Variety Is the Spice

 Posted on: October 27 2016
At the October NASC Market Segment Meetings, a lot of the talk among attendees was focused on keeping kids involved in sports. As we’ve noted, by the time young athletes hit early high school, participation drops dramatically and with an organization like NASC, kids playing sports is vital to keeping the organization, and the industry, growing.  A recent article on ESPNW takes the youth sports discussion one step further—why you want your young athlete to be involved in multiple sports in this day and age of sport specialization. The author, sports reporter (and sports mom) Michelle Smith, gives five reasons why it’s good for kids to play several sports, including fewer overuse injuries, less chance for emotional burnout, exposure to different kids and different roles and not putting all your sports eggs into one basket.   The final point is perhaps important in the discussion of keeping kids playing sports. “Playing only one sport limits y...

Caring for the young athlete

 Posted on: October 10 2016
As a rights holder or event site manager, you are very familiar with the rules and regulations of holding an event, as well as the insurance and liability coverage that you need to follow to make sure the event goes off smoothly. As a matter of course, most events are required to have medical personnel on site, in case of injury. Often, the medical provider will also be listed as a sponsor of the event. But how do you know that the medical personnel on hand are the ones who can treat the young athlete? According to a 2014 ESPN sports poll, more than 87 percent of parents worry about their children getting hurt while playing sports. Injuries, from a knee scrape to more serious fractures and tears, are not uncommon in youth sports. Getting the proper treatment quickly is important, both for the athlete and for you as the event provider. In a recent ESPNW article, “Helping your athlete kids recover from injury the right way,” author (and mom) Sharon Van Epps shares a ...

Do-it-yourself coverage

 Posted on: October 4 2016
If there is a universal complaint heard from many event organizers, it’s this one: “No one ever comes to cover my event.” You can fill in the blank as to who “no one” is—local newspaper, television stations, etc. Truth be told, it doesn’t matter who that media entity may be. There is a good chance, unless you’re holding a national or state championship or a huge community event (think marathon weekends), the media coverage is more than likely to be sparse. Why is this? The quick answer is, media doesn’t operate the way it used to. The longer answer is, most media outlets have fewer people feeding more media channels. That means whatever story they’ve been assigned to do, they have to contribute a report to the ‘traditional’ media (TV newscast, print newspaper) as well as to the website and social media channels. So they’re doing a lot more with one story. That leaves little time to cover severa...

Tragedy on the field

 Posted on: September 26 2016
We talk a lot in this space about the good that youth sports offers our kids, from exercise to discipline to life lessons. But students in northern Ohio were handed one life lesson this past weekend that we wish they didn’t have to learn at such a young age. Andre Jackson, a Euclid (Ohio) High School football player, died Sunday, following injuries he suffered during a Friday night football game. A junior fullback and outside linebacker, Jackson died after he was hurt during the school's game against Solon High School on a special teams play. Euclid High School head football coach Jeff Rotsky said the incident happened during a "completely normal" play. "It was a pooch kick," he said. "He was going for the ball, and their guys were going for the ball, and I think he got kicked or kneed." The school district said Jackson walked off the field after the play, went to the hospital, was examined and was later released. No cause of death has b...

Being a better sports parent

 Posted on: September 19 2016
We’ve quoted from a number of articles and columns talking about how coaches can better serve their athletes. Now, there’s an article (aimed at soccer parents, but applicable to just about anyone) on how parents can better serve their own kids. From the Institute for Soccer Parenting comes an article by former college and pro soccer player Skye Eddy Bruce, “Immediately Become a Better Soccer Parent by Asking This Question.” In the article, she talks about the ride home with her daughter after a loss. She starts the conversation by saying, “I love watching you play.” And then, the rest of the ride was filled with talk about what went right in the game, and what went wrong—talking, basically about the results. She admits in the article that she went about the conversation in the opposite way she feels she should have. “Instead of focusing on winning (or not winning) I should have been focused on development,” she said. After tha...

