SportsLetter

Physical activity for youths might be fattening

An afternoon watching children participate in sports might be adding inches to the waistlines of the rest of the family, and probably isn't helping the young athlete either, according to an article in the St. Louis Today.

From the article:

“Even if they eat dinner before, something draws them to the concession stand," said [Candi} Cherry, 38, of Chesterfield. "And it's all the fried foods, nachos, french fries with cheese dip, any kind of slushie or snow cone you can imagine, chili with Fritos. It's endless."

And

"The ball fields are atrocious," said Leigh Shaheen, 51, of Richmond Heights, whose two sons play baseball and soccer. "There's not one healthy thing there. ... But you don't have a choice; you are there for what could be eight hours in a day."

The article also cites a study out of the University of Minnesota which found:

that nearly half of overweight adolescents ages 12 to 17 also participate in organized physical activities. One in four young athletes ages 8 to 16 is overweight.

Part of the reason, they say, is the high-calorie culture surrounding youth sports.

"Youth sport activities get promoted as something that can help curb the obesity epidemic among young people, but the results of our research show that the activity alone might not be enough to combat the issue," said Toben Nelson, a public health researcher at the university.

On average, his research shows, youth sports participants eat more fast food, drink more sugar-sweetened beverages and consume more calories than their non-participating counterparts.

Recruiting middle school athletes

The New York Times has an article on the rise of middle school boys basketball recruiting by high school basketball coaches in the Washington DC/Baltimore area.

From the article:

The high caliber of high school basketball in this region and the resulting pressure placed on coaches to win have fostered a fierce recruiting environment focused on players who are much too young to drive anywhere but to the basket.

Although private schools recruit middle school students in other major metropolitan areas, both openly and discreetly, the minimal regulation of the practice here and the desire to uncover the next Kevin Durant — a product of a Washington-area private school who has blossomed into an N.B.A. star with Oklahoma City — has led to an aggressive pursuit of players beginning with fifth graders.

All of this, though, is a gamble, done even though coaches realize that, because of teenagers’ natural growth process, players who are stars in sixth grade may never make it past the junior varsity in high school.

Aggressive pursuit of players beginning with fifth graders?

Players who are "stars" in the sixth grade?

Sound crazy?  Not to US Soccer, which has a Development Academy for players as young as six. Which means it is scouting players who still might be in kindergarten.

From a recent article in Grantland:

In February, U.S. Soccer announced that it was extending the season for the roughly 3,000 boys playing on teams in its Development Academy from seven to 10 months. The federation divides the academy into three age groups, which they call zones: Zone 1 is ages 6 to 12, Zone 2 covers ages 13 to 18, and Zone 3 is for players over 18. For the teenagers in Zone 2, the Fed’s decision meant those boys could no longer play for their high school teams.

High school freshmen coach Little League team to championship

Two San Clemente, California, high school freshman, ages 14 and 15, led a Little League baseball team of 12- to 14-year-olds to a championship.

At the beginning of the season Little League baseball team "San Clemente American No. 2" could not find a coach.  After petitioning Little League Baseball the team brought in San Clemente High School freshmen Chris Puckett, 15, and Cameron Shelley, 14, to coach the team while Chris' father, Gary Puckett, served as a chaperone and handled all of the paperwork.

After a shaky start to the season the team found itself above .500 at the halfway point.  After producing a 10-2 run to end the season San Clemente landed in the District 68 Tournament of Champions, winning the championship game in dramatic fashion.

From the Orange County Register:

"Out of my 16 years of Little League, I have never seen a game end like that," the elder Puckett said.

"It was just incredible," parent Kimberly Bradley said.

"That one play, you either win the game or you lose," parent Brad Christian said. "The kids just played phenomenal baseball, every single kid. They actually worked on that play during the season."
Josh Bradley, the first baseman, recorded the final out. "It was pretty crazy," he said. "We learned it all from Chris and Cameron. They've taught us to chase the people back to the bag before you throw the ball. That was all thanks to them."

and

Brad Christian, a Little League umpire for seven years, said this was the first team that had let his son Max play his favorite position, catcher. The two teen coaches knew how to connect with the players, Christian said, making a believer of each one.

