SportsLetter

Editor's Note

Dear Reader,

SportsLetter began in 1989 as a hard copy newsletter designed to alert sports journalists to unusual or overlooked stories.  SportsLetter was able to play this role because its staff had access to LA84 Foundation (formerly the Amateur Athletic Foundation) Sports Library.  The library, as it does today, subscribed to hundreds of sports magazine and journals, a periodicals collection that was unduplicated in any newsroom.  As the Internet developed as a widely used information source, however, the sorts of stories that the SportsLetter staff could cull from the traditional library became available to anyone with access to the 'Net.

In recent years SportsLetter became an online publication and moved away from highlighting unusual stories, concentrating instead on interviews and summaries of scholarly articles.  Readers also may have noticed an increased emphasis on youth sports, reflecting the LA84 Foundation's primary mission.

With this issue of SportsLetter, we are adopting a blog format.  The emphasis on youth sports will become even more pronounced.  Youth sports is a social institution of remarkable magnitude.  It is estimated that more than 80 percent of Americans play organized sport before the age of 18, and that between 30 and 50 million young people currently are involved in sport.  Youth sports events also attract more spectators a year - paying and non-paying - than the NFL and Major League Baseball combined.

Operating as a blog, we will direct readers' attention to current issues and breaking stories in youth sports, while inviting readers' comments.  SportsLetter will publish opinion pieces and provide connections to other blogs and websites devoted to youth sports in its many forms.  We will continue to offer interviews with people who write about, coach or administer youth sports.  And yes, the Stupid Pet Tricks section of SportsLetter (a.k.a.the Mascot) will continue to be a feature.

As we undertake this new direction, your comments and questions are welcome as always.

Sincerely,
Wayne Wilson
Managing Editor

SportsLetter Interview: Jeré Longman talks about his new book on Louisiana high school football post-Katrina

In August of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States, one of the most devastated areas was Plaquemines Parish, the southernmost parish of Louisiana. Located where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico, Plaquemines Parish is the hub of the region's vital commercial fishing industry. After Katrina, many of its residents, including its school children, were scattered throughout the nation.

As the community began to regroup post-Katrina, three area schools were combined into South Plaquemines High School. The students on the football team (nicknamed the Hurricanes) had to put aside their past rivalries in order to form a new, cohesive unit. The Hurricanes soon became a symbol of revival in southern Louisiana, even as its players faced myriad challenges: they had no locker-room or home field; their school didn't have electricity; many lived in sub-standard and crowded FEMA trailers, often without their families.

New York Times reporter Jeré Longman, a Louisiana native, first journeyed to Plaquemines Parish in 2006 to write about the Hurricanes for the newspaper. He returned the following year as the team surged toward the state championship. The title game was played at the Louisiana Superdome, symbol of the chaotic incompetence during and after Hurricane Katrina.

Longman has just published "The Hurricanes: One High School Team's Homecoming After Katrina" (PublicAffairs / Amazon). The book details the two-year recovery process in Plaquemines Parish, as seen and experienced by the players, the coaches and their families. The result is, at once, heartbreaking and uplifting: it's "Friday Night Lights" comes to the bayou. Recently, SportsLetter interviewed Longman via telephone from his home in Philadelphia. --David Davis

Publish or Perish

The State of ACL Injury Research

ACL Injury in the Female Athlete: a Multifactorial Problem that Remains Poorly Understood. Sandra J. Shultz. Journal of Athletic Training, 43 (5) 2008.

The first report of sex differences in the neuromuscular functions of male and female athletes was in 1996. The research emphasis since then has been on determining why there are differences between the genders, and what can be done to reduce risk of ACL injuries in both genders, certainly, but in female athletes specifically. Prevention programs have been created, implemented, and studied for effectiveness. As effective as some of these prevention programs have been, questions still abound as to “the underlying mechanisms for sex differences in neuromuscular and biomechanical function and the extent to which these differences truly predict increased injury risk,” and “the underlying causes for … sex differences -- anatomical, hormonal, or otherwise.”

With these and other questions in mind, a conference was held in Greensboro, North Carolina, in April 2008. The purpose of the “Research Retreat IV: ACL Injuries -- The Gender Bias” retreat was to “continue to examine the factors thought to be associated with females’ increased risk of ACL injuries and to do so via keynote presentations by nationally and internationally known experts in the field, abstract presentations of original research conducted by attendees, and focused discussions.” At the conclusion of this meeting, a consensus statement that had been developed during past retreats was updated and revised, resulting in a clearer picture of “what we know, don’t know, and still need to know” in relation to ACL injuries in general, and females’ increased risk of ACL injuries specifically.

