adidas and Major League Soccer Extend Partnership
New Agreement Will Shape Future of Soccer in North America
adidas and Major League Soccer announced an extension to their strategic partnership agreement aimed at further elevating soccer in the United States and developing opportunities for young players. The partnership extends adidas’ position as the official athletic sponsor and product supplier for the MLS through 2018.
Core to the new agreement is a dedicated focus on youth development and programming to help shape the future of the sport in North America.
“The United States is a breeding ground for athletic talent and we need to ensure our homegrown athletes have viable opportunities to play soccer at the highest level,” said Patrik Nilsson, president, adidas America. “We need to accelerate the model for soccer development in North America to attract and keep elite talent engaged and excited about professional opportunities in the sport. We share a long-term vision with MLS to develop the game and are excited to foster the next generation of American soccer stars.”
adidas has been a partner of MLS since the league’s inception in 1996. In 2004, adidas and MLS announced an exclusive partnership agreement that named adidas the official athletic sponsor and product supplier, outfitting all league teams and supplying the league’s official match ball. Read more
World’s Best Surfers Storm California Shores for the Hurley Pro, Sept. 12-18
Event Is Only ASP World Tour Competition On Mainland U.S. And Second Year For Hurley As Sole Sponsor
All previous allusions of competitive, high-performance surfing are about to be shattered when the world’s best surfers descend upon California’s premier wave, San Onofre State Beach – Lower Trestles. The 2010 Hurley Pro is the only ASP World Tour event on mainland U.S. shores and is where the best of the best fight for the world title and prove that surfing is one of the most competitive world sports featuring some of the finest, most talented athletes on the planet. On September 12, the elite in professional surfing will join the world’s most “rippable” wave, armed with a new World Tour seeding format and the most progressive judging criteria in ASP history.
This is the first event that the ASP World Tour will narrow its field to 32 surfers instead of 44 — the first major change to the ASP format since 1992. In the current world title race, South African Jordy Smith is leading, but nine-time world champ Kelly Slater is in the hunt for what would be an unprecedented 10th world title. As in years past, the Hurley Pro typically serves as the turning point in the world title race. Win here, and athletes are propelled into the final stretch with tremendous momentum. Mick Fanning did just that in 2009 when he came from behind to take the Hurley Pro title and then, three months later, his second world title. The 32 man field will be joined by 4 wildcards (Rob Machado, Kolohe Andino, with 2 spots TBD.) Read more
Study Examines Heat-Related Illness in High School Athletes
High school athletes are sidelined more than 9,000 days a year because of heat-related illnesses, according to a new CDC analysis.
The analysis, published in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at 2005-2009 data from the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study. The data covered nine sports and estimated national numbers based on a sample of 100 high schools.
Football was the sport associated with the most heat related illnesses and August was the most common month for them to occur, according to CDC’s analysis. The report also found illnesses were most likely to occur during practice, not game time, and more likely to occur among overweight athletes.
The study looked at the incidence of “time-loss heat illness,” defined as illness where a player needed at least one day to recover and missed time on the game field.
Heat-related illnesses included heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke — a medical emergency that in the absence of prompt intervention can lead to loss of consciousness, or more permanent serious medical conditions such as neurologic, cardiac, renal, gastrointestinal, hematologic, or muscle dysfunction and subsequently death.
Since 1995, 31 high school football players have died from heat stroke, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.
“One death due to heat-related illness is too many,” said Michael McGeehin, director of CDC’s Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects. “Heat related illness is preventable; the more we know about how and when it happens, the better we can prepare people who may be most at risk.” Read more
Back to School: Prepare for and Prevent Common Sports Injuries
Don’t overlook preventable, yet serious injuries such as skin infections
As athletes head back to school, many have already gone back to sports. That means an increased possibility of injuries due to heat exhaustion, being out of shape from summer break and being back in direct contact with other athletes.
More than 30 million athletes participate in sports each year in the United States with the most common types of sport-related injuries being sprains (mostly ankle), muscle strains, bone or growth plate injuries, repetitive motion injuries, and heat-related illness.(1) However, according to the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, skin infections also are a top injury for certain sports(2) and a recent review of infectious disease outbreaks found that skin diseases accounted for more than 50 percent of all infectious diseases in competitive sports.(3)
Concussions, fractures and sprains typically occur at full speed and often a fraction of an inch can separate a good move from a severe injury. There are steps that can be taken to help minimize the chance of injury, such as assuring proper protective equipment is used at all times.
Yet, skin infections such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are preventable if athletes, coaches and parents are educated and execute a plan for prevention. In July, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) issued a new position statement on Preventing Skin Diseases in Athletics in order to raise awareness about how to prevent skin infections in sports. Read more
2010 Youth Olympic Games
2010 Youth Olympic Games officially got under way with an Opening Ceremony at the Marina Bay Floating Stadium in downtown Singapore.
With the city skyline providing an impressive backdrop, some 3,600 athletes aged 14 to 18 marched in the Parade of Nations, which was followed by speeches from International Olympic Committee President (IOC) Jacques Rogge and Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee Chairman (SYOGOC) Ser Miang Ng.
“Tonight we open a new chapter in the history of the Olympic Movement,” said President Rogge. “From this moment on, young people around the world have a chance to participate in a global event that combines sport, education and culture.”
The IOC President added that he expected the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, which run from 14 to 26 August, to produce high-level sporting competition within an Olympic environment while at the same time providing the athletes with a platform to learn, share and build friendships through a supporting Culture and Education Programme. Read more