BANGOR, Maine Ron Brown, a longtime Maine high school basketball coach and the writer of the Bangor Daily News sports column Time Out, died Tuesday from complications of renal failure. He was 58.
ORONO - Four more communities are now recognized as official Sports Done Right school communities, joining eight other school districts and six parks and recreation departments that already share this distinction.
RIALTO, California (CNN) -- The baseball diamonds and bleachers are filled with tales of moms and dads pitching in to put their kids on the field -- Foreclosureville`s version of "Field of Dreams."
As the 13-year-old girls chased the soccer ball around the verdant field Sunday, one set of parents watched from the sidelines in comfy collapsible chairs, sipping coffee. The others were banished to a nearby hill, straining to see the action with
PORTLAND, Maine Authors of an ambitious survey of hazing in colleges and universities have turned their attention to high schools and discovered that many freshmen arrive on campus with experience with 47 percent reporting getting hazed in high s
The Cumberland County district attorney has dropped charges against two former Deering High School assistant baseball coaches accused of furnishing a place for minors to consume alcohol.
Christopher Grant and Michael D`Andrea Jr. were in
Rarely has a book left me feeling so conflicted. Part confession, part cautionary tale, Mark Hyman`s little book carries a big message about the "hostile takeover" of youth sports by adults. "Until It Hurts" is a must read, but it`s not an easy rea
Municipal day camps are enjoying a surge of interest this year as cost-conscious parents choose less expensive alternatives to overnight camps or traditional day care.
In Saco, more than 100 people signed up their children for day camp o
Athletic Director Al Bean will put his coaches behind the wheel of vans at the University of Southern Maine, if it means saving money on charter buses.
He will deal with a hiring freeze and cut corners where he can.
Marty Ryan has been an athletic director for 29 years, the last eight at Kennebunk High, after 21 years at Wells High. The walls of his office off the lobby at the high school gym are adorned with
As a way to ease the financial burden of parents paying for their children to play sports, area schools are eliminating or not introducing sports activity fees, also known as the pay to play method.
Scarborough is a step closer to becoming a Sports Done Right community.
The Scarborough Sports Done Right Leadership Team hosted a forum Tuesday to discuss its action plan to improve athletic programs at the middle school and high school
WASHINGTON Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said she aims to draw more girls to high school sports by making schools report the gender breakdown of their athletic programs and making that information available online.
A warning to expectant mothers: Don`t be surprised if college basketball coaches start asking for copies of your ultrasound films. Recruiting is getting that crazy.
OK, maybe not that crazy, but the NCAA Legislative Council has lowered t
The game has been over for more than two weeks, but the score lives on.
The perfect awfulness of The Covenant School`s 100-0 defeat of Dallas Academy got the losing team on national television, the winning coach fired and ignited the iss
The game has been over for more than two weeks, but the score lives on.
The perfect awfulness of The Covenant School`s 100-0 defeat of Dallas Academy got the losing team on national television, the winning coach fired and ignited the iss
AUGUSTA - New Englands stay, but some playoff teams will have to stay home.
The Interscholastic Management Committee of the Maine Principals` Association voted Monday to reduce the number of teams who qualify for its tournaments but will
AUGUSTA - New Englands stay, but some playoff teams will have to stay home.
The Interscholastic Management Committee of the Maine Principals` Association voted Monday to reduce the number of teams who qualify for its tournaments but will
The idea of a football coach facing criminal indictment for the death of a player who collapsed, and later died, while running sprints in the August heat met with strong reaction in local circles yesterday.
The idea of a football coach facing criminal indictment for the death of a player who collapsed, and later died, while running sprints in the August heat met with strong reaction in local circles yesterday.
Bob Stevens e-mail inbox at York High School has been overflowing these last several weeks. In addition to his regular school-related messages, hes been getting an additional 20-30 e-mails a day, mostly from folks in Maines high school cross countr
High school indoor track and field athletes will conduct a subtle protest at meets across the state today, voicing their displeasure with a proposal, which if passed will not allow them to compete in New England championships in the future.
Two Pleasure Ridge Park High School coaches followed "all policies and protocols required of them" while running a football practice last August where two players collapsed, one of whom later died, the coaches` lawyer said yesterday.
Needham High School principal Paul Richards told parents yesterday that students will not be allowed to attend the boys` varsity hockey game against Framingham today because of rowdiness by spectators at a game over the weekend.
WASHINGTON From East German swimmers in the 1970s, to sprinter Ben Johnson in the 1980s, to clients of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) in recent years, athletes have sought an edge in a lab.
ORONO, Maine Union #69 (Hope Elementary School) is thel atest district to join the ranks of Sports Done Right accredited school communities in Maine. The Sports Done Right Board of Directors unanimously approved Hope Elementary School last month,
BOULDER, Colo. When Donna Campiglia learned recently that a genetic test might be able to determine which sports suit the talents of her 2 -year-old son, Noah, she instantly said, Where can I get it and how much does it cost?
HAVERFORD, Pa. Holding his award in his hands, Tom Donnelly, Haverford Colleges longtime mens cross-country and track coach, walked to the banks of the Mississippi River and tossed the trophy in the water. This was 2001, but it could have been any
BREWER, Maine The sounds of a football game are vivid quarterbacks barking out signals, pads hitting pads, the referees whistle and the roar of the crowd.
