Last year a new concussion testing system was released called Impact. A number of media outlets ran news stories that were quasi advertisements for the new system, but they still highlighted the dangers kids can face from concussions in youth sports:

Doctors have concluded that concussions are especially dangerous for children and teenagers and, as CBS News correspondent Trish Regan reports, that means more time on the bench for many young players.

Kerry Aldrich, 15, suffered a concussion playing varsity soccer for The Potomac School in McLean, Va., three weeks ago when she did a face-first dive and violent somersault. “I had a really bad headache,” Aldrich told Regan. “I could not concentrate during my classes. I was really dizzy, just tired the whole day.”

Her doctor, Gerard A. Gioia, Ph.D., a director of the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said it was time for her to take a timeout from the sport. “We don’t want athletes to be playing while they’re symptomatic,” Dr. Gioia said. “It’s very dangerous situation.”

Concussions, once considered minor conditions, are now being recognized as serious medical problems with potentially permanent consequences, Regan says.

» Read the rest of this post…

Over at 18 Yards, they found a YouTube video of the various­ steps in constructing an adidas Europass soccer ball, the successor to the Teamgeist, which we’ve written about a few times before. The Europass uses much of the new ball technology found in the Teamgeist and adds a dimpled surface (think golf ball) to make it easier for keepers to catch. A co­mmon complaint of the Teamgeist was it was too slippery due to it’s very smooth surface and lack of stitched seams. adidas outlines the new features in their press release:

Like +Teamgeistâ„¢, the official match ball of the 2006 FIFA World Cupâ„¢, the adidas “EUROPASS” is constructed out of 14 panels using revolutionary Thermal Bonding Technology. This combined with the new PSC-Textureâ„¢ surface structure gives the “EUROPASS” its perfect handling characteristics and allows the players exceptional ball control. The unique outer skin improves power transmission, creates greater swerve and increases accuracy on the pitch, in all conceivable weather conditions. And for the goalkeeper too, providing a much better grip between glove and ball, substantially improves his catching of the ball.

So watch how these are made, including the test runs at the end. You can see the dimples on the surface when the pieces are having glue applied to the edges.

­I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays! I hope you and yours are enjoying time with friends and family during this holiday season. Thanks to all who take the time to visit On The Pitch and read whatever I happen to come up with! Here’s hoping that 2008 is even better than 2007! ­

- Soccer Dad

CNN has an article up about a possibly harmful chemical that is found in a popular style of water bottle, one I’ve seen many of our soccer players using. These water bottles are very durable, don’t flex like polyethylene, come in a wide variety of cool colors, and are able to withstand extreme temperatures. The water bottles are made from polycarbonate and contain a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is known to disrupt the body’s hormonal system, but researchers are unsure if the amounts that leech out into the stored liquids are enough to cause problems:

There is little dispute that the chemical can disrupt the hormonal system, but scientists differ markedly on whether very low doses found in food and beverage containers can be harmful. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sides with the plastics industry that BPA-based products do not pose a health risk.

However, an expert panel of researchers reported at a U.S. government conference that the potential for BPA to affect human health is a concern, and more research is needed. The panel cited evidence that Americans have levels of BPA higher than those found to cause harm in lab animals.

Patagonia Inc., another outdoor-gear retailer based in Ventura, California, pulled polycarbonate water bottles from its 40 stores worldwide in December 2005. A month later, organic foods chain Whole Foods Markets stopped selling polycarbonate baby bottles and child drinking cups.

Some environmental groups in the United States and Canada expect others will soon follow suit.

These are very popular items - I see them all the time on our soccer fields.

» Read the rest of this post…

I­’m not sure how widespread this is across USYSA affiliates, but in North Carolina, the NCYSA stipulates that new clubs applying for membership must have and maintain a 60/40 ratio between recreational players and travel/select players. While this strikes some as a barrier to entry (and it is), I believe it is there for good reason.

» Read the rest of this post…

­Josh over at Throughball has taken US Soccer to task over it’s latent hostility to the SoccerSphere. If you haven’t read his three-part series, take a few moments to check it out:

How U.S. Soccer can use the blogosphere to increase brand awareness

• Part I: Sharing Video
• Part II: Allowing Access
• Part III: Providing Incentives

There’s a lot to cover here, but this is a very important issue. One can’t help shake the feeling that US Soccer views the SoccerSphere as an unruly bunch that they can’t be bothered to associate with. By doing so they risk losing a very important marketing resource. The ‘SoccerSphere’, a phrase coined by Josh, has exploded. From the early days just a few years ago when SoccerBlogs only had 50 or so sites, there are now almost 450 blogs tracked by Soccer Blogs and I expect some others that aren’t.

» Read the rest of this post…

Though most of you probably already know about it, if you’re interested in the deeply rooted soccer history the US has, look no further than the American Soccer History Archive. I happened to stumble across it doing some research for another article and was just blown away by the depth and detail, especially in the early part of the 20th cenutry. It has detailed annual summaries including tables for most existing soccer leagues at the time. It was also interesting reading the overviews for the various leagues from 1990 onward in terms of reorganizations, mergers, and evolution.

