MomsTeam: Check it out

Check out Moms Team, which has been designated as a pioneering organization for implementation of UNICEF’s International Safeguards for Children in Sport. It covers such topics as 
• Health & Safety
• Nutrition
• Successful Parenting
• Sports
• Team Mom/Coaches

 For any parent with a kid playing sports, including snow sports, this is definitely a site to bookmark.  

Taylor Spaulding #1 in USASA National Rankings for Junior Men

Taylor Spaulding’s Mom posted the following about her son, “Taylor is doing some exciting things that I wanted to pass on to those who have so graciously supported him since the beginning of his snowboarding.  He finished 1st and 2nd a few weekends ago in the Junior men Southern Vt Series; He landed his first backside 900 in a competition; He finished 33 out of 77 in his first REV tour in Copper last month with stiff competition from international athletes; He is currently ranked #1 in the USASA National Rankings for Junior Men; He picked up a sponsor EAC limited and they just announced him on their team.  He heads to 7 Springs, PA on Monday to compete in his second REV tour event.”

You can learn more about Taylor’s activities at the OMS Shred Blog.  

Keep up the good work Taylor and good luck on Monday! Be sure and let us know how you do. 

Helmets-How much protection do they offer?

While this is a study of football helmets, it does make one wonder about the protection offered from ski helmets. Football Helmets Not Much Protection Against Hits to Side of the Head Study.

The League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis is a very interesting report on the impact of concussions in football. One of the more disturbing aspects of the film was the impact of falling (no concussion or head banging involved). Brain scans of high school athletes who had no history of concussion, showed brain changes. There were even reported cases of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in high school senior football players. 

Teens: How to help them recover from sports injuries

Statistics indicate that every 25 seconds a U. S. teen athlete is injured severe enough that they require hospital treatment. Every 3 minutes, a teen athlete is treated in an emergency room for concussion. In fact, athletes ages 12-15 make up almost half of the 163,000 sports related concussions seen in hospitals. http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/08/06/Every-25-seconds-a-US-teen-athlete-treated-for-sports-injury/UPI-77041375791902/

While a lot is available on injury prevention, and medical treatment of an injury, there is a lot less available on how to help an athlete that’s laid up with a concussion or another injury.

For many teens, the social aspects are as important, or more so, then the sport itself. Not participating in trainings, let alone games and competitions, can be devastating. Then there is the effect of not exercising, which, when combined with loss of social connections and coping with the injury itself, can lead to depression, anxiety, anger and to other health issues.

Below are resources to check out as well as some general recommendations:

• Avoid injuries whenever possible. Check out Snow Safety:Protect Your Head 

• Encourage your athlete to be more than a “one crop farmer.” Many athletes are so focused on their sport they don’t develop other interests so when they are injured it feels like their whole world has ended.

• Psychology of an injured athlete: how you can help: Handout from the University of Kentucky Sports Medicine program. Identifies a number of things you can do. Note that this can be a slow download. 

• Sports Injuries: Treat the Whole person: Provides advice for parents 

• The Mental Side of Athletic Injuries 

• Advocates for Injured Athletes 

Scholarship Recipients for 2013/2014

This winters McCostis Scholarship recipients are:

• Snowboarders: Otto Lichtensteiger and Taylor Spaulding (Than Durgin Scholarship)

• Free Style Skiing: Jace Provance

• Alpine Skiing: Abby Crowley and Travis Blake

Best of luck this season!

Concussions in Kids May Cause Brain Changes that Last for Months

With the Super Bowl just a day away, there are a lot of stories in the news about concussion and brain injury. This is not just a football problem but a very serious one for snow sports athletes as well. New research is showing that the impact of concussion on kids can last for months and can have impact years from now. 

MSF has provided a handout you can use with your snow athlete Snow Safety: Protect Your Head 

Please also consider watching the following films as they provide good information about brain injury, current research and what can happen to athletes. 

• The Crash Reel is a good film for kids and parents to see. This is the dramatic story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snowboarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. Through 20 years of astounding action and verité footage, the documentary chronicles the epic rise of snowboarder Kevin Pearce which culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. This story does not end with Kevin standing on the Olympic platform, instead it documents his acceptance and realization of what his life now is because of the brain injury. Along the way, you will learn a lot more about brain injury as well as meet athletes that choose not to stop and now have significantly more impairment.

• A League of Denial: Documentary by PBS on brain injury in football. Startling research that shows that slamming into the body can also damage the brain. 

Proposed VT Legislation on Concussion Prevention

Senators Sears, Ashe and Campbell (he represents Windsor County) have introduced a bill in the VT legislature that would require school athletic coaches and referees to receive training on how to prevent concussions from occurring during athletic activities; 2) prohibit a coach or an athletic trainer from allowing an athlete to continue participating in a school athletic event if the trainers knows or should know that the athlete has sustained a concussion or other head injury; 3) require that a health care provider be consulted if a coach and an athletic trainer do not agree as to whether an athlete has sustained a concussion or other head injury; and 4) require the home team to ensure that a licensed athletic trainer or a health care provider is present at any athletic event involving a contact sport, and to notify the visiting team’s athletic director if an athlete on the visiting team suffers a serious injury. For the full bill, go to http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2014/bills/intro/S-004.pdf