And on the topic of girls and high school baseball, the season is over for Logan Young. A freshman at Bloomington South High School, Logan (actually her parents) sued the Indiana High School Athletic Association for the right to try out for boys baseball. The IHSAA dropped its rule banning girls rather that defend it policy in court.
When we spoke in February, Logan, 15 and an aspiring catcher, was working out in the gym with the boys looking ahead to a March 23 tryout. She told me making the team would be "my greatest accomplishment of freshman year." That didn't happen. Making history - by forcing a change in a long-standing policy - isn't a bad consolation prize.
Thanks to Your Son's Not Going Pro, one of my fave youth sports blogs, which has been all over this story.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The "Baseball For Girls" Primer
Thanks to an article about girls playing high school baseball on boys teams that I wrote several weeks ago for the New York Times, I have discovered a fascinating network of advocates, books, articles and blogs on the subject.
I'll share a few today.
-A recent article by USC professor Michael Messner on how adults create artificial distinctions between girls and boys in sports, to the detriment of both.
-University of Nevada-Reno professor Jennifer Ring's new book exploring the reasons that baseball is, indeed, a sport for girls and has been so almost since the beginning. Jennifer's daughter, Lilly Jacobson, is one of the few women to have played collegiate baseball as a member, until last season, of the Vassar College squad. Ring's book is Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don't Play Baseball.
-The Girls Play Baseball blog. An entertaining and informative read.
-The American Women's Baseball Federation, which stages annual tournaments for girls and women - one of the few opportunities for female players to play with and against players of their gender.
There are others, of course. But these sources alone will keep you occupied for days. I admire the commitment of these folks.
I'll share a few today.
-A recent article by USC professor Michael Messner on how adults create artificial distinctions between girls and boys in sports, to the detriment of both.
-University of Nevada-Reno professor Jennifer Ring's new book exploring the reasons that baseball is, indeed, a sport for girls and has been so almost since the beginning. Jennifer's daughter, Lilly Jacobson, is one of the few women to have played collegiate baseball as a member, until last season, of the Vassar College squad. Ring's book is Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don't Play Baseball.
-The Girls Play Baseball blog. An entertaining and informative read.
-The American Women's Baseball Federation, which stages annual tournaments for girls and women - one of the few opportunities for female players to play with and against players of their gender.
There are others, of course. But these sources alone will keep you occupied for days. I admire the commitment of these folks.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Least Essential Youth Sports Products of 2009
Today, another installment in our ongoing series "Least Essential Youth Sports Products of 2009." Delight the 3-year-old rowing enthusiast in your home with this thoughtful gift.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
What kids dislike about organized sports - us
In St. Paul, the Pioneer-Press is running an outstanding series this week on the evolution (I prefer devolution) of youth sports into an ever more competitive, intense, college-scholarship driven activity. Shaw profiles children who have started young, trained relentlessly, and clawed to the top of the heap.
More revealing, though, are Shaw's stories of families that have just said no.
From Shaw's article:
"Kathleen Plasch gets steamed when she hears calls for parental sacrifice.
"They say they do it because they love their kids," said Plasch, of St. Paul. "Well, I love mine, too. But you have to be real."
"At one time, she was a single mother of three hockey players. "It was easy," she said sarcastically. "You just don't do anything but drive them from October through March."
"The demands on parents are "ludicrous," said Skip Peltier, director of the Herb Brooks Foundation.
"Some youth hockey players play 65 games per season, he said. His daughter, when playing seventh-grade basketball, had 63 games — and only 15 practices. That skewed schedule emphasizes winning over development of skills, he said.
"Marc Carlson, of Woodbury, said his 7-year-old son became a football dropout 20 minutes into his first practice.
"When the boys were asked to assume the three-point scrimmage-line stance, Carlson said, he saw a coach shove his son to the ground with his foot. A short time later, the boy was grabbed by a coach and fell to the ground.
"I put my crying son in the car," Carlson said.
"As a parent, I am sickened by this event. He said he never wanted to play football again. He was afraid of the coaches."