The consensus statement, reports, and articles related to ACL research discussed at the conference can be found in the Sept.-Oct. 2008 issue of the Journal of Athletic Training. The articles from this issue can be accessed from the journal’s Table of Contents.

Mascot

Holo Kohola

If a bipedal whale is what comes to mind when contemplating a nice weekend run, then the good folks at the Maui Paradise Marathon have an event for you. Meet Holo Kohola, which means fast whale in the Hawaiian language. 

 Per organizers of the January 11 run, “by using Holo as our race mascot we hope to raise awareness to the world's fragile eco system through the eyes of our most majestic sea creature - the whale. By making him fast, we will encourage you to train hard and run with Holo, improving your own health and fitness and enhancing your awareness of the beauty and fragility of the Hawaiian Islands."

Publish or Perish

The Curveball and Young Pitchers

A Biomechanical Comparison of Youth Baseball Pitches: Is the Curveball Potentially Harmful? Shouchen Dun, Jeremy Loftice, Glenn S. Fleisig, David Kingsley and James R. Andrews. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 36(4) 2008.

Although the curveball has been considered to be a dangerous pitch for young pitchers, no biomechanical studies have been conducted among youth pitchers comparing different types of pitches. The investigators studied 29 pitchers (approximate age 12.5 years). Each pitcher threw 5 fastballs, 5 curveballs, and 5 change-ups with maximum effort in an indoor laboratory setting. The study compared elbow varus torque, elbow flexion torque, elbow proximal force, shoulder internal rotation torque and shoulder proximal force. "In general, elbow and shoulder loads were greatest in the fastball and least in the change- up." Therefore, the curveball may not be more harmful than the fastball for young pitchers. This finding is consistent with other recent epidemiologic research indicating that "the amount of pitching is a stronger risk factor than the type of pitches thrown.

Publish or Perish

Kids, Helmets and Skateboarding/Snowboarding

Use of Protective Equipment by Adolescents in Inline Skating, Skateboarding, and Snowboarding. Erica L. Kroncke, Mark W. Niedfeldt, and Craig C. Young. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 18 (1) 2008.

Research has born out what many parents already know: kids don't like to wear protective gear while skateboarding and snowboarding. Still, researchers were curious to know how often and by which group personal protective equipment (PPE) was worn, and the reasons why they did or didn't wear PPE. The study involved 333 participants 13-18 years old, with the mean age of 14.9. There were differences in results across the ages of the participants, and among the three activities examined. Generally, though, snowboarders wore less PPE, and inline skaters wore the most; and "younger adolescents wore more PPE than older adolescents." Overall, the most common reasons given by participants who wore PPE were influence by parents, peers, and rules and requirements of the activity. Lack of perceived need and discomfort were the most common reasons for nonuse. Witnessing or sustaining an injury was the biggest reason for participants to start using PPE, while "almost half of adolescents reported nothing would convince them to wear PPE."

SportsLetter Interview: Veteran Los Angeles Times sportswriter Eric Sondheimer on the state of high school sports

Eric Sondheimer has been a sportswriter since 1976, when he began as a stringer for the Los Angeles Daily News. Currently, he writes a twice-a-week column for the Los Angeles Times. 

With the exception of a stint with the short-lived National Sports Daily newspaper, Sondheimer has devoted his career to one subject: the high school sports scene in Southern California. From Santa Barbara to San Diego, the region has long produced its share of collegiate, Olympic and professional athletes; according to a recent article in USA Today, Long Beach's Polytechnic High School is tied with Concord's De La Salle High School (located in Northern California) for producing the most 2007 NFL players, with six each.

In his role as the dean of high school sports journalists, Sondheimer has interviewed stars in every sport — from John Elway to Marion Jones to Bret Saberhagen — long before they became nationally known. In addition, he's witnessed first-hand the myriad changes in prep sports — including the increased importance of the AAU and summer-league teams, the rise in popularity of private coaches, and the present-day exhaustive media coverage via television and the Internet.

