AB Newswire - Athletic Business

Monday, April 30, 2012

Miss. State Surrenders Spring Game Yardage to Concert

By Paul Steinbach — AB Senior Editor

Spring game scrimmages have become tune-ups not only for college football players and coaches, but for game-day operations staffs — a sort of dress rehearsal that several schools were denied this month due to severe weather, particularly in the Midwest. On many campuses, the annual spring game becomes a carnival-like atmosphere not unlike a typical fall game day, featuring everything from kids’ activities to live music and drawing near-capacity crowds. Some schools have even allowed sideline access to highest-bidding “coaches.”

But we had never heard of a school hosting a post-game concert in the same venue as its spring game until April 21, when Mississippi State surrendered 35 yards of Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field to the staging, lighting and sound equipment of country music act Sugarland. That left the Bulldogs 65 yards and one end zone to show some 18,500 fans who paid between $25 and $60 (student tickets were priced at $15) a preview of the 2012 team. “It moved more toward concert than football game,” admits MSU senior associate athletic director Mike Nemeth, who estimates that 95 percent of the audience was in place for the game, with an opening concert act, Canaan Smith, hitting the stage a mere 10 minutes after it ended.

The lone casualty of a shortened field: punts. But if the concert encroachment concerned the coaching staff, it wasn’t letting on. “Dan Mullen is kind of an edgy guy,” Nemeth says of the MSU head coach. “He likes to approach and do different things differently. He was totally for it. In fact, he promoted it big time leading up to the event.”

It was the first time in years that Mississippi State had charged admission to its spring game, the focal point of Super Bulldog Weekend, a 26-year tradition that this year featured home baseball and softball games, as well as the SEC men’s tennis tournament. “We term it a homecoming in the spring,” says Nemeth, adding that revenue was not the motivation for the in-venue concert. “It was never intended to be a moneymaker for the department. We were just trying to cover our expenses and provide something different — a new and great experience for our fans.”

Posted At 10:30 AM • Comments (0)

Friday, April 27, 2012

Male Field Hockey Player Too Good to Play on Girls' Team

Emily Attwood — AB Associate Editor

It seems there is just no place for a boy on a girls’ field hockey team. New York officials have ruled that 13-year-old Keeling Pilaro, who has competed with the Southampton High School field hockey team for the past two seasons, will not be allowed to play with the team when the fall season starts.

Echoing a controversial ruling last fall by the Wilson Intermediate Football League limiting the scoring ability of one player because of his exceptional skills, Section 11, which oversees high school sports in Suffolk County, has ruled that Pilaro is just too good and that his participation is causing “a significant adverse effect on some of his opposing female players," said Ed Cinelli, Section 11 executive director. According to MyFoxNY.com, Cinelli went on to explain, “The rules state he would be allowed to play if he wasn't the dominant player.”

The issue of equality is often raised whenever a male athlete wishes to compete in a female sport, and vice versa, with opponents arguing that males’ size and strength provide an unfair advantage or create a safety concern when competing amongst girls. But it’s hard to make that argument in this case — Pilaro is 4 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs in at 82 pounds. Pilaro’s advantage may simply be that as a native of Ireland, he grew up playing the sport and has had more practice.

At greater issue might be the increasing popularity of field hockey among male athletes. "As a sport, it's a girls’ sport," Cinelli told MyFoxNY.com. "When a boy plays, it leads the way for other male players to come in and take over.”

Having grown up in Europe where the sport is more popular, Pilaro had few outlets to play in New York, but Title IX requires that an athlete be allowed to compete in a sport offered to the opposite sex, allowing Pilaro to join the girls’ team. The decision to ban him from even trying out could be seen as discrimination under Title IX, and should it stand, it could set a precedent for other states looking to limit participation by male athletes in female sports and strike a serious blow to Title IX enforceability, not to mention the effect it will have on male athletes like Pilaro interested in playing field hockey. Currently, 308 boys participate on girls’ field hockey teams nationwide, according to CBSNewYork.com. If more male athletes are excluded, the growth of the sport will be significantly stifled.

The school district and other coaches and players have offered their support for Pilaro. The family has hired an attorney and taken the matter to court, losing the initial appeal. The case will come up again in May, and the family hopes that Pilaro will be reinstated.

