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Double Digit Decline In Youth Sports Injuries Over Last Decade, New Study Finds

There is good news and bad news on the youth sports injury front. The good news is that sports and recreation musculoskeletal injuries declined 12.4 percent in the U.S. over the past 10 years for children ages 5 to 14 years. The bad news: injuries in football and soccer went up, says a new study.

MomsTEAM's 2012 Year In Review: Another Year For Finding Solutions, Not Just Identifying Problems


Yesterday, the last day of what has been a very long, yet rewarding year as the publisher of MomsTEAM, I took some time to read many of the blog entries that I and our other bloggers contributed during the past year, and reviewing 365 days of Facebook and Twitter posts.

First, a confession: I began 2012 vowing to write a blog every day. Like many who make New Year's resolutions, I started out with the best of intentions, and kept up a pretty good pace in the first month or so of the year, but then a major opportunity presented itself - a plea for help from a football mom in Oklahoma - that made a daily blog no longer possible. (More about that in a moment)

In reviewing the past twelve months and looking forward to 2013, MomsTEAM's Founder and Publisher has a renewed sense of purpose to meet the challenge of making youth sports saner, safer, less stressful and more inclusive.

Stop Pinking with Me!

I’m putting it out there right away. I don’t like pink jerseys, hats and other official team gear targeted toward female fans. I’m not talking about promotional items related to the Breast Cancer Awareness efforts of professional teams. I’m talking about the cutesy, pink, bedazzled jerseys that marketers somewhere think women sports fans want to wear.

I don’t like pink jerseys, hats and other official team gear targeted toward female fans. I know I'm not in the minority. So why has the 'pink it and shrink it' strategy that the professional sports marketers are using moved down to the youth sports arena and athlete's moms?

Spectators Must Assume Risk at Youth Sporting Events

So it's come to this. A woman hit by a ball while sitting near a Little League diamond two years ago is suing the then-11-year-old player who threw the ball. Elizabeth Lloyd's lawsuit alleges that the errant throw was "intentional and reckless." According to Lloyd, the player, Matthew Migliaccio (now 13) "assaulted and battered" her and caused "severe, painful and permanent" injuries. Really? Assault and battery? Intentional? Can you see my eyes roll? And that's just the first count.

So it's come to this. A woman hit by a ball while sitting near a Little League diamond two years ago is suing the then-11-year-old player who threw the ball.

Fresh Ideas For Growing a Youth Sports Program

Looking for ways to grow your local youth sports program? MomsTeam founder and publisher Brooke de Lench has some suggestions on registration, advertising, cross-promotion, and making sports programs more family-friendly, especially in these tough economic times when the cost of sports may be impeding full participation.

Youth Sports Don't Meet Kids' Needs For Physical Exercise, Study Finds

Parents who believe that their kids are getting enough physical exercise just from playing organized sports may be in for a surprise.  A new study finds that, though participation in youth sports contributes to overall physical activity, fewer than one fourth of youth soccer, baseball and softball players studied obtained the sixty minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical exercise (MVPA) during sports practices that U.S. guidelines recommend.

Youth Basketball Survey: Keeping Kids in The Game & Having Fun Are Keys To Better Experience

Finding ways to keep kids playing and making programs more fun are seen by coaches, administrators and volunteers as the best ways to improve the youth basketball experience in a survey conducted by youth basketball expert and reform advocate, Bob Bigelow.

Empowering Women To Take More Active Role in Youth Sports

Women need to push for leadership roles in youth sports both as coaches and administrators to protect their children from needless injury playing sports and help break down the gender stereotyping and sexist attitudes that permeate today's youth sports culture more than 25 years after the passage of Title IX.
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