Regional Medical and Sports Experts Examine “When Youth Sports Becomes a Job: Examining the Effects of Overtraining & Single Sport Specialization” Tuesday, April 29th
Plymouth
Meeting, Pennsylvania – April 22, 2014 – Seeing children spending too
much time on only one sport, or over-training for the one sport, is a growing
concern for parents, coaches, and others involved in youth sports. It is also a growing topic of debate among
those in healthcare, noting the rise of injuries to youth sports participants
over the past few years.
On Tuesday, April 29th, a panel of notable athletes,
physicians, educators, and experts will speak at a
special free symposium, “When Youth
Sports Becomes a Job: Examining the
Effects of Over-training and Single Sport Specialization,” at the
Philadelphia Marriott West in West Conshohocken, PA from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
This event is open to parents, coaches, athletes, health
professionals and administrators from all sports.
Seating is limited; registration is available online at http://www.epysa.org/events/when_youth_sports_become_a_job_sympoisum/.
“The landscape of youth sports has changed dramatically over the
past decade,” said Chris Branscome, Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer,
which organized the event. “Far too many children don’t simply play sports for
enjoyment or for its intrinsic benefits. Youth sports has
experienced a rapid growth in its professionalization, meaning the erosion of
the volunteer in favor of paid trainers and coaches as well an increase in
events and travel. This has led to diminishing opportunities for a young
athlete to experience multiple sports as time, and financial commitments may
only support one sport anymore. This specialization, coupled with over-training, has been shown to have negative effects on a child’s physical and
emotional health. We have assembled an excellent panel to enlighten us
and discuss this issue on April 29th.”
Among the
expert panelists expected to speak are:
·
Former University of Pennsylvania basketball star and NBA player Bob Bigelow, the author of the book “Just Let the Kids Play: How to Stop Other
Adults From Ruining Your Child’s fun and Success In Youth Sports;”
·
Dr. Michael Ciccotti, noted Orthopedic surgeon and Director
of the Sports Medicine team at the Rothman Institute, as well as the team
physician for the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Joseph’s University
intercollegiate athletics;
·
Dr. Matt Grady, a noted Pediatric
Sports Medicine specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as a former
collegiate athlete;
·
Dr. Ciaran Dalton, a licensed
clinical psychologist; former college and professional soccer player and an
assistant men’s soccer coach at Swarthmore College;
·
And Mike Barr, Eastern
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer’s Director of Coaching as well as a national staff
coach and coaching educator.
The evening’s discussion will be
moderated by Ducis Rodgers, the Sports Director at 6 ABC/WPVI-TV Action News.
The event, which is free of charge to the public, will be
in the Ballroom of the Philadelphia Marriott West, beginning at 7 p.m. The
Philadelphia Marriott West is located at 111 Crawford Avenue in West
Conshohocken, PA (19428).
About Eastern
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer:
Since 1972, Eastern
Pennsylvania Youth Soccer has worked throughout Eastern Pennsylvania’s 36
counties to promote foster, and perpetuate the game of soccer to the region’s
youth. Through competitions, educational
programs, workshops and coaching clinics, each year Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer impacts the lives of more than
130,000 youth soccer players from ages five to 19. Additional information is available at www.EPYSA.org.