So if you’re a US soccer history nut and don’t already know about this site, you’re in for a treat. There is also the ‘official’ history archive at the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

My only concern is that the site hasn’t been updated since 2005. I’d hate to see the site go inactive. Can you imagine if this 1200+ page archive were in a Wiki form so soccer history buffs from across the US and beyond could enhance, fact check, and update the archive? I couldn’t do much on the history side I admit, but would happily handle the technical stuff. What an amazing resource that would be!

­

Joyce Bassett of ­Youth Sports recently wrote about a spat of unsporting conduct during post match handshakes between opponents and wondered if that tradition had run its course:

I remember several years ago my daughter was complaining about doing post-game handshakes because she once saw a girl spit on her hands. I also remember coaching an indoor game during a particularly brutal season of stomach viruses and thinking “I don’t want to shake these kids hands!”

Sometimes, I wonder if shaking hands at the end of heated sporting events is a good idea.

It absolutely is a good idea.

» Read the rest of this post…

When I started On The Pitch, there were almost no blogs dedicated to primarily to Youth Soccer. A few blog like sites that were offshoots of soccer magazines, etc. But nothing on the independent side. So it’s always cool when I stumble across a youth soccer coach or administrator that’s started blogging about youth soccer.

Murray has started a site called Soccer Coaching Guide with in depth articles about coaching youth soccer. He hopes to provide a valuable resource for new coaches as they begin their coaching journey:

I want to use this guide as a means of sharing my experiences and knowledge with you and offering tips and advice on such things as fitness, nutrition, coaching, soccer gear and anything else to do with soccer. If you are a new coach or a parent, hopefully you will find this advice helpful or if you are an experienced coach, it might help to reinforce something you already know.

Even though the site is only a couple months old, he has a number of articles up already. So stop by and pay a visit.

Welcome to the SoccerSphere Murray!

­­

Via The Offside, we find some Italian youth soccer player­s who came up with a new way to get their parents attention about inappropriate touchline behavior:

It’s not just in the US that parents scream and yell, attack coaches and officials, and generally just embarrass the hell out of their kids (in addition to, you know, breaking laws) at youth sporting events. It happens in Italy, too, and one club has finally had enough. No, they’re not making rules about silence on the sidelines, or initiating cheering-only leagues. Instead, they went on strike. The kids at Unione Sportiva Ponte a Elsa were apparently so scarred by the behavior of parents at their matches that they asked for something to be done, and the best solution, it was decided, was a strike. During the club Christmas party last week, the strike was announced, and members of the three teams that refused to play - the club’s eight, nine, and ten-year-olds - appeared before their parents holding banners that said things like “No to bad language, Yes to kids having fun,” and “Parents: don’t argue, let us play.” Ouch.

Interesting approach and probably a very effective one. But the Guardian article makes it sound like this was a separate event (they were walking on a stage with signs or something). Heck with that - I’d have pulled it off on match day. Kids take the pitch with signs and sit down with them for 20 minutes

I’ve said it before - all too often the behavior of the parents is directly related to the behavior of the coach. Not always - but when I’ve seen entire sidelines go out of control vs the one nut job stalking the touchline, you can bet the coach is chiming right into the chorus. To me, if a sideline is out of control - then the coach isn’t doing part of their job. Like it or not, we’re responsible for all aspects of our team including parent behavior. It’s awkward. Nobody likes to do it. But if you have a parent who is out of control - then you need to attempt to address it.

Leagues have to do their part as well. CASL of Raleigh, NC did an excellent job of addressing some recent problems including public service ads on local radio stations. If you have certain teams where the parents are out of control, then something needs to be done to nip it in the bud. Otherwise you’ll be left with concerned parents or coaches taking matters into their own hands and having to do something like this group of kids did. It should never get to that point.

And no, Silent Sunday’s aren’t the answer, they only mask the problem.

A while back I wrote about Chinlone, a mix of sport and dance played primarily in Burma, and a documentary in production about it called Mystic Ball. Chinlone often takes on a spiritual quality, especially when women do solo performances known as “tapandaing” and all participants show an amazing ability to keep the small rattan ball airborne.

Greg Hamilton, the director of Mystic Ball recently emailed me that the DVD version of the documentary is now available. The film has had quite the journey of its own, having been shown at dozens of film festival across the globe, collecting a number of awards in the process. So if you were as amazed as I was watching video of Chinlone players in action, definitely grab a copy of the DVD. Once the Christmas bill bonanza passes I’ll try to get a copy and post up a review.

Here’s a YouTube video posted by Greg that will give you a good idea what Chinlone i­s all about:

Other Chinlone videos can be found here. If you get a copy of the DVD, post your thoughts in the comments!

Raise your hands. How many of you know what MRSA is? OK. How many of you worried about it last year? Now how many of you worry about it currently? I bet more of you raised your hands for ‘currently’ Our national media went on­ a MRSA ‘full freakout’ this Fall. Their coverage was quite sensational - you came away with the idea that your kids were going to go to school and die from a raging untreatable skin infection. Sporting events were canceled at the first hint of a student with a skin infection. Entire school districts were disinfected because a single case was identified. In one case a school district spent a quarter of a million dollars cleaning all it’s buildings, school buses, locker rooms, and more. Yet once news broke that they did this, experts made clear that this would not reduce the chance of other students contracting it. It was quite the hysteria for a few weeks.

So exactly what is MRSA?

» Read the rest of this post…