PositiveSports.net

Study: Warm-up exercises may help prevent ACL injuries

Adolescent female soccer players experience anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injuries at a rate twice that of their male counterparts. This study looked at whether these serious injuries can be prevented.

A total of 4,600 females between the ages of 12 and 17 participated in the study. Two-thirds were instructed in how to perform a 15-minute warm-up program focusing on new control and core stability. 

Seven players in the intervention group, and 14 in the control group experienced ACL injuries. The rate of ACL injury was 64 percent lower in the intervention group. 

Read the full Chicago Tribune article here.

 

Dangers of The Female Athlete Triad

All serious athletes want to be more competitive in their chosen sports, and for many, that includes controlling their body weight. That can be a healthy thing, up to a point. Too often, however, young female athletes try to shed too many pounds and fall victim to a trio of health disorders commonly known as the female athlete triad.

The three parts of the female athlete triad are disordered eating, osteoporosis and amenorrhea, or cessation of menstruation.

Read the full SYS-CON Media article here.

Study Finds Some Kids Looking for More "Fun" In Sports

A recent survey conducted by i9 Sports suggests young athletes might not derive much enjoyment from their sports. Of 300 children surveyed, aged eight to 14 years, 84 percent indicated they wish they had more fun playing youth sports.

The same percentage indicated they wanted to quit a team at one time, citing a lack of enjoyment, conflicts with teammates or too many practices. Almost a third of those surveyed preferred their parents did not watch their games.

If the i9 Sports survey is accurate, it seems sports could be more enjoyable. An obvious solution is to decrease negative behavior among parents, coaches and athletes. Part of playing sports is learning to work together, deal with failure and respect opponents. But it takes everybody.

Read the full Bellaire Examiner article here

Concussions Can Cause Long-term Effects For Young Athletes

Through May 15 of this year, the IHSA has reviewed 145 reports that have come into their office from sports officials who have had to remove a student-athlete from a game. Of those 145 cases, 118 players did not return to the game in which they sustained the injury. 

Tragedy can strike if a concussion is not treated properly, causing further brain trauma, chronic headaches, psychological disorders, long-term memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease and even death. Cumulative injury can cause serious mental impairment later in life even if immediate problems aren’t evident. 

Even with all these potential long-term effects, and media coverage being hyped recently, not enough people are actually aware of how serious the consequences are.

Read the full Medill Reports article here

Deaf College Football Player Excels Past Expectations

 

My Dream Is To Play Baseball

 

Study Finds Heart Abnormalities More Common in Athletes

A heart characteristic linked to sudden cardiac death is more common in athletes than non-athletes, and black male athletes are much more likely to have this characteristic than other athletes, a new study finds.

The characteristic -- left-ventricular hyper-trabeculation (LVHT) -- is a feature of certain types of cardiomyopathy (chronic disease of the heart muscle). The abnormality is the leading cause of exercise-related sudden cardiac death in athletes.

Read the full U.S. News Health article here.

 

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.

 

Risks of Overworking Young Athletes

Children’s bodies respond to training differently from adults. Growth plates in the knees, feet and shoulders make these body parts particularly vulnerable to overuse. And then there’s the awkwardness and lack of body awareness and control that is prevalent in growing children, all of which increases the risk of injury among young athletes.

This vulnerability to injury runs contrary to the repetition considered necessary to develop skill in young athletes. So, while coaches demand that athletes repeat the same movement patterns over and over again, health-care officials warn of the dangers associated with overuse.

Read the full Ottawa Citizen article here

Study Finds Female and Younger Athletes Take Longer to Recover From Concussions

New research out of Michigan State University reveals female athletes and younger athletes take longer to recover from concussions.

The study, led by Tracey Covassin of MSU's Department of Kinesiology, found females performed worse than males on visual memory tests and reported more symptoms postconcussion.

Additionally, high school athletes performed worse than college athletes on verbal and visual memory tests, and some of the younger athletes still were impaired up to two weeks after their injuries.

Read the full Medical Xpress article here