Youth Sports: Raising Awareness of Sports Injuries (Part 2)

My son has a heart condition. My son is a catcher. So when I read about the tragic dealth of a 16 year old all star catcher named Tommy Adams it really hit home. Tommy Adams was hit in his chest by a baseball. He went into cardiac arrest and died.  Surprisingly, he was wearing his protective catching equipment at the time of the incident. Commotio cordis was the cause. Catch the CBS Story about Tommy Adams' Commotio Cordis here.

Commotio cordis occurs when the heart beat is disrupted by a sudden blow to the chest directly over the heart at a critical time during the heart beat cycle. Believe it or not, studies show that a baseball traveling as slow as 35 miles per hour can cause this. Commotio cordis occurs mostly in boys with an average age of 15 during sports. Baseball is the most common sport associated with this medical condition. The fatality rate is about 65%. 

There is an organization, the Youth Sports Safety Alliance, that is trying to prevent tragic deaths and injuries in sports. They held a summit in Washington DC this past week. One of the main topics discussed was sudden cardiac arrest. They are calling for more highly trained trainers at athletic events including practices. They are also advocating that AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) are available at all practices and games. Commotio Cordis can sometimes be reversed by defibrillation.


This video by Dr. Jared C. LaCorte M.D., Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship: Children's Hospital of New York-Columbia Presbyterian explains Commotio Cordis. He also advocates for AEDs at sporing events.

The Main Point


In this blog, I have advocated for the use protective equipement including baseball infielder's / pitcher's helmets and McDavid heart protection shirts. I will continue to use this forum to raise awareness of sports injuries and prevention. 

Youth Sports: Raising Awareness of Sports Injuries (Part 1)

This week, the Sports Safety Alliance held its second annual conference to raise awareness of sports injuries and suggest preventative solutions. The agenda included:

• Sudden Cardiac Arrest 
• Heat Illness 
• Brain Injury/Concussion 
• Sickle Cell Trait 

The video below is featured on their website. It's a video presentation with 73 slides. Each slide contains the names of two kids who died during sports events between 2008 and 2009.

Athlete_Fatalities_Pres

See more presentations by nata1950 | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

The Main Point

Sadly, some of these tragedies could have been prevented. The Sports Safety Alliance is working to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities. I applaud their efforts.

Youth Basketball: Great Shooting / Box Out Drill

I went to my son's basketball practice tonight and saw a great shooting / box out drill. It's my son's favorite drill.

This is how the drill works

1) The coach puts 5 players outside the three point line and 1 player under the basket as pictured to the right.

2) Player #1 gets the ball and tries to score with a jump shot from any distance. Player #1 is not allowed to dribble drive.

3) Player #6 defends the basket. He pressures the ball.

4) As player #1 shoots, player #6 tries to box out player #1 and rebound the ball.

5) If player #1 gets his own rebound, he shoots again. Player #6 will attempt to box out the player again to get the rebound. Player #1 will continue shooting until player #6 gets a rebound.

6) When player #6 gets the rebound, player #1 is done. Player #6 then passes the ball to player #2 for his next battle.

7) Player #6 will continues rebounding until he battles all 5 players.

The Main Point

I really liked this drill because it teaches boxing out for defenders and following your shot for offensive players. The rebounder gets a great workout during the 5 consecutive battles, so it also builds endurance.

My son Nic is certainly not the biggest player on the team, but he is one of the most tenacious. He limited all but one player to 1 shot. When he was shooting against his buddy Ben, Nic had 6 consecutive shots in a fierce protracted battle. After Ben was done, the coach gave Nic a high five and told Ben, "Don't worry about it - Nic is tough." That made me feel proud.

Proper Boxing Out Technique can be found on BreakthroughBasketball.com

Youth Basketball: How to Talk to your Son After a Bad Game

Contested Layup

I had some success last night talking to my teenage boy after a bad game. I have learned how to deal with these situations and how not too. It has been an iterative process over the years. All kids are different so I am not sure this process will help you, but it seems to work for both of my kids.

