SportsLetter

Another reason to get your kids off the couch

An article in today's Wall Street Journal says the rates of hypertension among overweight kids are rising:
 
An estimated 5% of people age 18 and under have hypertension, up from about 1% three decades ago—largely reflecting the increased number of obese and overweight kids. The hypertension rate could actually be higher.

In West Virginia, a project over the past 12 years screened 60,000 fifth-graders for heart-risk factors and found 14% of youngsters considered at normal weight, and 21% considered overweight but not obese, had high blood pressure.

If there is good news from this, it's that pediatric hypertension can be lessened without medicine by increasing physical activity, modifying diets and losing weight.

Recommendations from the WSJ:

Get regular blood-pressure tests beginning at age three.
Build active play time or sports into daily activities.
Limit sedentary TV and computer time.
Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Eat less salt

What is it with USC and rules violations?

In February SportsLetter told you about the University of Southern California Trojans receiving a verbal commitment from 13-year-old quarterback David Sills of Bear, Delaware, to one day play football for the Trojans.  Now comes the story from USA Today that young Sills' school, Red Lion Christian Academy, is under investigation by the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association for, among other things, "recruiting students for athletic purposes; providing scholarship money and housing for incoming players; practicing out of season; playing too many middle school football games in a season and in a week; and using ineligible players."  The allegations, say Kevin Charles, executive director of the DIAA for five years, are among the most serious he has ever encountered.

USC, of course, has nothing to do with the rule-breaking that allegedly took place at Red Lion Christian Academy.  The win-at-all-costs approach that Red Lion Christian Academy appears to have adopted for its athletic programs, however, isn't exactly a foreign concept in college sports.  Indeed, this comment from a parent whose son once played at the Red Lion could apply to some NCAA football powers currently in the news: "Their main objective is to become a national power, and they'll do anything necessary to get what they want ... [t]hey're only using kids to play football."

One of the charges against Red Lion involves scholarship money provided to students who can't afford to enroll:

The FOCAS Foundation — which stands for Financially Obedient Christians Assisting Students — is a privately funded financial aid program that ... provided assistance to approximately 60 students last year. It supplements the school's need-based financial aid program. It has provided more than $400,000 in assistance to Red Lion students, including help to a number of football players, in the three years since its inception, said [John "T.C."] Megahan, a former head of the program.

Another parent of a former student said:

"FOCAS was going to pay whatever I couldn't afford," she said. "Football wasn't No. 1 for me. My main concern was getting the best education for him. But I quickly learned it was football, football, football."

One of the co-founders of FOCAS?  David Sills IV, father of the 13-year-old phenom quarterback.

There they go again

“Tennis’ next big thing.”

“… the next Sharapova.”

“… just so physically mature.”

“She has the whole game.”

Prodigy.

Ok, test time.  How old is the female tennis player featured in the newest ESPN The Magazine and on the receiving end of those comments?

Try 11.  Eleven.

It’s the same, tired story.  Maria Shishkina and her four-inch-heel stiletto-wearing mother arrive from Kazakhstan and head straight for the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy.  Nick Bollettieri becomes Shishkina’s tennis guru.  Shishkina is homeschooled so she can spend

“five hours a day on the court and in the gym, working with resistance bands, doing yoga and soccer drills, roller-skating and playing basketball.” 

And, of course, we have the new reality:  Under Armour has become Shishkina’s clothing sponsor with a five-year, $350,000 deal … plus bonuses.

Ironically, Shishkina’s story appears in an issue with University of Kentucky basketball star John Wall on the cover.  After spending one year playing basketball for the Wildcats, Wall is expected to be the Number 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft.  He was a one-year star at Kentucky because he wasn’t allowed to make himself eligible for the NBA until he had spent at least one year in college.  There was no Under Armour contract for John.

What does Maria Shishkina say about her life?

“Someday, I want people to say I changed the game of tennis or I was a legend or I was No. 1 for a long time or made records … it means a lot when people say I could be a star.  It motivates me.”

Did we mention she was 11?

Doping shmoping

A survey of 925 Norwegian sports consumers shows that younger people and those "strongly interested in sports" are more tolerant of doping in sport than older people or non-fans.  However, the survey, part of research published in the "International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship," also showed that  the majority of  respondants were in favor of tough action taken against athletes and sports involved in doping:

86% agreed strongly that sponsors should reduce their support for 'doping sports' such as cycling, while 80% agreed strongly that they should withdraw. A large proportion (58%) also strongly supported the idea that athletes and sports federations that were exposed in doping should pay back the support of their sponsors.

Said Paul Kitchin, deputy editor of the International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship:

“This research study shows that younger respondents and actual sports fans did not feel the drug incidents are just cause to cancel sponsorships and/or broadcasts.  Possibly these respondents are more aware of the reality of doping in professional sport and realise it is the individual athletes and teams that are tainted and not the commercial partners.”

When is quitting ok?

An article in Friday's Los Angeles Times discusses a question all-too familiar for some parents of active children: When is it ok to let your kids quit an activity they have started?

The answer seems to be the old parental stand-by strategy, "it depends."

From the article,

... there are times when kids should quit, says Billy Strean, who has been studying kids and coaches for almost 20 years as a professor in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.

...Parents should try to watch practices, assess the activity and the coach, then trust their instincts when a child wants to quit ...

"My bottom line is why did you think it was a good idea in the first place?" he says. "Did it provide you with what you wanted?"