But for Brewer High School senior Billy Bissell, they are largely the sounds of
NEW YORK (AP) Girls who live in urban areas start sports at a later age and have lower rates of participation than urban boys and suburban girls, according to a report released Thursday by the Women`s Sports Foundation.
NEW YORK City girls start playing sports at a later age and have less opportunities than city boys "who seem to come first," according to a report released Thursday by the Women`s Sports Foundation.
In conjunction with the Alabama High School Athletic Association, Madison City Schools have added the STAR Sportsmanship Initiative to student/athlete requirements. Students in grades 7-12
As the summer season fades into fall, children begin to enroll in after-school and weekend sports. While many experts encourage young kids to get active at an early age, they also caution parents to watch for signs of overactivity.
A physician who served as a volunteer coach in a youth football league left his job with an orthopaedic practice after being accused of kicking one of his 8-year-old football players.
Doug Flory, a longtime coach in the Center Grove Bant
It was shocking enough when six high school football players were accused of sodomizing six younger teammates with a broomstick during training camp. But the scandal was raised to a whole new level when the coaches were accused of turning a blind e
The national attention that surrounded the introduction of Sports Done Right three years ago has subsided. But the report, billed "a call to action on behalf of Maine`s student-athletes," continues to have an effect on high schools and middle schoo
DeWitt dad Craig Hellems is pretty sure that its no longer up to him whether his 8-year-old son, Kyle, plays sports. He loves it. I think he has played just about everything, Hellems says. I built a shelf in his bedroom, and he already has trophies
When young children take an interest in a sport, parents face a dilemma. Do you encourage a single sport starting at an early age, which can lead to a high skill level, competition and scholarships in the teen years? Or do you enroll your kids in s
Around the country, little girls are donning leotards and tumbling into gymnastics classes a surge of interest that typically happens every four years after the summer Olympics.
But as their daughters dream of becoming the next Shawn Jo
Until last week, Oakville, Ont. hockey player Stefan Legein was a poster boy for youth hockey. After star turns with the Canadian junior team and a stint with the Ontario Hockey League, he was drafted in the second round by the NHLs Columbus Blue J
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player too good, it turns out. The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that t
Those are some of the signs Maryland physicians are being encouraged to look for as they treat young athletes -- signs that could be red flags for stero
PORTLAND -- Three Deering High assistant baseball coaches have been dismissed as part of a Portland School Department investigation into alleged underage drinking by students in the company of adults.
PORTLAND, MaineThree assistant coaches have been dismissed following accusations of underage drinking at a party shortly after Deering High School won the state baseball championship in June.
MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. Student athletes in maroon and gold uniforms filled their water coolers with more than $19,000 in donations last weekend by standing on street corners here to ask friends, neighbors and strangers alike to help revive the school
WASHINGTON (AP) A 14-year-old gymnast with a stress fracture in her lower back. A 12-year-old who tore his ACL in a soccer game. A 16-year-old runner with a leg stress fracture. A 15-year-old who tore his meniscus playing basketball.
GOODRICH, Michigan -- What started as a simple complaint about an unauthorized haircut at football camp has turned into a raging debate that`s put one mom against dozens of area residents and coaches.
On baseball fields from New York to California, there are young boys swinging bats and dreaming of becoming the next Alex Rodriguez. Likewise, there are young girls running up and down soccer pitches throughout the American heartland trying to emu
Cutting kids from high school sports teams is like death, taxes and the Bears` quarterback futility: as popular as a 3-foot pothole and seemingly unavoidable.
Athletes, of course, hate cuts the most, but coaches and athletic directors ar
The bench area at college basketball games had become a maelstrom, with coaches ranting along the sidelines, assistant coaches jumping up and down exhorting players, and officiating crews engaging in heated exchanges with coaches after disputed cal
(CLACKAMAS, Ore.) - A disturbance that erupted on the basketball court at Estacada High School Saturday led to the arrest of a coach for Criminal Trespassing of a Sporting Event.
Clackamas County Sheriff`s deputies in Estacada were calle
BOSTON - The stories have become all too familiar young athletes, and sometimes their parents and coaches, turning a school playing field into the set of a Jerry Springer episode.
Now a bill set to be heard by Massachusetts lawmakers on
NEWBURYPORT The father of Gloucester High School`s star hockey player faces charges after he allegedly "cuffed" a Newburyport middle-schooler during Saturday`s game against Newburyport. The father had been thrown out of Graf Rink by a referee
On Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. Camden Hills Regional High School will receive accreditation from the Maine Center for Sport and Coaching of Sports Done Right. This formal presentation will occur in the gym prior to the tipoff of the Camden Hills vs.
As a student, athlete, coach and administrator in Maine for more than 40 years, Michael Johnson cant remember a time when a high school sporting event in Maine simply got out of control.
Only a few days after a brawl ended a boys basketb
FAIRFIELD -- Both Lawrence and Lewiston high schools handed down suspensions to boys basketball players and coaches on Monday in the aftermath of a brawl that broke out between the teams at the end of the third quarter of Friday`s game.
ASHEBORO Asheboro High School`s wrestling coach has been fired and nine Blue Comets wrestlers were charged Monday with misdemeanor assault after allegedly binding seven teammates` hands and feet with duct tape and photographing them with their cel
ASHEBORO, N.C. -- Nine students and the former wrestling coach at Asheboro High School are now facing criminal charges after an investigation revealed a team initiation went too far.
