Baltimore Sun, Howard County Times, Tim Schwartz from
Mt. Hebron senior Cassy Lopez stood out competing against mostly boys for the last four years. The 106-pounder who wrestled for one of the best public school programs in the state has always been the underdog, despite competing three years on varsity and winning 29 matches — including 20 by fall — this winter.
But Lopez won’t be overlooked any longer. Instead, she will be a role model for high school girls for years to come.
Lopez made history Thursday afternoon at Mt. Hebron by becoming the first woman to sign a National Letter of Intent and receive a scholarship to wrestle at a Division-I school. She is the first signee for the newly formed women’s wrestling program at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., which will start competing alongside 40 other schools in the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association starting in 2019.
The newest member of the WTA top 32 got there the hard way. Mihaela Buzarnescu, who achieved her latest career-high ranking with a run to the final of last week’s Prague event, where she lost a three-setter to Petra Kvitova, made her professional debut 14 years ago. Despite a dose of junior success, including a junior doubles title at the 2006 US Open, she didn’t crack the top 100 until last October.
This isn’t how tennis career trajectories are supposed to work. Yes, the game is getting older and stars are extending their careers, but Buzarnescu’s year-long winning spree, in which she has climbed from outside the top 400 to inside the top 40, began after her 29th birthday. The closer we look at what the Romanian has achieved, and the age at which she’s doing so, the more unusual it appears.
Implicit (IF) and explicit (EF) feedback are two motor learning strategies demonstrated to alter movement patterns. There is conflicting evidence on which strategy produces better outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reduced IF and EF video feedback on lower extremity landing mechanics. Methods
Thirty participants (24 ± 2 years, 1.7 ± 0.1 m, 70 ± 11 kg) were randomly assigned to three groups: IF (n = 10), EF (n = 10), and control (CG) (n = 10). They performed twelve box-drop jumps three times a week on the training sessions for six weeks. Only IF and EF groups received video feedback on the training sessions. IF was cued to focus their attention on the overall jump, while EF was cued to focus on position of their knees. 3D lower extremity biomechanics were tested on testing sessions with no feedback. All sessions were at least 24 h apart from another. Testing sessions included baseline testing (pretest), testing after 3 training sessions with 100% feedback (pst1), testing after 6 training sessions with 33.3% feedback (pst2), testing after 6 training sessions with 16.6% feedback (Pst3), and testing 1 month after with no feedback (retention – ret). ANOVA compared differences between groups and time at initial contact and peak for hip flexion (HF, °) and abduction angle (HA, °), hip abduction moment (HAM, Nm/kgm), knee flexion (KF, °) and abduction angle (KA, °), knee abduction moment (KAM, Nm/kgm) and VGRF (N) (p < 0.05).
Results
A significant main effect for group was found between IF and EF groups for HA (IF = − 6.7 ± 4; EF = − 9.4 ± 4.1) and KAM (IF = 0.05 ± 0.2; EF = − 0.07 ± 0.2) at initial contact, and peaks HA (IF = − 3.5 ± 4.5; EF = − 7.9 ± 4.7) and HAM (IF = 1.1 ± 0.6; EF = 0.9 ± 0.4). A significant main effect for time at initial contact for HF (pre = 32.4 ± 3.2; pst2 = 36.9 ± 3.2; pst3 = 37.9 ± 3.7; ret. = 34.1 ± 3.7), HAM (pre = 0.1 ± 0.1; pst1 = 0.04 ± 0.1; pst3 = 0.1 ± 0.01), KA (pre = 0.7 ± 1.1; pst1 = 0.2 ± 1.2; pst3 = 1.7 ± 1), and KAM (pre = 0.003 ± 0.1; pst3 = 0.01 ± 0.1) was found. Discussion/conclusion
We found that implicit feedback produced positive changes in landing mechanics while explicit feedback degraded motor learning. Our results indicate that implicit feedback should be used in programs to lower the ACL injury risk. We suggest that implicit feedback should be frequent in the beginning and not be reduced as much following the acquisition phase.
This study aimed to evaluate whether an individualised sprint-training program was more effective in improving sprint performance in elite team-sport players compared to a generalised sprint-training program. Seventeen elite female handball players (23 ± 3 y, 177 ± 7 cm, 73 ± 6 kg) performed two weekly sprint training sessions over eight weeks in addition to their regular handball practice. An individualised training group (ITG, n = 9) performed a targeted sprint-training program based on their horizontal force-velocity profile from the pre-training test. Within ITG, players displaying the lowest, highest and mid-level force-velocity slope values relative to body mass were assigned to a resisted, an assisted or a mixed sprint-training program (resisted sprinting in the first half and assisted sprinting in the second half of the intervention period), respectively. A control group (CG, n = 8) performed a generalised sprint-training program. Both groups improved 30-m sprint performance by ~1% (small effect) and maximal velocity sprinting by ~2% (moderate effect). Trivial or small effect magnitudes were observed for mechanical outputs related to horizontal force- or power production. All between-group differences were trivial. In conclusion, individualised sprint-training was no more effective in improving sprint performance than a generalised sprint-training program.
… if you think I’m writing this to argue why Becky is qualified to be an NBA head coach … well, you’re mistaken. That part is obvious: One, she was an accomplished player — with an elite point guard’s mind for the game. And two, she has been a successful assistant for arguably the greatest coach in the game. What more do you need? But like I said — I’m not here to make that argument. Arguing on Coach Hammon’s behalf would feel patronizing. To me, it would be strange if NBA teams were not interested in her as a head coach.
