THE PULSE

The Pulse! No. #69

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COVER STORY

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Here and Now

Yotes "Snow Dancing" causes WA State to have at least a foot of snow in the Puget Sound region! It also lets us have a white Christmas that we haven't had in 18 years!

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"Shout out to da newbies"

We see a few brand new posters since the last Pulse Lets give out a Shout and as always, lets give a warm welcome to all new posters!

This week we would like to applaude and give Karma Kisses Kiss

to:

unilateral
defyurgoal

Welcome aboard!

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DRAGON'S EYE ON THE G94'S!!!

Sorry no article this week. Had to focus on the POTY award. Dragon does wish you all the very best this holiday season, and look forward to talking about more great 94 action in the new year. You are all the best!

~Love Dragon Grin

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Brat Jr's YouTube Videos!!

Snowball Fights

the whole school gets in the act!

A snowdog playing soccer!

I want this dog on my next team!

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"...Memories, Then and Now...

Quote from: MA on December 23, 2008, 11:07:07 AM

My favorites have ALWAYS been the gifts my daughter made for me in elementary school. Those are the best!!!
The best gift I ever gave... or the most fun I had watching the kids open was a trip to Disneyland. They went freaking nuts!!!! Grin

Best Christmas time memory... there are loads of them of the kids... but there is one that I think of all the time....
Its about my dad who died 5 years ago.... every holiday my mom use to roast a turkey. Dad would put on his apron which happened to be the outline of a curvy women in a red "Christmas" bikini and go to the oven pretending that he was going to baste the turkey.... and open it just to let the smell come out . He would take his hands and wave the scent of turkey up to his nose. He would close his eyes and smile. It always made me laugh...... and I miss it.
Grin

Quote from: sissy on December 23, 2008, 11:34:30 AM

Favorite X-mas gift: My husband & all my kids. While none of my kids were born at X-mas time, each one has made X-mas the most magical time for me & my DH is truly an angel

Best gift I ever gave...transferred all the 8mm films from when we were growing up on to a DVD (some to music) and gave that to my parents and siblings. My DH worked so hard to put it all together (he was the technical person, I was the artistic person

). Bittersweet because my parents divorced when I was young and one of my sibs is no longer with us angel

Best memory at this time: ice skating on the river (which ran through our backyard) with my whole family...including the dog Grin

.

Those where the days

Quote from: Flip Flop on December 25, 2008, 05:28:46 PM

1. your favorite gift for Christmas - MY favorite gift for us CP's: smartwool socks (to keep feet warm watching soccer games!)
My favorite gift to receive: DIAMONDS (which is very rare!)

2. Best gift you gave to someone - WII system for the kids

3. Best memory from this time of year - sledding with a gang of kids! Yahooooooo

Quote from: krrnrgrl on December 23, 2008, 11:58:41 AM

Hey Girl..
Truly couldn't come up with my best Christmas present...other than having the day with those I love, nothing stands out in my memory, even as a kid!

Now best present given...would definately be the one we're giving my parents (late 70's) this year, as my 16 year old son, came up with the idea last week, when I was in DC and my folks were taking care of him and his sister. He overheard them talking about all of their old albums and the music they loved, and no way to play it! When I came home, he told me we have to go to Guitar Center right now and get grandpa and grandma a record player. I guess they are making them again, but with more modern technology. We didn't go "right now", but picked it up yesterday!! I love that boy, what a great idea!!

Best memory is also easy for me....every year since I was about 10, my mom has made homemade buttermilk donuts on Christmas morning...everyone in the family/extended family asks each year, "are we still getting donuts Christmas morning?" Nothing better while opening presents than fresh, warm donuts, with three sugar choices, except for my dad who likes his plain!

THANKS FOR SHARING! angel

**Please continue to send pix's to the Pulse newsroom! Anything soccer related is welcome!** Grin

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WPS PLAYER OF THE YEAR!

http://washingtonpremiersoccer.com/forum/index.php?topic=10872.0

ANDREW from '93 Columbia Timbers Blue
WTG ANDREW!! And CONGRATS to the runners up!!
You make us all very proud of you!

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"Help! Is there a Doctor in the house?"

Your DD goes up for a header and falls to the turf, clutching her head. An errant elbow caught her and she seems a little "wifty". She insists she is "OK". What do you do?
Well concussions are often swept under the rug as "no big deal". The long and short is that multiple concussions ARE a BIG DEAL. This article addresses some of the issues associated with concussions. Does YOUR coach or do YOU know what to look for if your DD gets a "head knock"??

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!
Vin

Concussions In Youth Sports

Dec.30, 2007 in Parents, Players
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.

Let me state right now that it really bothers me to read stories like the one from news outlets like CBS that come across as real news, that instead are just meant to advertise something. The CBS story makes it seem like this is all research vs. a commercial product that’s already on the market. But the Impact system is a for profit diagnostic product. At least the UPI story made it fairly clear they were writing about a commercial venture. But I digress.

One of the worst things about concussions is that many kids who have them don’t realize it and neither do their parents. This is why it can be so important for coaches to keep an eye out for injuries that likely could have caused concussions. Another little known fact about concussions is that girls are much more likely to suffer them than boys are. A NY Times article did a great job highlighting the risks with some real life examples:

According to the study to be published in the Journal of Athletic Training, football has the highest rate of concussions in high school sports, with 47 such injuries per 100,000 player games or practices. Girls soccer was second highest with 36 per 100,000, followed by boys soccer (22) and girls basketball (21).