"There were nine students who were charged on this cri
ASHEBORO, N.C. -- The former coach of Asheboro High Schools wrestling team says hes not responsible for an alleged hazing incident that has led to criminal charges.
Police charged nine members of the schools wrestling team with misdemean
FAIRFIELD -- A day after a fight cut short a boys basketball game between Lawrence and Lewiston high schools, officials from both schools awaited word on punishment. It`s clear that suspensions are coming, but exactly how many still needed to be fi
Duke Albanese remembers Jan. 6., 2005, clearly. The sky was foreboding, and the state braced for bad weather. Inside the Augusta Civic Center more than 400 students, parents, coaches and administrators were waiting to hear the results of a federall
The U.S. Soccer Federation needs to understand that its first-year academy development program, designed to groom promising young talent for international competition, is dividing people in the Southland who love the sport.
PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) -- Upset that his 7-year-old son wouldn`t wear a Green Bay Packers jersey during the team`s playoff victory Saturday, a man restrained the boy for an hour with tape and taped the jersey onto him.
Chris Cummings is one of the nation`s top high school soccer players, a quick and aggressive forward-midfielder described by his coach as "electric" and "charismatic."
He was looking forward to playing his senior season with his best fri
A high school track star has been disqualified from a meet because officials said the custom-made outfit she wears to conform to her Muslim faith violated competition rules.
Juashaunna Kelly, a senior at the District of Columbia`s Theodo
Roger Clemens` personal trainer did not inject him with steroids or human growth hormone, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner says. He insists the syringe needle that was plunged into his buttocks contained only B-12 vitamins and the numbing agent
It was all about making the team for a dozen Danbury, Conn., boys who dressed in plastic garbage bags on Labor Day weekend last year for an intensive sweat-down, weight-loss session just days before their football teams first game.
A belief statement about school sports, written by members of its Student Advisory Council was approved for publication in the Handbook of the Michigan High School Athletic Association by its Representative Council during its annual fall meeting in
SKOWHEGAN -- Police taped a phone conversation in which Carrabec High School administrator and church pastor Frank "Skip" Gleason admitted to sexual contact with a 15-year-old male student, according to an affidavit filed in Skowhegan District Cour
NORTH ANSON - Carrabec High Schools assistant principal and athletic director, Frank "Skip" Gleason III, 60, was arrested late Saturday on charges of sexually abusing a student.
Detective Lt. Carl E. Gottardi II of the Somerset County Sh
The Mitchell report on steroid use that rocked professional baseball is also sparking new debate on what California should do to deter the use of performance-enhancing drugs among high school athletes.
The Mitchell report on steroid use in baseball continued to reverberate through the public consciousness on Friday, dominating water cooler chatter, sports talk radio and Internet searches, as Congress scheduled hearings into the juicing of the nat
The 409-page report was released just before 2 p.m. Thursday and the notable names immediately jumped off the pages, from Roger Clemens to Barry Bonds, from Andy Pettitte to Mo Vaughn.
Some of the biggest names in baseball appeared in th
LEWISTON -- Lewiston High School senior Mohamed Noor said Tuesday that someone threw sand in his face not once, but twice, during the New England Cross Country Championships on Nov. 10 in Cumberland.
LEWISTON, Maine - A police investigation into a claim that someone threw a substance in the face of a Somali runner during a regional cross-country race has raised fears of another racially charged incident targeting Lewiston Somalis.
Four more school systems, including SAD 28 and Five Towns CSD, which includes Camden Hills High School in Rockport, have been granted full accreditation in Sports Done Right, a University of Maine initiative that serves as a guide for schools and y
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- A second runner in a regional cross country race says he was struck in the head by a mixture of sand and dirt, backing up a story by a Somali immigrant who says a white man threw the material in his face during the race.
ORONO, Me. The Sports Done Right Board of Directors granted MSAD 71 (Kennebunk, Kennebunkport), Five Town CSD (Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, Rockport) and MSAD 28 (Camden, Rockport) full accreditation on Wednesday, Nov 7. Each district ful
CUMBERLAND - A Class A state champion runner from Lewiston High School fell back from second place to finish 124th at the 73rd New England Cross Country Championships over the weekend after someone, he said, threw sand into his eyes.
CUMBERLAND - Nick Williams had the kind of start he wanted.
As the mass of runners raced out of the starting area and began to ascend uphill, the Poland senior pulled ahead with Lewiston`s Mohamed Noor keeping pace to his right.
Greg Brynaert, athletic director at Romeo High School, was sitting in his office a few days after the start of football practice in August when a ninth-grader showed up to turn in his uniform.
While concussions are on the rise among all young athletes in the United States, girls may run a higher risk of suffering concussions than their male counterparts engaging in the same sports, researchers say.
Coaches and athletes from Cumberland County have mixed views about plans the N.C. High School Athletic Association is considering to crack down on ejections and profanity at athletic contests.
New Berlin - New Berlin Eisenhower football coach Clint Grochowski has been suspended for two games, issued a letter of reprimand and ordered to apologize to the Pewaukee High School football coach, after Grochowski was accused of pushing a player
RUMFORD - SAD 21 has put Dirigo High School`s head varsity baseball coach on administrative leave following his arrest on a sex charge involving an underage teenager.
Superintendent Thomas Ward says he will meet with attorneys today to d
Every so often a fans-gone-wild moment finds its way onto ESPN, replayed dozens of times for millions of viewers, revisiting the question of how much fan negativity is too much.
