Thursday, May 31, 2012
Government Issues Additional Info on Portable Pool Lifts, ADA
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice extended the deadline, to Jan. 31, 2013, for aquatic facility operators to comply with new provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding access to public pools and spas. Since that time, the DOJ has provided additional information regarding compliance, including a sheet of questions and answers that addresses some of the common areas of confusion and a five-page Technical Assistance Document that outlines the reasons for the ADA regulations, explains which pools need to be made accessible and defines “readily achievable barrier removal.”
According to the document, pool operators who purchased portable lifts before March 15 “may use it, as long as you keep it in position for use at the pool and operational during all times that the pool is open to guests.”
For the Q&A document, click here.
For the technical assistance document, click here.
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10-Year Campaign Announced to Bolster Aquatics Industry
Simply teaching more people how to swim will result in reduced drowning rates, a decline in healthcare costs, and improved health and quality of life, according to the National Swimming Pool Foundation®, which Thursday launched the Step Into Swim™ campaign. The 10-year effort will initially partner with nine organizations that teach children, adults and minority populations to swim. Increasing the numbers of swimmers will also build demand for public pools, spurring growth for the aquatics industry, according to NSPF CEO Tom Lachocki.
“Pool builders, retailers, service companies, renovators, distributors, manufacturers and industry associations all have a vested interest in the world having more swimmers,” Lochocki said in a statement, adding that he envisions this effort creating as many as one million new swimmers. “More swimmers means more healthy people who are less likely to drown."
Statistics suggest that about half of all Americans are afraid of deep water or cannot swim.
The Step Into Swim Campaign asks aquatics industry professionals and associations, as well as others, to donate or sponsor organizations that are already teaching people to swim. NSPF recently issued a white paper to help the public and private sectors understand the financial benefits of creating more swimmers and how more people swimming can relieve skyrocketing healthcare costs propelled by physical inactivity, an aging society and drowning rates. “Since, 2003, we have given about $4 million to fund research to solve many important problems and demonstrate the benefits of aquatic activity,” said John Puetz, president of NSPF's board of directors. “Now, we will shift more resources and focus more efforts to solve major problems by encouraging greater aquatic activity."
The Step Into Swim Campaign will officially kick off at the Step Into Swim Congress on Oct. 10, just prior to the 9th annual World Aquatic Health™ Conference in Norfolk, Va. It will feature nine leading organizations — including the YMCA of the USA, the American Red Cross, the U.S. Swim School Association, The World's Largest Swimming Lesson and USA Swimming — presenting proposals to expand their ability to teach more people to swim.
Said Puetz, "The solution is clear: The better we work together, the more impact we will make."
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1:58 PM
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Michigan Approves Age Waiver for Student-Athletes
Member schools of the Michigan High School Athletic Association have overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the organization’s constitution that will allow for waiver of the association’s age limit under certain circumstances.
In a vote of schools conducted this month, 701 of 1,535 MHSAA member senior high and junior high/middle schools cast legal ballots, and 94 percent approved of the change — well in excess of the two-thirds majority required. The association's existing rule states that a student who turns 19 prior to Sept. 1 of a given school year is no longer eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics.
The issue made national news in March, when Dean Dompierre — whose son, Eric, has Down syndrome and will be 20 for the 2012-13 academic year at Ishpeming High School because he started elementary school later due to his disability — began a petition campaign on Change.org after the MHSAA disqualified Eric for next year. More than 93,400 people from around the world have signed the petition. Eric Dompierre kicks extra points for the Hematites and was featured on UpperMichigansSource.com's "Play of the Week" in March for a "nothing but net" shot.
The MHSAA stood firm on its refusal to alter the rule until earlier this month, when the decision to let member schools vote on the issue was made following passage of a Michigan Senate Education Committee resolution urging the MHSAA to consider adding the waiver.
As a result of the schools' votes, the association’s age rule may now be waived by the MHSAA's Executive Committee. Here is a summary of the new rule:
• Prior to the waiver request by the member school, the student’s educational progress must have been delayed prior to initial enrollment in the ninth grade solely because of a medically documented disability under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act or Michigan’s Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act.
• At the time of the waiver request, the student must have a defined disability documented to diminish both physical and either intellectual or emotional capabilities, does not create a health or safety risk to participants and does not create a competitive advantage for the team. The burden of proof rests with the school seeking the wavier.
• For those most disabled students to which a waiver is granted, the maximum age rule would be extended one year. The four-year maximum enrollment limit would still apply.
• The rule also has a waiver provision at the junior high/middle school level for seventh and eighth grade athletics.
Said John E. "Jack" Roberts, executive director of the MSHAA, “Our challenge now is to demonstrate to the negative voters and to those many schools which didn’t cast a vote at all, that this is a narrow gate that preserves the integrity of the program as effectively as the previous rule that was so well understood and respected.”
As of this writing, the Dompierre family had not publicly responded to the vote.
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Girl Recovering from Marlins Park Fall, Family Mulling Suit
An 11-year-old girl who fell 18 feet from a climbing wall Saturday at Marlins Park in Miami has begun walking as her recovery from a concussion and serious bruising continues.
The Marlins had contracted with a vendor to supply the temporary attraction, and Emily Davis was the first one to the top after a game against the San Francisco Giants. However, a cable that was supposed to attach to a safety harness failed as Davis began her decent, and she slammed onto an unpadded concrete surface below. She was taken to a hospital, and the wall was shut down.
“The rock-climbing wall was closed immediately following the incident Saturday, and the matter is under investigation to determine the cause of the accident,” the baseball club said in a statement Monday. “The Marlins will continue to prioritize safety for all activities taking place at Marlins Park. We wish her well in her continued recovery.”
Well-wishes might not suffice for the Davis family, which is reportedly mulling a lawsuit. Jeff Davis, who says he was just hoping his daughter was alive when he reached her side, told a local NBC affiliate, “If I have a rock climbing wall at my house, and you come over to my party and your kid falls in my front yard, I would feel, I don't even care about who I hired, you’re at my house, my yard, I would feel responsible.”