Posted At 10:04 AM • Comments (7)

Thursday, April 26, 2012

City May Be Liable for Uneven Softball Surface

Attorney John T. Wolohan is a professor of sports law in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University.

Even though the assumption-of-risk defense — which holds that an athlete who steps onto a court or field assumes or accepts all the risks that are inherent in the activity taking place — may be legally well established, there are still a number of issues the courts need to review before determining that the injured athlete actually knew of the risk. For example, some individuals — given their age and experience, or the presence of warnings posted around a facility — might assume a risk of injury when others might not. One example of how the courts examine whether an injured athlete had actual knowledge of the risks associated with an activity is Michael Furnari v City of New York, Respondent [89 A.D.3d 605; 933 N.Y.S.2d 248 (2011)].

Michael Furnari was injured while playing softball on an asphalt multipurpose play area at a Bronx park. After fielding a ground ball, Furnari fell when he planted his foot to make a throw. He claimed that he fell as a result of an uneven playing surface caused by or concealed by a tar patch applied by the city. At the close of Furnari’s evidence, the trial court granted the city’s motion to dismiss the complaint.

In reviewing the trial court’s finding, that Furnari had assumed the risk of his injury because a) the risk was inherent in the sport of softball and b) the defect in the surface was open and obvious, the appeals court ruled that the trial court’s determination was in error. First, the appeals court noted that Furnari did not fall in pursuit of the ball — rather, he fell after catching the hit ball on a bounce, when planting his foot to throw. When he planted his foot, Furnari said his left foot got “stuck” in something, and this is what caused him to fall. Therefore, the court concluded that Furnari’s accident was caused by unevenness in the “field,” which is not inherent in the sport when it is played on a presumably flat asphalt surface. Under these circumstances, the court ruled that it cannot be said as a matter of law that this defect was open and obvious, or that it was a danger inherent in the sport of softball.

With the case now headed back to court, or more likely a settlement, the court’s decision reiterates what all recreation and sports administrators should know: You must inspect all playing surfaces before allowing activities to be played on them. If a surface has a defect, fix it. If it cannot be fixed, warn the participants of the danger, move the activity to a safer location or cancel it.

Posted At 8:07 AM • Comments (0)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Angels Offer Price Breaks in Settlement of ADA Suit

By Andrew Cohen

We’re still scratching our heads over this one. In July 2009, J. Paul Charlebois, a then-47-year-old who uses a wheelchair, attended a Los Angeles Angels game with a friend who held season tickets on the club level of Angel Stadium. Charlebois was told that the only two wheelchair seats on the club level, where in-seat service is routinely offered, were occupied. An usher offered to carry Charlebois to and from a general-admission seat on the club level, but the fan declined the invitation and sued the team for failing to provide basic accommodations to people with disabilities on a premium-seating level.

Charlebois’ federal lawsuit sought no monetary damages beyond attorneys’ fees (which could be considerable; the team has estimated that attorneys’ fees and court costs could run the Angels $300,000 to $800,000). He wanted only for the stadium to change, according to a report in The Orange County Register. Did he get it?

Well, yes, if change means cheaper tickets and better food service. According to the settlement announced late last week, the Angels will not add accessible seating to the club level. Instead, the team is offering prime seating at a steeply discounted price for wheelchair users, and is expanding in-seat service to existing wheelchair seating areas at Angel Stadium this season. Tickets in the Diamond Club, the luxury seating area at the field level behind home plate, are being offered for $50 each (down from $150) to wheelchair users and a companion. The Angels are also now offering in-seat food-and-beverage service to the existing 32 wheelchair seats (and up to three companions) on the terrace level behind the field-level seats.

So, to sum up, Charlebois sued because the team was deigning to move him to another part of the stadium, and eventually he accepted a settlement that allows the team to move him to another part of the stadium. No word on how the Angels staff took to the requested sensitivity training.

Posted At 9:18 AM • Comments (1)

Friday, April 20, 2012

Blog: Programs Seek to Hook Kids on…Anything

Mary Helen Sprecher is the managing editor of Sports Destination Management Magazine and a technical writer with the American Sports Builders Association.