It`s a question psychologists are trying to answer, for the
INDIANAPOLIS - More than half the nations high school students participated in sports last year, and for the first time more than 3 million of them were girls.
The National Federation of State High School Associations released the result
WETUMPKA, Ala. - Three Prattville High School students and a Montgomery teenager have been charged with murder in a fatal shooting that apparently occurred after an argument over whether Wetumpka or Prattville has a better high school football team
Katie Roper`s daughter Ellen likes to play lots of sports -- soccer, basketball, softball and swimming. But even at Ellen`s tender age of nine, that`s getting hard to do.
Kids in her swim program are dropping other sports to specialize i
A competitive gymnast for most of her life, Heather Benjamin has traveled the country and won her share of awards. But last year she developed a fear of jumping from one bar to the other in the uneven bars event. So she did something familiar to pr
Seeking to head off $1 million in cuts as the result of a failed
tax referendum, a financially troubled public school district in
suburban Chicago this fall may begin charging a registration fee
of $300 per pupil. That`s high, but not terribly
Athletes, if they are talented, train hard and get a break or two, can climb the sports ladder from high school to college to the pros. Madison Avenue, sensing a lucrative opportunity, is heading the other way.
ORONO - After 30 years, Robert Cobb is ready for a change in routine.
Cobb, 65, the longest-serving dean in the University of Maines history, is slated to retire from his College of Education position at the end of the month.
Steve Vowell, the Westbrook High softball coach who received threatening messages, finished writing his letter of resignation Thursday, took a few phone calls from sympathizers and pondered his future.
AUGUSTA, Me. -- The Sports Done Right Board of Directors has granted full accreditation to MSAD 51 (Cumberland, North Yarmouth) and the Winthrop School department. The board took this action at its May 23 meeting in Augusta.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union is changing the rules regarding basketball coaches` sideline behavior. A new "seat belt" rule that goes into effect in the 2007-08 season requires coaches to sit during mo
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Referees and participants at youth sporting events would be protected from verbal and physical attacks under legislation introduced in the General Assembly.
The bill from Senator James Doyle would make it a felon
CAMDEN Camden-Rockport Middle School and Camden Hills Regional High School are aiming to become the next two schools in the state to incorporate the Sports Done Right philosophy into their athletic program.
Plymouth-Canton school officials and parents of Plymouth High School cheerleaders disagree on the levels of commitment from the district toward finding ways to bring competitive cheer to the campus.
Representatives of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues and the U.S. Olympic Committee have begun discussions with the White House and key federal agencies to explore possible information-sharing and other forms of cooperation to address
Notre Dame High School athletic director Howie Sompayrac has spent much of the past year keeping an even closer eye on the conduct of his school`s athletes, coaches and fans.
One ugly incident of unsportsmanlike behavior last season near
Dana Paladino scurries about her kitchen whipping up dinner and keeping a watchful eye as her sons Luke and Jake prepare for a Friday night of lacrosse and soccer practice.
The grilled cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, apple sauce, potat
In the center of a field of fake grass, about a dozen 3- and 4-year-olds are attempting to learn soccer or a reasonable facsimile. Kicking and chasing after scaled-down balls, some charge ahead with glee, expertly guiding the balls with their feet
State funding for school sports and activities such as band and drama clubs is on the chopping block as part of the revised budget proposal outlined last week by the Baldacci administration to help bridge a $74 million three-year shortfall.
If you are thinking of using steroids, the Legislature has just issued this warning: Don`t do it because it is not just your health that might be in jeopardy - it`s your dreams of playing sports, too
Don`t let the cute uniforms fool you - youth sports can be fraught with as much pressure, stress and win-at-all-costs mentality as the pro leagues. Eventually, some kids just give up.
It is the bedrock principle of high school sports.
Through winning and losing, lunatic parents and street agents, good sportsmanship and bad, we have always been able to fall back on the comforting notion that playing sports builds chara
A public information forum addressing the Sports Done Right athletic philosophy and how it might blend with Camden Hills Regional High School`s current athletic policies will be held on Tuesday, April 24 at 6 p.m. in the Strom Auditorium.
ISLESBORO (April 3): For a school to have both its boys and girls varsity basketball teams earn the sportsmanship award during the same season is almost unheard of. Thats exactly what members of the two Islesboro Central School Eagles squads learne
LONG ISLAND, NY -- It`s a dispute that rivals anything the players see on a baseball field. Two youth sports leagues are feuding over charges that a leader of one used the other`s roster to win players over to his league.
ROCKLAND: Back when I played high school sports, every gym had a Peter Sulides.
I`ve been thinking about Peter a lot recently. The Sports Done Right initiative has been a hot topic amongst fellow bloggers. People generally take one of tw
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Parents are quick to attribute kids` eating disorders to the recent proliferation of ultra-thin Hollywood superstars like Paris Hilton or Nicole Ritchie, but a recent study reveals participating in sports that em
New Jersey is at the forefront of a national trend to make drug and alcohol testing as common as gym class for teens who play high school sports, participate in extracurricular activities or drive to school.