There was no word as to the level of climbing wall supervision and training present at Marlins Park, which opened last month in Little Havana to much fanfare, as well as criticism, regarding its visual interest and attractions. Meanwhile, the treatment of climbing walls as amusement features has long vexed the climbing industry in terms of its regulation.
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Blog: Michigan Recruit Burns Letter, Fingers, Bridges
Maybe if Logan Tuley-Tillman had walked through an Ann Arbor mall wearing an Ohio State hat, this whole story might have been different. But he didn't. Tuley-Tillman, a four-star offensive lineman from Peoria, Ill., wore a Michigan hat on a trip to a Columbus mall and found himself cussed out by OSU fans, one of whom threw something at him. That soured Tuley-Tillman on Ohio State and led him to commit to Michigan instead, and to the incident that is giving the 17-year-old his first 15 minutes of fame. Tuley-Tillman has been receiving death threats since posting a photo of himself on Twitter Saturday in which he is shown setting an Ohio State recruitment letter on fire.
Tuley-Tillman has remained unapologetic this week, and has even (in perfect 17-year-old fashion) provided OSU with even more bulletin-board material, telling CBSSports.com's Bryan Fischer with regard to OSU that "There was just something about them. They're a good school, I just really hate the whole state of Ohio." The offensive tackle has spoken with enthusiasm about the schools' intense rivalry, but maintains that the hatred shown him from the folks in Columbus has taken him aback. "Stuff like that I don’t understand," he said.
Let's hope he doesn't get the treatment that a classmate of mine got back when we were sophomores at Ohio Wesleyan University in nearby Delaware, Ohio. One fall afternoon, she headed down to Columbus to do some shopping. Not a football fan, she didn't understand what was happening when, crawling in bumper-to-bumper traffic on High Street, she found herself suddenly surrounded by young men in red jerseys, who pulled her out of her car and held her back while the swelling crowd overturned her car. She wasn't the type to wear the red and black of OWU, but it probably wouldn't have mattered next to her car's Michigan plates. Yep — she was from a Detroit suburb.
The date was Nov. 22, 1980. Final score: Wolverines 9, Buckeyes 3.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Blog: How to Get Ridiculously Fit
The other day at the gym, I ran into a friend who had just returned from a trip to the pet superstore. He was laughing hysterically because he'd stumbled across a fancy new dog toy masquerading as a piece of fitness equipment.
"It was a tennis racquet and it came with special balls," my friend said, "and something you could spray on the balls to make the dog want to chase them. And a DVD to show you how to use it, just in case you couldn't figure out how to hit a ball with a racquet."
What ensued was much water-cooler conversation about what tennis balls needed to smell like in order to make dogs chase them — Liver? A garbage can? Another dog's butt? — but eventually, the discussion turned back to the gym.
"Well," said one woman, "that's weird, but it's no weirder than some of those fitness products they're always marketing to people who want to get in shape without working out. Did you know they make weights you're supposed to wear under your dress clothes at work? Whatever happened to just getting out at lunch and walking?"
I have to say, this opened up a whole new door for me. Most of the ridiculous infomercial products I've seen tend to be of the kitchen and cleaning variety. But when you start searching, you can certainly find plenty of ways for people to spend money and convince themselves they're getting a workout. There are inversion trainers you can stick in a suitcase (just in case you get the urge to hang upside down in your hotel room on your next business trip) and special mats you can piece together to stand on while using a hula hoop (I never knew I'd been using the wrong surface all these years). Go ahead and Google "ridiculous fitness products" or flip through one of those in-flight sales catalogues the next time you're on a plane. I guarantee you'll be amused.
The problem is not that we lack lots of ways to get fit. The problem is that people are looking for ways to spend money, rather than time, in the hopes of getting fit. It's easy to sit down in front of the TV, be sold on a gadget and order it. It's quite another thing to make a commitment to healthy eating and regular exercise, with or without the gadget.
But people keep spending the money, at least according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association’s annual report, which this year found that more than 25.1 million people used home gym equipment last year. (Unfortunately, there's no breakdown on how many people bought it while watching late-night TV.)
Why do they keep buying? Maybe because they convince themselves it's the right thing to do, maybe because they're waiting for something to click and make them want to work out. Maybe they're just buoyed by the very idea they've spent money on something to get healthy. Do they stick with it? Sometimes.
But that certainly doesn't stop the weird product industry from proliferating. Something else was mentioned in our gym conversation, and it definitely falls into the crossover category of pet product and fitness equipment: A hockey stick that can be used to hurl dog feces at an oncoming attacker. Much discussion followed as to whether one had to carry the hockey stick and the poop while out for a walk with the dog, or whether using the hockey stick alone on the attacker constituted a use inconsistent with its labeling that could get the user sued.
We know you've seen these products. What's the most ridiculous in your world?
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Montana Policies Address Handling of Assault Claims
The Montana Board of Regents on Friday unanimously approved a new policy aimed at ensuring sex assault complaints are properly handled.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department and the civil rights division of the U.S. Education Department opened separate gender-discrimination investigations into how the University of Montana, its football program and the city of Missoula responded to allegations of sexual assault and harassment over the past two years. Cases involving football players drew national attention, and Montana’s athletic director and head football coach were fired in March without much explanation.
According to Associated Press reports, the board directed each state college to appoint a coordinator to oversee gender equality issues. All employees will be required to undergo training for proper reporting of sexual assaults, and university staff most likely to field such complaints will receive advanced instruction. The confidentiality of alleged victims will be emphasized, as will the prompt investigation and written conclusion of each case with notification to parties involved.
The guidelines seek to ensure compliance with the Montana Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Further recommendations are possible, as e-mail messages from University of Montana president Jim Foley are released as part of the news media’s Freedom of Information Act requests. E-mails released so far suggest that Foley sought to silence one woman accusing football players of rape by invoking the student code of conduct.