I challenge the parents and coaches who perpetuate this ultra-intense culture to contact me with the name of one pediatrician, orthopedic surgeon, child psychologist, health professional of any kind who believes this approach is good for kids. Just one. I won't be waiting by my inbox.
More revealing, though, are Shaw's stories of families that have just said no.
From Shaw's article:
"Kathleen Plasch gets steamed when she hears calls for parental sacrifice.
"They say they do it because they love their kids," said Plasch, of St. Paul. "Well, I love mine, too. But you have to be real."
"At one time, she was a single mother of three hockey players. "It was easy," she said sarcastically. "You just don't do anything but drive them from October through March."
"The demands on parents are "ludicrous," said Skip Peltier, director of the Herb Brooks Foundation.
"Some youth hockey players play 65 games per season, he said. His daughter, when playing seventh-grade basketball, had 63 games — and only 15 practices. That skewed schedule emphasizes winning over development of skills, he said.
"Marc Carlson, of Woodbury, said his 7-year-old son became a football dropout 20 minutes into his first practice.
"When the boys were asked to assume the three-point scrimmage-line stance, Carlson said, he saw a coach shove his son to the ground with his foot. A short time later, the boy was grabbed by a coach and fell to the ground.
"I put my crying son in the car," Carlson said.
"As a parent, I am sickened by this event. He said he never wanted to play football again. He was afraid of the coaches."
I challenge the parents and coaches who perpetuate this ultra-intense culture to contact me with the name of one pediatrician, orthopedic surgeon, child psychologist, health professional of any kind who believes this approach is good for kids. Just one. I won't be waiting by my inbox.
Monday, March 23, 2009
The life (all 13 years) and times of Allonzo Trier
In Sunday's New York Times Magazine, Mike Sokolove has the cover story on the life (all 13 years) and times of Allonzo Trier, a kid basketball player who has his own clothing line, travels around the country playing in all-star tournaments and plays footsy with covetous college coaches.
Mike paints a picture of a sweet kid with exceptional basketball skills. The adults in the article - tutors, advisors, AAU coaches, summer-camp counselors and talent scouts - mostly seem, stating the obvious, to be opportunists. I wasn't sure what to make of Allonzo's mother, Marie.
I'm trying to imagine the pressure on this kid now that he's been on the cover of the Times Mag. I can't.
Mike paints a picture of a sweet kid with exceptional basketball skills. The adults in the article - tutors, advisors, AAU coaches, summer-camp counselors and talent scouts - mostly seem, stating the obvious, to be opportunists. I wasn't sure what to make of Allonzo's mother, Marie.
I'm trying to imagine the pressure on this kid now that he's been on the cover of the Times Mag. I can't.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Kids sports at 2. What would tee-ball pioneer say?
Eulogies aren't a specialty in this space, but I did want to note the passing this month of a youth sports icon: Jerry Sacharski, who, depending on your point of view, popularized Tee-Ball or invented it.
Sacharski, who died at 93, was a high school teacher and youth sports coach in Albion, Michigan in the 1950s when he had his moment of inspiration. "We had all these little guys coming out for summer baseball five years ago," Sacharski told United Press International in 1960, "and just couldn't send them home."
This from the Los Angeles Times obituary:
"After fashioning his first batting tee out of metal piping, pieces of rubber and part of a garden hose, Sacharski invited youngsters between ages 6 and 8 to come out for a suddenly pitchless pastime.
On June 25, 1956, what Sacharski initially called "pee-wee baseball" debuted in a league game at a park in Albion, about 100 miles west of Detroit.
"You won't find an earlier date for a tee being used in a game," said Frank Passic, an Albion historian.
Sacharski resisted being called the inventor of the game and would only allow that he founded what "may have been the first organized tee-ball league."
Let's not overlook the true impact of this man, i.e. forever lowering the age at which children get started in organized sports. In the pre-tee ball era, it was unheard of for a league to admit kids under eight years old. Our Little League, I remember, started at the ripe old age of 9 in the 1960s - eight if your parent agreed to coach, as mine did.
