Answering the ACL epidemic with training, coaching

Should parents invest in specialized sports fitness and skills training for their kid athletes? Usually, I'm a skeptic about such programs. The younger the kids, the more skeptical I am. (Batting lessons for 7-year-olds? Why?)

In Thursday's Washington Post, there's an article worth reading about a training regimen for kids that makes total sense. Its purpose: reducing ACL injuries in girls.

The article relates how Patricia Lake, a "determined Bethesda mom" is protecting her daughter.

The story explains:

"Lake's daughter, Corinne, ruptured her ACL the day before her 15th birthday, the day after she made the Whitman High School varsity soccer team as a freshman. Because she had not finished growing, doctors were reluctant to drill into her femur, a routine part of repairing the ligament. They held off her surgery for six months.

"The operation was followed by grueling physical therapy and personal training. As Corinne grew stronger, Lake began to wonder how she could keep her daughter's strength and flexibility regimen on track and help spare other girls the same fate. She spoke with Corinne's physical trainer, Graham King, owner of Balance Sport and Fitness, who was eager to start a program for teen girls.

"Now, once or twice a week, a dozen girls on Corinne's travel soccer team work on protecting their knees in Balance's Dupont Circle facility, a converted high school gymnasium, while their parents get in workouts of their own."

Recently, I spoke with Dr. Andrew Gregory, co-author of a just-published report on soccer injuries in kids. The conversation swung to ACL injuries. He recommends that parents choose teams and leagues that train coaches in injury prevention. He's helping to educate coaches of the soccer team his daughter, Sarah, 11, plays on. (Once again proving the axiom: When possible, get your kid on a team with the child of an orthopedic surgeon).

"There are [education] programs that teach girls how to land correctly, how to cut with their knees and hips in good position," Dr. Gregory told me. "Those can be very effective."

Coming soon, a national title for high school tennis

Just announced: IMG, the ubiquitous event planner and sports promoter, plans to stage annual high school sports championships at its posh academy for young athletes in Bradenton, Florida.

Steve Wieberg, reporting in Monday's USA Today:

"IMG executives foresee their championships landing on national television, and say they anticipate strong sponsor interest. The company, in partnership with the National High School Coaches Association in Easton, Pa., plans to roll out events in boys' and girls' tennis, golf and lacrosse and 7-on-7 football this summer and ultimately stage championships in 20 sports.

"Its objective is to showcase IMG's 350-acre Bradenton facility to athletes and their families. The company, which made a major foray into college athletics 2 1/2 years ago, also is staging a nationwide series of training and competition combines for high school-age athletes."

Again - and again?- this raises the issue of whether it's appropriate and healthy for kid athletes to have their sports games turned into made-for-TV productions. And if we're giving the green light to national championships for high school athletes, then what about middle school players? And if that seems innocent enough, then what about elementary school kids. And if that really does no harm, then....

It reminds me of an annual youth sports spectacle featured in Until It Hurts - the Tee Ball World Series.

Cash bonuses for five-year-old soccer players

Thanks to Nicole LaVoi for passing along an article on this improbable topic: pay-for-play soccer. The author, Daniel Frankl, Professor School of Kinesiology and Nutritional Science at California State University, cites an email he received last October.

"In essence, the writer whose “children have all played soccer and are now all grown,” reported observing soccer parents and other family members “doling out cash…$5.00 to $10.00” as a payoff for scoring a goal. As inappropriate and inexcusable as such behavior is, the writer was further appalled by the fact that the act involved players “5 to 7 years old!”

I can see this being wildly popular among five year olds, particularly those with expensive video-game habits and Swiss bank accounts. I have to agree with Dr. Frankl, though, that tipping soccer kids does little to promote values such as sportsmanship and teamwork.

Dr. Frankl writes: "The practice...amounts to senseless bribery that is bound to result in long-term harm to a child’s intrinsic motivation. Handing out cash while the game is still in progress, on the other hand, amounts to outrageously inappropriate conduct by very irresponsible and misguided adults."

Is this just one crazy league?

The latest from Cartoon Network and the NBA

I had a similar idea when I was a kid, only the title would have been: "My Dad's a Dentist (and Coaches my Little League Team)."

Little League World Series moves to prime time

Just announced: ABC is moving this year's Little League World Series (US title game) to prime time. Good for the network, which undoubtedly will pull in a sizable audience. But good for the kid players?

I like what sports psychologist Richard Ginsburg has written:

"I have a hard time watching 11 and 12 year-old boys playing baseball on national television. In fact, I just change the channel. Don't get me wrong. I love the kids, but are they ready for that kind of exposure? Aren't we exploiting the trials and tribulations of children for adult entertainment?"

Little League fields will grow, except in Williamsport

Thumbs-up to Little League Baseball for recognizing that it was time to shake things up.

