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

Snowboarding Tops List of Winter-Sports Injuries

But orthopedic surgeon says deadliest activity is 'skitching'

By Alan Mozes

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Related MedlinePlus Page

• Sports Injuries

SUNDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Across much of the United States, the winter months are a fun time filled with falling flakes and holiday cheer. But high season for snow and ice can also entail broken bones.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Daryl O'Connor of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, Ill., said some of the most celebrated seasonal sports, such as skiing and sledding, give rise to a raft of visits to the emergency room.

Snowboarding, said O'Connor, is Exhibit A for outdoor sport-related injuries, with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics showing that this activity alone accounts for one-quarter of all sports injury-related ER visits during winter. Half of those visits involve broken bones and sprains, often of the wrist and elbow, incurred when snowboarders fall on outstretched hands.

Sledding is another concern, causing more than 700,000 injuries a year, with 30 percent involving head injuries following collisions. Hockey and ice-skating lacerations coupled with neck, shoulder and knee injuries are another problem as players make unfortunate contact with ice, pucks, blades and other players.

And then there's skiing, which can pound and punish the knees.

But O'Connor reserves his biggest beef for an activity you won't find in the Olympics anytime soon: "skitching."

"This is not even a sport," he said in a Loyola University Health System news release, as he describes adrenaline-chasing teens who surreptitiously latch on to the rear bumper of a car so they can be pulled down icy streets on foot, in inner tubes or on sleds.

"It's just being foolish," O'Connor said. "In addition to broken bones, neck and shoulder injuries, young people can suffer fatal head trauma. Please, resist the skitch at all costs."

SOURCE: Loyola University Health System, news release, Jan. 2, 2013

MSF at Ski Swap at Okemo

MSF will be at the upcoming OMS Ski Swap at Okemo Mountain-Nov. 16-18, at the Base Lodge. Once again, Instant Wine Bar Raffle tickets will be on sale. Be sure to check out Vermont Snow Seeds. Everyday is a Snow Day when all you need is a few seeds and water. Makes a great stocking stuffer.

Applications Due for Weekend Athletes

Applications are due by Oct. 31, 2012 for those athletes who plan to attend target terms or weekend programs. Please use the application on the sidebar.

Quilt Raffle to Benefit MSF

Another fabulous Joan Noyes Quilt is up for raffle. Tickets are just $5 or 3 for $10. In the Ludlow area, you can purchase them by contacting Tara Liechensteiger  802-228-7280 or lance@tds.net

The drawing is Nov. 10. 

Take Care of Your Brain-It's the only one you've got

Brain injuries, be they a mild concussion or severe, can cause long term damage to a young athelete. In addition to wearing helmet, it's important to take care of your brain. Learn more about how to do this at http://healingwhole.blogspot.com/2012/06/take-care-of-your-brain.html

Sarah Jean Helterlin Snowboarding Scholarship

Sarah Jean Helterline was born in Westerly, Rhode Island but graduated from Black River High School in Ludlow. Graduating class of 2003, Sarah was a member of the snowboarding team. She participated in the National Outdoor Leadership School program, attended Penland School of Crafts, and won awards for her mixed-media artwork.

While she most recently lived in Block Island, RI, Sarah loved the mountains of Vermont and had visited here as recently as this past fall.

Sarah’s family and friends started the snowboarding scholarship in her memory May 2012.

Donations can be made to the Sarah Helterline Snowboarding Scholarship by sending a check payable to LTC-MSF and mailed to LTC-MSF, PO Box 243 Ludlow, VT 05149. Be sure to specify that the money is for the Helterline scholarship.

Hannah Teter sustains concussion

STRATTON MOUNTAIN, Vt. (AP) - Olympic gold medalist Hannah Teter sustained a concussion after a hard fall in the half pipe at the U.S. Open.

Amen Teter told The Associated Press that his sister was momentarily knocked unconscious Saturday but was talking to medical staff while being taken to the hospital near Stratton Mountain, Vt.

Amen Teter said she crashed onto her back after trying "a pretty large 9" - a 900-degree spin off the top of the half pipe. Amen Teter says it was "probably the hardest fall she's ever taken."

Hannah Teter won gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics and silver at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

The 25-year-old snowboarder has been involved in a number of charity projects, selling everything from underwear to maple syrup to benefit the poor in Africa and elsewhere.

Lasting effects from concussion

Some children may have memory and attention problems up to a year after a concussion, issues that can be tied to a lower quality of life and an increased risk of needing extra help in school, according to a U.S. study. http://news.yahoo.com/lasting-symptoms-possible-kids-concussions-study-012806926.html

When in Doubt, Take'em Out

When in doubt, take 'em out. That's the message from doctors trying to knock-out the growing occurrence of concussions in young athletes.

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center invited families into the hospital this weekend to perform head trauma tests. The computer test establishes a baseline for young athletes, allowing for comparison scores before and after a concussion.

Doctors say that if an athlete takes a significant blow to the head while competing, they should be removed from the game immediately.

"When in doubt, take them out. There is just no risk in taking them out and letting them be evaluated by someone who is more trained at it because many of our coaches aren't trained. No return the same day -- ever. It's very simple and easy. Any suspicion of a concussion, they don't go back," said Dr. Keith Loud with DHMC.

Young athletes will have another chance to take part in the program at the hospital this Tuesday. There is a 15-dollar fee for the service.

From WCAX