Now, the age of entry is typically four or five, and one national sports program, Lil Kickers, starts kids before they turn two. I would have loved to have heard Mr. Sacharski's reaction to that.
Sacharski, who died at 93, was a high school teacher and youth sports coach in Albion, Michigan in the 1950s when he had his moment of inspiration. "We had all these little guys coming out for summer baseball five years ago," Sacharski told United Press International in 1960, "and just couldn't send them home."
This from the Los Angeles Times obituary:
"After fashioning his first batting tee out of metal piping, pieces of rubber and part of a garden hose, Sacharski invited youngsters between ages 6 and 8 to come out for a suddenly pitchless pastime.
On June 25, 1956, what Sacharski initially called "pee-wee baseball" debuted in a league game at a park in Albion, about 100 miles west of Detroit.
"You won't find an earlier date for a tee being used in a game," said Frank Passic, an Albion historian.
Sacharski resisted being called the inventor of the game and would only allow that he founded what "may have been the first organized tee-ball league."
Let's not overlook the true impact of this man, i.e. forever lowering the age at which children get started in organized sports. In the pre-tee ball era, it was unheard of for a league to admit kids under eight years old. Our Little League, I remember, started at the ripe old age of 9 in the 1960s - eight if your parent agreed to coach, as mine did.
Now, the age of entry is typically four or five, and one national sports program, Lil Kickers, starts kids before they turn two. I would have loved to have heard Mr. Sacharski's reaction to that.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Until It Hurts, the website
Until It Hurts, the website just went live. Please visit. I welcome your comments.
The url: untilithurts.com.
The url: untilithurts.com.
Youth sports and the Obamas
I've been on the web this morning trolling for information about the sports-playing lives of President and Michelle Obama's girls, Malia and Sasha.
Here's what I found. Malia, 10, plays soccer. Sasha, 8, enjoys tap-dancing and gymnastics. Both girls have taken tennis lessons. In Chicago, their instructor was a fine player from Paraguay whose name is Valentina de Yeregui. The girls practiced every Sunday for 90 minutes. Ok, enough about tennis.
What I'm really curious about is whether we will see the President of the United States, McDonald's coffee in one hand, the Washington Post sport section clutched in the other, roaming the sidelines at a kids' sports game. (While we're on this vital subject, has there ever been a sitting president with a child registered for youth soccer?)
Given what we know about Obama's devotion to family, we can assume he will be at least an occasional spectator. This is more than idle speculation. (A little more, anyway.) In October, during the heat of the presidential campaign, Obama made an appearance at one of Malia's soccer games in Chicago.
This from a Chicago Sun-Times account:
"Malia's father quietly strode onto the field at 8:15 wearing a dark jacket and blue hat after his workout. None of the other parents or kids seemed to notice him. The game was underway, and Michelle Obama was there.
"Obama chatted with another man while watching his daughter's team play against another team wearing yellow jerseys....At one point Obama took a break from the game to have a brief footrace with younger daughter Sasha."
We promise to stay on top of this story.
Here's what I found. Malia, 10, plays soccer. Sasha, 8, enjoys tap-dancing and gymnastics. Both girls have taken tennis lessons. In Chicago, their instructor was a fine player from Paraguay whose name is Valentina de Yeregui. The girls practiced every Sunday for 90 minutes. Ok, enough about tennis.
What I'm really curious about is whether we will see the President of the United States, McDonald's coffee in one hand, the Washington Post sport section clutched in the other, roaming the sidelines at a kids' sports game. (While we're on this vital subject, has there ever been a sitting president with a child registered for youth soccer?)
Given what we know about Obama's devotion to family, we can assume he will be at least an occasional spectator. This is more than idle speculation. (A little more, anyway.) In October, during the heat of the presidential campaign, Obama made an appearance at one of Malia's soccer games in Chicago.
This from a Chicago Sun-Times account:
"Malia's father quietly strode onto the field at 8:15 wearing a dark jacket and blue hat after his workout. None of the other parents or kids seemed to notice him. The game was underway, and Michelle Obama was there.