I love fitness statistics. I don't love them when they're discouraging, but I do love the fact that if you study them long enough, trends begin to emerge. And when you look at the trends, you can see what powers them. That's the best way to learn how progress can be made, even when things are discouraging.

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association recently released its Sports, Fitness and Leisure Activities Topline Report. Boiled down, that's a study of who's active, where in the U.S. they're being active, and what kind of sports they're doing.

Make no mistake about it, there was good news and bad. A total of 217 million Americans were classified as being active, while 68.1 million were classified as being totally inactive. Ouch. But the silver lining (for me, anyway) was the fact that inactivity rates for both children and adolescents went down. The downturn might have been slight, but it's better than an increase.

As we've all become more aware of childhood obesity, and of the need to move kids back outside and away from their computers, smartphones, TV, junk food and whatnot, we've seen a lot of sports step up with their own offerings. Many of these are directed at kids in lower-income urban areas since, often, those kids lack guidance.

The sports programs are intended to give them something to do with their spare time, to give them a new interest, and to channel their energies in a productive direction. Sometimes it's something as simple as getting kids outside and teaching them to fish. Sometimes it's teaching them the basics of figure skating.

And sometimes it's something else entirely. Recently, I became aware of a program by the National Urban Squash and Education Association. NUSEA, which has programs in 10 major cities across the U.S., teaches kids squash, but more than that it teaches them the importance of making positive choices. It has a study and tutoring component, a public service component and more. The statistics are great: 100 percent of the kids involved graduated from high school, and 93 percent of them went on to earn a college degree.

It's not necessarily squash that makes the difference, of course. It can be any sport that resonates with a kid: baseball, judo, basketball, boxing, tennis, skating, whatever they want. What programs like those in NUSEA (or Figure Skating in the City, or Hook A Kid On Fishing, or any other) are teaching kids are things like time management, good sportsmanship and self-discipline — lessons they might not necessarily be getting at home. And if they like their sport, and stick with it, that's one more active kid.

Watching the numbers of inactive kids inch down is gratifying. I'm all in favor of keeping that trend going. I'm also in favor of any sport with an initiative to grow participation by doing the outreach to a population that really needs it. We all have so much to gain by helping out.

Posted At 8:35 AM • Comments (0)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Virginia Graeme Baker Deadline Extended to May 2013

By Michael Popke — AB Managing Editor

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently extended the deadline for compliance with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act’s interpretation of an “unblockable drain” from May 28, 2012, to May 23, 2013. The law is aimed at preventing suction entrapment in pool drains and now mandates that public pools with a single main drain have a back-up system capable of shutting the drain's suction.

CPSC commissioner Nancy Nord says the agency’s September 2011 revocation of the original interpretation of that terminology caused problems for pool operators who relied on the initial guidelines. Previously, an unblockable drain — originally defined by the act as a "drain of any size and shape that a human body cannot sufficiently block to create a suction entrapment hazard," such as a dome-shaped cover — was considered acceptable. But commissioners expressed concerns that the drain cover could break, come loose or be improperly installed. Hence, the decision to reverse course in September.

In a statement issued earlier this week, Nord expressed dismay that after nearly 18 months, the commission (by a 3-2 vote) reversed itself and began requiring anti-entrapment systems to be installed on pools with single main drains — even those with the unblockable drain covers the CPSC had originally approved — and issued an unrealistic deadline.

“The commission's reversal, in my view, cannot be justified either substantively or procedurally," wrote Nord, who cast one of the dissenting votes in September. "Responsible pool owners and operators spent their limited (often public) funds complying with the federal mandate before the reversal. The reversal negated their efforts to comply with the P&SS Act. The reversal was substantively wrong: [A]nalysis showed that a properly installed unblockable drain cover was the best protection against the hazards of entrapment. Moreover, the reversal was procedurally wrong: A decision to revoke an important determination — relied upon around the country — should have only proceeded after giving the public adequate notice and a chance to comment."

Nord was one of three commissioners who voted for the extension, with the lone dissension coming from CPSC chairman Inez Tenenbaum.

It also should be noted that, according to the National Swimming Pool Foundation, there have been no reports of entrapment or entrapment-related injuries since 2008.