What I would like to do, though, is knock down a few of the silly arguments and talking points against Coach Hammon’s candidacy — and the larger idea of a female NBA head coach — that I’ve seen floating around.
The argument that I see most often is thankfully the one that’s easiest to disprove: It’s this idea that, at the absolute highest level of basketball, a woman isn’t capable of coaching men. “Yeah, female coaches are fine coaching women’s college basketball, or the WNBA,” the argument goes. “But the NBA? The NBA is different.”
… When [Sally] Bergesen founded Oiselle in 2007, she wanted to make a pair of women’s running shorts that fit. Then she got into a spat with USA Track and Field and the IAAF over the logos her athletes could wear during competition—and secured her place as one of the running community’s icons. Oh yeah, and those shorts? Turns out they fit pretty well.
When it comes to treating anxiety in children and teens, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are the bane of therapists’ work.
“With (social media), it’s all about the self-image — who’s ‘liking’ them, who’s watching them, who clicked on their picture,” said Marco Grados, associate professor of psychiatry and clinical director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital. “Everything can turn into something negative … [K]ids are exposed to that day after day, and it’s not good for them.”
Anxiety, not depression, is the leading mental health issue among American youths, and clinicians and research both suggest it is rising. The latest study was published in April in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Based on data collected from the National Survey of Children’s Health for ages 6 to 17, researchers found a 20 percent increase in diagnoses of anxiety between 2007 and 2012. (The rate of depression over that same time period ticked up 0.2 percent.)
“Ball! Ball! Ball!” a chorus of players screamed inside the University of Southern California’s Galen Center, where the Los Angeles Sparks were holding training camp. The gym was filled with W.N.B.A. stars like Candace Parker, Odyssey Sims and Alana Beard, but the voices ringing out loudest were the rookies competing for a spot on the team.
Winning a spot will be no easy feat with the Sparks coming off back-to-back W.N.B.A. finals appearances.
Shakayla Thomas, who was the team’s second-round pick in last month’s draft, is one of those rookies. A star at Florida State, she is not guaranteed a roster spot despite being drafted, and she could be packing her bags in a matter of days.
“If you played basketball, I’m pretty sure it’s your dream to go to the league,” Thomas said after practice, adding that she planned to “absorb what I can and if it doesn’t work out I’m pretty sure I have a basketball career somewhere else.”
The reality for many rookies competing in W.N.B.A. training camps is that they will have to look overseas to try to continue their basketball careers.
Virginia men’s soccer director of operations, A.J. Barnold has landed a full-time role at U.S. Soccer, working closely with the United States Women’s National Team. In his new role, Barnold will be a performance analyst for the defending World Cup Champions.
Barnold joined the Virginia soccer staff prior to the 2015 season and oversaw all aspects of video editing and analysis along with the management of the overall general welfare of the Virginia men’s soccer student-athletes. Additionally, he assisted the coaching staff with day-to-day operations.
“In terms of analyzing performance data, there are not too many people in our industry with the skillset he’s acquired during his time at Virginia,” head coach George Gelnovatch said. “We’re fortunate enough to be able to utilize some of the most cutting-edge technology available in our sport and A.J. worked hard to master his craft, proving to be a real asset to our staff and student-athletes. We’re proud of him and we’re confident he’ll do an outstanding job for the U.S. Soccer.”
… The partnership with Sylvain Labs entails a complete review of every aspect of the league to learn more about its fans and how best to engage them. The WNBA tips off its 22nd season on Friday, May 18.
“Our research makes clear that fans are interested in establishing a deeper connection with our players and teams and experiencing the game in every way imaginable,” said WNBA President Lisa Borders. “We are delighted to work with Sylvain Labs to help us meet these objectives and continue the WNBA’s growth for our 22nd season and beyond, with an increased emphasis on engaging a young female audience through rich storytelling.”
New Zealand Football and the New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association (NZPFA) have reached a collective bargaining agreement which signals a new era of parity across both national teams.
The four conclusions reached in the new agreement are: pay parity, equal prize money, equal rights for image use and parity across travel while representing New Zealand.
The Brookings Institution, Save the Children; George Ingram and Nora O’Connell from
While the movement for global gender equality is growing—including prominent placement at the recent World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings—major gaps remain. If addressed, this could unleash significant progress. One of the first gaps that U.S. foreign assistance agencies should tackle is the lack of uniformity on the gender equality data that they collect and use.
Our institutions—the Brookings Institution and
Save the Children—recently teamed up to host a roundtable with current and former U.S. government officials, private sector, academic, and non-profit experts to examine the data gaps in gender programming and investments.
The Conversation, Catherine Harnois and Joao Luiz Bastos from
… We wanted to know whether workplace mistreatment contributed to the gender gap in self-reported health. In other words, our statistical models were used to test whether sexism was a driver of the observed gender disparities in self-reported health.
Our results suggest that gender discrimination is responsible for around 9 to 10 percent of the gender gap in self-reported health. In other words, if we were to reduce the frequency of gender discrimination, we’d likely see a significant reduction in gender-based health inequality.
Overall, our results suggest that sexism takes a toll on women’s health and well-being. The high frequency with which women experience sexism – at work and elsewhere – underscores the importance of viewing it not only as a social justice issue, but also a public health issue.