“We need to raise the level of transparency to leave no question in the public’s mind that we as a system are being 100 percent forthcoming with all we know,” board chair Angela McLean told AP writer Matt Gouras.
“I think the regents have heard loudly and clearly that the citizens across this state, and the students, have lost trust and to a degree faith in the system.”
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Friday, May 25, 2012
Health Club Lawsuits: Not Just for Breakfast Anymore
Richard Katz, a New York attorney, has had his lawsuit against The Setai Wall Street Club and Spa dismissed without comment by a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice who, according to one of the club's lawyers, berated him from the bench during a hearing that “he should be ashamed of himself” for filing suit.
According to The New York Daily News, the trouble began in August 2011, when the club stopped offering free yogurt, cereal and juice alongside coffee to morning exercisers. Katz, who paid $5,000 annually in membership dues over nearly two years ending in October 2011, complained vociferously in person and by e-mail to spa manager Amanda Wells, eventually spurring the club to cancel his membership. The cancellation came on the heels of an e-mail from Katz to Wells that read in part: “WHAT THE F--- IS GOING ON? … How would you like to explain there has been no yogurt for two (2) weeks and now no cereal. When does the coffee run out?”
Katz's suit demanded more than $100,000 in damages for the missing breakfasts, which he said the club had promised as part of his membership, plus $5,000 in damages for libel after Wells shared a copy of her cancellation e-mail to Katz that charged that he had “blatantly harassed [her] in a threatening manner for the duration of this year….” Wells filed an affidavit with the court saying Katz had consistently been “obnoxious, boorish and harassing” and used “profanity and threatening language” to complain about the breakfast problem.
In its dismissal of the case, the court ordered Katz to pay $440 to the club’s lawyers.
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UConn Hockey Welcomes Gay Players
The University of Connecticut men’s hockey team wants to win games, and it will take any player who can help make that happen, regardless of sexual orientation. That’s the message in two videos that Husky players have produced in support of the international You Can Play program. Launched in March, You Can Play seeks to eradicate homophobia in hockey by extending an invite to gay athletes, as well as transgender athletes.
"We thought it was a great idea to show the community how we feel about homosexuality in sports, and let people know that anyone can play on our team," said UConn captain Sean Ambrosie according to USAToday.
About 100 athletes have pledged support for the program, but UConn is one of only eight groups to pledge support. Coach Bruce Marshall credits the players with the idea for the videos, though he cautioned them to be prepared to deal with criticism from conservative groups.
"They came to me about it and I said, 'You need to be behind it. You can't just do it because it sounds good today. It has to be something you want to really support,' " Marshall recalled.
"It's not going to bother us at all," Ambrosie said. "We did this because we want to show our support, and other people's opinions aren't going to have any effect on us."
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Former Club Owner Banned From Fitness Facility Business
North Carolina Superior Court judge Robert Hobgood has banned Jeffrey Stec, the former owner of 38 Peak Fitness centers, from the health club business for 12 years after he violated a state law requiring fitness facilities selling prepaid memberships to be properly bonded. Stec faces a $2 million fine if he is found to be working in the health club industry anywhere in North Carolina.
According to The Charlotte Observer, Peak Fitness declared bankruptcy in 2009 and closed some two dozen clubs across the state. The gyms weren’t carrying proper bonds, leaving customers vulnerable to losses, said North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper, whose office has received more than 700 complaints about Peak. Bonds are meant to protect health club members by refunding them if a given facility shuts its doors.
The attorney general's consumer protection division began investigating Stec and Peak Fitness in 2006, reports the Winston-Salem Journal, and it filed a lawsuit against Stec in 2007 alleging failure to obtain proper bonds and other "unfair and deceptive practices" while operating Peak clubs. Stec agreed, via a January 2009 consent judgment, to get proper bonds and make other changes, but when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009, its bonding company canceled the bonds. The attorney general's office also received sworn statements from Stec regarding health club bonds that significantly understated the outstanding liabilities of several Peak facilities.
"Consumers who've paid for a gym membership deserve a refund if their health club expires before their membership does," Cooper told the Journal. "That's exactly why these bonds are required and why we keep pressing to make sure health clubs have them."
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Blog: A Time to Start Reaching Out to Seniors
I’m always pleased whenever a fitness-related press release lands in my inbox. When it addresses a special population, it's even better.
The latest came from National Senior Health & Fitness Day, scheduled for Wednesday, May 30 in all 50 states. Organized as a public-private partnership by the Mature Market Resource Center, “a national information clearinghouse for the older adult market,” the day’s goal is to help keep older Americans healthy and fit. It’s always held the last Wednesday in May, and it’s billed as “the nation’s largest health promotional events for older adults.”
Local organizations can register to host an official event (meaning it’ll be published on the website) for a $25 fee per location. The site also provides information on the Mature Fitness Awards USA, which can help encourage regular fitness activity among those age 50 and up. Participants can exercise individually, with friends or in a class, and can earn a Mature Fitness Award for continued participation.
It might be a bit late for local organizations to tie into this year’s event, but that oughtn’t stop them from reaching out to seniors on their own, perhaps later on during the summer or in the fall. And it certainly doesn’t have to be a rigorous event; it could be a day with a walking tour of the zoo, or a picnic in a park with games like horseshoes, croquet and lawn darts. If the goal is to get people out and get them active, making it fun has to be the biggest lure of all.
Part of the problem for seniors, particularly those who live alone, can be isolation. The TV isn't much company, and people whose families have moved away often miss the interaction with others. Still, it's unlikely they'll start a fitness program (and even more unlikely they'd do it on their own) without an invitation. Encouraging them to get out and get active means they get companionship, as well as company for gentle yoga classes, mall walking and more. That leads to people being better connected and emotionally healthy, as well as physically healthy.
