This afternoon, the NFL hosted a Roundtable on Youth Sports and Safety at its headquarters in midtown Manhattan. Representatives from Little League Baseball, USA Basketball, USA Cheer, USA Football, USA Hockey, US Lacrosse and US Youth Soccer all presented as part of the event.
Dr. Elizabeth Pieroth a concussion specialist in Chicago and Head Injury Consultant for the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks led the discussion, which ranged from concussion awareness in youth sports to issues facing the various governing bodies gathered. Dr. Pieroth was an excellent moderator and speaker, able to convey important messages and supplemental information throughout.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also spoke to the invited organizations and news outlets. Goodell who noted his daughters were lacrosse players spoke about the importance of sports to him growing up, saying; The things I learned in sports as a kid, I use today as Commissioner and an individual.
Representing US Lacrosse was Ann Carpenetti, the Managing Director of Game Administration for the organization.
Carpenetti was a great representative for lacrosse in the room. Her presentation was engaging and informative, especially to many of the gathered bloggers whose knowledge of lacrosse was rather limited.
Her presentation was basically split into two parts. She first broke down US Lacrosse for those who were unaware of the game or its governing body, and then went into some specifics with regards to the organizations initiatives as they relate to Player Health and Safety.
While discussing US Lacrosse generally, Carpenetti noted:
-US Lacrosse was founded 15 years ago as the national governing body for the sport. -Lacrosse is the fastest-growing youth sport in the country.
-US Lacrosse plays a large role in areas where the game is just taking off.
-The organization handles boys and girls lacrosse, which are almost two different sports.
-US Lacrosse is a membership organization with over 400,000 active members.
-A big focus for US Lacrosse is development and information dissemination.
She then outlined some of the many things US Lacrosse does with regards to Player Health and Safety, among them:
-US Lacrosse was founded on the principle of keeping youth safety at the forefront.
-US Lacrosse faces a unique challenge in that the game is a completely different one for boys and girls. She noted the boys game is a full-contact sport, while the girls game is more an incidental-contact sport.
-US Lacrosse has made a big commitment to promoting and funding research with regards to player safety with the USL Sports Science & Safety Committee, which has existed since the organizations inception.
-The organization takes a multi-tiered approach safety, including having a standardized coaching platform that includes certification programs.
-Education is key for parents, coaches and officials with regards to the game.
-Teaching sport-specific skills is very important.
-Great pride is taken with regards to the officiating training program offered by US Lacrosse, as officials are often first on the scene in an emergency.
Carpenetti did a wonderful job, noting to the rooms agreement that parents are the most important influencers when it comes to their children, and they need to be the most informed. She also mentioned when it comes to reforms in any sport, the youth game is probably a better place to start than at the top levels, since that is where participation is greatest.
Congratulations to the NFL on an excellent event, which brought together the governing bodies of many youth sports. Congratulations also to Ann Carpenetti and US Lacrosse, who did a fabulous job representing the game.
One of the themes of the day among the presenters was the need to work across sports to combine research and share best-practices when it comes to things like concussions, selecting programs for kids to participate in and other issues.
Events like the one the NFL hosted today are excellent starting points for just that.