As followers of this blog know (due to my railing on the subject) all youth sports injuries are not created equally. There are two major types: acute injuries that are incidental to the sport being played, i.e., turning an ankle on second base or catching an elbow in the face during a fight for a rebound; and overuse injuries caused pretty much by one thing: playing sports so intensely that a kid's body breaks.
Some recent info on both types:
According to a new study, the number of acute baseball injuries is falling, at least those that are showing up in hospital emergency rooms. The annual number of those injuries fell 24.9 per cent from 1994 to 2006, according to the research, just published in Pediatrics.
From the report: "The most commonly injured body parts were the face (33.5%) and the upper extremity (32.4%). The most common injury diagnoses were soft tissue injury (34.3%) and fracture (18.4%). The most common mechanism of injury was being hit by the baseball (46.0%). Children in the 9- to 12-year age group had the highest injury rate (2.4 per 1000 population). When injury rates were calculated by using baseball-participation data (2003), children in the 12- to 17-year age group had a higher injury rate (19.8 per 1000 participants) than those in the 6- to 11-year age group (12.1 per 1000 participants)."
More from the study: "Youth baseball is a relatively safe sport for children. Although injury rates and the total number of injuries declined during the study period, our findings indicate that there are opportunities for making baseball an even safer sport for children. We recommend that all youth baseball players wear properly fitted mouth guards, that all leagues, schools, and parks install safety bases, that all batters use helmets with face shields, and that all players use safety baseballs."
Meanwhile, there's less (i.e., nothing) to indicate a dip in overuse injuries among youth baseball players. In fact, the anecdotal reports point to just the opposite. Here's the latest alarm bell, a good piece on youth pitchers undergoing Tommy John surgery in last week's Oregonian. If you question whether we're really putting kids at risk, consider this paragraph from the article:
"Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., has become a household name in the baseball world. He has seen a steadily rising percentage of young pitchers coming in for his elbow ligament replacement surgery. More than one-quarter of his 853 patients in the past six years were at the high school level or younger. One was 7."
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
A tooth implant and a college sports scholarship
An article in Thursday's Washington Post examines a subject that generates a lot of heat among parents of talented young athletes but often not much light: whether it’s sensible to commit to intensive year-round training in one sport in hope of nabbing a college sports scholarship for your child.
The Post story doesn’t answer yes or no. But it draws a startling picture of how all-consuming sports become when kids and parents commit to this wearying path.
These two paragraphs about Sami Kuykendall, one of the elite Washington area players profiled in the article, say it all.
"A 17-year-old junior midfielder, Kuykendall has spent each of the past three spring seasons splitting time between the Vienna high school’s varsity girls’ soccer team and the under-17 McLean Premier Soccer (MPS) Dragons, the sixth-ranked club team in the country. The ball to the face, the concussions, the shattered jaw suffered in an aerial collision during a game last year (and subsequent tooth implant) are just a few notable entries on the list of injuries incurred during basically a year-round soccer season with a singular goal: a college scholarship.
“I made a decision, consciously when I was a lot younger, that this was the way to get to college soccer,” Kuykendall said. That decision has meant she has played approximately 90 games in the past calendar year, including three club league schedules and a barrage of tournaments. By comparison, consider: D.C. United [a professional soccer team] plays approximately 35 to 40 games a season, including exhibitions and club competitions.”
Kids like Sami sacrifice a lot to be soccer standouts. Their lives can become an endless cycle of practices, games, fitness training, private lessons and a like. The constant play takes a physical toll. Their parents give up plenty too. The Post article totes up the annual expenses of Cortlyn Bristol, another elite player. Her mother tells the Post that Cortlyn’s soccer tab the past three years, including such line items as practice apparel, team dues and international travel, topped $41,000.
Whether such choices are reasonable is for parents and their children to decide, without a lot of unsolicited advice from the blogosphere. But before setting your sights on raising a college athlete, it’s worth considering the sobering odds and financial realities.
