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.

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?

Researchers seek answers to energy drinks

Johns Hopkins University is offering teens a chance to participate in the rare research study that advances medical science while quizzing them about their consumption of highly caffeinated energy drinks. JHU researchers are probing the effects of the drinks - Red Bull, Rockstar and alike - which can bring on many troubling health effects. Kid athletes who drink them, especially on hot days, have suffered dehydration, tremors, heatstroke and heart attacks, notes USA Today.

The article points out that some experts have called on the Food and Drug Administration to require manufacturers to post warnings on their bottles about possible health consequences. That isn't possible because the FDA doesn't have regulatory authority over such drinks, agency officials told USA Today.

Also problematic are the attitudes and habits of kids. Many fail to realize energy drinks are potent and potentially dangerous, viewing them no differently than sport drinks like Powerade and Gatorade. Youth players also are increasingly viewing the sports nourishment as a substitute for their normal meals, skipping them routinely and "substituting protein bars and shakes for real food."

From the article:

"Eric Small of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan told of treating a 17-year-old female runner suffering from chest pains and fatigue. She collapsed at the finish line of a race and was rushed to an emergency room. It turned out she liked to skip breakfast in favor of drinking two or three cans of Red Bull each morning, Small said.

"They think being lighter and eating less and drinking less will improve their performance," Small said."

Volunteers are still needed for the study. (Scroll down to heading: "Caffeine Use.")

The problem with drug testing

A few years back, it seemed the national mood favored mandatory drug testing for high school athletes. New Jersey, Texas and Florida all adopted limited programs and more states seemed likely to follow.

That never happened. Now Florida is abandoning its program.

The reason - at least, the primary one - is a surprise. Not enough kids were testing positive for steroids. In Florida last year, only one out of 600 players tested postive for a banned drug, and both the player and his coach vehemently challenged the result. Texas tested 10,117 students from February to June, and reported just two positives.

Various explanations are offered for positive results near zero, from overstated concerns about drug users in high school to doubts about the testing itself. This from USA Today: Former Penn State professor Charles Yesalis, who has been following doping issues for three decades, says, "Unless the kid has an IQ at room temperature, you wouldn't expect them to get caught. There's all this information out there all over the Internet on how to circumvent these tests. And a lot of these programs have loopholes, including the fact you aren't testing during the summer."