NORTH BERGEN, NJ --A riot broke out on Monday after North Bergen High School`s boys` basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss in a state championship game at Wayne Valley High School, leading to the arrest of one North Bergen High School stude
BRIDGETON, NJ -- No additional arrests have been made in connection with an incident during a youth basketball game at Bridgeton High School last Thursday in which as many as 30 fans poured onto the court and a referee was choked, police said Monda
PORTLAND: The Rockland District High School girls basketball team was awarded the 2006-07 Maine Principals` Association Eastern Class B Good Sportsmanship Award during a brief ceremony before the state Class B girls championship game Saturday at th
FARMINGTON -- Adoption of several sports-related policies and recognition of a new gay-straight club at the high school will be considered by School Administrative District 9 directors tonight.
The session begins with a student readmission hearing
HOUSTON -- Before letting young athletes play like the pros, know the risks both physical and mental of putting undeveloped muscles and bones to the test.
Dr. Joseph Chorley, assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medic
After a cool-down period following Thursdays Eastern Maine Class D girls basketball semifinal, Terry Cummings, the coach of the No. 3 Greater Houlton Christian Academy girls basketball team, finished talking to his Eagles and opened the locker room
LIBBY, Mont. Police arrested a parent from Arlee for hitting his sons coach in the head Friday during the District 8-B boys basketball tournament in Libby.
Parent Francis Pierre, 50, said Monday the punch was partly his reaction to what
DANBURY, Conn. (AP) -- Two assistant Danbury coaches have been arrested on felony child endangerment charges for giving two young football players diuretic pills and having them and others participate in dangerous exercises to lose weight.
AURORA, Ill. (AP) -- A father bounded into a youth wrestling match, picked up his son`s winning opponent and launched him off the mat, an episode caught on a home video.
After tossing the 11-year-old boy into the air Sunday, the angry fa
Football players are not allowed to move beyond the line of scrimmage until the ball is snapped. Some coaches encourage their players to cross the line of scrimmage a fraction of a second before the ball
To coach Mike Remillard, it was just another Tuesday evening game. The boy`s varsity basketball team at Leavitt Area High School in rural Leeds, Maine, was up against Mount Ararat, a tough rival from suburban Topsham. By halftime, his players neede
To coach Mike Remillard, it was just another Tuesday evening game. The boy`s varsity basketball team at Leavitt Area High School in rural Leeds, Maine, was up against Mount Ararat, a tough rival from suburban Topsham. By halftime, his players neede
AUSTIN, TX - Bigger, stronger, faster... it`s become the mantra for high school sports. And for many young athletes, It`s the key to going pro. But in reality, only two percent of high schoolers will receive an athletic scholarship.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Parents or guardians of players will be the only fans allowed to watch two high school teams play after a melee led to six injuries and 10 arrests.
Bradley Tech`s boys team defeated Bay View High School 82-81 in an emot
LEEDS - Varsity boys` basketball coach Mike Remillard was fired for inappropriate conduct at halftime of a Jan. 23 home game against Mt. Ararat, Leavitt Area High School Principal Patrick Hartnett said in a statement Thursday.
CRANSTON, RI - A large number of players on both the Cranston West and Smithfield boys basketball teams will be suspended for one game, and three players have been suspended for up to three games, as a result of an on-court melee in the final minut
LIVINGSTON, MICHIGAN - A Webberville man, already facing misdemeanor charges for a confrontation at a volleyball match Saturday at Hartland High School, has been indefinitely prohibited by Fowlerville administrators from attending any school distri
HARTFORD, CT (AP) - The head coach of a Connecticut youth hockey team has been charged with assault after allegedly beating up the father of a player on an opposing team.
Frank Ruocco, 40, the head coach of the Connecticut Wolves peewee
WASHINGTON, D.C. - They`re anywhere from 5 to 15 years of age, and they`re engaged in a sport -- ice hockey -- not known for its gentleness and consideration.
Yet the 40 or so children of varying sizes in the Fort Dupont Ice Arena i
The kid is encouraged to specialize by the coach because the coach wants to win. The kid is encouraged to specialize by the parent because the parent is thinking two words: college scholarship. But what does the kid want or, better yet, as the adul
Rick Collins of Simsbury is an elementary school teacher and a track coach at Simsbury High School. He started the Connecticut Youth Sports Initiative in 2005 as a grassroots effort to reform youth sports in the state.
Dan Doyle of West Hartford is the founder and executive director of the Institute for International Sport, and is the former basketball coach at Trinity and Kingswood-Oxford. He co-founded the Center for Sports Parenting and is the author of The
Joe Ehrmann is a former NFL All-Pro lineman who is an ordained minister and assistant high school football coach in Baltimore. He is founder of the Building Men & Women for Life program, and his philosophy on coaching and mentoring is being adop
Rick Wolff is the chairman of the Center for Sports Parenting and is a sports psychologist. He is the author of 17 books, and has written extensively on youth sports and sports parenting. Wolff, a former minor league baseball player, is a contri
TALLAHASSEE. FL - Winthrop Park coach Lawrence Benjamin attended Thursday`s Youth Baseball Clinic at Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic for his second straight year to pick up some additional tips to keep his young baseball players healthy and injury-fr
Fans at high school hoops contests make taunting their sport of choice
PITTSBURGH, PA As Jeff Stewart missed a free-throw that would have won the game for the Bethel Park varsity boys basketball game on Tuesday, student fans of the oppo
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- A high school principal was charged Monday with hindering the police investigation of the cheerleading coach, who had been accused of providing students with beer, authorities said.