Posted At 3:54 PM • Comments (0)

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Illinois Focusing on Student-Athletes With Disabilities

By Michael Popke — AB Managing Editor

The Illinois High School Association has formed a new ad-hoc committee to study participation options for student-athletes with disabilities. The move comes after a member school requested that the association — which for decades has created inclusion opportunities — further explore what can be done in this area.

The committee, comprised of seven athletic directors and principals from around the state, is reviewing current opportunities available in Illinois for student-athletes with disabilities and evaluating the need to expand those opportunities — including at the state championship level. The committee also will survey member schools and review practices in other states. "We're looking at all opportunities," IHSA executive director Marty Hickman told The Chicago Tribune. "A number of states are doing some things in track and field. Some are doing unified programs like the Special Olympics. We ... want to be as proactive as possible."

The committee’s recommendations would build on measures the IHSA has already taken over the years to accommodate athletes with prosthetic limbs, athletes in wheelchairs, visually impaired and hearing impaired athletes, and athletes with paralysis to compete in basketball, gymnastics, golf, bowling, swimming, track and field, and cross country.

Matt Troha, an assistant executive director at the IHSA, says the association's expanded focus on student-athletes with disabilities is not a response to the Michigan High School Athletic Association's recent refusal to allow Eric Dompierre, an 11th-grade basketball and football player with Down syndrome, to play during his senior year as a 20-year-old. The MHSAA handbook states students are not allowed to participate in any school sports if they are older than 19. Twenty-three other states reportedly allow waivers extending the maximum-age requirements for student-athletes with disabilities, but MHSA associate director Tom Rashid told AB last month that "the consistent universal application of the age rule is really the smartest thing to do."

Posted At 10:19 AM • Comments (1)

Likeness Licensing a New Frontier in Coaching Contracts

By Paul Steinbach — AB Senior Editor

Idaho’s State Board of Education will vote today or tomorrow whether to approve the new contract of Boise State football coach Chris Petersen. Petersen’s raise has already been approved, and counting incentives, the entire package could top $12 million over five years. But certain compensation language in the contract may be unprecedented among college coaches.

According to details released by the Idaho Statesman, “Petersen also will receive a $250,000 annual payment for the life of the contract as a licensing fee so that the university can use his ‘name, image, voice, signature, etc.’ for marketing, promotion and merchandise. The licensing agreement is with Chris Petersen Enterprises LLC. The agreement gives Petersen the right to veto any use of his likeness. It is an exclusive license.”

As one Statesman headline put it, “Coach Petersen now a corporation.”

“This is definitely interesting,” says Kevin Barefoot, director of sales and marketing for Winthrop Intelligence, which compiles data pertaining to collegiate head and assistant coaching contracts. “I can’t say that we’ve seen anything like this previously.”

In five seasons leading the Broncos, Petersen’s 61-5 record is tops among active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches.

Update: The State Board reportedly has approved Petersen’s contract unanimously and without discussion.

Posted At 10:17 AM • Comments (0)

Catastrophic Brain Injuries Rising in High School Football

Emily Attwood — AB Associate Editor

Concussion awareness and prevention has been at the forefront of football issues, with Wisconsin becoming the latest state to enact concussion legislation, but the rise in permanent disabilities resulting from catastrophic brain injuries is a lesser-known issue that has many researchers concerned.

Since the 1980s, the number of high school football players suffering a permanent disability as a result of head impact remained in the single digits, hitting 10 for the first time in 2008 and again in 2009. In 2011, the number increased to 13, and researchers at the University of North Carolina’s National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research say that coaches and certified athletic trainers need to make some changes to prevent the number from increasing further.

About 67 percent of these catastrophic injuries were suffered by players during a tackle, according to Fred Mueller, the report’s lead author. Not only can such hits result in brain injuries, but also cervical spine injuries, both of which can result in permanent mental or physical disability.

While head-to-head contact was prohibited in 1976, it is still common on the football field. The center’s report calls for coaches and trainers to change how they teach the fundamental skills of the game, and for schools to hire coaches and trainers who teach the proper techniques. Additionally, referees must be strict in their enforcement of penalties for illegal tackles.

The movement for increased concussion awareness will also help to mitigate the rate of injury, as parents, coaches and athletes are called upon to know the signs and symptoms of concussions and other head injuries.