Fewer than seven high school athletes in 100 play intercollegiate sports in college, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Just 5.8 per cent of high school football players, one in 17, will suit up for a college squad and the odds are bleaker for men’s soccer (5.7 per cent), baseball (5.6), women’s basketball (3.1) and men’s basketball (2.9). Of overall scholarship aid handed out to college students each year, sports awards are a sliver. 18 per cent at public colleges and universities; just seven per cent at private ones, according to research by Sandy Baum of Skidmore College and Lucie Lapovsky of Mercy College compiled for The College Board.. In short, being a gifted chemistry major pays better.
Even players with the talent to land sports scholarships, in all but exceptional cases, are left with tuition With limited scholarships to offer, coaches carve up awards giving less money to more athletes. The average athletic scholarship for the 138,216 athletes in Division I or Division II in 2003-4 was $10,409, about half the cost of attendance at some state universities and a fifth of tuition at pricier private ones.
One mother, whose daughter swims for the University of Delaware offered this sobering appraisal to the New York Times: “People run themselves ragged to play on three teams at once so they could always reach the next level. They’re going to be disappointed when they learn that if they’re very lucky, they will get a scholarship worth 15 percent of the $40,000 college bill.”
Sami Kuykendall is luckier than most. According to the Post, she has committed to a 60 percent scholarship to play soccer at Virginia Commonwealth University in fall 2010.
This post also appears at BusinessWeek's "Working Parents."
The Post story doesn’t answer yes or no. But it draws a startling picture of how all-consuming sports become when kids and parents commit to this wearying path.
These two paragraphs about Sami Kuykendall, one of the elite Washington area players profiled in the article, say it all.
"A 17-year-old junior midfielder, Kuykendall has spent each of the past three spring seasons splitting time between the Vienna high school’s varsity girls’ soccer team and the under-17 McLean Premier Soccer (MPS) Dragons, the sixth-ranked club team in the country. The ball to the face, the concussions, the shattered jaw suffered in an aerial collision during a game last year (and subsequent tooth implant) are just a few notable entries on the list of injuries incurred during basically a year-round soccer season with a singular goal: a college scholarship.
“I made a decision, consciously when I was a lot younger, that this was the way to get to college soccer,” Kuykendall said. That decision has meant she has played approximately 90 games in the past calendar year, including three club league schedules and a barrage of tournaments. By comparison, consider: D.C. United [a professional soccer team] plays approximately 35 to 40 games a season, including exhibitions and club competitions.”
Kids like Sami sacrifice a lot to be soccer standouts. Their lives can become an endless cycle of practices, games, fitness training, private lessons and a like. The constant play takes a physical toll. Their parents give up plenty too. The Post article totes up the annual expenses of Cortlyn Bristol, another elite player. Her mother tells the Post that Cortlyn’s soccer tab the past three years, including such line items as practice apparel, team dues and international travel, topped $41,000.
Whether such choices are reasonable is for parents and their children to decide, without a lot of unsolicited advice from the blogosphere. But before setting your sights on raising a college athlete, it’s worth considering the sobering odds and financial realities.
Fewer than seven high school athletes in 100 play intercollegiate sports in college, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Just 5.8 per cent of high school football players, one in 17, will suit up for a college squad and the odds are bleaker for men’s soccer (5.7 per cent), baseball (5.6), women’s basketball (3.1) and men’s basketball (2.9). Of overall scholarship aid handed out to college students each year, sports awards are a sliver. 18 per cent at public colleges and universities; just seven per cent at private ones, according to research by Sandy Baum of Skidmore College and Lucie Lapovsky of Mercy College compiled for The College Board.. In short, being a gifted chemistry major pays better.
Even players with the talent to land sports scholarships, in all but exceptional cases, are left with tuition With limited scholarships to offer, coaches carve up awards giving less money to more athletes. The average athletic scholarship for the 138,216 athletes in Division I or Division II in 2003-4 was $10,409, about half the cost of attendance at some state universities and a fifth of tuition at pricier private ones.
One mother, whose daughter swims for the University of Delaware offered this sobering appraisal to the New York Times: “People run themselves ragged to play on three teams at once so they could always reach the next level. They’re going to be disappointed when they learn that if they’re very lucky, they will get a scholarship worth 15 percent of the $40,000 college bill.”