WARE SHOALS, SC - A Greenwood County community is reacting to charges against a high school cheerleading coach who`s also a guidance counselor. Residents say the allegations have left the small community stunned. With a population of fewer than 3,0
With all the basketball going on, I thought today might be as good a time as any to talk about what coaches do high school coaches in particular on game day. After 34 years of all this coaching stuff, Id have to hearken back to game day as a high
SOUTHLAKE, TX It`s not a boot camp (although, at times, it looks and sounds like one). It is a training facility that can take a perfectly ordinary kid and turn him into a high-performance machine. At least, that`s the idea.
Once upon a time, the Illinois High School Association had this great idea. Kids, the administrators believed, should be kids and have the freedom of choice and variety. No kid, they believed, should be forced to play any sport out of season becaus
FARMINGTON -- School Administrative District 9 will look into adopting Sports Done Right, a state program promoting positive athletic programs. SAD 9 directors Tuesday night unanimously approved a request from Mt. Blue High School Athletic Director
It`s an ingenious argument likely to be debated in gyms, football stadiums and law schools across the nation. Brentwood Academy, a private high school in Brentwood, Tenn., has been claiming 1st Amendment privileges for violating the state`s anti-re
MAINE, REGIONAL: When Ashley Potvin first put on skates they were of the figure skating variety, but at seven, to the chagrin of her mother, she began switching to hockey. Now as a senior at Biddeford High School the figure skates are long gone. Po
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - A former charter school boys basketball coach is accused of regularly hitting players in the groin, exposing some to pornography, and pouring water on them in cold weather, according to court records. Gregory Lynn Burr, 28, f
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Some of the children stood on inner-city street corners shaking donation cans. Others asked for special offerings at their churches. Or hawked candy bars at shopping malls. Or peddled cookies at schools, synagogues, anywhe
WHITE, SOUTH DAKOTA - For a time this past week, coaches, athletic directors and superintendents across South Dakota held their collective breath. A group of parents unhappy with the Deubrook Area School Board`s decision to bring back boys basketba
In a bullying situation, boys who bully target weaker, vulnerable kids, usually kids outside the bully`s core of friends. It is an awful situation, but it is very obvious to see in that in most cases, the bullying takes on a threatening or physical
The Five Town Community School Districts directors plan to meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Camden Hills Regional High School to consider a new sports designation, a band and chorus trip and a consolidation report.
The Positive Coaching Alliance offers a year-in-review "Bottom 10 List" of the worst behavior in sports, from peewees to pros, to stimulate discussion about honoring the game among parents, coaches, players and educators.
ROCKLAND (Dec 15): Maine School Administrative District 5 will be recognized for its Sports Done Right leadership role during a pregame ceremony and halftime reception at Rockland District High School on Monday, Dec. 18.
They continue to make headlines: parents facing jail time for assaulting coaches, referees or other parents at games for children as young as 6. Some observers take these incidents as evidence that participation in sports actually can damage the ch
The UMaine College of Education and Human Development will host a [~SportsDoneRight~] conference at Buchanan Alumni House on Monday, Dec. 11. Some 50 people representing 27 Maine school districts are expected to attend. The agenda will feature an
The parents and adult fans of young athletes often struggle to balance passion for the children with their responsibilities as citizens and role models, experts and parents say.
And sometimes, that balancing act falls apart as it did
CAMDEN (Nov 28): A policy proposed to guide the philosophy of athletics at Camden Hills Regional High School will come before a school board subcommittee when it convenes on Thursday.
New Jerseys groundbreaking program to randomly test high school athletes for performance-enhancing drugs, implemented earlier this month, is already drawing criticism as being inefficient and ineffective in preventing steroid use.
Child obesity is now a health epidemic and kids spend more than 40 hours a week in front of a TV, computer or video game screen. Yet, at a time when athletic activity would help, 70 percent of children are quitting organized sports by the age of 13
Corpus Christi police were bombarded with phone calls from media outlets from across the country Tuesday after a video of a local peewee football referee being attacked by a coach during a game earlier this month surfaced on the Internet.
One thing that I have discovered during my 17 years in coaching is that theres nothing new to invent. Nothing I say to my team or put forth in presentations was invented by me; its all been said and done before.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Children who play hockey, football, lacrosse or baseball risk sudden death from a hard blow to the chest even if they are clad in protective gear, researchers said on Monday.
Officials of the Catholic Football Association said they will likely hand down sanctions next month against an Upper Allen Twp. woman accused of a profanity-laced tirade after a playoff game last week.
AUGUSTA (Oct 30): The Board of Directors of Sports Done Right have given Maine School Administrative District 5, which serves Rockland, Owls Head and South Thomaston, full accreditation as a Sports Done Right site.
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A youth baseball coach accused of offering an 8-year-old money to bean an autistic teammate so he couldn`t play was sentenced Thursday to one to six years in prison.
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Here`s some soothing medicine for stressed-out parents and overscheduled kids: The American Academy of Pediatrics says what children really need for healthy development is more good, old-fashioned playtime.
The Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association conducted a survey statewide of all athletic administrators. Click here for the full report.
ORONO - Some schools attended Mondays Sports Done Right all-call training session because theyre planning to get started in the program. Others were just checking out the University of Maines federally-funded interscholastic athletics initiative.
