PositiveSports.net

Study: Positive sports climate promotes better adjustment in kids and less depression

Mary Fry, associate professor of health, sport and exercise science, co-authored a study that surveyed nearly 400 kids who took part in a National Youth Sports Program athletic camp.

They found that children who strongly perceived a caring climate both regularly felt joy in positive situations and were able to properly handle negative emotions and experienced fewer instances of depression. A positive environment allows adolescents to not worry about being judged, chided, laughed at for making mistakes, not being as physically gifted as peers or being able to express emotions.

“That’s a big deal for kids,” Fry said. “When you’re in an environment where you can’t express your emotions, you tend to be more guarded. It just reinforces the important role teachers and coaches play.”

Read the full Medical Xpress article here.

 

Study Finds An Increase in Traumatic Football Injuries

University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, researchers determined that catastrophic brain injuries associated with full-contact football appear to be on the rise, according to a new report released by the university. The researchers also found that this increase was seen especially among high school students. 

Read the full news story from Physical Therapy Products here.

Study: Teenage girls more likely to injure ACL than boys

Teenage girls are three times more likely to suffer an ACL injury when playing the same or similar sports as teenage boys, according to research from the national high school sports-related injury study run by Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Male high school athletes have more knee injuries in general, but a higher proportion of females' knee injuries involve ACLs, she said.

There are several theories for the cause, one being that females land differently when jumping.

Read the full jconline.com article here.

 

Female Athlete Triad Educational Pamphlet

The Female Athlete Triad Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing the Female Athlete Triad, which is syndrom in active females involving three interrelated conditions of low energy and disordered eating, bone loss and menstrual disturbances. 

The FATC provides an educational pamphlet on the issue that can be helpful for coaches and parents who can help prevent the triad in their athletes by becoming knowledgeable on the topic.

Click here to access the online pamphlet.

Check out the full Female Athlete Triad Coalition's website here.

Research suggests one-sport athletes suffer more injuries

Researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine found in 2011 that single-sport athletes were almost twice as likely to injure themselves as multi-sport athletes.

A growing number of young athletes are focusing on playing a single sport, putting themselves at greater risk of serious injuries, physicians said.

The movement toward specialization may produce more successful athletes, but it also results in more injuries. More than 3.5 million children 14 and younger were treated for sports injuries in 2010, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. In contrast, 1.9 million were treated in 2002, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Read the full Iowa Gazette article here.

 

Study: Vitamin D can reduce girls' risk of stress fractures in high-impact sports

When it comes to running, jumping and tumbling teen girls tend to give it all they've got, but overdoing high-impact sports can fatigue the muscles -- leaving them unable to absorb added shock. When that stress is transferred to the bones it can cause tiny cracks called stress fractures. 

Registered Dietitian Kendrin Sonneville of Children's Hospital Boston followed a group of more than 6,700 pre-teen and teen girls for seven years. She and her colleagues found we should be giving cheerleaders and other athletic girls a "D"...as in Vitamin D. 

"For the girls who had the highest intake of Vitamin D, they had half the risk of developing a stress fracture compared with the girls with the lowest Vitamin D intake," she explains. 

Read the full article from NBC WLBZ Bango here.

Study Concludes Early Team Sports Participation Keep Girls Physically Active Later On

With the escalating number of obese children in the U.S., efforts to increase the level of exercise among youth have garnered much attention. Only about 8 percent of 12- to 15-year-olds meet Federal guidelines of at least 60 minutes of moderate to virgorous physical activity each day, according to past research. What’s more, girls decrease time spent being physically activeby about half between the ages of 9 and 15.

Jennifer Trilk, Ph.D., lead author of the study, said encouraging young girls to play organized sports is key to getting and keeping them physically active.

The researchers analyzed data from 957 girls who participated in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls conducted in six states across the U.S. The girls were measured as 6th graders and again as 8th graders to identify patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior to see which girls had the most minutes of physical activity and which showed a change from 6th to 8th grade.

Sixth grade girls who did either “sports and play” or “organized team sports/lessons” had more daily minutes of physical activity (27 minutes and 25 minutes, respectively) than girls who participated more frequently in other behaviors, such as playing video games (22 minutes). And although by 8th grade, physical activity had declined among all clusters, girls in “organized team sports/lessons” had the smallest decline.

Read the full Medical Express article here.

Study: Emphasis on self-improvement accomplishes more than focusing on winning

Underserved youth athletes report more life skill and character development when their coaches place greater emphasis on creating caring climates instead of focusing on competition, according to research from Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports.

Playing in an atmosphere that focuses on player self-improvement versus player competition creates a sense of teamwork and develops initiative, social skills and a sense of identity, report the authors of the study from the Department of Kinesiology institute.

"The research adds to the growing body of knowledge that shows coaching actions and the team climates they create have important influences on the personal development of youth," Gould said. "Our data suggests if coaches want to develop life skills and character in youth, it is important to focus on player self-improvement more so than winning."

Read the full Medical Express article here.

 

Young Athletes' Growth Plates Require More Attention

When thinking of sports injuries most people would probably think of fractures, tears or breaks, to bones, ligaments and tendons. However, Gatorade correspondent Dr. Jordan Metzl sheds light on the growing problem of injuries to children's growth plates. Located at the end of bones, the plates are susceptible to injury because of their weak nature and the immense pressure placed on them by the stronger bones after a fall. 

Until the vulnerability of growth plates is more commonly known, we risk the possibility of serious damage for young athletes. Although fortunately the minor growth plate injuires are treatable simply through rest, more severe ones can require immobilization or surgery. If left untreated, the damage can even cause permanent disability in the athlete. 

Read the full article on Gatorade's website here.

Growing Leaders: A View from Down Under

The best coaches know that developing team leaders is a key to sustainable success.  Wayne Goldsmith is an expert in sports leadership who has worked with some of the best teams from his home base in Australia.  In this brief article Mr. Goldsmith explains why empowering athletes to lead is important not only for athletic performance, but for preparing athletes for life in a changing society.

Read 'What All this Leadership by Empowerment Stuff About' at sportscoachingbrain.com...