How to Say No to the Pressure Toward Early Specialization in Youth Sports
Focusing only on one sport, year-round, can increase kids’ risk of injury and burnout, according to the recent position paper on the dangers of sport specialization put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics. But the incidence of early specialization in so many of our youth sports continues, regardless of doctor’s orders. Physicians tell us that kids […]
Why Fit2Finish? Because it Starts and Ends with Healthy Kids
I often get asked, “How did you get started with Fit2Finish?” It’s a pretty good story… It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and I was watching my oldest daughter play a mid-season soccer game. The two teams were evenly matched and battled valiantly, contending for every ball – as only ten year old girls with […]
What does an ACL really cost? The financial and intangible costs to players and families
Author note: Part I of 2 part article. Next Up — Balancing the Books: Effective ACL Prevention Is the Job of Every Coach I cautioned Katherine about the incidence of ACL injuries in athletic girls whose knees tended to fold inwards when they jumped and landed as hers did. The 8th grade basketball and lacrosse phenom […]
The Art and Science of Sport Concussion
“You’d rather be the hammer than the nail,” says Kevin Guskiewicz, from the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. He’s on the forefront of the war we’re waging against sports concussions. His talk was billed as “translating data into concussion prevention.” I’m not sure we’re there yet. But here’s what I learned […]
Coach as First Responder When a Young Athlete Gets Injured
As coaches we are not meant to be sports medicine experts and we shouldn’t overstep our credentials. But, let’s face it; we’re our athletes’ first responders. When they go down on the field, the referee signals for us to come on and check out their condition. This is a unique privilege – just ask any […]