A lot of gyms are already offering special programs to older adults to encourage physical activity. For those who haven’t yet made the leap to a gym, though, a day in the park or a walk through the zoo might be a great place to start.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
National Running Day Slated for June 6; Event Ideas Abound
As many school districts and municipalities struggle to more effectively integrate fitness into their curriculums and programs, an annual one-day event like National Running Day — slated for Wednesday, June 6 — can help jump-start positive change.
“Unlike other sports, running requires little to no equipment and can take place almost anywhere,” says Mary Wittenberg, president and chief executive officer of New York Road Runners, one of the nation’s leading community running organizations, with established youth programming in nearly 7,000 schools and community centers in New York City and around the country. “It is an ideal activity for people who want to stay fit or get in shape, relieve stress and, most of all, have fun. What started as a grassroots initiative just a few years ago has now blossomed into a worldwide day of fun and movement. We had a blast last year."
Photo courtesy of NYRR
Beginning in 2009, NYRR has declared the first Wednesday in June as National Running Day to celebrate the sport and all of its benefits, as well as unite runners of all ages and abilities, and attract new participants to the sport. The organization’s NRD website allows users to view or post any running events planned for a given community, as well as share motivational ideas and submit “I run …” declarations. Last year, such submissions included “I run ... because it’s cheaper than therapy,” “I run … to spend time with my dad” and “I run … so my husband still has to chase me.” Plus, more than 150 NRD-related events were logged on the site in 2011, according to NYRR spokesperson Laura Paulus, who expects that number to increase for 2012’s National Running Day.
In addition to NYRR’s involvement, the collaborative celebration will involve several running organizations throughout the United States, including the Atlanta Track Club, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association, the Chevron Houston Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, the Oregon Track Club, Twin Cities in Motion, Running USA and USA Track & Field.
“The whole concept behind National Running Day is that it be driven by community events, start at a grassroots level and spread by word of mouth. All of our partners will be working together to put on events in their own communities,” says Paulus, who suggests facility and program operators post their own “I run …” statements on NRD’s website, share their favorite running routes and/or partner with a local running organization to plan their own event. NYRR also provides an online collection of resources to help stage everything from fun runs to cross country and track meets. “We specifically want to reach runners, non-running friends of runners,
parents, coaches, and P.E. teachers in communities all over the country
to get the message out that June 6 will be a day to run and have fun.”
Additionally, National Running Day has gone global. A.S.O of France will set up runs through that country, and past events have been organized in both Mexico and the Philippines.
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Monday, May 21, 2012
Feds Delay 'Poolmageddon' Once Again, to January 2013
The U.S. Department of Justice has given pool operators another break.
As the already-extended deadline to comply with new provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding access to public pools and spas approached last week, government officials ruled that facilities now do not have to be equipped with means of handicapped-accessible entry until Jan. 31, 2013.
For pools less than 300 linear feet in size, the ADA Standard for Accessible Design calls for one means of access, which must be either an ADA-compliant lift or a sloped entry. Pools with greater than 300 linear feet of pool wall must also have a second means of access — either another lift or ramp, or a transfer wall, a transfer system or pool stairs. Estimates have placed the number of pools that need to be brought into compliance at approximately 100,000, thereby helping earn the provision the nickname "poolmageddon." A backlog of orders at lift-manufacturing facilities was said to have been a primary reason for the multiple deadline extensions.
But, as Occupational Health & Safety magazine reported Monday, the Department of Justice received almost 2,000 comments about the provisions — many of them showing a "significant misunderstanding of the requirements among pool owners and operators" — and that confusion is another reason for the January 2013 deadline extension:
Many owners and operators believed portable lifts would comply, but that's not correct because ADA applies only to fixed and built-in elements, according to DOJ.
The rule says 520 of the comments were anonymous form letters. About 1,420 comments supported the requirements and 495 opposed them.
Parents of children with disabilities supported the requirements, as did organizations representing veterans with disabilities "who indicated that, after a decade of war, a significant number of service members have returned with injuries and are reintegrating into their communities by participating in adaptive sports and that these individuals should have access to pools and spas in their communities without further delay," according to the rule.
The biggest misconception from pool owners and operators was the belief they would have to close their pools if they can't comply, either because lifts weren't available or were unaffordable. Compliance with the 2010 Standards is required only to the extent it is "readily achievable," which means "easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense," DOJ explained. The rule lists the five factors spelled out in the original ADA in 1990 for determining whether an action is readily achievable, including the overall financial resources of the site(s) involved and any parent organization.
Facilities in violation of the ADA requirements after January 31, 2013, face fines levied by the DOJ or lawsuits filed by individuals or advocacy groups.
For additional information about the regulations, click here and here.
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Friday, May 18, 2012
Oregon Bans Native American Mascots in High Schools
In what is being called one of the toughest restrictions ever placed on the use of Native American mascots, nicknames and logos, the Oregon State Board of Education determined Thursday that eight high schools will need to change their nicknames within the next five years, or risk the loss of state funding. Another seven schools are required to change mascots or logo graphics that depict Native Americans.
The decision, in discussions for six years, requires schools to eliminate names like "Indians," "Chiefs" and "Braves." "Warriors" may stay, but logos may not reference tribal customs or traditions, reports The Oregonian. An unknown number of middle and elementary schools also will be affected. The ban does not apply to colleges — a moot point in Oregon ever since Native American mascots at Southern Oregon University and Chemeketa Community College were dropped.
Critics say Indian mascots are racist, contending they reinforce stereotypes and promote bullying of Native students. Supporters, on the other hand, say the mascots are a way to honor Native American history, evoking values of strength and bravery. "It is racist. It is harmful. It is shaming. It is dehumanizing," Se-ah-dom Edmo, vice president of the Oregon Indian Education Association, told the board, according to an Associated Press report.