Sami Kuykendall is luckier than most. According to the Post, she has committed to a 60 percent scholarship to play soccer at Virginia Commonwealth University in fall 2010.
This post also appears at BusinessWeek's "Working Parents."
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sports injuries and kids in the Wall Street Journal
"The Juggle," the Wall Street Journal's family and work balance blog, posted yesterday on injuries in youth sports. Sue Shellenbarger writes about her daughter's ACL injury - suffered during a high-school basketball game - and reconstructive surgery. There's a brief mention of Until It Hurts and Ben's injury and operation.
At last count, there were 24 comments posted, including these:
"I have seen an unbelievable amount of serious injury among young ballet dancers. I believe this is related to three key issues: The intensity of ballet training, the very early specialization of most dancers, and the heartbreaking incidence of poor nutrition and eating disorders."
"My daughter is in 3rd grade and is playing spring soccer. It amazes me at this age how many of the other teams are playing soccer year-round (they play indoor soccer in the winter). While it certainly gives them an advantage now against the other 3rd grade teams that don’t play year-round, I wonder if those girls are going to be more likely to burn-out and/or end up with injuries."
"My little brother was just told that he will have to sit out this soccer season for knee surgery. He has been playing sports (started with hockey then basketball and soccer) for the last six years and because of the continual year round use of his muscles they have just given out."
"I know a 12 yo swimmer who may have to have shoulder surgery - thus ending her swimming career. Of course, the child in question has been swimming seriously competitively since at least 8. She’s not the only one I know of. And the pressure IS great - there is a kid I know who played HS varsity football as a freshman - got tackled and lost a kidney! And he’s thinking about going back next year!"
Reminds me of a story from my book: A sports medicine doc is speaking with a high school football player and his parents in his office. The young man was tackled hard during a game and suffered a serious injury to his spleen. The doctor notes that another blow to the spleen could have horrible consequences and recommends that the player quit the sport. The parents do not accept this advice. They begin to negotiate - in front of their child. What if their son wore a little padding around his middle? No? How about A LOT of padding?
A sport psychology consultant who works with the physician told me about the case. She was stunned by the parents' reaction. “They didn’t want to hear that he could not play football again. That was the most extreme case of denial we’ve encountered in 15 years.”
At last count, there were 24 comments posted, including these:
"I have seen an unbelievable amount of serious injury among young ballet dancers. I believe this is related to three key issues: The intensity of ballet training, the very early specialization of most dancers, and the heartbreaking incidence of poor nutrition and eating disorders."
"My daughter is in 3rd grade and is playing spring soccer. It amazes me at this age how many of the other teams are playing soccer year-round (they play indoor soccer in the winter). While it certainly gives them an advantage now against the other 3rd grade teams that don’t play year-round, I wonder if those girls are going to be more likely to burn-out and/or end up with injuries."
"My little brother was just told that he will have to sit out this soccer season for knee surgery. He has been playing sports (started with hockey then basketball and soccer) for the last six years and because of the continual year round use of his muscles they have just given out."
"I know a 12 yo swimmer who may have to have shoulder surgery - thus ending her swimming career. Of course, the child in question has been swimming seriously competitively since at least 8. She’s not the only one I know of. And the pressure IS great - there is a kid I know who played HS varsity football as a freshman - got tackled and lost a kidney! And he’s thinking about going back next year!"
Reminds me of a story from my book: A sports medicine doc is speaking with a high school football player and his parents in his office. The young man was tackled hard during a game and suffered a serious injury to his spleen. The doctor notes that another blow to the spleen could have horrible consequences and recommends that the player quit the sport. The parents do not accept this advice. They begin to negotiate - in front of their child. What if their son wore a little padding around his middle? No? How about A LOT of padding?
A sport psychology consultant who works with the physician told me about the case. She was stunned by the parents' reaction. “They didn’t want to hear that he could not play football again. That was the most extreme case of denial we’ve encountered in 15 years.”