"Obama chatted with another man while watching his daughter's team play against another team wearing yellow jerseys....At one point Obama took a break from the game to have a brief footrace with younger daughter Sasha."
We promise to stay on top of this story.
Monday, March 16, 2009
To curb head injuries, a new law in Washington
In a move that will be applauded by parents groups - and should be copied by other states - Washington's senate last week passed a bill that requires young athletes with head injuries to get a medical assessment before being allowed back into games. The Washington state house had already passed such a bill.
Concussions among young players - how they are sometimes ignored by players and dismissed as inconsequential by coaches - have been getting much attention nationally. In Washington, the issue gained prominence in 2006 when a junior high school student, Zack Lystedt, suffered two head injuries one after another during a football workout. Zack suffered brain damage from the blows and still has trouble walking.
Troubling questions in cases such as Zack's are: Did the adults in charge recognize the signs of a concussion? Send a clear message to kids that blows to the head are serious business? Insist that they speak up at the first sign of a concession - dizziness, blurred vision and so on?
The best story I've read on the subject is one of the first, by Alan Schwarz of the New York Times. Alan has written about this issue at many levels of sports, from the National Football League to sports for kids. In this piece, he recounts incidents in which coaches clearly did not see the greater danger. In one case, after a football player suffers a suspected concussion and is ordered out of the game by a doctor, a high school coach instructs the player to change jersey numbers so he can re-enter the game secretly. A fine piece of reporting, and a disturbing story.
Thank you Doug Abrams.
Concussions among young players - how they are sometimes ignored by players and dismissed as inconsequential by coaches - have been getting much attention nationally. In Washington, the issue gained prominence in 2006 when a junior high school student, Zack Lystedt, suffered two head injuries one after another during a football workout. Zack suffered brain damage from the blows and still has trouble walking.
Troubling questions in cases such as Zack's are: Did the adults in charge recognize the signs of a concussion? Send a clear message to kids that blows to the head are serious business? Insist that they speak up at the first sign of a concession - dizziness, blurred vision and so on?
The best story I've read on the subject is one of the first, by Alan Schwarz of the New York Times. Alan has written about this issue at many levels of sports, from the National Football League to sports for kids. In this piece, he recounts incidents in which coaches clearly did not see the greater danger. In one case, after a football player suffers a suspected concussion and is ordered out of the game by a doctor, a high school coach instructs the player to change jersey numbers so he can re-enter the game secretly. A fine piece of reporting, and a disturbing story.
Thank you Doug Abrams.
Friday, March 13, 2009
In Wisconsin, a battle over who owns prep sports
The Wisconsin State Journal is writing about a youth sports dispute getting scant attention, but that is becoming a flash point in many states. That is, high school athletic associations seeking restrictions on which media outlets can take photos and record video at high school tournaments and how such content can be used.
In Wisconsin, the high school athletic association recently sued the The Post-Crescent, a newspaper in Appleton, which Webcast a prep football game last fall. The suit also takes aim at the Wisconsin Newspaper Association whose member papers print articles, run photos and - when readers seek them - sell photo reprints of game action.
The WIAA's lawsuit argues that the organization owns any "transmission, Internet stream, photo, image, film, videotape, audiotape, writing, drawing or other depiction or description of any game action, information or commercial used" of sports contests that it is in charge of.
In an editorial this week, the State Journal calls that position "a breathtaking overreach."
Continuing: "The WIAA needs to lighten up and realize that newspapers across Wisconsin are the biggest force publicizing their events with the most in depth and continuing coverage. And with new technology, newspapers are now posting video clips and blogging about games as they occur to keep fans better informed.
"The WIAA tried to fine the Wisconsin State Journal last fall for posting regular updates about the high school football finals in a blog. In 2007, the WIAA also threatened to deny entrance to tournament games to newspapers that photograph big plays and later sell copies of those photos to parents and other fans.