But administrators at Molalla High School, home of the Indians where a mascot logo placed prominently throughout the school features the profile of a Native American man with a lined face and full headdress, displayed resistance to Oregonian reporter Ryan Kost — estimating that it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to retire the old mascot. The word "Indian," however, has already been removed from uniforms. "They'll have to find every little thing," said Jennifer Satter, a mother of a Molalla High student and a member of the school's budget committee. "How can this be our top priority? Our kids are suffering. There are so many more pressing issues."
"I'd be hard pressed to find somebody who would want to bring shame to the Molalla Indian Tribe," added Molalla principal Randy Dalton. "There's a lot of tradition here. It's a very respectful community that wants to do the right thing."
State school board member Leslie Shepherd voted against the ban because she said such a ban also should include images such as Devils and Saints.
Still, the move to eliminate Native American mascots makes sense from a societal perspective, Tom Ball, assistant vice president of equity and diversity at the University of Oregon, told the AP, because the mascots serve as a form of oppression that contributes to isolation among Native Americans — manifesting itself in high suicide, incarceration and school dropout rates.
Oregon Department of Education officials say Wisconsin is the only other state to enact restrictions on Native American mascots. Wisconsin's law, approved by the Legislature in 2010, allows a district resident who objects to the use of a race-based nickname, logo or mascot to file a complaint with the state superintendent.
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NCAA Eyes Safety Issues Surrounding Court Stickers
The NCAA’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules Committees met earlier this month to discuss, among other things, the potential player safety hazard posed by decals applied to court surfaces. Court stickers promoting sponsors or special events may exhibit a coefficient of friction that differs from the finished hardwood, or may pick up moisture, putting players at risk of slip-and-fall injuries.
Last November, during a game played on board the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, Michigan State forward Branden Dawson appeared to fall and injure himself while crossing a Quicken Loans Carrier Classic logo decal at center court. Dawson finished the game, but that incident, and one like it involving University of Memphis player Chris Crawford less than a week later, drew widespread attention. Having witnessed the Crawford slip up close, officials working the EA Sports/Maui Invitational game between Memphis and Belmont ordered the removal of all court stickers at halftime. “The safety of our student-athletes has to come before anything else,” said St. Peter’s coach John Dunne, who chairs the men’s basketball rules committee. “We’re seeing players slip on the non-consistent parts of the floor too many times.
“Sometimes it takes a high-profile event to make a rules change. But we don’t want to sit back and wait for injuries to happen and then pass the rule.”
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James
R. Evans, courtesy of U.S. Navy)
Despite this being a “non-rules change” year, the committee is pushing implementation of its recommendation that “the playing court must be completely finished in a manner that is consistent throughout” beginning with the upcoming 2012-13 season, since player safety is at stake. Coaches, including Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, have championed getting rid of the stickers altogether, and Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association executive director Dan Heney told AB late last year that the MFMA does not recommend their use, either, stating they could be “more slippery or more grabby” than the surrounding surface.
The NCAA’s playing rules oversight panel is expected to consider the rules committee recommendation as early as June 12, when it meets via conference call.
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Study Finds Similar Brain Damage in Soldiers, Athletes
What do athletes and military veterans have in common? Blasts from explosions may put soldiers at risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the same degenerative brain disease suffered by athletes after multiple concussions or head impacts. A study conducted by Boston University in conjunction with the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System examined the brain tissue of young veterans, comparing it to those of young athletes exhibiting signs of CTE, and found nearly identical abnormalities.
"It's very distinctive," study co-author Dr. Lee Goldstein of Boston University said in a press release. "You don't see this in normal individuals."
The study worked with a sample of only four veterans, all of whom had suffered some type of traumatic brain injury and complained of various mental and physical issues before their deaths. Though the veterans had each suffered at least one concussion prior to joining the military, which could contribute to the study’s findings, a similar study with mice has confirmed that a single blast is enough to trigger brain damage.
In the study, mice were exposed to simulated blasts, which caused their heads to whip and the brain to be severely jarred. Within two weeks, the animals began to show signs of impaired brain function. When the heads of the mice were immobilized, however, they showed no signs of damage from the blast. Explained Goldstein, "The force of the blast wind causes the head to move so forcefully that it can result in damage to the brain.”
The findings offer a new perspective for studying the connection between head trauma and CTE, as well as helmet design and safety for both soldiers and athletes. While helmets protect the head from hard hits, they do not offer protection against rattling of the brain, and the added weight may actually worsen the effects of a jarring hit.
"This work raises a number of questions for researchers to explore in further studies,” said Dr. Joel Kupersmith, research chief at the Department of Veterans Affairs. “In particular, the animal model developed by the researchers will enable a better understanding of the brain pathology involved in blast injuries and ideally lead to new therapies to help service members and veterans."
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Update: Male Field Hockey Player Reinstated
Thirteen-year-old Keeling Pilaro will be allowed to play on Southampton High School’s field hockey team at least one more season, an athletics committee decided on Tuesday.
"I was jumping up and down; I was so excited when I heard," Pilaro said in an interview with the Associated Press. "I can play!"
During a closed-doors meeting on Tuesday, two dozen officials ultimately determined that Pilaro’s exceptional skill did not have detrimental effect on female players, as Section 11, the body that oversees high school sports in Suffolk County, had claimed in its original decision to ban Pilaro from the team. Officials compared Pilaro’s achievements with those of female field hockey players, determining that his skills and achievements did not exceed those of his peers nor give his team an unfair advantage.
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9:06 AM
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Blog: Pulling Weeds Could Lead to Pumping Iron
We all spend time trying to encourage people to get off the couch and get outside. Sometimes, though, I forget that some of the best ways to start that process are by using the facilities that are right in our own back yards.
Case in point: Awhile back, a local conservation organization invited people to spend a morning helping pull up clumps of the garlic mustard growing in the woods near where we live. Garlic mustard is an invasive non-native plant, and it's really a problem here in Maryland, just as it is in much of North America.