Monday, May 18, 2009
"All Things Considered" considers Until It Hurts
My son Ben joined me for an interview that aired yesterday on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." I had been hoping for a chance for the two of us to speak about Until It Hurts and generally about the highs and occasional lows of his life as a kid athlete. This was our first chance and worth the wait.
Ben did a superb job, explaining that many kids are competitive, want more for their efforts than a participation trophy and love the games as much as their parents do. At the end of the interview, he makes a crucial point: this discussion isn't about abandoning sports for kids, but improving them.
Ben did a superb job, explaining that many kids are competitive, want more for their efforts than a participation trophy and love the games as much as their parents do. At the end of the interview, he makes a crucial point: this discussion isn't about abandoning sports for kids, but improving them.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A child's sports injury and the blame game
One question I'm getting a lot as I do the book-talk thing around the country in support of Until It Hurts is: Why do you blame yourself? It's a reference to Ben's elbow injury, a classic case of overuse, and our family decision for him to undergo Tommy John surgery so that he could return to baseball.
I do flog myself a bit in Until It Hurts, mostly for falling in like with his pitching arm when he was a rec league phenom (I was his coach). I also point a finger at myself in a piece about a father's pride and a kid's injury that I wrote last month for the New York Times.
The last thing I want is to turn this into a pity party for the author. The hope is for our family story to be seen as a cautionary tale, one that might alert parents to the real and present danger of overuse injuries. Many of us are pretty clueless when it comes to connecting the dots between a child who's overdoing it and the serious injuries - stress fractures, growth-plate injuries, in my son's case, ruptured tendons - that occur three to five years down the road.
I remember chatting about this with Lyle Micheli, a prominent sports doc who started the first clinic for kids with sports injuries at Children's Hospital in Boston. I asked Dr. Micheli if parents generally understood the role they played in a child's overuse injury.
"In the majority of the cases, the parents do not feel responsible. In retrospect, some will say, 'Maybe he was doing too much.' But it is very rare for parents to say, "It was our fault. We pushed too hard."
So, once a kid is injured, do parents accept Micheli's advice to dial down the intensity?
"To the extent they think it will make the kid better and get him back to his sport, yes," he told me. "And by the way, they want the right answer from me. Which is [one that returns a child] to playing as soon as possible."
Sure. Yet most of us wouldn't think of letting our kids ride a bike without a helmet. Go figure.
I do flog myself a bit in Until It Hurts, mostly for falling in like with his pitching arm when he was a rec league phenom (I was his coach). I also point a finger at myself in a piece about a father's pride and a kid's injury that I wrote last month for the New York Times.
The last thing I want is to turn this into a pity party for the author. The hope is for our family story to be seen as a cautionary tale, one that might alert parents to the real and present danger of overuse injuries. Many of us are pretty clueless when it comes to connecting the dots between a child who's overdoing it and the serious injuries - stress fractures, growth-plate injuries, in my son's case, ruptured tendons - that occur three to five years down the road.
I remember chatting about this with Lyle Micheli, a prominent sports doc who started the first clinic for kids with sports injuries at Children's Hospital in Boston. I asked Dr. Micheli if parents generally understood the role they played in a child's overuse injury.
"In the majority of the cases, the parents do not feel responsible. In retrospect, some will say, 'Maybe he was doing too much.' But it is very rare for parents to say, "It was our fault. We pushed too hard."
So, once a kid is injured, do parents accept Micheli's advice to dial down the intensity?
"To the extent they think it will make the kid better and get him back to his sport, yes," he told me. "And by the way, they want the right answer from me. Which is [one that returns a child] to playing as soon as possible."
Sure. Yet most of us wouldn't think of letting our kids ride a bike without a helmet. Go figure.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Macy Causey is going 60 miles per hour
Dateline NBC did a piece last night on the life and times of Macy Causey, the 8-year-old girl who drives race cars and rapidly is becoming her own youth sports national brand. She has a racing team, a web site and a Macy fan club. Like few second graders, she has touched off an amazing run of national media coverage, starting with a profile in the New York Times. Later, a live interview on the Today Show and then Dateline.
Did I mention she's 8?