"Let's keep high school sporting events fun and accessible to all. Selling off these memories to the highest bidder runs counter to the spirit of the games."
As noted, this is a national problem that is repeating in state after state. Suddenly, if not unexpectedly, athletic associations and newspaper companies are seeing these games as valuable properties that can be turned into readers, eyeballs, Web traffic and, ultimately, dollars.
In the current issue of the Sports Business Journal, (registration required) I write about the issue and speak about it with newspaper editors and athletic association executives.
In Wisconsin, the high school athletic association recently sued the The Post-Crescent, a newspaper in Appleton, which Webcast a prep football game last fall. The suit also takes aim at the Wisconsin Newspaper Association whose member papers print articles, run photos and - when readers seek them - sell photo reprints of game action.
The WIAA's lawsuit argues that the organization owns any "transmission, Internet stream, photo, image, film, videotape, audiotape, writing, drawing or other depiction or description of any game action, information or commercial used" of sports contests that it is in charge of.
In an editorial this week, the State Journal calls that position "a breathtaking overreach."
Continuing: "The WIAA needs to lighten up and realize that newspapers across Wisconsin are the biggest force publicizing their events with the most in depth and continuing coverage. And with new technology, newspapers are now posting video clips and blogging about games as they occur to keep fans better informed.
"The WIAA tried to fine the Wisconsin State Journal last fall for posting regular updates about the high school football finals in a blog. In 2007, the WIAA also threatened to deny entrance to tournament games to newspapers that photograph big plays and later sell copies of those photos to parents and other fans.
"Let's keep high school sporting events fun and accessible to all. Selling off these memories to the highest bidder runs counter to the spirit of the games."
As noted, this is a national problem that is repeating in state after state. Suddenly, if not unexpectedly, athletic associations and newspaper companies are seeing these games as valuable properties that can be turned into readers, eyeballs, Web traffic and, ultimately, dollars.
In the current issue of the Sports Business Journal, (registration required) I write about the issue and speak about it with newspaper editors and athletic association executives.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Quinn Cotter, a young athlete who's a young author
One of the pleasures of writing a book about kids and sports is getting a chance to meet others who've been thinking - and sometimes writing - about the same issues. I'll have that opportunity next month, after publication of "Until It Hurts", when I meet Quinn Cotter.
Quinn is not just another deep thinker on this subject. He's an author - his book "Playing Time, What Kids Think About Youth Sports" will be published soon.
And Quinn is an especially young author. A high school sophomore, he is 16. We'll be speaking together on a youth sports panel at the City Lit Festival at Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Library, Central Branch, Saturday, April 18 at noon.
This from an article at the Web site of the Gilman School, where Quinn is a student and a baseball player.
"Playing Time really got its start in 2006, when Cotter was 14 and presented a shoebox full of his note cards to his parents on Christmas Day, telling them of his intent to make the book a reality.
"From there, he set about finding an agent, scouring the internet and sending out query letters, hoping the combination of teenage author and organized, well-written manuscript would make for a persuasive case.Though Cotter began his note cards at the age of 10, he says that many of his stories come from experiences he had not forgotten, all the way back to the age of 5.
“The book is really based on my experiences, not on others’ experiences or what people have told me,” Cotter says. “I think it has a good communicative style. It’s different. It really came straight from the note cards. If you were to see the original copy of the manuscript, note cards and paper are stuck together.”
Congratulations, Quinn. And see you next month.
Quinn is not just another deep thinker on this subject. He's an author - his book "Playing Time, What Kids Think About Youth Sports" will be published soon.
And Quinn is an especially young author. A high school sophomore, he is 16. We'll be speaking together on a youth sports panel at the City Lit Festival at Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Library, Central Branch, Saturday, April 18 at noon.
This from an article at the Web site of the Gilman School, where Quinn is a student and a baseball player.
"Playing Time really got its start in 2006, when Cotter was 14 and presented a shoebox full of his note cards to his parents on Christmas Day, telling them of his intent to make the book a reality.