"All of these measures are important if we want to continue to make a positive impact on the game," Mueller said in a press release. "We have to continue research in this area. Accurate data not only indicate problem spots, but they also help us offer appropriate precautions and reveal the adequacy of our preventive measures."

Over its 48-year history, the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research has been credited with nearly eliminating football fatalities, as well as drastically reducing the number of cervical cord injuries in players.

Posted At 10:10 AM • Comments (0)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Competitive Cheer Pioneer Maryland Drops the 'Sport'

By Paul Steinbach — AB Senior Editor

As debate over whether cheerleading constitutes a sport continues, one thing appears almost certain: It no longer will be a sport at the University of Maryland.

An activity that Maryland was first in the nation to grant varsity status will be cut along with seven other sports, the university has announced. Athletic department insolvency was given as the reason. According to The Washington Post, the school had invested more than $4 million in the team, which morphed from “competitive cheer” to “acrobatics and tumbling,” since 2003. That’s when the university’s athletic council first voted to grant varsity sport status to a program that first started seeking such recognition in 1987. The current squad operated with an annual budget of $629,686, spreading 11.3 scholarships among 40 team members.

Maryland’s College Park campus had been the site of a competitive cheerleading summit in September 2009. But its latest decision leaves only five schools nationwide that field teams in a sport the NCAA still doesn’t recognize. In 2010, a U.S. district judge ruled that Quinnipiac University’s competitive cheer team failed to meet the U.S. Department of Education definition of a varsity sport, sending a chilling message to any school considering launching their own program as a means to comply with Title IX. “It was an ill-conceived notion, done for the wrong reason at the wrong time,” Donna Lopiano, former chief executive of the Women’s Sports Foundation, told Washington Post reporter Liz Clarke, speaking of Maryland’s pioneering position.

The Post reports that current Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson will grant the team a reprieve if it can raise eight years of operating costs by June 30. Team members have begun working toward that $5.28 million goal, but have raised a mere $5,221. Worst-case scenario: They plan to stay together next season as a dues-paying club. Maryland coach Laura Chiriaco, a former member of the team’s first official recruiting class, feels the sport was primed for a huge leap. “I have a hard time thinking why anyone would be opposed to something that could provide so many opportunities for female athletes,” Chiriaco told the Post. “We still have a lot of work to do, as far as overcoming stereotypes. But we were on the cusp of this really taking off.”

In January 2004, then Maryland coach Lura Fleece, herself a former Terps cheerleader, could not have been more optimistic about the sport’s prospects. “I’m training my daughters now,” Fleece told AB at the time. “I have a 7- and a 4-year-old, and they’re in gymnastics. It will happen. They will get college scholarships.”

If they do receive college scholarships, it likely won’t be from their mother’s alma mater — at least not in the sport of acrobatics and tumbling.

Posted At 10:59 AM • Comments (3)

Friday, April 13, 2012

Overuse a Major Cause of Injury for College Athletes

Emily Attwood — AB Associate Editor

Overuse injuries account for nearly 30 percent of those suffered by college athletes and may have psychological repercussions in addition to physical, according to a study conducted by researchers at Michigan State University and published in the Journal of Athletic Training.

The study tracked the incidence of injury among 573 NCAA Division I athletes across 16 sports for three years. Of the 1,317 injuries reported, 29.3 percent were from overuse. Female athletes accounted for 62 percent of overuse injuries, with four women's sports — field hockey, soccer, softball and volleyball — leading the way.

Overuse injuries are the result of repeated small injuries, with no single, notable event. As a result, athletes are more likely to delay seeking medical attention, which in turn can lead to more serious consequences down the road, such as arthritis. More immediately, overuse injuries cause a decline in performance and loss of playing time and psychological exhaustion.

“Understanding the frequency, rate and severity of overuse injuries is an important first step for designing effective injury-prevention programs, intervention strategies and treatment protocols to prevent and rehabilitate athletes with these types of injuries,” says study co-author Tracey Covassin, a member of the Michigan State University’s Department of Kinesiology.

The results of the study point to the need for better prevention and early intervention programs to limit the incidence and severity of overuse injuries.

Posted At 9:20 AM • Comments (7)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Blog: Obstacles to Serving Obstacle Racers

Mary Helen Sprecher is the managing editor of Sports Destination Management Magazine and a technical writer with the American Sports Builders Association.