The weed pulls are a good opportunity to get out with your neighbors for a common purpose, but they also turn out to be a great chance to help convince otherwise sedentary people there are fun reasons to get outside and get active. And that's the first step toward getting them healthier.
The area where we were working happened to have a lot of good walking trails — something a lot of people in the group apparently hadn't been aware of, judging by all the comments I heard around me as we fanned out, yanking up weeds. Most people knew the area existed, but many had never been into it, and some of the kids were obviously fascinated by the streams and ponds where ducks, frogs and other wildlife made their homes. It was equally obvious a lot of people didn't spend a lot of time involved in any activity — there was a lot of huffing and puffing going on, and more than a few comments about what a good workout the weeds were providing.
I remember a similar experience on an Audubon Society bird-watching walk in Baltimore’s Patterson Park. People might have been complaining at first about the early start time, as well as all the walking, but they (and their kids) were intrigued by all the landmarks they hadn't known about, everything from the park's Chinese pagoda to its fountains, community gardens and more. At another Patterson Park event, one man got his first-ever look at a bald eagle, and a kid spied a newly hatched turtle the size of a quarter. Just as important, though, I saw them realize the place offered playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts, a walking path, sports fields and more — all facilities they could take advantage of, free of charge.
As members of the fitness industry, we'd like to see people get active and stay active. We'd like to see them in our health clubs, boot camps and 5Ks. But physical fitness is always a process, not an event, and we have to have a port of entry to get people involved in the process. Sometimes, that means just getting them outside. Even if they stick with pulling weeds, picking up trash or bird-watching, it's more active than they were before.
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9:20 AM
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Friday, May 11, 2012
It Has Not Been a Good Week for PA Announcers
Within the past three days, three individuals whose amplified voices have served as an unmistakable part of the atmosphere in three professional sports venues made headlines — and none of the news was good.
The worst involved the fatal car crash Wednesday of Fenway Park PA announcer Carl Beane, and the Boston Red Sox promptly staged a ceremony in Beane’s honor before their game Thursday against the Cleveland Indians.
Also Thursday, the Miami Heat issued an apology for a statement made by American Airlines Arena PA announcer Mike Baiamonte, who said during Wednesday’s Game 5 of the Heat’s NBA Playoff series against New York that the Knicks’ Amare Stoudemire had been “extinguished” from the game after committing his sixth personal foul. After the Knicks’ Game 2 loss at AA Arena, Stoudemire took out his frustrations on a glass fire extinguisher case, which kept him sidelined for Game 3. Stoudemire laughed off the PA treatment, saying after the game that he wasn’t bothered by the Baiamonte’s word choice, but a Heat statement the next day read: “Last night at our game, our PA Announcer had a momentary lapse of judgment and used a poor choice of words in describing Amare Stoudemire’s fouling out of the game. This is not who we are as an organization or who he is as an announcer. Both the Miami Heat and Michael Baiamonte apologize to Amare and the New York Knicks for the inappropriate choice of words.”
While Beane’s death is nothing short of tragic, and the Baiamonte situation is almost comical by comparison, the most troubling of the three stories is still unfolding. This morning, Jim Miller, who for the past four years served as PA announcer for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arnea, was released from jail after posting a $30,000 bond following his arrest last night on three felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under 16. According to court documents, three children accuse Miller, a high school teacher and tennis coach, of forcing them to watch him masturbate as he viewed pornography on his computer. Two of the alleged victims also claim sexual abuse.
Oklahoma City has advanced to Round 2 of the playoffs, but Miller’s season — and likely his announcing career (at least) — are over. A statement from Thunder vice president Dan Mahoney read: “Due to the allegations and criminal case against him... Mr. Miller has been removed from his duties as Thunder PA announcer.”
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Baseball Team Forfeits Game, Refuses to Play Against Girl
Thursday night’s Arizona Charter Athletic Association state championship baseball game was over before it began. Mesa Preparatory Academy was given the title after Our Lady of Sorrows Academy chose to forfeit rather than face Mesa Prep’s second baseman — Paige Sultzbach. Because Mesa Prep does not offer a softball team, Sultzbach, a freshman, has played on the boy’s baseball team all season.
“As a Catholic school, we promote the ideal of forming and educating boys and girls separately during the adolescent years, especially in physical education,” Our Lady of Sorrows said in a statement, going on to explain their stance against coed sports teams. The school has made a point of adhering to its policy, pulling out of a flag football tournament last October after learning that competing teams included girls.
“I respect their views, but it's a bit out of the 18th century,” Mesa Prep athletic director Amy Arnold told The Arizona Republic. (Arnold, by the way, also holds the distinction of being the only female currently coaching a boys’ high-school football team in Arizona.) Though many disagree with it, Our Lady of Sorrows' policy is not discriminatory under Title IX.
The two teams had met twice before the state championship, each time on Our Lady of Sorrows Academy’s home field, and each time Sultzbach sat on the bench out of respect for the school’s policy. Mesa Prep won both games as part of an undefeated season, and neither Sultzbach nor her team felt that she should be forced to sit out the championship.
While differences in physical ability and strength and a concern for safety are often cited in the argument to keep boys off girls’ teams and vice versa, Sultzbach’s mother, Pamela, feels it wasn’t the motivation for Our Lady of Sorrow’s decision, telling The Republic, “This is not a contact sport. It shouldn't be an issue. It wasn't that they were afraid they were going to hurt or injure her, it's that (they believe) that a girl's place is not on a field.”
Despite ending the season with a perfect record and state championship, Sultzbach and her teammates still feel a sting of disappointment knowing their record was not fully earned. “This team has worked so hard,” Sultzbach’s mother went on to say. “They're undefeated. They had one game left. At our school, we're taught that when you start something you complete it, and they weren't done.”
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9:11 AM
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Thursday, May 10, 2012
Blog: We Don’t Want to Be Rude, But Scram!
Nope, we’re not available. Ever. Sorry.
