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Life Lessons Life Lesson #39: Aching Young Aching Young Last season, the Lifeletics extended family experienced 4 separate injuries related to the growth plates. Quite honestly, I had never heard of a growth plate? let alone an injury to that part of the body. However, a recent article in Time Magazine discussing injuries in young athletes did wonders to explain the basics of what a growth plate is and how it can be affected by sports. The article, entitled ?To an Athlete, Aching Young? (TIME magazine; Carolyn Sayre 9/18/06) discussed the injuries today?s young athletes are experiencing as a result of sport-specialization and year-round play. I would highly recommend it as valuable reading material for parents and athletes alike. In a nutshell, young bones do not simply ?expand all along their length.? Instead, they generate new tissue at growth plates, located at the end of bones. Near puberty, young bones ossify (or harden) in preparation for adulthood. A protective tissue supporting the growth plate breaks down, leaving the area especially vulnerable to injury from unnatural pushing and pulling motions. As one of the more unnatural sports-related movement, throwing a baseball constitutes a high risk action and can result in growth plate injuries. With that explanation helping me to understand the nature of the injury, my mind wandered to the mere fact that the article was in TIME magazine at all. Working in baseball instruction, I?ve read hundreds of articles in sports journals, magazines or industry literature on similar topics. But the fact that the article had reached such a broad and mainstream audience as TIME magazine hit home as to just how prevalent this topic has become. The main themes of the article were sport-specialization, year-round play, and the pressures to compete earlier and earlier in life (all subjects of earlier Lifeletics Life Lessons). As usual, the discussion came full circle to mention that kids should be ?playing and having fun? in sports as ways to avoid these injuries. I?m always interested in finding the balance between properly pushing a young athlete, while ensuring that they are mentally and physically healthy at the same time. There was also a great discussion on Little League adopting pitch-count limitations. Little League will do so for the 2007 season ? truly an eye-opening change! This is the greatest rule change made it decades, as entire game-management philosophies will change. Limitations will force managers to development additional pitchers, and allow other athletes the opportunity to pitch. It should be noted that Little League has chosen not to adopt season-long or year-long suggested limits. Regardless, this change should also be a huge wake up call to all parents and coaches of youth baseball ? We are in an age of incredible competition and it IS affecting our young athletes. Little League, as the largest participatory youth baseball organization in the world, has adjusted their rule books to limit the number of pitches an individual can throw! This means a parent must be educated as to what is appropriate and acceptable with regard to throwing levels. And it means that the teams seen on ESPN each summer will now need to have at least two huge, man-like 12 year olds to make it through a playoff run. While it did provide a good overview of the current competitive landscape in youth athletics, the article itself did not attempt to move mountains with earth-shattering research or information. It finished with a brief discussion of those seeking higher levels of competition through travel teams, often times without restricted pitching limits. The author finishes with a powerful quote to challenge us all as parents and coaches: ?Which will your child have longer ? a nice, shiny trophy from winning a tournament? or the injury he or she sustained getting it?? Let?s all hope that our athletes can do both - Earn trophies without injuries! |
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