Author Archives: Mike Thompson, Jr.

Puma Launches Project Pink

Yesterday, PUMA announced a new initiative to raise awareness and money to fight breast cancer.  The program is call PUMA’s Project Pink.  In conjunction with their partnership with Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), PUMA will outfit some of the best female players in the world in special Project Pink kits for five WPS matches. The brand has also created a range of Project Pink merchandise that will be available for purchase beginning this summer and continuing through Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Profits from the sale of PUMA’s Project Pink gear will be donated to a nonprofit committed to breast cancer awareness or research; the beneficiary will be named as the result of a national online voting campaign.

Locally,the Washington Freedom will wear the Project Pink kit when they play Sky Blue FC at the Soccerplex on August 28.

Youth Sports Tournaments – Girls Generate More Money?

I have always been conflicted about youth sports tournaments.  On the one hand I think it is a great chance for kids to play some more.  On the other hand, they can often become far too intense and there are questions in some sports about whether kids should play so many games in such a compressed time.

Another thing is happening.  Youth sports tournaments are becoming major money makers.  A reader sent me this article from last year’s New York Times.  One interesting note:

As the popularity of youth tournaments has intensified over the past decade, a peculiar trend has emerged: girls’ sporting events tend to attract more relatives and generate more revenue for tourism than similar events for boys. And that is drawing increased attention from economic development officials.

The Positive Impact of a Sports Complex

About six months ago I was asked to sit on a committee that Fairfax County was putting together.  The focus of the committee is to generate additional revenues for Fairfax County by bringing sporting events to the County and to encourage businesses to become involved in supporting the County’s athletic infrastructure.  (For example, encouraging businesses to invest in parks, etc.)

One of the topics that has come up several times is the fact that Fairfax County does not have a field complex.  This is a location that would have multiple sports fields in one place that could be used for tournaments, etc.  There has been talk about trying to put one together but it has never come to fruition. Continue reading

Overuse Causing Injuries in Youth Sports

There’s an interesting article in The Record about the danger of kids getting hurt through overuse of the same bones, muscles and joints.  Doctors are seeing more of these types of injuries and believe that overuse is a major cause.  It is worth reading the whole thing.

[Doctors say that young athletes need] rest for the bones, muscles and joints that suffer the most abuse in the body of an athlete who plays the same sport with intense frequency. A pitcher’s arm, a tennis player’s shoulder, a basketball player’s knees — these are all the body parts that show signs of wear by the end of a season, Bottiglieri says. If the season never ends, that wear can soon become a tear.

“A professional athlete has an off season, but too many kids playing sports these days do not,” Bottiglieri said. “They are playing year-round and they are not giving their muscles time to rest and recover.”

WSJ Blog: Drawing the Line on Youth Sports

This is an interesting article posted last night on the Wall Street Journal’s blog The Juggle.  The author talks about the difficult balance that families face with youth athletics.  From the post:

One factor fueling the youth sports arms race, experts say, are parents’ hopes that a child will win a college athletic scholarship. Sadly, these are usually little more than a fantasy. Only about 2% of high-school athletes are awarded college athletic scholarships, the National Collegiate Athletic Association says.

New Survey Reveals Concerns with Youth Athletes

Champion Athleticwear recently conducted a survey in partnership with the National Alliance for Youth Sports.  The results were disturbing.  Perhaps the most disturbing to me was the fact that 45% of the players responding had considered quitting sports because of their coach’s behavior and 41% said their coach is concerned more about winning than sportsmanship.

Somewhere between 70% and 80% of players quit organized sports by the time they start their freshman year of high school.  Coaches should not be contributing to kids dropping out of sports.  If 45% of the players answering the poll considered quitting because of a coach, how many kids quit and therefore never took the survey? Continue reading

What is the Purpose of Youth Sports

A few days ago, the San Jose Mercury News had an interesting editorial about youth sports.  They ask some good questions about access to sports, the role of club sports and about youth sports injuries.

I’ve commented before about a great book on the subject by Mark Hyman. I’ve also talked about the Positive Coaching Alliance.

While they asked some good questions, here’s one thing that caught my attention: The editorial starts with an assumption that youth sports should be designed to produce winning teams/developed players.

“The burst of excitement when it seemed the United States might have a chance to get to the World Cup final this year has led to heightened hopes that we’ll make it someday. But without a revolution in how we deal with youth sports, it’s unlikely to happen.” Continue reading

What's With Some Coaches?

A couple of days ago I posted a video about a really inspirational story about a baseball coach making a real difference in the lives of some children.

Now comes this story about another baseball coach.  This time, not so inspirational.  Seems a nine year old player was ejected after throwing his helmet when he was called out at third base.  The coach wasn’t happy about this and demonstrated his unhappiness by punching the child.  The defense: He only punched him twice in the back.  Oh, and the kicker, the player was his own son.

The umpire and the score keeper called the police and the coach/father was arrested at home.

I say good for the umpire and the score keeper!  Whether it’s your own child or not, a coach should never hit a player.  As a father that coaches both of my daughters I understand that there can be frustrating situations.  But on the field you are the coach and you have to act like one.