We didn’t want it to come to this, but there are more of them than there are of us. “Them” are salespeople. While we don’t begrudge them trying to make a living, and we never thought we’d become the kind of people who won’t accept or even return calls, we have other things to do, like run our gyms.
Rob went so far this week as to literally unplug himself. He’s taken the phone extension out of his office. Our rule is simple — if you don’t know our mobile phone numbers, we don’t want to talk to you.
It’s a shame, but it’s just gotten ridiculous. Credit-card processors. Electricity-generating utilities. Cash-advance providers. Equipment-leasing companies. IT firms. And those are just the behind-the-scenes businesses that most people have never heard of.
With the explosion of advertising outlets, it seems like we’re being chased constantly. Local radio. Internet radio. Newspapers. TV stations. Specialty publications — and their requisite Web sites — for kids’ sports, yoga enthusiasts, local shopping, general health, medicine, tourism, local sports teams. Then there are coupon books for local nonprofits, newsletters for community groups and churches, the place mats for local restaurants, and the advertising that goes onto shopping carts at the supermarkets.
We’ve also been driven to this by the tactics used by some salespeople to get to us. Since we don’t have assistants (how nice would that be?) our front desk staff, many of whom are young and inexperienced, can be easily bamboozled. “Is Rob or Barry there? It’s Bill!” has all too often resulted in an unwanted call making its way into the office.
What makes it worse than just the phone calls is that when we’ve tried to be courteous and speak with some of these folks, they all want to meet. Really? You want to take more of our time? Please, we’ve begged, just send details in an e-mail and we’ll consider your product. If that’s not good enough, then…well…just forget it. There’s really no need to meet.
What most of these folks seem to have forgotten is that they have contacted us, so when we give them a polite “no thanks,” we’d like them to accept it. Do we really have to be rude and explain that we have other things to do and, trust us — if we are intrigued by your product, we will get back with you?
Some people do take us up on our offer to look at e-mailed details, but forcing us to say “no” in three e-mails in order to allow them to reach their Sales 101 quota of how many times they must be told “no” just gets tedious. And if we don’t respond? No, it’s not that your e-mail got lost in our spam. We just didn’t respond.
It’s been hard for us to view ourselves as the business owners who don’t take calls, return messages or respond to e-mails from people we just don’t have time to deal with. But it has come down to simple math when it’s only the two of us against all of them. Might we be considered rude by acting this way? Sure. But we were being forced to be rude so often, we figure we’re saving everyone a lot of time and trouble.
Now, they can’t even bamboozle the staff. We’re never available. And even if we were, there’s no phone to ring.
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1:32 PM
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TIME Magazine Names 10 Worst Sports Venues in the U.S.
With the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in the news — the Minnesota House and Senate passed a $975 million plan for a new fixed-roof stadium Thursday, which now awaits Gov. Mark Dayton's signature — TIME magazine on Wednesday posted its list of the country's 10 worst venues in all of professional sports. The list is bound to rile fans (especially those in California, a state whose facilities hold down four of the 10 spots). No big surprise that the Metrodome tops the list.
Here is the magazine's ranking of stadiums, along with a writer's comment about each one:
10. Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles: "Fisticuffs may fly at any time."
9. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago: "If you don’t like the poor view from the cheap seats, don’t think you can get a reprieve by taking a walk around the park between innings. U.S. Cellular is one of the only ballparks in the country that doesn’t allow patrons to leave the section they’ve paid for, even just to take a look at other parts of the stadium."
8. Fenway Park, Boston: "It would be remiss to not acknowledge the terrible sight lines and crumbling structure that greets guests."
7. Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis: "The sands of time for renovation are quickly evaporating, along with support for the $124 million renovation plan."
6. Candlestick Park, San Francisco: "Candlestick, as a structure, is about as inspiring as a shoebox."
5. O.Co Coliseum, Oakland: "The attempt to add more seats by building a massive upper deck in baseball’s outfield was widely derided."
4. Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego: "Built in the late 1960s, Qualcomm’s architects opted for a Brutalist-style arena. … The access ramps have been plunked down like giant Slinkys."
3. Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay: "Catwalks? Check. Poor sight lines? Check. Rude service staff? Check. Mile walk from where your car is parked to the stadium? Check. The feeling you’re trapped in a giant pinball machine populated by whizzing baseballs ready to plop into your $8 Bud Light? Check."
2. Nassau Coliseum, Long Island: "It’s not called the Nassau Mausoleum for nothing."
1. Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis: Why don't we just let this video speak for itself?
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12:00 PM
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Monday, May 07, 2012
Student-Athlete with Down Syndrome May Play, After All
After nearly 92,000 people from around the world signed a petition imploring the Michigan High School Athletic Association to allow a high school student with Down syndrome to play basketball and football during his senior year at age 20, the issue will be put to a vote.
The association's 1,500-plus member schools are expected to receive ballots this week asking whether the MHSAA should change its constitution to allow for a waiver of its maximum age limitation under narrowly defined circumstances. Schools have two weeks to return the ballots, which must be signed by the school principal and district superintendent; a two-thirds majority is required for the change to be adopted, and the association will post the wording of the proposal on its website no later than May 14.
Currently under MHSAA rules, a student who turns 19 prior to Sept. 1 of a given school year is not eligible for interscholastic athletics. Reports vary on the number of states (from 27 to approximately 40) that currently impose maximum age limits on student-athletes.
Dean Dompierre, whose son, Eric, has Down syndrome and will be 20 for the 2012-13 academic year at Ishpeming High School — the boy started elementary school later due to his disability — began the petition campaign on Change.org in March after the MHSAA disqualified Eric for next year. Dompierre and the Ishpeming School District have pitched multiple rule-revision proposals to the state association beginning in 2010 — including, according to the MHSAA, ones that would have allowed for a case-by-case evaluation of requests by student-athletes with Down syndrome and for student-athletes with any kind of disability. The organization's official response, based on input from between 500 and 600 schools: "After a very thorough review, it was determined that there should be no change to the MHSAA constitution."