Game 177

My son's basketball team lost a game by a big margin last night. After the game, my son was upset and stormed out of the gym. He loves to win and gives it his all, but he does not typically get visibly mad about losing.  I assumed that he was upset about one or more of the following; 1) his play while in the game, 2) his limited playing time, 3) getting pulled out of the game after being in for less than 10 seconds late in the last quarter or 4) missing a mixer (a school social party / dance) to play in the game.

In situations like this, my wife and I both know not to immediately talk to him about the game. It's just not productive. He always needs some time to think about and process the situation, else he will likely be irrational.

My wife and I took separate cars to the game. Nic decided to drive home with me after the game. We did not talk for the first 10 minutes of the drive home. After I was satisfied that he had some time to think, I asked him if he was more upset with missing the mixer or how he played (1 point, 1 rebound and 2 turnovers). It was a simple multiple choice question with two possible answers, but after 10 minutes of not talking he was ready to ramble on about both. Afterwards, I realized that he was bummed about missing the mixer, but upset about the game.

We drove in silence for a few minutes more. I asked him if his friends would be playing Xbox Live (Call of Duty) after they returned home from the mixer. He said yes. I asked him about his world ranking in Call of Duty - Black Ops. He explained with pride that he was ranked about 80,000th in the world. Millions play. He then explained that he could be ranked higher, but the zombie mode that he and his friends like to play does not contribute to the world rankings.

Once I was satisfied that he was thinking rationally, I turned the conversation back to the game. I asked him if he was upset about getting pulled from the game after just getting in. I knew that  this was the pain point because I saw it on his face when it happened. He confirmed it. I helped him understand the coach's rationale for this move. This was the situation:

It was late in the game and our team was on the losing side of a close battle. Our point guard had 4 fouls on him, one more foul and he was out of the game. We had just scored a basket and the coach quickly subbed Nic in for the point guard. Nic is not a natural basketball player. He made the team because he is aggressive and quick. He made the team because of defense not offense. He coach inserted Nic into the game to defend the inbound pass and hopefully to get a steal or to foul the player who received the pass. Nic quickly fouled the player to stop the clock and force the 1 and 1. After the foul, he was pulled from the game and the point guard was re-inserted. I explained to Nic that his strength is defense. If the team was winning, he would be in the game. Our point guard's strength is offense. The coach was smartly subbing the best players in for the rapidly changing situation.  Once Nic understood the situation he felt better about it.

Then I started talking about the things that he did well during the game and also gave him some advice to use his speed more on offense to create opportunities.

How to Talk To Young Athletes After a Bad Game

1) Assess the situation. Do you really need to talk about the bad game at all? Is it a teaching / learning moment? If not, do not even bring up the subject. Just down play it.

2) If it is a teaching / learning moment. Do not talk about it immediately. Let your young athlete think about it first. Say I understand you are upset about the game, lets talk about it after you have a chance to relax a little.

3) At first, ask yes / no or simple multiple choice questions. If your athlete is ready to talk they will open up. If not, they will give you a short answer. No need to push it until they are ready.

4) Listen first. Try to understand the real issue. Kids often mask the real issues by complaining about an umpire, a coach, a teammate or a phantom injury. Ask lots of qualifying questions.

5) Once you have all the input, explain the situation while highlighting your young athlete's strengths. Try to be supportive of the coaches and the refs. If your kid blames him / herself for a loss emphasize the team aspect of the game.  

The Main Point

Bad games can be great learning / teaching opportunities.

Youth Sports: Sports Training for Babies and Toddlers?

CC Age 3

On Wednesday, The New York Times featured an article called Sports Training Has Begun for Babies and Toddlers. Apparently formalized sports training cannot start early enough and entrepreneurs are cashing in on it. It's big business.