Participation in high school sports helps promote a physically active lifestyle. High school sports participation has grown from an estimated 4 million participants during the 1971--72 school year to an estimated 7.2 million in 2005--06 (1). Howeve
Participation in high school sports helps promote a physically active lifestyle. High school sports participation has grown from an estimated 4 million participants during the 1971--72 school year to an estimated 7.2 million in 2005--06 (1). Howeve
ORONO, Maine Saying that the University of Maine is leading the nation in reform of the way sports are taught and played, the Universitys Provost today gave the institutions endorsement to the initiative known as Sports Done Right. Provost Edna Sz
Earlier this month, a youth football coach in Stockton, Calif., was charged with misdemeanor child abuse for allegedly rushing onto the field and tackling a 13-year-old from the opposing team.
In 1993, former NBA star Charles Barkley told the world he was not a role model; parents are. Thirteen years later it appears parents could use another not-so-subtle reminder from Sir Charles.
Today, parents at sporting events seem to have forgott
CINCINNATI, Sept. 16 Coach Bobby Bentley has done right by his alma mater, James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C. Over the past four years, his football team, the Rebels, has gone 60-2 and won four state championships. Nike outfits the team a
BLOOMINGTON - Chicago Heights Bloom athletics director Joe Reda says it`s time steroid testing trickles down from big-league and college sports to Illinois high schools, but weeding out cheaters is the least of his worries.
The arrest of a football player`s father in the on-field assault Saturday of a 13-year-old player on the opposing team is the latest sign that youth sports programs must refocus if they are to continue to serve children, observers say.
Rockland High School and the rest of SAD 5 took a huge step toward implementing Sports Done Right as the school committee unanimously voted Thursday night to support the University of Maine initiative.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced that more than $3.3 million has been appropriated for Maine programs in the 2007 Department of Labor and Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill.
Children who play sports outdoors in the summer and the adults who supervise them must be especially careful to guard against heat exhaustion and dehydration.
A University of Connecticut study presented last month at the American College
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ A three-sport star, high school senior Erin Comerford will feel the full financial burden of the East Brunswick public schools` decision to impose student-activity fees.
NEW ORLEANS -- When it comes to sportsmanship, coaches and student-athletes should serve as role models for fans, who represent the greatest sportsmanship concern, according to an NCAA Sportsmanship Survey.
FAIRFIELD, Conn. Soccer seemed a simpler game when Jay Skelton coached his eldest son`s kindergarten team nine years ago. This was before 5-year-olds went to goalie clinics, before teams took two-week trips to Europe, before the world`s most popula
EDITOR`S NOTE: This is the second installment in a regular series on Sports Parenting in which we will explore the many challenges faced by families involved in youth athletics.
Experts say there are a number of potentially damaging ...
The Maine Legislature has put its money where its mouth is.
After approving a resolve in February in support of Sports Done Right, the Legislature has allotted $25,000 for the Maine Center for Sport and Coaching.
The University of Maines Sports Done Right initiative is featured in the June 2006 edition of The School Administrator. Published by the American Association of School Administrators and di
Communities aren`t just talking. Now they`re acting.
Poland and Winthrop are the latest additions to the Sports Done Right roster of communities seeking the candidacy process. Both received school board approval Wednesday to become offic
They prowl around the football touchlines and the swimming galas, pumping their fists, exchanging scowls with the opposition and beaming with a little too much pride.
But pushy parents, determined to driving their offspring on to Olympic glory, We
Sports Done Right is coming to Augusta. The report, issued last year on behalf of Maine`s middle school and high school athletes, drew national attention for its comprehensive, common-sense approach to sports.
ORONO, Maine -- More than 40 states are looking to Maine as a model for steering local sports reform, but Georgia is the first to make Sports Done Right part of its official process for training community coaches. The Georgia High School Associati
ORONO, Maine -- More than 40 states are looking to Maine as a model for steering local sports reform, but Georgia is the first to make Sports Done Right part of its official process for training community coaches. The Georgia High School Associati
Keeping kids safe when they play sports can mean many things to many parents buying the right equipment, making sure the child eats and rests well, even providing adequate sunscreen.
But medical experts say the most important injury-pre
New Jersey`s high school athletes would be randomly tested for a broad range of performance-en hancing substances, from amphetamines to steroids, under a first-in- the-nation plan that won preliminary approval yesterday.
Sports Done Right, the University of Maine program designed to guide the improvement of interscholastic and youth sports in Maine and across the country, has teamed with the campus-based Student Innovations Center to develop a national marketing ca
WINDHAM: Three days a week Windham High School student Ryan Parker departs from English and heads through the halls to his next period with highlights from recent sporting events flashing through his mind.
YORK - The University of Maine`s Sports Done Right program could have some positive points for the town and schools, but the dialogue around it is just beginning.
York High School Principal Bob Stevens updated the School Committee on th
Last year the schools in Machias didn`t apply to become a pilot site for Sports Done Right, the program based at the University of Maine`s Maine Center for Sport and Coaching that seeks to define healthy interscholastic athletic programs.
CUMBERLAND Being a pilot site for Sports Done Right, the federally funded character-driven sports program created by the University of Maine at Orono, provided School Administrative District 51 with opportunities for leadership and distinction, bu
Changes to the Coaches` Education Policy will go into effect this fall. Rather than list each of the policy components, the MPA has posted the current policy, with changes, under "Late Breaking News" on the MPA website (www.mpa.cc).