Like skinny jeans and Ugg boots, fitness goes through trends. And just as with skinny jeans and Ugg boots, those trends aren’t for everyone. Discerning individuals recognize that. Those who aren't discerning become fashion victims, or in this case, fitness victims.

The latest trend is obstacle racing. If anyone needs a definition, here it is, courtesy of our friends at Wikipedia:

Obstacle racing is the sport in which a competitor, traveling on foot, must overcome various physical challenges (obstacles) in order to progress in the race. Obstacles include, but are not limited to: climbing over walls, carrying heavy objects, traversing bodies of water, crawling under barbed wire, and jumping through fire.

Some examples that have already made it into the public consciousness include the Tough Mudder, Spartan Beast, Warrior Dash, Death Race, Hero Rush, Barbarian Challenge, and of course, the Run For Your Lives 5K Obstacle Course Zombie Race. And if the definition of obstacle racing weren’t enough to tell you about the events, the names probably would be.

According to the Obstacle Racing State of the Union Report (I did not make that up; you can find it here), the sport actually landed in the mainstream around 2009.

It goes on to cite some pretty neat statistics. The average obstacle course racer has at least some level of college education but no kids, and is in the 18-34 age range, “with a severe decline in interest after the age of 44.” Some races skew male, some skew female, and many sell out far in advance. (At this point, the zombie volunteer slots are all filled for the 5K in Maryland in October, and there’s a wannabe-zombie waiting list).

Of course, there are downsides. Participants sign a waiver, acknowledging the risks, including broken bones, cuts, burns and so forth. Given the extreme nature of the obstacles, the number of people racing and the possibility that a few may have fueled up with beer beforehand, mishaps are possible. The severe traumas are the ones that make the news. In Michigan, for example, one man was paralyzed in August 2011 after diving into a shallow mud pit in the Warrior Dash, and two others died after running the same race.

There’s no statistic concerning the number of individuals who enter obstacle races without proper training; we hope it's a small number, but we all know the knuckleheads are out there. Certainly, it’s easy to find suggested training regimens for various races by using the Internet. Some races have boot camps and other workouts affiliated with their programs.

It raises the possibility of whether the fitness industry can or should become involved. In areas where obstacle races are held and are popular, there may be concentrations of potential competitors, and that could lead to the development of formal training programs and extra income. It seems, however, that at least some clubs and fitness centers are hesitant to develop those directed programs.

A friend who was gearing up for a local obstacle race told me he had asked a personal trainer at his club to help him get ready. The trainer told him he would be glad to help him get into better shape, but wouldn't develop obstacle race-specific training.

“I guess he didn’t want to be a part of it if I got hurt,” my friend said with a shrug.

I will admit that a) I’m not a big risk-taker — meaning I won't be doing these races — and b) I lack legal expertise of any kind. So I’ll put the questions out there. Is your club offering a training program for potential obstacle racers? Have you ever been asked about it? Would you be willing to try it? Or are you standing back from it?

Maybe, like many, you’re just simply looking at the whole concept of obstacle racing and thinking, “This too shall pass.”

Posted At 3:42 PM • Comments (2)

Monday, April 09, 2012

Study: Efforts to Get Kids More Active Might be Working

By Michael Popke — AB Managing Editor

While a new report issued by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association indicates that the number of "inactive" Americans remains high, there is a bit of good news: "Inactivity" rates among children ages 6 to 12 fell from 16.6 percent in 2010 to 16.0 percent in 2011, and "inactivity" rates among adolescents between 13 and 17 dropped slightly from 16.7 percent to 16.4 percent.

"This may well be an early indication that the national efforts to get children off the couch and active have started to have an effect on their level of activity," SGMA president Tom Cove says, referring to the association's 2012 "Sports, Fitness and Leisure Activities Topline Participation Report." "Among children age 6 to 12, 'inactivity' fell from 4.6 million in 2010 to 4.5 million in 2011. That change represents 100,000 children who are now considered 'active.' While this improvement is modest, it's a sign we are moving in the right direction as we focus on getting our children in better physical shape."