Crazy Youth Sports Parents Series

One company featured in the article is called Gymtrix. They sell videos to help kids get a fast start on their athletic coordination development. According to Gymtrix

"Something magical happens when kids learn how to throw, catch, kick, run, leap and twist. They get up and join in the game! GYMTRIX™ motivates kids to try new experiences and discover how it feels to succeed; it gives them a positive attitude about physical activity that can influence their whole lives."

I couldn't agree more, but do parents need a video to achieve this? What's next an iPhone App to teach your baby how to walk?

If you want your kid to throw, catch, kick, run, leap, twist or even hit a golf ball. Just Do It! Get away from the TV, the BluRay Player, the Wii and go outside and do it.

The one thing that I do agree with is that many kids can learn sports mechanics at a young age. It's remarkable what some kids if you just show them what to do.

Nic Age 3

Speaking of big business. In Cincinnati, there is a awesome indoor sports facility called Kids First. It's a sports training facility for younger kids. This place is crowded seemingly 24/7. They have swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, cheering, dance, soccer and basketball programs that cater to younger kids. For example, the 10 week, $152 Tumble Bee class is designed for 10-18 month old kids. $108 will get your kid some soccer and basketball training starting at the tender age of 3 year olds. Truth be told, my wife and I have spent lots of time and money in this place.

The Main Point

Your kid will be an good athlete if they are athletic. And it will not make any difference if they start training at 6 mos or 6 years. If you have the money and you want to see your kid run around an indoor soccer field with a bunch of other kids great. We enjoyed it, but we did not think that it was essential step in a quest for a college scholarship and you shouldn't either.

Youth Sports: Lebron James Bumped Off His Pedestal

I grew up watching the NBA. I loved watching the '70's Knicks / Lakers rivalry. I once drew a life size picture of Wilt Chamberlain that I cut out and hung on my wall. It was the first FatHead ever. Unfortunately, at 8 years old I did not see the huge business opportunity.


I became a 76ers fan when my dad bought Sixers season tickets in 1976, Dr. J's first year with the team. We had 14th row center-court seats from 1976 to 1990. Over the years, I saw the circus act shots of Dr. J, I witnessed Michael Jordan score his 10,000 point and his 15,000 point and I was awed as a shattered backboard rained down on Darryl Dawkins. 


I watched some great professional basketball over the years and loved it. Sadly, I do not watch NBA basketball anymore. I don't like the prima donnas or overly tattooed thugs who play the game now. And I am glad to say, my kids do not watch NBA basketball either.


On November 27, 2010, Lebron James, arguably the best player in the world, gave me just another reason to avoid the NBA when he intentionally bumped into his coach Eric Spoelstra. It was a bush league, disrespectful move. But perhaps the worst thing about the incident was that the coach did nothing about it. He down played it in interviews after the fact. You can tell in the video he was pissed off until he turned around and saw who bumped him, the supposed best player in the game who cannot win a championship. 


Crazy Youth Sports Coach Series


I see this all the time on youth sports fields and courts. The best players get away with disrespectful behavior much more readily than the bench players. Coaches put winning ahead of discipline. Coaches want to keep their stars happy to keep them from bolting to another team. Ironically, it is the lack of discipline and poor team chemistry that leads to losing and nothing makes a star leave a team more than losing. 



The Main Point

I agree with Charles Barkley who famously said that he was not a role model. Barkley wanted parents and teachers to quit looking to him to raise their kids and instead be role models themselves. As a former fan of Pete Rose, Roger Clemons and Brett Farve, I could not agree more. Add Lebron to the mix. I had already added him to the list this summer for the way he handled his free agency. And lets add Eric Spoelstra to the list of coaches we do not want to emulate. He is toast.

Youth Sports: The Importance of the Team Mom

This is how a Team Mom is born.


Before the a sports season starts, the coach will send an email to the team and ask for someone to volunteer to be the team administrator, aka the Team Mom. 