The Sports Done Right report was released 13 months ago with the hope of presenting a blueprint for quality interscholastic or youth athletic programs.
Since then, its creators are finding the blueprint doesnt always fit.
SKOWHEGAN -- If Skowhegan Area High School`s perennially successful speech team has a secret weapon, it might be its ability to be friendly and competitive at the same time.
The team has won the state championship seven years in a row.
SOUTH BERWICK, Maine Marshwood athletic department and district administrators are planning to decide in March or April on whether Sports Done Right, currently a pilot program in the district, will be officially implemented as policy.
CAMDEN - The Camden Hills Regional High School girls` basketball team will be without the services of senior Marianne Croce for the remainder of the season, as she starts the recovery process from a torn ACL and MCL.
She is the fourth Windjammer g
PORTSMOUTH - Violations of the high schools drug and alcohol policy have forced the School Board to cancel the remainder of the high school swimming and diving teams season.
The board announced the decision Wednesday night after a lengt
The members of a high school team received a lesson in contract law this past week they will remember for the rest of their lives. And it should be a wake-up call for other athletes and school boards.
Tucked up in the western edge of the state along the Canadian border, the town of Jackman is a half day`s drive from just about anywhere. The town`s athletic teams at Forest Hills High School are well-aware of that fact.
SCARBOROUGH The basketball coach began by telling his young players to tuck in their shirts because he wanted them to look sharp on the court. "It`s also a rule," he said.
He then told them to play aggressive defense, block out,
ORONO, Maine -- On a snowy Jan. 6, 2005, more than 400 interscholastic and community sports leaders, school administrators and student-athletes attended the rollout of the University of Maine`s Sports Done Right initiative at the Augusta Civic Cent
Walt Abbott says that what makes the best linebackers are the people that play in front and behind them.
If the line and the defensive backs aren`t doing their jobs, it can be difficult for the linebackers to have much success at theirs.
I make it a point to sit in the stands at many of the high school basketball games I cover, helped by the fact that most schools don`t have a press table anyway. You get a better feel for the game from the stands, though, and as an impartial observ
The fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade girls squeaked across the Edina church gym floor, focused only on the basics of basketball. Dribble, pass, screen, shoot.
But outside the gym, their coach`s quest for a practice facility has helped fu
ORONO - A little more than two months ago, a leadership team representing SAD 5 got down to work on one of the most important pieces of the University of Maine`s Sports Done Right initiative.
WESTLAKE, OHIO Ponytails bounce to the unsteady rhythm of multicolored balls thudding off dozens of tiny knees, heads and feet during a practice on one of summers final evenings.
When runner Libby Barney `03 was a student at Bowdoin College, the name that stood out among all the legendary athletes in her sport was Joan Benoit Samuelson.
Benoit Samuelson -- winner of the 1984 inaugural Olympic women`s marathon a
Bill Doherty says it`s time to play hardball with youth sports.
Tired of just talking about the hazards of overscheduled kids, the University of Minnesota professor and a group of suburban parents are calling for families in Rosemount,
BRUNSWICK - One of the first items on the agenda was introductions.
Though it was the third training session since last year for the 12 [~SportsDoneRight~] pilot sites, the turnover among leadership teams over the summer required a get-
ORONO, Maine Sixty students from the Lewiston/Auburn [~SportsDoneRight~] pilot site will join forces at a Leadership Academy on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to learn and share ideas about what it means to be a leader and how to incorporate those skills into
BAR HARBOR - It will likely go unnoticed by most Trojan sports fans, but the Mount Desert Island High School Board`s decision last week to approve a job description for a union-wide athletic director could have lasting effects on the island`s sport
ORONO, Maine - Maine and the University of Maine`s [~SportsDoneRight~] initiative are leaders in efforts to reform "a sports culture run amok," according to today`s Parade magazine, carried in major Sunday newspaper around the country and reaching
Two years ago, when he was still in high school, pro basketball prospect LeBron James inked an endorsement contract with Nike worth between $90 million and $100 million. Five days later, the $1 million contract Nike offered to Maryland soccer prodi
ORONO, Maine -- Six Maine educational leaders will lend nearly180 years of combined experience to help interested schools and communities apply the University of Maine`s [~SportsDoneRight~] initiative to local sports programs. The part-time consult
ORONO, Maine -- Representatives from nearly 60 Maine schools and school districts representing over 170 communities came to the University of Maine today to learn more about the [~SportsDoneRight~] interscholastic athletics reform initiative.
ORONO, Maine --Twelve Maine school districts have been selected as pilot sites to develop and implement local policy and practices reflecting the University of Maine`s [~SportsDoneRight~] recommendations at their high schools and middle schools.
ORONO, Maine -- Maine residents will have the opportunity to learn more about the new initiative to improve middle school and high school sports at a series of informational meetings around the state. Sessions will be held in South Portland, Rockla
ORONO, Maine -- A highly anticipated report for improving middle school and high school sports in Maine and across the nation was unveiled today by a Select Panel of citizens charged with examining and defining healthy interscholastic sports and pr
ORONO, Maine -- A statewide panel charged with shaping core principles and practices to guide interscholastic sports turned to the experts today to glean information about the athletic experience in Maine`s high schools and middle schools.
ORONO, Maine -- A federal allocation will provide seed money for the University of Maine to shape a coaching and sports education initiative aligned with timely educational issues and the state`s learning standards. Former Maine Education Commissio
