Mark Hyman's Blog, page 22

A child's sports injury and the blame game

One question I'm getting a lot as I do the book-talk thing around the country in support of Until It Hurts is: Why do you blame yourself? It's a reference to Ben's elbow injury, a classic case of overuse, and our family decision for him to undergo Tommy John surgery so that he could return to baseball.

I do flog myself a bit in Until It Hurts, mostly for falling in like with his pitching arm when he was a rec league phenom (I was his coach). I also point a finger at myself in a piece about a fath

Macy Causey is going 60 miles per hour

Dateline NBC did a piece last night on the life and times of Macy Causey, the 8-year-old girl who drives race cars and rapidly is becoming her own youth sports national brand. She has a racing team, a web site and a Macy fan club. Like few second graders, she has touched off an amazing run of national media coverage, starting with a profile in the New York Times. Later, a live interview on the Today Show and then Dateline.

Did I mention she's 8?

I got a call from a Dateline producer and am intervi

The first girl in Ypsilanti to play Little League

Today, a history lesson. The first girl in Ypsilanti, Michigan to play Little League Baseball? Caroyln King who took the field in May 1973. At the time, Little League rules barred girls from joining teams. So, Carolyn was not exactly embraced by national Little League authorities. They booted her out of the league. The angry Ypsilanti City Council fired back, banning the local league from using city-owned kids diamonds.

A year later, Little League changed its policy, not having seen the error of

When a youth sports athlete calls it quits

It would be interesting (read: frightening) to tote up the money that is spent each year putting kids in a position to become college athletes: club and elite team fees, travel, hotels, private tutors, college sports placement services, showcases, athlete dvds. Have I forgotten anything?

Some kids are happy they made the effort, of course. But for others intercollegiate sports isn't all it's cracked up to be. They quickly learn that at the college level, especially Division I, college sports is a

It's on the evening news: a girl who strikes out boys

Back in March, I posted about a story in the works for the CBS Evening News about Marti Sementelli, probably the most talented female pitcher in high school baseball these days. The piece finally ran yesterday. It's a nice profile of Marti, a sophomore at Burbank High School in SoCal, and also offers a few glimpses of her dad, Gary. The larger issue - why girls who seek to continue playing beyond rec league face such a difficult road - is addressed briefly and inadequately to my mind. But hey, t

Sunday morning at the Oakland Coliseum

Nice weekend in the Bay Area, the highlight of which was serving on a "youth sports sanity" panel with A's pitcher Dallas Braden and trainer Steve Sayles at the Oakland Coliseum. The audience was about 500 youth league coaches, parents and kids.

I made a few remarks about Until It Hurts, explaining how the project got started and how not long into it, my son Ben's elbow injury cast things in a different light. Steve and Dallas then spoke about the importance of playing different sports, keeping e

Next stop: LL Day at the Oakland Coliseum

I'm heading to Oakland for the A's "Little League Day." Before Sunday's game, I'll be on a panel with team trainer Steve Sayles and pitcher Dallas Braden speaking about youth baseball injuries.

Linking here to several articles about Until It Hurts that have appeared in Bay Area newspapers in the last few days. Lowell Cohn in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat and Carl Steward writing for the Bay Area News Group - San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, among other papers. I'm collecting news clips, po

Soccer parents make headlines for wrong reasons

What could be worse than being banished from a kids' soccer game for ref baiting? Here's something: Being banished from a kids' soccer game for ref baiting, then having your suspect behavior chronicled in the Washington Post.

This happened today to parents of the Legacy travel team in Bethesda, Maryland.

Post reporter Annie Gowen has the interesting story of a bunch of parents punished for berating an official during a heated game at the end of last season. To its credit, the Washington Area Girls

Today's word to remember: Sportsmanship

This isn't new and it really isn't about sports for kids, little ones anyway. I couldn't resist posting.

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

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Real Sports seeks interviews with sports parents

HBO's Real Sports wants to speak with parents for an upcoming piece on youth sports. I'm passing on a note from the segment's producer, Amani Martin. (FYI: I do not work for HBO and am not involved in production of the story).

HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel is developing a story on the current climate in youth sports in which parents are increasingly invested in the athletic pursuits of their children. We’re looking for parents of children (ideally ages 3 through 10) who have invested large