You know the email. It's the kind of email that you ignore for a few hours or days hoping that someone will response before your guilty conscious gets the best of you.

If you were born with that Team Mom gene, you know that there are only one or two logical choices for the job because the job takes great organizational skills and commitment. You know that you would be the best at it, but you want the other person to volunteer first. You kind of want the job, but really do not know how you are going to juggle your time. 


Both qualified candidates play chicken. The silence on the email is deafening. 


Eventually, someone with a guilty conscious but terrible organizational skills for the job will nominated the logical choice. The flattering nomination email will say something like,  "I would volunteer, but I am not very organized. The team finances and schedule would be a disaster. I wish I were more like Betty Sue. She has complete command of her world. Betty Sue you should do it, you would be a great team mom."


Betty Sue will accept because she "kind of" wanted the job anyway.  And she will do a great job as the nominator had predicted.

These responsibilities are enumerated on MomsTeam which is a great resource for youth sports parents. The list of 10 responsibilities include:

1. Money manager
2. Answer person
3. Keeper of the list
4. Pre-season meeting coordinator
5. File Clerk
6. Fundraiser coordinator
7. Volunteer coordinator
8. Webmaster
9. Travel agent
10. Team Pin Buyer

I can add to the list - Spirit wear coordinator, Uniform Purchasing Agent and lead Carpool driver.

The list above was Adapted from the book, Home Team Advantage: The Critical Role of Mothers in Youth Sports (HarperCollins 2006) by Brooke de Lench. See Amazon link below.

The Main Point

The team mom can be a dad. I have seen some every good team mom, dads. 


Make sure you thank the team administrator after the season. Perhaps buy them a gift certificate to a nice restaurant. They have earned it.

Youth Sports: Too Costly?

During my interview with Mark Hyman, professional journalist and blogger (Youth Sport Parents), I was asked, Is the cost of youth sports a problem? 

As I stated in the post Youth Sport Fanatics Nature or Nurture, we are a sports crazy family. As such, we prioritize spending on youth sports over other expenditures. Some families have vacation homes and boats. Some families go on extravagant vacations. We do not because of the time and money we invest in youth sports. Of course some families can't afford youth sports let alone vacation homes and boats and vacations. So the question remains Is the cost of youth sports a problem? 

I struggled with this question. I think that sports should be available to all kids of all socio- economic levels and it is for those who look. The bottom-line is that it costs money to run a league or a sports facility. The field / court / ice fees, referee / umpire fees, uniforms, insurance costs, etc, all add up. Luckily there are numerous fundraising options and great programs supported by philanthropic organizations. The Boys and Girls Clubs of America's has programs supported by Major League Baseball like Wanna Play, Jr. RBI, RBI. The Cincinnati Reds have the Reds Community fund that improve lives through the tradition of the Reds and baseball. I am sure most MLB teams have similar organizations. YMCA offers youth sports programs for athletes of households of all incomes.

There are also great sports equipment and uniform donation programs like Pitchinforbaseball and US Soccer Federation's Passback to help communities in need. Finally, many town and school leagues offer financial assistance for players in need.

Lots of coaches will reach into their own pockets to help a family in need. When I was coaching my older son's select soccer team, I recruited a talented kid who I had coached in rec ball. His mom was flattered but declined because they did not have the money. I sent a note to the other parents and asked if they would mind if we added a kid to the roster at a cost that matched recreational soccer. All agreed without exception. I paid for his uniform. My actions are played out in lots of communities every season.

The Main Point

Sports cost money to run, but through volunteerism, fundraising and reaching out to established organizations that provide help or equipment the costs do not have to be a deterrent to participation.  

Youth Basketball: When Sports and Family Schedules Conflict

What do you do when sports schedules conflicts with family schedules?

We teach our kids about commitment to a team. They know that when they sign up for a sport that they are making a commitment to be there for their teammates and coach. We also teach our kids about commitment to family. We stress how important it is to be there for each other. We especially value the time our kids get with their grandparents.