The NFL is for kids, too

 Posted on: September 14 2016
With the NFL now in full swing this week, it’s a good time to highlight some of the initiatives the NFL has in place to get kids active and eating right. In fact, you may have seen one of these programs in action if you attended an NFL pre-season game this summer. Probably the most visible is the “NFL Play 60” program, which is really the umbrella title for several youth initiatives, including Fuel Up to Play 60, an in-school program emphasizing good nutrition along with activity; NFL Punt, Pass & Kick, the long-time national skills competition for boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 15; and NFL Flag Football, a youth football league for boys and girls ages 5-17. NFL Flag Football partners with recreation commissions in cities around the country to form leagues—at last count, more than a thousand leagues across the country. The highlight of the year for many of these teams is playing at halftime during an NFL game—and many were able to do ju...

Back to School Sports Advice

 Posted on: September 8 2016
As most schools are now back in session (and on the heels of the Little League World Series), columnist Dan Shanoff on ESPNW.com offers some back to school tips for families who have student-athletes returning to the court or the field this fall. The article, “10 back-to-school tips for sports parents,” offers obvious and not-so-obvious suggestions to help families and their students enjoy games and activities together. Among the reminders are: 1)      Remember the first rule of sports parenting: Your kid isn’t LeBron James. Rec league and even      travel-league play should be about working hard, listening to coaches, being a good teammate and having fun. 2)      Encourage your kid to play more than one sport. Coaches, and even parents, can argue the one-sport specialist advantages all day, and there are those players who can play the same sport 12 months out of the year and not get bored or...

Schools’ losses could be sports community’s gain

 Posted on: August 15 2016
Olympic fever, albeit short term and every four years, can be a big driver in sports facilities. As we’ve seen Team USA excel in the pool and in gymnastics, expect little boys and girls everywhere (and their parents) to have visions of gold medals dancing in their heads. These expected booms in these sports (and more) can mean an increase in building these facilities—to meet the demands of more people who want to use state-of-the-art equipment and venues. An article in the South Bend Tribune reflects that demand—in the case of two northern Indiana cities, Elkhart and Plymouth, their schools’ facilities are aging (and a YMCA has closed) but those pools could be replaced by larger sports complexes to be used not just for students but for regional meets. If plans go through, northern Indiana would become home to two sports centers that could draw a variety of athletes, from soccer players to swimmers to fitness buffs. Both cities are planning to include a ...

Give it a twirl

 Posted on: July 25 2016
An economic impact second only to college football? That’s a pretty significant impact. And that’s what is going on this week in South Bend. Baton twirlers, yes, that staple of halftime band performances everywhere, are on the University of Notre Dame campus this week from around the country for the 47th annual America’s Youth on Parade baton twirling competition. The South Bend Tribune reports that the National Baton Twirling Association’s competition — often dubbed the Super Bowl of baton twirling — draws contestants from all 50 states and many other countries. Age categories range from tots to the collegiate level in the diverse competition, which will include majorette contests, parade corps, flag corps, drill teams and cheerleading. By the way, the competition’s sessions are free and open to the public. It's estimated that about 5,000 visitors come into the South Bend-Mishawaka area for the competition, and Meghan Huff, sports...

Bluegrass Sports Commission Looks to Attract More Youth Sports

 Posted on: July 6 2016
The Bluegrass Sports Commission in Lexington, Kentucky, has ambitious plans to draw more youth sports to the area, while offering recreation for residents with a $25 million sports complex.  The proposal, presented to the Urban County Council this spring, includes a 134-acre site already owned by the city. The Commission has agreed to raise more than $6 million for the complex, and is asking the city to fund the remainder. The payoff? An economic study by Hunden Strategic Partners shows that over 20 years the complex could generate $450 million in spending at Lexington hotels, restaurants and other businesses.  Although the designs aren’t final, the site has room for more than 20 sports including baseball, softball, soccer and more. The tentative plan also calls for a playground as well as walking tracks that would connect to area trails. “This could be a true economic driver for our city,” Brian Miller, president and CEO of the commission, told the...
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