In late March, Tom Rashid, associate director of the MHSAA, told AthleticBusiness.com that he expected organization officials to stand firm on that decision. "Their hearts go out to the kid, and they certainly want to help him, but if you did it for just one disability, why would you not allow a waiver for other disabilities?" Rashid said, citing autism as an example. "To measure what factors influence an unfair competitive advantage because of age — the height of a kid, the weight of kid, physical maturity — how do you successfully make those measurements and not sit in judgment? You just can't. The courts would define delineating those factors as an undue burden. … The consistent universal application of the age rule is really the smartest thing to do. We feel we have vetted it and discussed it widely."
Last week, Michigan's Senate Education Committee passed a resolution urging the MHSAA to consider adding the waiver. “I want to say up front the rule that is in place is a good rule and it has good intentions,” Sen. Tom Casperson, a Republican from Escanaba who introduced the resolution, said, according to a USA Today report. “The problem that we’re having is when the rule becomes so strict and so rigid that we can’t see beyond the rule to have an exemption, then we may, as a society, have gone too far.”
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Thursday, May 03, 2012
Blog: It’s Hard to See a Downside to Hosting Tournaments
Confession time: I love sports, but I’m actually more of a sports facilities enthusiast. When the pitcher starts kicking at the mound, I’m looking at the dirt and trying to figure out what kind of a blend it is. When I hear about a soccer complex, I want to know how many fields are natural and how many are synthetic. And don’t even get me started on Olympic facilities. I turn into the most obsessive know-it-all alive. Nobody wants to be around me.
But these days, I’m not alone. A lot more people are caring about sports facilities, and for the right market segment, they're becoming a huge economic driver.
The National Association of Sports Commissions, the professional association for sports industry travel professionals, recently released its Report on the Sports Travel Industry. Sports tourism, which can be defined as the practice of traveling to attend or participate in a sports event, is becoming an increasingly desirable market, and cities are baiting their hooks to try to attract this type of business.
Because sports tourism tends to bring in families, it’s a win-win for the cities hosting the events. People stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, buy souvenirs, go sightseeing, pay admission to watch the game or pay registration fees to play their sport, and ultimately, they go home happy. Often, the city gets exposure from media coverage of the event, too.
That means that, increasingly, cities will jockey with one another to be considered as hosts for these events. After all, it’s not just a Little League tournament, or a marathon or a wrestling meet, it’s a full weekend’s worth of income, known as “economic impact” in the lexicon of sports tourism. And to nobody’s great surprise, more cities are ramping up their sports facilities — fields, courts and more — in order to be considered for events either regionally or nationally. They know they’re not the only ones in the bidding war, and they really want to stand out.
A direct quote from the report:
“Potential hosts need to realize that someone, somewhere, has more fields or courts that are in better condition, or are all located on one site. If one or more of those cities are participating in the bid process, chances are they will be favored.”
If a city wants to dive into the market, NASC recommends a facility audit — a survey that can provide an accurate count of how many tournament-quality facilities are available in a given area. Unfortunately for some facility owners, the audit is destined to uncover deferred maintenance and other problems that may keep their facility out of the running — but maybe that’s a good thing in that it can spur the owner to spring for upgrades.
For me, the best part of this whole dynamic — even better than improved facilities, even better than more people getting excited about sports and spending money on them — is NASC’s note that this burgeoning market is not about competing for the next Olympics. In fact, it’s not about expert competition at all:
“Host organizations should never lose sight of the fact that there are more average to below-average teams and athletes (in terms of their playing ability) than their more talented competitors. Regional events tend to draw well because of this fact, plus a shorter drive time. There may even be more time for each team or family to enjoy additional things to see and do before or after the event.”
Well, thank goodness someone actually sees not just the truth (the vast majority of people aren’t pro athletes) but the upside of it. There’s an advantage to not being professionally sponsored and having to dash off to the next tournament. For me, it’s the ability to play mini-golf with my friends when the games are done, or hit a fun local restaurant. And that means whether I win or lose, the city I'm in comes out ahead every time.
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Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Obesity Costs Soar, But Physical Burden Can Be Eased in Kids
The American College of Sports Medicine has calculated the number of steps required for children and teens to meet their daily exercise recommendation, offering a new tool in the fight against obesity. A study published in the May edition of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise calculated the correlation between step counts and physical activity time counts, equating 12,000 steps to 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity.
The new tool offers a simple way to gauge and improve physical activity levels using only a pedometer, and creates an easy way for children to see their progress. "Daily physical activity goals are important not only to policy makers, but also to the well-being of the general public. This study proposes a new daily goal that is easy to measure with simple equipment," lead author Rachel Colley of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute said in an interview. "Step counts are something that children and teens can easily monitor themselves and use to work toward personal health goals."
The daily step recommendation comes at a time when increasing attention is being given not just to the health consequences of obesity but the financial costs, as well. According to a recent Reuters article, the additional medical spending due to obesity exceeds that of smoking, represented by increased hospitalizations, medical procedures and prescription drugs. A study in the January issue of Journal of Health Economics places the added medical spending due to obesity at $190 billion annually in the United States, borne not just by the obese but by all taxpayers, to cover the additional costs of Medicare and health insurance premiums.
The costs of obesity are also reflected in adjustments made to accommodate the increased percentage of obese Americans, which has tripled since the 1960s, currently at 34 percent. Seats on buses and in stadiums have gotten wider, as have hospital doors and wheelchairs. Because the incidence of health conditions is higher among obese people, workplace productivity takes a hit as well, with obese women taking 9.4 more sick days a year than average and men taking 5.9 more, according to calculations by health economists at Duke University.
The more subtle costs of obesity are seen in fuel consumption and pollution. A 2009 study comparing the current weight distribution of the population to that in the 1970s estimated that the added weight translates into 270 million more metric tons of greenhouse gases due to extra food production and 172 million tons of added fuel consumption.
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