This Thanksgiving weekend we were conflicted.

We had planned to go to Iowa to visit family (my in-laws) for Thanksgiving, but my daughter's AAU basketball team scheduled a Thanksgiving Tournament. This is how we handled it.

1) My wife and I sat down and talked about it. We decided that our daughter, CC, should not miss her first tournament with her new team and coach.
2) We then decided to invite the in-laws from Iowa to visit, eat turkey and watch the basketball tournament. The in-laws declined because they had made a commitment to other family members.
3) We then invited my dad to fly up from Florida to spend time with us. He accepted.


The Main Point

It is difficult to teach the value of keeping commitments when two commitments conflict. The best thing to do is talk about the conflicts openly with all involved and problem solve together.

Games 167 - 172

We had heard that my daughter's team was going to be one of the best 4th grade teams in the area but that was pure conjecture until this Thanksgiving weekend tournament began. 

Tuesday night - CC's team won the first tournament game 44-1. CC had 4 points, 5 steals and 4 assists.

Wednesday night - CC's team won 36-6. CC had a pair of free throws and played outstanding defense.

Thursday - CC got sick. She threw up for 20 straight hours from 3am to 1pm. She was too sick to come downstairs for Thanksgiving. She did not eat the entire day.

Friday - CC woke up and asked me if we had mash potatoes and gravy leftovers. She wanted some for breakfast. By 12 noon she wanted to go watch her brother practice and perhaps shoot on an empty court. She shot baskets for 1 hour. 

Friday night - CC team won 36-6 again. CC had 4 points and played defense with vigor. The team also started a 5th grade Thanksgiving Tournament. The team won that game 16-14. CC had a critical steal and assist but was pushed around by the bigger and faster 5th grade girls. We were amazed that she was standing after being so sick.

Saturday - CC's team won the Championship. CC started the game. In the first minute of play, she had two steals and two fast-break layups to give her team a 4-0 lead. The team did not look back and won the game 44-8. In the fifth grade tournament, the girls lost a physical game. They battled and took the lead late in the game, but could not hold off the bigger and stronger team.

Sunday - CC's team won the first game 40-6 and advanced to the finals. CC was hurt in the first game. As she was scrambling for a loose ball, she was basically tackled by a 5th grade girl who easily weighed her 3X. The foul was not malicious. This girl was so big that she could not control her body. CC's team lost in the finals. CC played about 1 minute but was still feeling pain in her left forearm.

Youth Soccer: Coaches Should Follow A Lesson Plan

Good soccer coaches develop age appropriate lesson plans to help developing soccer players progress.

Age 5

Age 7

Age 9

I found a blog that has age appropriate lesson plans. Check it out at Youth Soccer Lesson Plans.

The Main Point

The best coaches are the ones who are the most prepared and run a very organized practice. Most recreational and select teams practice 2 days per week for about 1.5 hours per day. Make the most of the three hours and the kids will benefit greatly.

Youth Baseball: Select Baseball Costs Uniformly High?

During my interview with Mark Hyman, professional journalist and blogger (Youth Sports Parents), we talked about the cost of youth sports. Mark was looking for interesting or questionable costs associated with youth sports? I told him about the uniforms that my son donned as a 10 year old baseball player.

The U10 team Nic played on had four different color hats (cardinal, blue, gold and white), two different color pants (white and grey), three different jerseys (cardinal, blue and gold), two vest options (white and grey),  and two stirrup sock options (blue and cardinal). The jerseys were worn under the vests or without the vests. All of the uniform parts were designed to work with all the others. If my math is correct, there were 144 possible combinations. This includes wearing white pants with grey vests and vice versa which you would not expect, but the team actually wore these hideous combination once or twice. The team only played 50 games that year, so I figured that 144 uniform combinations would satisfy the questionable cost category.

