This month's column tells of two high school athletes who, after suffering catastrophic injuries, quickly forgave the opponents who meant no harm, but who will bear deep emotional scars for the rest of their lives. and how forgiveness in the face of adversity may require the greatest courage of all.
The new movie, Win-Win, should appeal to all age groups, but, may be especially appealing as a movie for grandparents to see with their sports-active teenage grand-kids.
Concussion in high school sports are increasing at a 15% annual rate, finds a new study. Consistent with previous
studies, football accounted for more than half of all concussions and a
concussion rate nearly double the rate for girls' soccer, the sport with
the next highest rate. Concussion rates increased across all 12
sports studied. Although the degree of change varied, ranging from an
average annual increase of 8% for football to 27% for wrestling, Girls
had a higher rate of concussion that that of boys in those sports
(soccer, basketball, baseball/softball) where the boys' and girls' games
are essentially the same.
Varsity wrestler Reid Paswall had an idea. In November 2009, with the
team's opening match only days away, he approached the Somers (NY) High
School athletic director to suggest that the captains for the opener be
two classmates who were not even team members.
The two -- Adam Stein and Matthew Moriarty -- were special-needs
students with Down syndrome. "I thought," Paswall (in red singlet in
photo) told the athletic director, "that we can have our special-needs
kids go out and shake the other team's captain's hands, and . . .
represent Somers."