and every day just by being present. Being present in every moment is actually being truly alive.

"Live from the End" Use your imagination & envision what your future could be on graduation day. We believe that if you can See your future responsibility, you will understand the magnitude of this decision and make a more educated choice.

Brooke de Lench

"Friday Night Tykes": Episode 5

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 02/05/2014 - 13:35. | comments

"You can't do what you want to do on this field"

These are the words assistant Outlaws' coach Tony Coley barked at 8-year-old Tamari Hayes in last night's fifth episode of "Friday Night Tykes." Ordered to run a lap (as punishment for a mistake or rule violation so trivial that I somehow missed it), Tamari walked around the practice field instead. "I asked you to run the lap and you walked it. Everybody has rules. You have to follow them or face the consequences," Coley scolded.

Last night's episode of "Friday Night Tykes" didn't hit a new low, thankfully. In fact, while coaches continued to scream profanity at their players and engage in what many, including Brooke de Lench, view as out-and-out child abuse, it actually had some positive moments.

Douglas E. Abrams, J.D.

Youth Sports Heroes (One Year Later): Jonathon Montanez and Mitchell Marcus (El Paso, Tex.)

Submitted by Douglas E. Abrams, J.D. on Sat, 02/01/2014 - 13:30. | comments

This column has always followed a "one and done" approach. I tell an inspiring story, and then seek a new one for the following month. I have never recycled old "heroes" columns because the media provides a steady stream of positive stories for readers who are concerned about values in youth sports.

This column has always followed a "one and done" approach. I tell an inspiring story, and then seek a new one for the following month. I have never recycled old "heroes" columns because the media provides a steady stream of positive stories for readers who are concerned about values in youth sports. But this month's column is different because it revisits the story of Jonathon Montanez and Mitchell Marcus, who were last February's heroes, because the story has not grown old and continues to capture headlines.

Brooke de Lench

#C4CT UN Conference: We've Come A Long Way, But A Long Way To Go

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Fri, 01/31/2014 - 18:34. | comments

When MomsTEAM launched its Youth Sports Concussion Safety channel back in 2001, I suspected that people at the time must have thought the time and energy a team of experts, MomsTEAM staff, and I spent on the topic of youth sports concussions bordered on the obsessive, especially as no other youth sports website, much less the mainstream media, was talking about it at all back then.

When MomsTEAM launched its Youth Sports Concussion Safety channel in 2001, Brooke de Lench suspected that people at the time must have thought the time and energy she was spending on the topic bordered on the obsessive. 14 years later, as Brooke reports from the #C4CT concussion conference at the United Nations during Super Bowl Week, it has become a national obsession.

Brooke de Lench

"Friday Night Tykes": Episode 4

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Thu, 01/30/2014 - 19:52. | comments

This week's episode of "Friday Night Tykes" hit a new low.

This week's episode of "Friday Night Tykes" hit a new low. In case you missed it, be forewarned: while it is chock full of "teachable moments" which continue to show precisely how not to run a youth football program, it is really getting to the point where it is painful to watch, making it increasingly difficult for me to say that it continues to be "must-see TV" for its educational value. It was so disgusting, that two days later, two of the coaches were hit with suspensions from the league.

Brooke de Lench

Sports Legacy Institute's Hit Count Certification Program: Hitting The Reset Button

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 01/27/2014 - 19:48. | comments

Yesterday in New York, the Sports Legacy Institute announced a certification program for head impact sensors to track the number of hits a player sustains above 20 g's of linear force.

It wasn't exactly what I had expected, but, nevertheless, a move that I wholeheartedly support.

The announcement by the Sports Legacy Institute of a certification program for head impact sensors to track the number of hits a player sustains above 20 g's of linear force wasn't exactly what Brooke de Lench had expected, but, nevertheless, a move that she wholeheartedly supports.

Brooke de Lench

"Friday Night Tykes": Episode 3

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 01/22/2014 - 15:51. | comments

As was the case with the two-hour premiere, the third episode of "Friday Night Tykes" on the Esquire Network continued to be "must see" television for youth football parents for its educational value. Here are some of the safety issues it raised, with links to MomsTEAM content for further reading.

Brooke de Lench

"Friday Night Tykes": A Viewer's Guide To Episodes 1 and 2

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 01/14/2014 - 22:53. | comments

You have probably read a lot already about the new reality television series, Friday Night Tykes (FNT) which premieres tonight on the Esquire Network.

Like many of those who have weighed in so far, I am troubled, to put it mildly, about what it says about youth football, San Antonio, Texas-style. [For some of what I think, watch tonight's "Inside Edition"]

A lot has already been written about the new reality television series, "Friday Night Tykes." Because, in so many ways, it provides a perfect example of precisely how NOT to run a youth football program, to enhance the viewing experience, Brooke de Lench offers a viewing guide, listing just some of the safety issues raised in the first two episodes, along with links to related MomsTEAM content.