Grey Pants / Cardinal Jersey

White Pants / Blue Jersey

White Pants / Gold Jersey

Grey Pants / Grey Vest

White Pants / White Vest

Cardinal Hat

White Hat

Gold Hat 

Blue Hat

Blue Stirrups

Cardinal Stirrups

The Main Point

Some teams get a bit carried away with uniforms and spirit wear. This can unnecessarily drive up the cost of youth sports for parents.

Youth Sports Fanatics by Nature or Nurture?

I was recently interviewed via phone by Mark Hyman, professional journalist and blogger (Youth Sports Blog) about youth sports. He asked me fairly basic questions. The questions were not difficult to answer, but they made me stop and think and think. I will post about some of my answers over the next couple of days.

One thought provoking question was Why do we invest so much time and money in youth sports? After the call, I wondered if the real question was - Why would you subject your kids to this hectic schedule? Is it for you or them? Let's face it, if you read this blog we're nuts. But why are we nuts? was the thought provoking question that I wanted to answer for myself. I thought about it all last night and could not wait to write it down.

As I answered Mark's question, I am sure that I rambled on before I articulated the pure and simple answer which is - we're a sports family. My wife and I come from sports families. We love sports and either by nature or nurture our kids love sports too. None of us can get enough of it.

My wife and I do not have grand illusions of our kids playing pro sports or even getting college scholarships. My kid's 529s are at the ready. We would love it if our kids had a chance to play in high school because my wife and I both have fond memories of HS sports. My kids are considering HS programs with very competitive athletics, as such, playing HS sports is not a given. So as long as they have the desire to play sports, we will invest the time, energy and money to help them advance as far as they want to go.

As a kid, I played sports non-stop year round. I played organized soccer, baseball, lacrosse, tennis and basketball. I got consumed in the sports season that I was in. If it was baseball season, my friends and I played baseball (or some form of it) day and night. If we were not playing in an organized league, we were playing pick-up baseball games or stickball or whiffle ball. When it rained we played ruler ball. Ruler ball was a form of baseball played in a basement on rainy days. A 12 in. ruler was the bat and wadded up tin foil was the ball. We played baseball in one form or another non-stop and never once thought about pitch counts.

During basketball season, if I was not playing on an organized team, my friends and I (or my dad and I) would play at a park or on driveway somewhere. We played pick up games, from 5V5 full court to 1V1 half court, it all depended on how many kids we could find to play on any given day. Additionally, we played horse, pig, 5-3-1 and Around-the-World all day long and at night under spot lights. In the winter, we would shovel snow off the driveway to play.

When I wasn't playing sports I was watching sports on TV or live at a stadium. In other words, I had no time for Boy Scouts or Indian Guides and that was just fine with me.

My dad

I was probably obsessed with sports because my dad was. My dad was a tremendous athlete. Much better than I was. At 6ft 5in, he was bigger, faster and more athletic than me. Heck he was bigger, faster and could jump higher than most people of is era. He played 3 sports in college (baseball, basketball and golf). He was simply good at every sport he picked up and loved nothing more than to teach me how to play each game to my potential.

JJ's Great Grandmother

My wife was a multi-sport athlete as a kid. She played boys baseball, basketball, volleyball, softball, golf and also participated in track and field (hurdles and high jump). She played softball in college. Athletics were ingrained in her by her family. Get this, her great grandmother, played college basketball at Waldorf College in Iowa from 1913-1916 not too long after the first ever women's college basketball game was played. Her grandfather and mother's first date was a tennis match. Her grandmother beat her grandfather.

I wouldn't be married to my wife if not for sports. 

The Cincinnati Sports and Social Club formed the year I moved to Cincinnati in the early nineties. The club was based on a simple principle, co-ed sports for young adults followed by co-ed drinking at a sponsor bar.