Other highlights of the report, which features overall participation figures for 119 sports, include:

• Fitness activities are the most popular form of exercise or activity — especially with individuals born between 1980 and 1999. More than 50 million members of that demographic work out on machines, as do more than 45 million Baby Boomers (those born between 1945 and 1964). Seven out of the ten most popular athletic activities in the United States are fitness-related (walking, treadmill workouts, running/jogging, bicycling and three different forms of strength training). Group classes also remain a strong aspect of the fitness industry, with stationary cycling and yoga reaching all-time participation highs in 2011.

• The three most popular team sports are basketball (24.8 million participants), outdoor soccer (13.7 million participants) and baseball (13.6 million participants). Of 24 team sports listed, only three of them have had participation gains in the last year: ultimate Frisbee, lacrosse and gymnastics.

• The states with the highest percentage of "active" residents — defined as someone who participates in one or more high calorie-burning activities — are Utah, Idaho, New Hampshire, Colorado and Minnesota. The five states with the lowest levels of physical activity are Tennessee, New Mexico, Louisiana, West Virginia and Mississippi.

• The more often children between ages 6 and 12 participate in physical education programs at school, the more likely they are to be active during their adult years. Children not exposed to physical activity during early school years are less likely to be physically active as adults.

For more information on the SGMA report, click here; to access the entire 44-page report, click here.

Posted At 1:56 PM • Comments (0)

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Marlins Park is Way Cool, In At Least One Respect

By Paul Steinbach — AB Senior Editor

Major League Baseball’s Marlins have a new name (Miami, not Florida), a new look and new cheerleaders. The team went out and acquired new talent in the off-season. But all that pales in comparison to its new home, Marlins Park, which has seen more scrutiny than all of the above in the long lead-up to its official debut tonight, when Miami hosts the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Back in June 2010, representatives from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals took issue with plans to showcase two aquariums totaling more than 1,000 gallons of salt water in the field-level wall surrounding home plate. Last month, the Miami Herald polled online readers for their opinion on the ornate home-run sculpture behind the left-centerfield fence. Nearly 72 percent of 1,841 respondents called it “horrible,” while slightly more than 12 percent consider the sculpture “slightly less than horrible.”

In the meantime, there were concerns among city residents over who would pay millions in property taxes on stadium parking garages built by the city. In addition, some stadium neighborhood residents discovered that they would be ticketed for parking on their own streets, as the County Public Works Department sought to create a two-block-long center turn lane. Even so, game-day traffic congestion witnessed during exhibition games at the stadium made getting to and from residences difficult. Those few fortunate to own property in the district have opened their front lawns to fan parking, but most living near the taxpayer-funded $515 million stadium are renters, averaging little more than $20,000 in annual income per household, according to census data, and have so far seen few signs of the economic boon they were told the ballpark would provide. Local vendors hoping to sell food items outside the stadium on game days have put those hopes on hold after being told only kiosks on stadium property would be allowed, and at an unpalatable price.

Most of these issues have been addressed. The turn lane was shortened. Tests performed on live fish found insufficient evidence that their reproductive patterns were disturbed by stadium vibrations or baseballs striking the shatterproof aquarium walls. Marlins officials vowed to move the sculpture if it interferes with players’ — in particular, left-handed batters’ — ability to see the ball. Team officials are also looking into establishing a dedicated neighborhood vending district.

Yet, the most ironic wrinkle to be ironed out involved something over which the Marlins were counting on a retractable-roofed stadium to give them complete control: climate. During a two-game exhibition series against the New York Yankees this week, fans complained of being blasted by air conditioning. Team president David Samson was seated among them, and saw to it that vents were redirected more toward the playing field than seating areas. (Heat and humidity had long been reasons given for the Marlins’ attendance woes at open-air Sun Life Stadium. The team even finished 28th in MLB attendance in 2003, the second of two World Series championship seasons for a franchise that has yet to turn 20 years old.)

Despite all of the choppy waters Marlins officials have had to navigate, the ballpark got one ringing endorsement from a former Miami resident. “To be able to grow up in these streets, in these square blocks ... I never imagined, as a child, that such a beautiful stadium would be built in the middle of Miami,” said Yankees third-baseman Alex Rodriguez. “So I’m very proud of the city of Miami and the Marlins to be able to achieve this in my hometown.”

Posted At 10:14 AM • Comments (0)