Youth Sports Can Hurt The Very Young

I WANT to respond to Jim Farrell's Aug. 20 article, "Younger Kids Tackle Football."

Youth sports have become serious business to the adults running these programs. It is accepted practice for most youth sports teams to start their recruitment of children as young as ages 5, 6 or 7. This is the critical time for kids to learn socialization skills by playing freely with their friends. Being organized by youth sports limits this opportunity for young children. In fact, most young children I have taught as an elementary school teacher over the last 15 years come in with very poor socialization skills. This is due to many of them being organized in youth sports.

One statement leaped off the page and pointed toward one of the major issues in youth sports. Steve Alessi, president of the Berlin football league, stated: "You have to get kids early."



Competition for children in youth sports began when soccer went to multiple seasons years ago. Now, almost all youth sports participate in multiple seasons. The effect is that parents and kids feel pressure to specialize in that one particular sport. This has led to overuse injuries in youth sports as well as burnout by the time kids get to junior high school. Who is really being served by forcing kids and their parents to feel the need to specialize, or even play, organized sports at these ridiculously young ages?

The Connecticut Youth Sports Initiative calls for delaying the creation of organized sport teams until the developmentally appropriate age of 9 or 10. We also call for delaying establishment of elite travel teams until puberty, the only true time when athletic potential can be judged in children.

Rick Collins, Simsbury

The writer is a teacher in the Simsbury public schools and founder of The Connecticut Youth Sports Initiative

The Buzz: U.S. sprinter Felix wins third track gold

llyson Felix became only the second woman to win three gold medals at a single world championships track and field meet, helping the United States to victory in the women’s 4x400-meter relay. The Americans won in 3 minutes, 18.55 seconds Sunday in Osaka, Japan, with Jamaica taking silver in 3:19.73.

•Former Baylor star Jeremy Wariner anchored the U.S. team to victory in the 4x400-meter relay. The Americans finished in 2:55.56, with Bahamas taking silver in 2:59.18.

•Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat of the U.S. completed the first 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter winning double in track and field world championship history, capturing the 5,000 in 13:45.87. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya was second in 13:46.00, and Moses Kipsiro of Uganda took bronze in 13:46.75, just three-hundredths of a second ahead of Matt Tegenkamp, a former Lee’s Summit High School star who ran 13:46.78.

Morgan wins on Champions Tour

Gil Morgan won his 25th career Champions Tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a 2-stroke victory over Hale Irwin in the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Calif.

Morgan finished with a 14-under 202 total.

Tom Watson shot a 69 and finished third at 10 under.

•Brett Wetterich will take a 1-shot lead over Arron Oberholser into the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second tournament in the PGA Tour’s playoff series. Phil Mickelson is 2 shots back after the third round at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. Tiger Woods trails by 3 shots.

•Sherri Steinhauer held off a late charge by Christina Kim for a 1-stroke victory at the LPGA State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill. Steinhauer finished at 17-under 271.

James scores 31 in U.S. win

LeBron James put a record finish on the Americans’ dominance in the desert.

James scored a team-record 31 points, and the United States beat Argentina 118-81, winning the FIBA Americas championship in Las Vegas.

Dwight Howard made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points, and Carmelo Anthony added 16 points for the Americans, who were never challenged while winning 10 games in 12 days and will head to Beijing next summer as one of the gold-medal favorites.

Rapids get even with Crew

Conor Casey scored in the 85th minute, giving the Colorado Rapids a 1-1 tie with the Columbus Crew and keeping the teams even in their bid for the eighth and final spot in the MLS playoffs.

Eddie Gaven scored in the 45th minute for the Crew in the match at Columbus, Ohio.

Prep football team finally loses

The streak is over at Charlotte Independence High School — 109 wins and seven years after it began.

Cincinnati Elder ended the nation’s longest football winning streak with a 41-34 overtime victory over the North Carolina high school Saturday night in Cincinnati in the Kirk Herbstreit Challenge.

Independence had not lost since falling 34-31 to Shelby Crest on Sept. 1, 2000, when this year’s team was in elementary school.

Quick hits

•Levi Leipheimer, who was third in the recent Tour de France, took the lead from his teammate in the final three finishing circuits and won the road-race title at the USA Cycling Professional Championships in Greenville, S.C.

•Colombia’s Ricardo “Mochuelo” Torres successfully defended his WBO junior welterweight title, stopping American Kendal Holt in the 11th round at Bogota. American referee Yino Rodriguez stopped the fight.

| Star News Services

Learn how to put boxing gloves

Your hands might get damaged or broken if you don’t properly take care of it for boxing. This process initiates by wrapping your hands with lengthy strips of cloth called ‘hand wraps’; this is followed by digging the hands into the boxing gloves. Here are few steps mentioned below which one should follow before putting on the boxing gloves.