The first year of the club, I played volleyball against my wife. The next season I recruited her to play on my team. Together, we won the Cincinnati Sport and Social Club Volleyball Championship several years in a row. We traveled to places like Atlanta, Orlando and Phoenix to represent the Cincinnati Club at the Sport and Social Clubs National Finals. We also won a softball city title and countless floor hockey city titles. We did not stop playing when we had kids either. We would bring a playpen and put it in the corner of a gym or the end of a dugout and play sports 3 or 4 days a week year round. We did this until our kids schedules precluded this.

The Main Point

I guess my kids are sports fanatics because they come from a long line of sports fanatics. We are motivated by the love of sports pure and simple. It's a passion. We do not see sports as a path to stardom and money. It's about lifelong enjoyment.

Before you jump to any conclusions. Academics come before sports in our family.  Thankfully, my two young, over-scheduled athletes are great students. Perhaps, they got that from me. I brought my competitive nature to school. I graduated number 5 in my engineering college and earned an Ivy League MBA. Like athletics, we will invest the time, energy and money to help our kids advance as far as they want to go in school too.

Finally to answer the question, Is this for us (parents) or for them (kids)? Just yesterday, my daughter asked me if she could join the Girl Scouts. I said, "Sure honey but you will probably need to cut back on your sports schedule to do Girl Scouts." Without hesitation she said, "Oh - no way dad, forget it." And that was that. Like father, like daughter.

Youth Baseball: New Age Groups for AAU

As my son gets older each year, the youth baseball experience changes and we change with it.

2 years old to 12 years old

Have you ever noticed that as young athletes get older each year their friends seem to drop off. They drop off to concentrate on another sport that they may be better at, but most drop off because they have finally come to the conclusion that they are just not that good vis-a-vis the others still playing the game, so it is not as fun.

Have you ever wondered what percentage of 12 year old baseball players still play by the time they reach the high school age level?

According to AAU data, only 30%.

This limited number of players 15 years old and older poses a problem. There are simply not enough players to fill out a competitive roster in four age groups (15U, 16U, 17U and 18/19U). As such, coaches for the older levels reach down to younger age talent. According a review of rosters at the AAU National Championships in 2010 the 16U teams only consisted of 57% of 16-year-olds. The rest of the roster consisted of 15-year-olds (37%), 14-year-olds (2%), and 13-year-olds (4%). Similarly, in the 18U/19U Nationals, only 59% of the players were actually 18U or 19U. The roster also had 17-year-olds (24%), 16-year-olds (12%), 15-year-olds (3%), and 14-year-olds (1%). There was was even one 13-year-old player playing at this age level.

To solve this problem, the Baseball Sport Committee announced the establishment of two divisions. The Upperclassmen division and the Underclassmen division.

UNDERCLASSMEN/UPPERCLASSMEN

Underclassmen includes any player who is born on or after May 1, 1993 and is not a Senior (graduating class of 2011 or previous). 

Upperclassmen are those players who were born on or after May 1, 1991 and a member of the graduating class of 2011 or previous. 

Underclassmen may play on an Upperclassmen team, but Upperclassmen may not play on an Underclassmen team.

The Main Point

I think that this is a very smart move. It will allow teams to remain intact. Our family experienced the dynamics of this situation in soccer. As my son got older, he struggled to find a soccer club / team each year. He would tryout for the team he played on the previous year only to find out at the tryouts or shortly after that there were not enough players to keep the team viable. The team would fold and then we would burn up the phone lines trying to find a team. My baseball player has not reached that age level so we have not experienced this in baseball yet, but I am sure that the rule change by the AAU will help. I applaud the AAU for making this change.

Youth Sports: I Used to Wear Soccer Shin Pads to Church

Today is Sunday. The day you are supposed to go to church, think about God, reflect on the week and rest. When I was a young kid, this was not hard to do because there was not really much that you could do on Sundays. Most stores were closed and most youth sporting events avoided Sunday games and practices. 