"These are the most appreciative kids I've ever seen," he said, calling them "the little team that could."

Title IX turns 40 tomorrow

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

The Women's Sports Foundation has more information about this landmark law and its historic and current impact on girls and women in sport.

And here are some of the recent news articles on Title IX:

Title IX in today's high schools

Billie Jean King reflects on Title IX progress and role of a parent

In urban areas, girls face obstacles 40 years after Title IX

Happy 40th Anniversary Title IX: From Girls' Sports to Women's Wages

 

Racial differences in the benefits of physical activity

While exercise may be beneficial in combating obesity in adolescents, a new study suggests physical activity may be less successful in preventing obesity in African-American girls than in their white counterparts.

The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, examined the levels of physical activity and obesity of 1148 adolescent girls, 538 black and 610 white, between the ages of 12 and 14.

From the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine:

Higher levels of physical activity are prospectively associated with lower levels of obesity in white adolescent girls but not in black adolescent girls. Obesity prevention interventions may need to be adapted to account for the finding that black girls are less sensitive to the effects of physical activity.

The prevalences of overweight and obesity among US youth have increased exponentially since the 1960s,1 - 2 with the largest increases observed in adolescent African American girls.1 Potential contributing factors to the high rates of obesity in African American girls include a higher daily caloric intake,3 more sedentary behaviors (eg, television viewing),4 and lower levels of habitual physical activity5 compared with white girls. Although the roles of factors governing energy balance are well known, evidence suggests that racial/ethnic differences in metabolism at rest6 - 7 and during exercise8 may predispose black girls to becoming obese.

Two laboratory-based studies comparing adolescent girls have shown that black girls have a lower resting metabolic rate,8 - 9 expend less energy during physical activity,8 and, of crucial importance for prevention and treatment, demonstrate lower rates of fat oxidization during physical activity than white girls.

SL Interview: Chris Gavagan's documentary on sexual abuse in youth sports

In November of 2011, a grand jury in Pennsylvania indicted former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky on charges that he had sexually abused young boys from his Second Mile foundation for at-risk youth.  The lurid accusations made front-page headlines and shocked the entire nation.  All except for one group: past victims of such abuse.

As a teen, Chris Gavagan was an aspiring hockey player who was looking forward to trying out for his high school team in New York City.  But from the moment his youth coach targeted him at age 14, Gavagan said, his life was changed forever.  He told nobody what had happened and, instead, became an angry "time-bomb" unleashed into the world.

After high school, Gavagan studied film while attending New York University.  In November of 2009, or about two years before the charges involving Jerry Sandusky were revealed publicly, Gavagan began shooting a documentary film about sexual abuse involving male coaches and male youth athletes.

The film, titled "Coached into Silence," includes interviews with anonymous athletes, with professional hockey player Sheldon Kennedy, and with his former coach.  It is a work-in-progress that Gavagan hopes to have completed by the end of this summer.

SportsLetter spoke to Gavagan by phone from his home in Brooklyn, where he and his wife recently celebrated the birth of their first child.

--David Davis

Editor's Note: This interview contains language of a graphic nature. 

Girls, sports and concussions

The University of Minnesota's Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport has released a video documentary called "Concussion and Female Athletes: the Untold Story."

From the Tucker Center:

Concussions and their devastating consequences affect athletes in all sports and at all levels. However, while sport-related concussion has ignited a national conversation and public debate about this serious brain injury, the majority of attention has focused on male athletes. Critical issues-and unanswered questions-surrounding the impact of concussion on female athletes have been largely ignored. Are females as or even more susceptible to concussion than males? Are female athletes less likely to report a concussion when compared to their male counterparts? Through the personal stories and experiences of coaches, athletes and their families, as well as in-depth interviews with nationally recognized scholars and medical experts, this documentary examines the causes underlying concussion and offers practical solutions to help prevent and treat sports-related concussion injuries in female athletes.

The video documentary can be found on the Tucker Center website and at The MN Video Vault, a project of Twin Cities Public Television.

No money, no opportunity, no sports?