First of all fasten the hand wrap hook in the region of your thumb, and then enfold the wrapper in the region of your wrist three or four times.

Enfold the wrapper in the region near knuckled four to five times (don’t include the thumb). Keep your fingers stretch away from each other to permit for suppleness when making a fist.

Continue this wrapping process the region at the base of your thumb, the thumb must be in such a position that it shouldn’t touch the rest of your hand, following this take the cloth wrapping the out portion of your hand, just next to your pinkie. Continue wrapping the cloth at the back of your hand.

Following the above steps the cloth wrapping process must continue across your palm and the inside of your hand, in-between the thumb and index finger. The cloth should be again taken to the pinkie side (i.e. back of your hand).

Don’t forget to make X pattern over the hand by crisscrossing amid the in and exterior parts of your hand, and then wrap the surplus in the region of your wrist.

The end of the cloth wrapper should be tied at your wrist. Many of the wrappers have fabric fastening straps that can be protected at the wrist for a comfortable and tight feel.

The completely wrapped hands must be placed in the gloves to completely feel relaxed and secure.

The wrappers which have the fabric fastener should be strapped on the gloves for complete fitness. If appropriate, lace can be tied on each glove.

Don’t wrap the cloth very tightly, it should make your fingers movement easy going and not stuck.

How To Choose The Best Martial Arts School For Your Child

The 3 Dangers of Choosing the Wrong Martial Arts Program for your child
1) Wasted Money - All too enough, parents run down to the closest school - or worse - look for the cheapest school, and enroll their child, only to find that weeks later their child doesn’t want to go any more. Now, they have wasted their money on a program that did not meet their needs or expectations.
2) Trying New Things – As a parent, you know how difficult it can be to introduce something new to your child. Once they have had a negative experience with anything, it is twice as difficult to get them to try it a second time. If a child does not like their martial arts program, they believe ALL programs are the same, so they will not want to try any other activities.
3) “Life Skills” Education - By not getting your child into a quality martial arts school, they are going to miss the opportunity at “Life Skills” training that is not given any place else - Goal Setting, Time Management, Leadership and Public Speaking. Imagine your child is at a job interview and it is down to two people – your child and one other candidate. Both have equal schooling and skills, but your child brings up they have skills in Leadership, Time Management, Public Speaking, Commitment and Goal Setting. Who do you think the boss will want to hire?

How to Avoid the 2 Biggest Martial Arts Rip-Offs!
1) Promises of What You Want to Hear – Not all martial arts schools are created equal! Do your research. There are a variety of teaching methods and styles. Call all of the schools in your area and more importantly, visit them! Schools have been known to make all kinds of promises over the phone. By visiting the school, you can truly SEE what their program teaches and if they are going to be able to benefit your child.
2) Don’t Sign a 24 Month or Longer Contract – Just about every school will offer an Introductory Membership. This can range from 1 free class to a discounted 1 month program. The bigger question is “What happens next?” A non-professional school will want you to sign a 2 year, or even longer contract, right away. The reason behind this is due to the fact that your child will not want to come back after a month or two of classes, but you end up paying the school for years. A school that offers month to month agreements is just as bad. The trouble with month to month agreements is two fold. First, the school can raise its rates ANY TIME it wants to. So you could sign up for a low rate, but within six months, that rate could be doubled. Second, if there are not enough students paying for the month the school will not be around for long. A professional school will generally offer a standard 12 month program for new members. This locks in your rate for 12 months so it cannot be changed.

4 Costly Misconceptions About Martial Arts
1) One school is just like another – This could not be any further from the truth. Each school is going to be set up and run in its own fashion. There is no standardization from one school to the next. Don’t settle on your child’s education. Make sure you find the school that best suits your needs.
2) Martial Arts teaches children to fight or be aggressive – Martial Arts doesn’t teach children to be aggressive – Television does! Children watch TV shows and watch cartoon characters or super heroes punch and kick the “bad guys” and destroy them. It isn’t any wonder that these same children then go to school and use similar techniques on another child that has been mean to them. Quality schools will teach children several Conflict Resolution techniques so that they don’t have to punch or kick another child.
3) Martial Arts takes a lot of time out of the week – Basic Martial Arts classes meet twice a week on average. Classes should range between 30 to 45 minutes. Anything longer, child psychologists agree isn’t beneficial. The class tends to become boring and drawn out. In a quality martial arts school, a student should be able to reach Black Belt in 2 to 3 years training two days a week.
4) The instructor has to be a “World Champion”- It is next to impossible to look at an ad or talk to a school where the Instructor is NOT a world champion of something. The key to remember is that the rank of the instructor, or the world titles they have won, doesn’t mean that they can teach your child. The analogy I like to use for this is Mike Tyson. He may be one of the greatest boxers in history – but I would never let him near my children – let alone teach them boxing.

