Special Olympics Minnesota Athletes, Coaches Head To Greece For World Summer Games
Minnesotans join 315 athletes and 125 coaches from Special Olympics Team USA as they journey to Greece for the country’s largest sporting event of the year
After months of rigorous training and preparation, eight Special Olympics Minnesota athletes and two coaches will depart Saturday for the most spectacular sporting event happening this year — Special Olympics World Summer Games Athens 2011, where they will compete as part of Special Olympics Team USA alongside 7,000 athletes from nearly 180 nations, June 25 – July 4.
The Minnesotans will join 315 athletes from every state and the District of Columbia and 125 coaches and managers on Team USA. The team will meet in Baltimore, Md. on June 18 and then depart for Greece. In Athens, the birthplace of modern sport, the talents and skills of Special Olympics athletes will remind us what the World Games are really about, where all participants are winners in their struggle for respect, inclusion and unity. This event will draw more than 25,000 volunteers, 3,000 event officials and thousands of families, spectators and journalists from every continent. Read more
Choice For Colleges: Pay Athletes, or Give Them a Solid Education
When it comes to inequities concerning race and college sports, you can talk about changing rules, paying players for their work or otherwise distributing the earnings of athletic departments.
But in the end, the most important thing institutions can do to reform the intercollegiate sports system is provide its players – even the at-risk ones – with a useful education.
That’s according to some of the nation’s top experts on race and college sports. They convened at Wake Forest University’s “Losing to Win: Discussions of Race and Intercollegiate Sports” to lay out the problems in what they call the exploitative system of college athletics and to offer solutions.
“We need to follow the money. The money is going to be the best way to decipher when something is not being done correctly,” said Kenneth Shropshire, lawyer and professor at the Wharton School. “People of color and women are not at the end of the money trail. … We are not getting paid.” Read more
Young Female Athletes Prone to Career-Ending Knee Injuries
Advancement in Knee Ligament Repair Technology Getting Injured Athletes Back in the Game
High school freshman Nina McDonald recalls simply running for the ball during middle school soccer practice when she felt a pop in her knee, followed by excruciating pain. As she fell to the ground, she remembers thinking she would never be able to play her favorite sport again.
Unfortunately, Nina’s story is familiar to thousands of young female athletes across the country who have torn their anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL). Nearly 400,000 ACL repair procedures are performed annually in the U.S.(1) Though ACL tears are more common in males, females are up to eight times more likely to tear the ligament.(2)
“Recently, there’s been an increase in young female athletes tearing their ACLs, which is the ligament responsible for knee stability and movements such as jumping, cutting and twisting,” explained Nina’s doctor, Tal David, MD, orthopedic sports medicine specialist, San Diego, CA. “This may be due to anatomic and muscular imbalance in females, coupled with increasing opportunity for young girls to play year-round, high level competitive sports such as soccer and volleyball.”
When an athlete tears his or her ACL, it can be potentially career-ending if not treated. However, a recent advancement in knee ligament repair technology is getting athletes back in the game.
Nina’s torn ACL was reconstructed using the AperFix® System, made by Cayenne Medical, a private sports medicine company in Scottsdale, AZ. AperFix is a stronger, less invasive reconstruction option for multiple types of knee ligament tears in males and females.
Traditional ACL surgery uses bone-patellar-bone grafts to reconstruct the torn ligament, which involves removing bone and tendon from the front of the patient’s knee. The AperFix System uses a shorter, stiffer soft tissue graft such as a hamstring tendon. During the procedure, AperFix is used to attach the newly reconstructed ACL at the aperture (opening) of the femoral and tibial tunnels drilled for ligament fixation. This special technique is meant to mimic the patient’s natural anatomy as closely as possible.
“The AperFix System uses a less invasive technique that offers less pain, a shorter recovery and increases knee stability for patients after surgery,” said Dr. David. “In fact, in conjunction with appropriate rehabilitation, some of my patients have been able to get back to their pre-injury level of play faster than I ever thought they could.”
Today, Nina is happy to be back playing soccer with her town club team, and plans to try out for her high school varsity team. When asked how her knee feels after surgery, Nina responded, “My knee feels really stable, and I can do everything I could do before I got the ACL surgery. Girls shouldn’t be afraid to have surgery because it can strengthen your knee. And in the end, you’ll be able to do all the sports that you love like I do.”
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
30th Anniversary Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon
Random Lottery To Open December 1, 2009
The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon will celebrate its 30th year as one of the premier triathlons in the world on Sunday, May 2, 2010. For 30 years, this legendary race has attracted professional and amateur athletes from around the world with its challenging course including the infamous swim from Alcatraz Island to the shore, the hilly bike ride and grueling run through San Francisco. The world’s leading sports, entertainment and media company IMG Worldwide once again promises a stellar race ideal for athletes and spectators alike.
“The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon is my favorite race,” said Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Three-Time Winner and Professional Triathlete Andy Potts. “IMG puts on a first class race that attracts top athletes from around the world and takes place on a truly unique course only made possible in a great city like San Francisco. I look forward to participating in the 30th Annual Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon and being a part of its ongoing history.”
Similar to the world-renowned Kona Ironman race, the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon is one of the hardest triathlons to get into and one of only a few triathlons to be nationally televised. Interested participants can qualify to participate by placing in one of the Escape TO Alcatraz Triathlon Series races: Triathlon de Gerardmer France, September 5, 2009; The Triathlon at Pacific Grove, September 11-13, 2009; Jarden Westchester Triathlon, September 29, 2009; San Diego Triathlon, March 20-21, 2010; and GateWay to the Bay, April 10-11, 2010, or by entering the random lottery beginning on December 1, 2009. Due to the race’s extreme popularity, the lottery fills up quickly, with thousands of hopeful participants attempting to secure one of the few coveted spots. Additionally, top men and women from the previous Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon automatically qualify for the race.
“From the London Triathlon – the world’s largest, to the brand new Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon is one of nearly a dozen renowned triathlons owned and produced by IMG,” said IMG’s Senior Vice President James Leitz. “IMG is dedicated to the sport of Triathlon and developing world class experiences for athletes around the world.”
Featuring a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz Island to the shore, an 18-mile bike and an 8-mile run through San Francisco, this race is considered one of the most difficult triathlons in the world. More than 2,000 amateur and professional athletes from dozens of countries will attempt to conquer the icy cold swim from Alcatraz Island to the shore, the hilly bike ride and grueling run through San Francisco for the 30th Annual Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon.
The 30th Anniversary Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon will take place on Sunday, May 2, 2010, at 8 a.m., in San Francisco. The public is invited to watch the race and attend the free two-day Fitness Festival & Expo Saturday and Sunday. (Please note, the date has changed from May 30, to May 2, 2010, due to a Doyle Drive construction project and Memorial Day Weekend traffic congestion.) The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon is owned and produced by IMG Worldwide with race direction provided, in part, by Premier Event Management.
www.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com
Source: IMG Worldwide