ESPN's Tom Farrey explores the financial limits of Title IX's influence and the lack of sport opportunities for girls in low-income communities.

From the article:

Title IX has helped create thousands of girls' sports teams in high schools and colleges since it was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on June 23, 1972. But some groups have benefited more than others. Among high school sophomores, white girls have a much higher participation rate (51 percent) than African-Americans (40 percent), Asian/Pacific Islanders (34 percent) and Hispanics (32 percent), according to a 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Education. And race appears to be less of a contributing factor than where a girl happens to live and what her economic reality is.

Follow the money, and you find opportunity.

And,

A survey conducted last year by Lauer Johnson Research found that children from low-income families are half as likely to engage in sports as those from high-income homes.

"The survey results point to a proverbial tale of two nations when it comes to school children's participation in organized after-school sports activities in America," wrote the authors of the report, commissioned by Coaching Corps, a California not-for-profit group that trains youth coaches in underserved areas. "A full 63 percent of children from low-income families (incomes under $50,000 annually) are shut out from participating in after-school sports. This is in sharp contrast to the 64 percent of children from the highest income families who take part." The report also notes that a lack of available programs is a particular problem for low-income girls.

Indeed, where there is effort and support, there is hope.  Farrey visited a program in Los Angeles that provides afterschool sports activities for kids.  Some of the funding for the program comes from the LA84 Foundation.

From ESPN:

Organized sports for children require the three P's: people (to coach and administrate), places (to play) and programs (appropriate to age, gender and income). But the experience of Maria and her teammates highlights the value of a fourth P: partnerships. Because that's what it takes to coax out the first three P's in a community as barrier-laden as South Central ...

...The price of participation for Maria and her teammates? Ten dollars, shiny blue uniform included. The Pumas got the cost down from $50 by forgoing trophies and the season-ending banquet.

"Sports are not expensive," [LA84 Foundation President Anita] DeFrantz says, insistent.

We just make them expensive, by privatizing recreation and not investing in more girls like Maria and, back in Texas, Treece. As a result, what hangs in the balance is not just their future, but also the once-durable notion that sports are still a tool of uplift, accessible to all.

A champion in deed

A high school track athlete helped a collapsed competitor to her feet and across the finish line at the Ohio High School (OHSAA) State Track and Field Championships.

After winning the D-III 1600 meters championship, West Liberty-Salem High School junior Meghan Vogel competed in the 3200m race.  The Springfield News-Sun describes what happened next:

Within 20 feet of the finish line, Arden McMath, a sophomore from Arlington High School, collapsed in front of Vogel. Rather than run by her, Vogel helped McMath to her feet and helped her across the finish line.

The crowd came to its feet with the roar growing louder with each step.

“Helping her across the finish line was a lot more satisfying than winning the state championship,” admitted Vogel.

By rule, a runner in track or cross country is automatically disqualified for aiding another runner. In this instance, however, meet management took no action. McMath was given 14th place in 12:29.90 and Vogel 15th in 12:30.24. Vogel made sure McMath crossed the finish line first because she had been ahead of her.

Kudos to Meghan!

A YouTube video of the finish:

 

Kids just wanna have fun

A recent survey of children revealed that most of the kids "wish they had more fun when playing youth sports."

i9 Sports, "the first and fastest growing franchise of youth sports leagues, camps, and programs in the United States," according to its website, reports that it surveyed "300 kids that play in youth sports leagues outside of i9 Sports."

Some of i9's survey results:

-When asked their #1 reason for playing sports, the number one answer was to have fun.

-When asked how they feel if their team loses, 63% said they still have fun.

-84% said they sometimes wish they had more fun when playing youth sports.

-84% said at one time they quit a team or wanted to quit. Why? 47% said because “it wasn’t any fun.” 29% said some teammates were mean. 23% said there were too many practices that interfered with other activities.

-31% wished adults weren’t watching their games – they said mostly because adults yell too much, were too distracting, made players nervous and put pressure on them to play better and win.

Over a third of the children reported seeing a verbal fight between parents and nearly a third reported seeing a verbal fight between coaches.

As Jack Marrion of YourHoustonNews.com wrote:

But 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.