Most soccer concussions are caused by hard falls to the ground or collisions with other players. Heading the ball is not a primary cause, studies have determined, because the impact is not of sufficient force to send the brain crashing into the skull.

Attempts at heading do engender many concussions, however, as players’ heads collide in battles for the ball. This has led to the increased use of padded headbands designed to lessen the forces of many blows, but their effectiveness remains the subject of debate.

One study published this summer said that such headgear appeared to reduce concussions among soccer players, but some coaches and doctors fear that their use could foster more aggressive play. Hannah Stohler said she wore one only temporarily. “It was really distracting,”? she said, “and I didn’t feel it was going to make much difference.”?

Recognizing the risks and how prevalent concussions are in youth sports, the CDC put together a fantastic coaches kit to help education coaches about concussions:

Concussions can happen to any athlete-male or female-in any sport. Concussions are a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI), caused by a blow or jolt to the head that can range from mild to severe and can disrupt the way the brain normally works. Coaches, athletic directors and trainers play a key role in helping to prevent concussion and in managing it properly if it occurs.

To reduce the number of this type of injury, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the support of partners and experts in the field, has developed a tool kit for coaches titled, Heads Up: Concussion in High School Sports. This kit contains practical, easy-to-use information including a video and DVD featuring a young athlete disabled by concussion, a guide, wallet card and clip board sticker for coaches, posters, fact sheets for parents and athletes in English and Spanish, and a CD-ROM with downloadable kit materials and additional concussion-related resources.

You can order the kit on DVD, or view the materials and videos online. They also provide PDF stickers and posters for coaches which are ideal for soccer leagues to hand out. The Coaches Guide provides a wealth of valuable information. The National Academies Press also has a booklet about concussions in youth soccer: Is Soccer Bad for Children’s Heads?. Just create a free account to download and view the PDF.

So if you coach youth soccer, especially at the older age levels where the speed and intensity is high, you really need to educate yourself about concussions, recognizing events that may have caused them, and watching for symptoms.

Now about the Impact test…

Concussion diagnosis has always been imprecise given the wealth of symptoms that can indicate a concussion or something else. The Impact test is different because it requires all athletes to have a ‘baseline’ evaluation done when they are healthy. Once a player is injured, they take a 2nd ‘post injury’ test and the results compared to the baseline results to see if a player has a concussion or not. Subsequent tests can be used to track a players recovery and allow trainers and doctors to better understand when a player is really ‘ready’ to return to play.

Obviously I’m not qualified to make a judgment on the effectiveness something like this. On the surface it makes a lot of sense. But it’s important to realize that using the system means every one of your players has to have a baseline test performed. This can represent a sizable expense, especially if you’re a youth soccer club. I personally don’t like Impact’s price structure. ‘Non-academic’ organizations like competitive level youth soccer leagues would need to pay $10 per player to have a baseline test done. Yet schools (high schools and colleges) only pay around $1-$2 per test. This may be due to schools having trainers that can be trained and lower support costs, but the price difference seems pretty drastic. Both types of organizations are non-profit. Why an academic institution merits such a drastic discount is puzzling.

Of course, given the annual cost of top level competitive youth soccer, $10 per player is a small expense.

Are any select youth leagues out there using the Impact system? I would expect many high schools and colleges to, but I wonder if even the most organized youth leagues would be able to implement a program to evaluate all their players for baseline readings.

So if you coach a team or administer a league, be sure to download the CDC materials and share them with your peers! Your kids will be glad you did!

*Send all medical questions for "the doctor" to the Pulse email address*

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WPS FAMILY CIRCLE FOUNDATION!!!

Sad news from the Crossfire camp. Michael Loney, former team manager of the 97A Reynolds team has passed away unexpectedly in Mexico. He left two daughters, Izzy from the Reynolds team and younger sister Olivia, and a wife Nicole. He managed the Schilperoort Dev team the previous year. He was extremely involved in the Crossfire program, contributing to the sponsorship from Toyota of Seattle for the club and taking hundreds of photos of the team. He will be deeply missed. we will lift the family up in prayer and wish them comfort in their grief.

Crush 94 superstar has been diagnosed with cancer
We pray that you beat this "A". Good Luck taking the 'Kool-Aid'

Our prayers and good thoughts are with you all!

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The Grinch section!

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="Indoor CP" Last week we played the u-12 Crossfire A team at arena sports. Now I have complained about a lot of parents but these people were bad. The game was very roughly played and the parents of the Crossfire team kept getting louder and louder. Well, a girl threw an elbow and one of our girls went down with a bloody mouth and the xf parents clapping as she went down. Then another girl was picked up and thrown into a wall and more cheering, but the best was when a was girl put down and stomped and the xf parents yelled flop and laughed at the girl who it turns out had some muscles pulled in her back and has been told she will be out till they heal. It is sad when parents go this far, but maybe they will learn a Crossfire board member was there and was horrified!!

This was the worst show of parents that I have seen. These people are animals to cheer when someone goes down is beyond anything I have ever seen. Needed to rant do with this what you wish.

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and once again the end of another great effort by all on the Pulse staff! Thank you for all your help in getting the Pulse out! Grin

If you would like to donate to WPS click below to go to the front page and click on the Donate button:

http://washingtonpremiersoccer.com/

Thats it for this weeks Issue of the Pulse, hope you enjoy it...and as always never forget to...

Play with Heart & Fire, Heart & Fire Always!

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From the Pulse staff to all of you:

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