"From there, he set about finding an agent, scouring the internet and sending out query letters, hoping the combination of teenage author and organized, well-written manuscript would make for a persuasive case.Though Cotter began his note cards at the age of 10, he says that many of his stories come from experiences he had not forgotten, all the way back to the age of 5.
“The book is really based on my experiences, not on others’ experiences or what people have told me,” Cotter says. “I think it has a good communicative style. It’s different. It really came straight from the note cards. If you were to see the original copy of the manuscript, note cards and paper are stuck together.”
Congratulations, Quinn. And see you next month.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
CBS News to feature Marti Sementelli
CBS News is doing a piece for the evening news on Marti Sementelli, the sophomore pitcher from Burbank High School. Marti, one of about 1,000 girls playing on boys high school baseball teams, was featured in an article I wrote a few days back for the New York Times. Details soon about when the story will air.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A sixth-grader with a basketball future - or not
In today's New York Times, Adam Himmelsbach writes about the inexact and arguably destructive practice of national rankings of sixth-grade basketball players. There are a number of rating services in the business of evaluating players this young. It is a business, and apparently a profitable one, as parents, coaches and, no doubt, the kids being written about subscribe to these services. Not surprisingly, there seems little attention paid to the effect on the children being heralded.
These two paragraphs from Himmelsbach's piece address the issue squarely:
"The players can stop improving, stop caring or stop growing. They can become irrelevant as college prospects before they reach high school, raising questions of whether they should be rated at all.
“To rank a boy at that age sets up a dynamic of possible failure,” said Dr. Ellen Braaten, an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. “I think it’s a tremendous amount of pressure to put on a child. Some are resilient, but there’s definitely the potential for others to develop depression or anxiety disorders.”
There doesn't seem to be any turning back on turning sixth-grade kids into miniature pros. Or reason to hope that next year the bar won't be lowered to fifth grade.
These two paragraphs from Himmelsbach's piece address the issue squarely:
"The players can stop improving, stop caring or stop growing. They can become irrelevant as college prospects before they reach high school, raising questions of whether they should be rated at all.
“To rank a boy at that age sets up a dynamic of possible failure,” said Dr. Ellen Braaten, an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. “I think it’s a tremendous amount of pressure to put on a child. Some are resilient, but there’s definitely the potential for others to develop depression or anxiety disorders.”
There doesn't seem to be any turning back on turning sixth-grade kids into miniature pros. Or reason to hope that next year the bar won't be lowered to fifth grade.
Monday, March 09, 2009
A first in Minnesota: Boys wrestling star is a girl
Even the broad-minded folks who support girls having their chance to compete in boys sports sometimes draw the line at wrestling. Should girls be permitted on the mat in what is the ultimate contact sport? Further, in a sport requiring endurance, power, strength, how could girls possibly compete?
This is how.
Last week, Elissa Reinsma of Slayton, Minn. broke the cauliflower-ear ceiling, becoming the first girl wrestler in history to qualify for the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament. Reinsma, 5-foot-3 and and just over 100 pounds, earned the berth by finishing second in the 2AA Individual Tournament at 103 pounds.
Reinsma was defeated in her opening-round match by another sophomore Jacoby Bergeron, 9-2. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported, Bergeron (40-2) was ranked third in that weight class and Reinsma (32-9) was No. 7. The match was the first time the two had wrestled. Reinsma is also a sophomore, so could be back - stronger and more experienced - next year.
From the Star-Tribune's coverage:
"Talking with the media in a corridor off the arena floor, the 16-year-old smiled and said, "I just wrestled in the state tournament. I'm pretty happy. I shouldn't be, because losing the match was not what I planned. He was a really good wrestler. But I'm happy."
This is how.
Last week, Elissa Reinsma of Slayton, Minn. broke the cauliflower-ear ceiling, becoming the first girl wrestler in history to qualify for the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament. Reinsma, 5-foot-3 and and just over 100 pounds, earned the berth by finishing second in the 2AA Individual Tournament at 103 pounds.
