Now, back to school and track on Monday!
It's shaping up to be a great week of practice, at least the temperatures will be tolerable (despite forecasted rain on Wednesday). A few things you, parents and athletes need to know, moving into our second week of track:
1) We will be practicing everyday this week, each practice is REQUIRED, any unexcused absence will be noted and may affect potential participation in future practices and meets.
2) Parents, please be sure to pick athletes up from practice at 5:30. Many families have done a great job with this and we are truly appreciative. However, we have had some athletes not picked up until 45 minutes after practice. Also, please arrange to pick up your athletes from the glass corridor along the north side of the building. If you'd prefer to pick up your athlete on the east side of the building please be sure to arrange promptly at 5:30. It is not possible for coaching staff to supervise those athletes being picked up late if they are on the east side of the building.
3) Spirit wear order deadline has been EXTENDED. Orders will be accepted through THIS FRIDAY, March 21st. I know the order forms were not handed out in a timely manner and I respect the hardship this may have caused; to accommodate as many families as possible the dead line has been extended.
4) Athletes have done a great job with coming to practice appropriately dressed. I'd just like to take a moment to remind everyone that practice is scheduled to take place OUTSIDE EVERYDAY, please dress appropriately and adequately for the forecasted weather (cold, warm, rain, snow, sleet, etc.).
5) A quick reminder for distance athletes, if it is at all possible you should bring/wear a watch to all practices.
6) I have included an open letter, after this post, from Brian Hall regarding concussions and wanted to pass this information along as he requested. Please note, I found some of the links to Mr. Hall's letter dead but a simple google search for "soccer protective headgear" resulted in several products that seem to do the job. I'd be curious as to whether rugby's "scrum helmets" would be permitted on the soccer pitch. Of course, you should do your own research and make an informed decision as to what is the best for your athlete when it comes to protective head gear.
Prior to that I would like to provide a few links to inform and to play a bit of devil's advocate.
The first, to inform, it is important that parents understand that while helmet technology is improving and Worthington Schools have their helmets reconditioned by Riddell or purchase the newest replacements after every season NO HELMET PREVENTS CONCUSSION!
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/01/31/football-helmet-design-can-lower-concussion-risk-study-finds/
The second, as promised, to play a little devil's advocate. There is a faction of folks out there that think helmets should be banned from football all together. Please note I provide this link as neither an advocate nor a proponent of either argument.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ainissa-g-ramirez-phd/footballs-paradigm-shift-_1_b_4428032.html
The concussion discussion is a great, valuable one to continue to carry on. Please never be afraid to ask questions, challenge the status quo, and become educated.
Okay, enough seriousness, let's have a great week of track practice!
- Coach Stegman
Dear
Mr. Stegman,
It’s
good to see concern for head injuries come to the fore.
I’m
a Marine Viet Nam veteran, and a sergeant.
In
time of national emergency, in time of battle, in times where lives depend upon
it, then risk your future well-being.
For
a save in a soccer game, no. There’s a lot of life left to live for these kids,
they should live it standing up. When XiaoJiao
started
playing soccer four years ago I looked into head protection. The results are in
the letter appended below which I
sent
to all parents on her teams. Only one parent ever acted on it.
XiaoJiao
has had four or five coaches; I have sent this recommendation to each of those
coaches. Each has declined to
forward
my message or act upon it.
Dear
soccer parents,
I
had concerns about potential injuries when I signed our daughter up for soccer
last year.
The
recent series in the Dispatch about kids’ sports cemented my concerns. Lots of
kids get hurt playing soccer.
This
past weekend my daughter, XiaoJiao, kicked Emily in the forehead late in the
game. Play stopped, Emily was
checked
out and then taken off of the field. Fortunately it seemed no damage was done.
XiaoJiao,
however, felt very bad about kicking another girl in the head.
After
reading the Dispatch series on kids’ sports and injuries I had gone to the
sports store over on Sawmill.
The
manager said that he had coached soccer for five years and had definitely seen
headgear made for the game,
but
his store didn't sell the stuff. I called EGELHOFF, no help there. They sell
headbands, but just the showy stuff.
I
went online and found this site:
which
has a lot of good tech info and a very good video, but I couldn't find any way
to order their product. So I went to this site:
which
has the same cool video. The video says that 60% of kid head injuries come from
the game of soccer.
At
that site I was able to order. I ordered one white and one blue. It was $14.99
each plus $4.99 S/H.
Brian
Hall
XiaoJiao’s
Dad
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