There have been two major changes out of Williamsport in three months, which just about matches the total over the first 70 years. Monday, LLB announced it is creating what amounts to a new league for kids eligible for the traditional Little League 12-year-old program (and 13-year-olds, too), but mature enough to play on a larger diamond. In the spring, local leagues will have the option of moving games to fields that are, essentially, one size bigger. (Cal Ripken Baseball and numerous "travel leagues" across the country already are doing this).

Another Little League change was announced in November: an increase in mandatory rest days for pitchers in the regular season and the Little League World Series.

This is what Little League is saying about the bigger-diamond division:

"[I]n an effort to further ease the transition from the standard Little League field size (46-foot pitching distance and 60-foot base paths), Little League is offering a pilot program for league age 12- and 13-year-olds. The pilot program will be conducted on fields that feature a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths. The pilot program will be available to all Little League programs worldwide for the 2010 season.

"Additionally, base runners will be permitted to lead off in the 50-70 Pilot Program (requiring pitchers to hold runners on base), runners may attempt stealing at any time, and head-first sliding is permitted. In the Little League division, runners cannot leave the base until the ball reaches the batter, and sliding must be feet-first unless the runner is retreating to a base.

"Also for the 50-70 Pilot Program – unlike the Little League division – the batter becomes a runner on a dropped third strike, the bat can have a diameter of 2 5/8 inches, and the on-deck batter is permitted."

Again, I applaud this move, mostly because it will encourage 13-year-olds who otherwise would quit baseball (fearing the big jump to a regulation diamond) to stay in the game.

Now I'm wondering how all this affects the Little League World Series.

Apparently, not at all. Little League isn't giving up the small diamond for that annual spectacle, which generates dozens of corporate sponsors, big crowds, an ESPN deal worth $1.5 million each year and untold exposure for the Little League brand.

Never mind that those kids entertaining us in Williamsport, more than any, are ready for the bigger diamond. You don't mess with a sure thing, which, at the box office, the Little League World Series surely is.

Giving coaches a silly reason to run up the score

In Houston last week, a high school basketball game ended with this score: 170-35. At halftime, things were almost as lopsided: 100-12.

The victors were the Yates High School Lions, for whom trouncing opponents comes easily and often. The Houston Chronicle reported that Yates is 14-0 this season and on a 39-game winning streak. The Chronicle also noted that this was the eighth time during the season that Yates had scored more than 100 points and the sixth time its victory margin exceeded 60.

This game also featured a fight, which can happen sometimes when, as the Lee High School squad was, you're down by 77 or 78. No one was ejected, but the teams "finished the second half with five players each, and the other players were asked to sit in the stands."

No doubt, the Yates coach has done a great job assembling an unstoppable team. But why make a habit of pummeling high school opponents?

No mystery, really. Check out the latest Fab 50 rankings at ESPNRise where, last I checked (Week 3), Yates was fifth in the country. No doubt, the Lions are hoping to be fourth next week, riding the notoriety of a 135-point blowout.

These national rankings for high school sports are fabulous for ESPN, USAToday and other media giants, who use them to attract millions of eyeballs to their prep Web sites. Anyone want to make the argument that they're healthy for kids?

For the fan in the crib, a Wolverines pacifier

These hard economic times haven't touched one well-conceived company. The Sports Business Journal reports that sales are booming at Babyfans.com, a one-stop Internet shop for licensed infant and toddler team gear. Sales leaped 81 per cent last summer (over summer 08) and company founder Todd Wilson told SBJ, "We're trying to forge a niche, particularly as it relates to getting multiple teams in one location, and think we've really struck on something."

There's a lot to choose from here. Notables include Pepperdine University newborn booties, the Georgia Bulldogs burp cloth and - a personal favorite - the Michigan Wolverines pacifier.

While we're on the subject, adidas and Disney recently rolled out a "sporty and fashionable" line of Mickey and Goofey sneakers for little ones. The press release notes that the athletic shoes combine "adidas Kids top performance products with classic Disney characters."

Top performance in a baby bootie meaning what, exactly?

A high school golf team and a 10-minute flight

One more look back at 2009. The Washington Post ran this amusing (or sobering) piece on the past year's "Wildest Moments in High School Sports."

I am trying to imagine the creativity that would be needed to make these up. And I can't.

Here are a few for the record books.

Allentown, Pa. -- A girls' basketball coach, angered by the heckling of a player's father, was found not guilty of disorderly conduct after he went into the crowd during a game and allegedly placed his hands around the man's neck. "As long as you're yelling, your daughter doesn't play," the coach told the dad.

Greenwich, Conn. -- A golf team, fearful of missing a tournament because of major gridlock on Interstate 95, hopped a six-passenger plane to the event -- a 10-minute flight -- and won the invitational.

Lake Wales, Fla. -- A junior varsity football coach, who also was a police officer, was arrested for biting a player's nose at halftime as a motivational technique.

The coach explained that he wasn't biting. Because he was talking. And you can't bite and talk at the same time.