As I got older, however, youth sports started to impinge on the Holy day. Baseball started having some games late in the day on Sundays. We used to go to the last mass at 11:30 AM every week. Going to the last mass was not a issue because games would never start before 2 PM. Eventually, the schedule started featuring 1 PM games.  To make these games, I would have to go to church in my baseball uniform and leave immediately after we took communion.

I remember feeling a bit weird not wearing nice pants and shoes to church at first, but eventually, it felt quite liberating. I had a dark blue polyester shirt with bright white lettering across my chest that screamed White Sox. Needless to say, I stuck out in church when I wore it. It made a huge statement. My message to the congregation and the priest -- Hey Father, we don't care about your silly "do nothing on Sunday" rules. I was never quite comfortable with the statement I was making. Over time, I remember going to church in my soccer uniform, shin pads and all. I guess I wore the shin pads to protect myself from the wrath of the Lord.

Nowadays, every store is open except Chick-fil-A and sports teams do not even hesitate to schedule games and practices on Sundays, and that includes mornings. Today we have an optional futsal (an indoor form of soccer) scrimmage at 9AM and an optional baseball practice at 10AM. When futsal league play starts, it will not be as optional and when winter baseball training officially starts in January, that will not be as optional either. Today we are taking the option and will not go. Both of my athletes do, however, have basketball practices later in the day.

The Main Point

Taking Back Sundays is a grass-roots initiative of parents collectively reclaiming Sunday as a sports-free day. They have a pledge that they want all of us Crazy Youth Sports Parents to take. While I admire the tenets of the movement, our family will not be taking the pledge because we could never honor it. We do still, however, honor God in our way. Judge us if you like. 

The organization behind Taking Back Sundays is concerned about over-scheduled kids and under-connected families. The organization believes that over-scheduled kids miss out on essential family time, especially meal time. My kids are most definitely over-scheduled, but I think that youth sports brings our family together. While we do not eat together at home often, we regularly go out to eat after games as a family. 

Youth Basketball: The Last Second Shot

If competition makes a player better and stronger, then my daughter CC improved yesterday. 


Game 162

My daughter's school basketball team made it to the final four with a decisive win on Friday night. Yesterday, they competed against an undefeated team for the right to go to the CYO City Championship finals. My daughter, CC, and her teammates played their hearts out in a game dominated by defense. 


CC's team fell behind 8 to 2. Scoring was difficult for both teams, but CC's team battled back. CC hit a nice 15 foot baseline jump shot over a defender to make it 8-5 late in the game (Pictured). 


She also made a key play with less than a minute left. The star of the other team was stole a pass and broke for the basket on a fastbreak. A fastbreak that would have put the game out of reach. CC ran full speed to foul the girl. It was an aggressive foul and both girls went to the ground hard. (The girl she fouled is her AAU teammate.) Luckily, it was not a shooting foul and our team stole the resulting inbounds pass. 


The two teams traded important possessions that could have decided the game, but no shots found the bottom of the net. With less than 10 seconds left, CC's best friend took the ball into the lane and was fouled. Unfortunately, she missed the first shot of a 1 and 1 that would have tied the game at 8-8 with 3 seconds left. CC's team would get another chance to win as the rebound off of the missed free throw went out off of the other team. 


A play was devised to get CC the final shot.  CC got free on the baseline. She received the pass. The defender popped out to defend the shot.  With .5 seconds left, CC was able to get the shot off, but it was blocked as the defender hammered CC. (The girl who fouled her was another of her AAU teammates.) Both girls went to the ground tangled up.  Unbelievably, the refs did not call a foul and our team lost 8-7. 


Our coach questioned the ref after the game. He asked if the time expired before the shot and foul. The ref said no. He then asked the ref why he did not call a foul. The ref told our coach that the defender went straight up. Oh well.


After the game, I wondered that if the foul had been called if CC would have been nervous. She told me,  "no way Dad and I would have made the shots."


The Main Point 


Games like this build character.