Sondheimer has earned numerous journalism awards in his career. In 1988, he was part of a reporting team honored by the Associated Press for breaking the story of the University of Kentucky basketball program having sent money to a high school recruit. In 1998, the Los Angeles Press Club honored him as outstanding sports columnist. In 2007, he received the best column award from the California Prep Sports Writers Association. Sondheimer is also the co-author (with Fred Eisenhammer) of the book "College Football's Most Memorable Games, 1913 Through 1990: The Stories of 54 History-Making Contests" (McFarland).

SportsLetter spoke with Sondheimer, in October 2007, at the LA84 Foundation offices in Los Angeles. —David Davis

Publish or Perish

How does winning and losing in youth sports affect kids' perceptions of their coaches?

Is Winning Everything? The Relative Contributions of Motivational Climate and Won-Lost Percentage in Youth Sports. Sean P. Cumming, Frank L. Smoll, Ronald E. Smith, and Joel R. Grossbard. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 19 (3) 2007.

A study involving "268 male and female youth basketball players, aged 10 to 15 years" examined how coaching styles and winning-percentage influence the way young athletes feel about their athletic experiences and their coaches. Athletes with coaches who stressed learning, self-improvement, task-mastery and effort had positive evaluations of their coaches and athletic experiences. Athletes with coaches who emphasized wins and losses, and who encouraged behavior with that goal in mind, had slightly more negative evaluations of their experiences. While "winning did not relate to enjoyment," won-lost percentage did have a impact on athletes' estimation "of the coach's teaching ability and knowledge of the sport." The authors concluded that it was important for youth sport coaches to recognize that "athletes' enjoyment of the sport experience and evaluations of coaches are more closely tied to the motivational climate that they create than to their won-loss records."

Publish or Perish

Can coaches be trained to make sports more enjoyable for kids?

Effects of a Motivational Climate Intervention for Coaches on Young Athletes' Sport Performance Anxiety. Ronald E. Smith, Frank L. Smoll and Sean P. Cumming. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 29 (1) 2007.

Do youth coaches contribute to feelings of performance anxiety in their young athletes? Can they be trained not to? These questions were the focus of a study involving "37 coaches (33 males and 4 females) and 216 athletes (117 boys and 99 girls) between the ages of 10 and 14 years who participated in community-based basketball programs" in the Seattle area. About half of the coaches participated in a 75-minute workshop on teaching athletes to take satisfaction from playing to the best of their abilities, to learn from their mistakes, and to simply enjoy the game, the practices, and interactions with teammates. This positive coaching, as opposed to "critical or punitive feedback" and an overemphasis on winning, did in fact have a dramatic effect on reducing the amount of stress in the athletes. These athletes reported having feelings of success from just playing well, and from not feeling anxious (or queasy) when they felt they did not perform well.

SportsLetter Interview: Sports parent and author Regan McMahon talks about her new book "Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports"

Journalist Regan McMahon knows about the trials and tribulations of youth sports from personal experience. Raised in Pasadena, she was a competitive figure skater from age eight to 16. More recently, she and her husband have spent hundreds of hours ferrying their two athletically inclined children to practices, games and tournaments in volleyball, baseball and soccer in the Bay Area.

In March of 2005, McMahon, the deputy book editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote a feature article for the Sunday magazine section of the newspaper about the complex issues that families face today in youth sports, including the increased popularity (and expense) of club teams, the dramatic rise in overuse injuries among children, and the lack of downtime that busy families have. Reader response was overwhelming. "The emails started pouring in before I'd even had my coffee on Sunday morning, and they continued all day … Clearly I had struck a nerve," writes McMahon.

McMahon has expanded on the article in a new book, titled "Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports" (Gotham Books). For the book, McMahon interviewed young athletes, coaches, parents, educators, sports doctors, therapists and professional athletes. Her interest in the subject, she writes in the book's introduction, "lies in the societal shift in the United States whereby organized sports have become the primary way children socialize and increasingly the only way they play outdoors, and in how team sports have invaded and transformed family life . . . We all know the many benefits of youth sports. But as youth sports have escalated in intensity, competitiveness, time commitment and parent involvement, certain risks are beginning to surface as well, from overuse injuries, stress and depression to inappropriate sideline behavior and fractured family patterns."

The result, according to Steve Weinberg's review in the San Francisco Chronicle, is a cautionary tale that is "part polemic, part investigative reporting, part parenting guide, part autobiography, part question-and-answer." SportsLetter spoke to McMahon, in June 2007, by telephone from her office in San Francisco.

--David Davis