The 3 Deadly Secrets About Martial Arts Schools
1) Most schools don’t have a teaching background – For all too long the standard for teaching has been the highest rank belt would teach the class. There are hundreds of instructors teaching a class simply because they were the highest belt rank available. Some have gone through a very short seminar on teaching and then are left to fend for themselves. Make sure your instructor is not only training, but continuing his or her teaching education as well.
2) Instructors that have not earned a rank – With no standardization in martial arts, there are schools that take advantage of that fact. A person with little, or no martial arts training, can open a school and call themselves a “Grandmaster” and be elevated to 8th Degree Black Belt. Can you imagine if your elementary school teacher didn’t have to get a degree and just one day decided to become a teacher. They walk down to the local elementary school and sign up to be a teacher. How effective would they be? I certainly would not bet my child’s future on them.
3) 5 schools close and 5 new schools open every month – Too many people have the belief that because they have earned a Black Belt, that they now can open a school and teach martial arts. My analogy for that is just because you graduate from high school, doesn’t make you a high school teacher!

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Martial Arts School
1) Shopping strictly on price alone – If a school is charging $40 per month there is reason. Professional schools will charge between $119 and $199 a month. If you are not interested in education, the $40 to $80 a month school or program will be all right. But, if you want a better education, you will want to find a higher quality school. Also, just because a school is the most expensive doesn’t mean it is the best. Shop by the value you are getting from the school, not just the cost of the program.
2) Choosing a school simply because it is the closest to your home – This is one of the worst reasons to select the school that is going to educate your child. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking just because the school is close, you won’t have any trouble making classes. If your child is not having fun, it doesn’t matter if the school is across the street, or a couple of miles away.
3) Choosing a school that doesn’t have a “family atmosphere” – It is easy to tell what type of clientele a school caters to simply by watching classes. If the school is full of adult males in their early twenties, the school is probably pretty militaristic and hardcore. This would not make for a good match for a young child. Look to see if multiple family members train. Are there programs and classes for everyone interested? A professional school will be able to offer a variety of programs under one roof for the entire family to enjoy.

Why You Want Your Child to Study Martial Arts
Martial Arts offers a variety of benefits to children of all ages - Increased Focus and Concentration, Better Grades, Goal Setting, Teamwork, and Self-Confidence just to name a few. No other activity teaches both mental and physical benefits to the extent of Martial Arts. Martial Arts is also the perfect compliment to any other sport or activity – better eye-hand coordination, stronger legs, better balance, and better cardiovascular ability.

4 Steps to Getting Your Child Started in Martial Arts
1) Make a commitment to act – Many people say they are going to start something, but they never take the first step which is finding the schools in your area.
2) List your objectives – Start a list of the most important objectives. Examples would be: helping your child become more self-confident, finding positive role models for your child, find an activity to help your child loose weight, or any of a hundred other reasons. Make sure the school is going to meet these objectives.
3) Ask questions – Have a list of questions prepared ahead of time. Don’t rely on your memory. You are going to be gathering a lot of information. I can’t tell you the number of times I have had a parent say to me in an interview “There was something else I was going to ask, but I forgot what it was.” Remember, you are the customer – make sure you are an educated customer by getting all of your questions answered.
4) When you find the right school, act – Similar to step #1, once you find the school that is right for your child, get them started. A professional school will have open enrollment which means new students can join at any time. Start on an Introductory Program which can be 2 to 4 weeks of classes.

One of the many things that make Denny Strecker’s Karate unique is our 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you sign up for any of our programs and don’t see any difference in your child within the first 30 days, we will refund 100% of your money. That is how sure I am that our program works. I often wonder why all schools don’t offer this, but to date, I don’t know of any others in the area that will stand behind their service as much as we do.

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my free report on “How To Choose the Best Martial Arts School For Your Child”. I hope that you found it informational and useful for your needs. If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at:

Denny Strecker
28732 Ryan Road
Warren, Mi. 48092
(586)573-3881
denny@WarrenKarate.com
www.KarateForChildren.com
www.WarrenKarate.com