SportsLetter

Making peace with digital games

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop has released a study that suggests playing digital games may not be a bad thing for kids to do in their spare time.  The study, entitled "Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children’s Learning and Health," supports the notion that well-designed educational games can actually aid children in a variety of ways, and "offer the country a rare opportunity to leverage children’s already established enthusiasm [for digital games] in order to reform education and romote healthy development."  The report brings together results from studies undertaken at universities and study centers around the globe.

Some excerpts from the report:

**Research by the Mayo Clinic found that children playing Dance Dance Revolution expended significantly more energy than those watching television or playing more traditional video games

**A large, controlled study of 1,500 elementary aged students in Houston schools showed that Squire’s Quest!, a 10-session PC-based multimedia game about a squire’s advancement to knighthood through healthful eating, led to significantly increased consumption of fruit and vegetables

**Randomized trials of the Super Nintendo asthma self-management game Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus found significant reductions in young players’ asthma-related urgent-care and emergency-room visits, missed school days, and parents’ missed work days

SL Interview: Eric Adelson examines the Michelle Wie phenomenon

When Michelle Wie burst onto the golf scene, at the ripe old age of 10, she was considered a once-in-a-generation prodigy.  Her picture-perfect swing was balanced and powerful; her 300-foot drives were awesome to behold.  She seemed poised to challenge the best golfers on the women's tour, not to mention fulfilling her stated goals of challenging on the PGA Tour and playing in The Masters.

In 2003, Wie won the Publinx tourney at age 13, becoming the youngest person (male or female) to win a United States Golf Association-sanctioned event.  By the time she was 16, she had turned professional and recorded several Top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour, played in tournaments against male golfers on the PGA Tour and in Asia and Europe, and signed multi-million dollar endorsement deals with (among others) Nike and Sony.  Her future seemed as glorious as a Hawaiian sunset.

Her precocious start notwithstanding, Wie has not met those lofty expectations.  Injuries have taken a toll – specifically, a broken wrist that she tried to play through – and she has not managed to win a tournament since the Publinx.  Now 19, she is both a college student (at Stanford University) and a rookie member on the LPGA Tour.  Her plans to challenge male golfers are on hold.

In "The Sure Thing: The Making and Unmaking of Golf Phenom Michelle Wie" (Ballantine Books/ESPN Books ; Amazon), author Eric Adelson examines Wie's unique and historic career.  As a reporter who first wrote about Wie when she was 10, Adelson views her life both as success story and cautionary tale, one in which greed and impatience have, to date, trumped Wie's sublime talent.  He also believes that Wie has ample time to, as he writes, "seize control of her golf and her life."

A longtime staff writer at ESPN The Magazine, Adelson is now a freelance journalist who contributes to Newsweek, Details and ESPN.  SportsLetter spoke with Adelson by phone from his home in Florida.

-David Davis

USA Swimming's response to the situation at Valley Swim Club

USA Swimming is the national governing body for swimming in the United States, responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition. According to its website, it also is a "300,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education."

The organization just issued a statement regarding the 65 minority children and their Philadelphia day camp which had its club membership taken away at the Valley Swim Club in suburban Philadelphia.  The statement is on USA Swimming's website here, but is as follows:

USA Swimming Statement on situation at Valley Swim Club in Pennsylvania  (7/9/2009)

In response to the recent situation where 65 African American children had their club membership rescinded at the Valley Swim Club in suburban Philadelphia, PA, USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus, and Olympic gold medalist and African-American swimmer Cullen Jones have issued the following statements:

"The acts of blatant racism shown towards the young kids with Creative Steps Day Camp in Philadelphia have no place in America and should not be tolerated by anyone. As a member of the USA Swimming's National Team and an African-American in the sport of swimming, hearing about what's happened to these 65 kids is both disturbing and appalling.  I work hard everyday through my efforts with the USA Swimming Foundation and Make a Splash to increase the exposure for as well as enhance the number of African-American and Hispanic young people entering the sport of swimming, not just because it's a great sport, but because learning to swim and understanding the importance of being safe in and around the water are life-saving skills that no one should be denied.”

- Cullen Jones, Member of the US National Swim Team and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist

"The alleged statements of the Valley Swim Club and its president, John Duesler, are disheartening especially as we are working hard to try to increase diversity in pools across America.  We do hope this unfortunate incident, or others like it, will not prevent or dissuade young people of color or other minority children from learning to swim. All kids, regardless of ethnicity or economic backgrounds deserve the opportunity to learn to swim and enjoy the sport."

Chuck Wielgus, Executive Director, USA Swimming and CEO, USA Swimming Foundation

Not enough pools

The recent story out of suburban Philadelphia about African American and Hispanic kids denied access to a private club pool has reminded people that access to swimming spaces remains an issue in this country.  For more on the historical background of this issue see SportsLetter’s August 2007 interview with Jeff Wiltse, author of “Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America."

Mascot

Xama

July is a big sports month in Europe. You got your Wimbledon and your Henley Royal Regatta; the Summer Universiade in Belgrade and the Tour de France.  And, of course, the British Open; or simply The Open Championship if you're not reading this from the United States.  For us at SportsLetter, though, nothing says summer like the Lusophone Games.  The 2nd Lusophone Games, to be held in Lisbon, is a multi-sport event for athletes from Portuguese-speaking countries.  And nothing says Lusophone Games like Xama.

       

As described by organizers, "just like all the participants in this competition, [Xama radiates] energy and vivacity, giving body and soul in every heat.  It supports the sporting spirit: at each stage, just like the athletes, it wants to exceed its own limits, to jump hurdles, cut finishing lines, overcome frontiers and, of course, celebrate victories!"

Publish or Perish

A Coach for this Generation’s Athletes

Preferred Coaching Qualities in NCAA Division I College Athletes: a Qualitative Analysis of Basketball Players from the Millennial Generation.  Edward C. Hoffman, Daniel R. Czech, Jonathan Metzler, Trey Burdette, Drew Zwald, Jordan Blazo and Rebecca A. Zakrajsek.  Applied Research in Coaching and Athletics Annual, 24, 2009

The Millennial Generation.  The Echo Boomers.  Generation Y.  According to the authors of this study, this generation is currently populating the ranks of college athletics and is considered by social psychologists to be different from previous generations as they “demand more understanding from people in authority positions, quickness in decision making, more affirmations, and desire a large variety of choices.”  How then to coach athletes from this generation?  Are the “old school” ways still effective, or should coaches modify their teaching styles to connect with this new generation of athletes?  The authors set out to “examine the preferred coaching styles of athletes” by interviewing a small sample size of nine male and female NCAA Division I basketball players.  Open-ended questions about the qualities and characteristics of the “ideal” coach were asked.  Answers by the athletes described a coach “who will sustain multiple roles in their lives, communicate clearly, maximize production, have compassion and be mindful of the entire team’s interest.”  Terms used to flesh out this ideal coach included role model, parental figure, caring, forgiving, accessible, disciplined, fair and democratic.  The authors suggested that those coaches who are cognizant of the needs of the athletes, and who make an effort to fulfill those desires, will draw better performances from their athletes.