Reinsma was defeated in her opening-round match by another sophomore Jacoby Bergeron, 9-2. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported, Bergeron (40-2) was ranked third in that weight class and Reinsma (32-9) was No. 7. The match was the first time the two had wrestled. Reinsma is also a sophomore, so could be back - stronger and more experienced - next year.
From the Star-Tribune's coverage:
"Talking with the media in a corridor off the arena floor, the 16-year-old smiled and said, "I just wrestled in the state tournament. I'm pretty happy. I shouldn't be, because losing the match was not what I planned. He was a really good wrestler. But I'm happy."
Friday, March 06, 2009
"Relax, it's just a game."
Another TV spot that holds up a mirror to overwrought sports parents, this one from the Canadian Hockey Association. Also, check out this clever public-service announcement from Little League Baseball.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Watching a child play sports, in eight words
Imagine your daughter is waving a baseball bat in the batter’s box with the tying runs on base. Or your son is poised on the starting blocks about to swim the anchor leg of the final meet of the season. Or…you get the idea.
As the mom or dad of the child in the spotlight, and on the hot seat, tell me when you’re feeling in your gut in eight words or fewer.
As the mom or dad of the child in the spotlight, and on the hot seat, tell me when you’re feeling in your gut in eight words or fewer.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Supreme Court won't hear case of praying coach
A followup: this week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of the N.J. football coach who was barred from bowing his head and leading his high school players in prayer. Earlier, a federal appeals court had ruled that the coach, Marcus Borden, was endorsing religious activity at a public school.
Cal Ripken Jr: "Return the game to the kids."
Another name - Cal Ripken Jr. - to add to our honor roll of pro athletes who speak out about over-the-top parents. Note the caution about cheering too much. It's a point well taken. As adults, we're doing the most at a sports game when we're doing the least.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Challenges for girls playing high school baseball
Linking to an article I wrote for Sunday's New York Times about the challenges confronting girls who play baseball in high school.
As the article states, there is no perfect place for these girls. There aren't girls baseball teams. So they end up playing on teams dominated by boys. The so-called ball and bat sport offered to girls in high school, softball, is an entirely different sport, they say, played with a larger ball on a smaller diamond.
Still, girls who choose baseball are sometimes doing so at a price. The best girls softball players have a shot at college scholarships. There are more than 260 NCAA Division I softball programs alone. There's not much of a future in college sports for even the most talented girls who play baseball in high school. A few women have played college baseball over the years. For the most part, it doesn't happen.
There are interesting statistics about girl players. Last year, across the country, 1,012 girls played boys baseball, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. That number could be low. Some schools forget to count girls playing on boys teams.
I'm linking to the NFHS data here. (Scroll ahead to the last page and check under the column heading "Baseball.") Note that 26 states report no girls participating. New Hampshire, Kentucky and Maine each show two girls. Connecticut reports one.
One of the players featured in the article is Marti Sementelli, a sophomore pitcher at Burbank High School near Los Angeles. In 2007, Nike featured Marti in this TV spot.
As the article states, there is no perfect place for these girls. There aren't girls baseball teams. So they end up playing on teams dominated by boys. The so-called ball and bat sport offered to girls in high school, softball, is an entirely different sport, they say, played with a larger ball on a smaller diamond.
Still, girls who choose baseball are sometimes doing so at a price. The best girls softball players have a shot at college scholarships. There are more than 260 NCAA Division I softball programs alone. There's not much of a future in college sports for even the most talented girls who play baseball in high school. A few women have played college baseball over the years. For the most part, it doesn't happen.
There are interesting statistics about girl players. Last year, across the country, 1,012 girls played boys baseball, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. That number could be low. Some schools forget to count girls playing on boys teams.
I'm linking to the NFHS data here. (Scroll ahead to the last page and check under the column heading "Baseball.") Note that 26 states report no girls participating. New Hampshire, Kentucky and Maine each show two girls. Connecticut reports one.
One of the players featured in the article is Marti Sementelli, a sophomore pitcher at Burbank High School near Los Angeles. In 2007, Nike featured Marti in this TV spot.
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