I got a call from a Dateline producer and am interviewed in the story raising a point that is central to Until It Hurts: Are we allowing kids to be kids?
Did I mention she's 8?
I got a call from a Dateline producer and am interviewed in the story raising a point that is central to Until It Hurts: Are we allowing kids to be kids?
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Saturday, May 09, 2009
The first girl in Ypsilanti to play Little League
Today, a history lesson. The first girl in Ypsilanti, Michigan to play Little League Baseball? Caroyln King who took the field in May 1973. At the time, Little League rules barred girls from joining teams. So, Carolyn was not exactly embraced by national Little League authorities. They booted her out of the league. The angry Ypsilanti City Council fired back, banning the local league from using city-owned kids diamonds.
A year later, Little League changed its policy, not having seen the error of its ways so much as having been ordered to do so by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Anyway, this story about Carolyn King from the CBS Evening News in 1973 is highly entertaining. I love the reaction of one of Carolyn's kid teammates, who is swallowed up in his baggy Orioles uniform: "She's no women's libber!"
Thanks to Girls Play Baseball for the tip.
A year later, Little League changed its policy, not having seen the error of its ways so much as having been ordered to do so by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Anyway, this story about Carolyn King from the CBS Evening News in 1973 is highly entertaining. I love the reaction of one of Carolyn's kid teammates, who is swallowed up in his baggy Orioles uniform: "She's no women's libber!"
Thanks to Girls Play Baseball for the tip.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
When a youth sports athlete calls it quits
It would be interesting (read: frightening) to tote up the money that is spent each year putting kids in a position to become college athletes: club and elite team fees, travel, hotels, private tutors, college sports placement services, showcases, athlete dvds. Have I forgotten anything?
Some kids are happy they made the effort, of course. But for others intercollegiate sports isn't all it's cracked up to be. They quickly learn that at the college level, especially Division I, college sports is a job. A full-time one, at that.
In Until It Hurts, I write about one such athlete, Fran Murray, who spent his high school years focused on a goal to make the leap to Division I baseball. It turned out to be the goal of the coaches and adults around him, though. As he explains, a few weeks into fall practice, he was wondering what he was doing on the baseball field and how to escape. “Every day, it felt more and more stupid. I kept asking myself: What am I doing wearing these pants and jacket? I should be doing my homework. I should be doing something beneficial to me down the road. I felt like a child out there. That’s when the tipping point came.”
Murray quit the team and hasn't looked back.
This piece in the Newark Star Ledger by columnist Mark Diionno reminded me of Fran Murray's story. It's a father's perspective on the end of a daughter's school sports life and a lesson on how to gracefully accept that moment.
Some kids are happy they made the effort, of course. But for others intercollegiate sports isn't all it's cracked up to be. They quickly learn that at the college level, especially Division I, college sports is a job. A full-time one, at that.
In Until It Hurts, I write about one such athlete, Fran Murray, who spent his high school years focused on a goal to make the leap to Division I baseball. It turned out to be the goal of the coaches and adults around him, though. As he explains, a few weeks into fall practice, he was wondering what he was doing on the baseball field and how to escape. “Every day, it felt more and more stupid. I kept asking myself: What am I doing wearing these pants and jacket? I should be doing my homework. I should be doing something beneficial to me down the road. I felt like a child out there. That’s when the tipping point came.”
Murray quit the team and hasn't looked back.
This piece in the Newark Star Ledger by columnist Mark Diionno reminded me of Fran Murray's story. It's a father's perspective on the end of a daughter's school sports life and a lesson on how to gracefully accept that moment.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
It's on the evening news: a girl who strikes out boys
Back in March, I posted about a story in the works for the CBS Evening News about Marti Sementelli, probably the most talented female pitcher in high school baseball these days. The piece finally ran yesterday. It's a nice profile of Marti, a sophomore at Burbank High School in SoCal, and also offers a few glimpses of her dad, Gary. The larger issue - why girls who seek to continue playing beyond rec league face such a difficult road - is addressed briefly and inadequately to my mind. But hey, the whole story is just a few minutes long. That's TV news.
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