For parents, the decision on whether and when to end an activity for their child can be difficult.  Betsy Braun, author of the new book "You're Not the Boss of Me: Brat Proofing Your 4 to 12 Year Old Child," says there are "four common motivations when kids want to quit:"

"It may be the coach. It may be they don't like the kids. It may be that it's not fun. It may be that they had one idea … and it's not that." The key, she says, is to be prepared. It's important for children to know what they're getting in to [sic] before they start.

Youth sport coaches, Bob Cook feels your pain

Psychic pain, that is.  Parents who coach their kids' sports teams may arrive at a moment in their "careers" when they begin to question their commitment and drive to continue coaching.  If so, then Bob Cook's story is your story,

Maybe it’s years of dealing with petty complaints, whether about me, another parent, another kid, or why we’re playing on a certain field at a certain time. Maybe it’s the years of racing from work to a field or court, squeezing planning in on the train. Maybe it’s all the meetings I’ve sat through. Maybe it’s all the time being responsible not only for coaching, but making sure someone is bringing the treats and passing out the picture information. Maybe it’s because my own job has gotten more pressurized in the last year (not that I’m complaining, considering the alternative), leaving me less energy to deal with other people’s kids and their parents. What worries me is the nagging feeling I AM doing something wrong. I know I can be pretty dumb, but for some reason this season I’m feeling especially not smart.

Don't worry, parent/coaches, it ends well!

But the point is, coaching these teams makes you FEEL something. And you get to feel it not just with a bunch of kids you didn’t know, but grew to enjoy, but also with your own child. And when you’re still hearing the echoes of the mom who thinks you’re too hard on her boy, you start remembering that stuff, and remembering how much you love to share those intense moments with you children.

Unnecessary roughness

The sporting world noticed how gracefully MLB umpire Jim Joyce and Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga handled the blown call that deprived Galarraga of a rare perfect game on June 2nd.  Perhaps people noticed because these days, unfortunately, behavior after an official’s mistake rarely results in a happy ending.

In fact, youth sports officials around the country are dropping out of officiating primarily due to “poor sportsmanship among spectators, and poor sportsmanship among coaches and players” according to Mark Hyman’s June 4th New York Times article.

Although many state associations work with their officials on how best to deal with unruly behavior from coaches and fans, many officials still are disturbed by what they see and hear.

“I have officials specifically tell me that’s why they’re not renewing their licenses anymore,” said Fran Martin, the assistant executive director of the Kansas High School Athletic Association. “They’re tired of putting up with the behavior.”

As a result, administrators like Jack Folliard, the executive director of the Oregon Athletic Officials Association, find that his organization struggles to get enough officials.

And Henry Zaborniak, the assistant commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association says that when “he speaks with young athletes about becoming officials someday, and they ask a standard question: Why would I want to take that abuse for $35?”

The Ice Caps Are Melting; Teach Your Kids to Swim

Last week the Wall Street Journal ran an article about the frightening number of kids who still don't know how to swim.  Citing research contained in a report released by USA Swimming, the WSJ reported that "70% of African-American children and 58% of Hispanic children have little or no swimming ability, compared with 40% of Caucasian children."  These numbers have consequences.  African-American kids drown three times as often as their Caucasian counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and in swimming pools drown five times as often.

From USA Swimming's The Constraints Impacting Minority Swimming Participation, Phase II study: “The ‘fear of drowning’ was found to be the strongest overall predictor of swimming inability among the variables under investigation.”

While the study revealed children from lower income families were more inclined to agree that “family budget doesn’t include money for me to take swim lessons,” focus group research found that many parents wouldn’t let kids swim even if lessons were free, a theme that was tested four times in different focus groups. Overall, fear trumped financial concerns across all respondent race groups in low-income families.

According to a mother who participated in a Denver focus group, “You’re already uncomfortable and scared. You’re like, ‘I‘m paying them so I can have heart palpitations on the side-lines. It’s not worth it. It really isn’t. Why should I have to pay money to be afraid?” 

The WSJ article cites Dr. Richard Irwin of the University of Memphis, who claims that some African-American and Latino parents are so afraid of letting their children near water that they will not let them take swimming lessons even when cost isn’t a barrier. 

The USA Swimming Foundation's Make A Splash initiative was created to address such concerns.  The initiative's national awareness campaign makes an effort to educate parents about swimming, and it also coordinates with learn-to-swim programs nationwide to get more kids into pools.   Said Chris LaBianco, Chief Development Officer of the USA Swimming Foundation, “The findings from this study reinforce the importance of raising awareness about learning to swim as a life-saving skill."

In Los Angeles, such an effort has been underway for quite some time.

“For the past 24 years the LA84 Foundation has partnered with Los Angels City Recreation and Parks and County of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation as well as several other municipalities to offer a free learn to swim program,”  according to  Patrick Escobar, Vice President of Grants and Programs at the LA84 Foundation.   Regarding reports of African-American and Latino parents’ reluctance to provide free swimming lessons for their children, Escobar said, “There may be some parents like that, but we have never had a problem filling our programs.  We work exclusively at public pools in Los Angeles County.  Every year 9,000 kids take part in our program and 90 percent of them are Latino or African-American."

“Water safety is our first concern,” added Escobar, “but what is really interesting is how many youngsters, with the encouragement of their parents, have gone on to participate in the Foundation's water polo, diving and synchronized swimming programs.”