Jordyn Smith is not your typical 13-year-old soccer player, as she has dropped everything and moved from home to play soccer at a prestigious level. “I think that I have always wanted to go competitive since I was little, but something that I have taken a huge step in is moving away from my parents to go and play for the development academy”, said Jordyn Smith.
Seven months ago Jordyn started playing for the Utah Royals Development Club, which is associated with US Soccer and houses some of the best players in the country. “It’s been a whole other level playing against all the best girls and getting a lot more scouting chances. I think its a lot better for me and my soccer development”, said Jordyn.
On September 8, 2018, during her first year as an elite racer, 23-year-old Kate Courtney won the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, ending a 17-year gold medal drought for the United States. Reflecting on her win, Courtney noticed a shift in her interactions with fans—particularly male fans. Here’s the story, in her words.
Camp Hill resident Ashley Moyer-Gleich is in her second month as the fourth-ever female NBA referee. The former Cedar Crest and Millersville guard wasn’t planning to be a ref at all but a college coach. Now she laughs in amazement at how quickly it’s all happened. At just 31, she’s become the fastest-rising young official in the game’s modern history.
Earlier this month, I spoke to her by phone in Indianapolis on the eve of her ninth game as an NBA ref — about her meteoric rise, how she’s changed her approach to deal with players who’ve tested her, and exactly what she loves about a job that’s a dream from which she never wants to awaken.
Rose Lavelle will tell you with a surprising air of modesty that even after earning 20 caps with the United States Women’s national team, starting four of the five games in the CONCACAF championship and scoring the winning goal in the title game, she does not think of herself as having made it with the reigning world champions.
Lavelle also will tell you with all sincerity that she has believed since she was a puny ninth-grader, overlooked by many scouts and coaches, her future included a place on the national team.
The 21-year-old was born in Japan and raised in America. She’s the future of tennis and plays like stars past. In a way, she’s different than anyone her sport has ever known. So why does Osaka feel so familiar?
… The 23-year-old athlete was named Sportswoman of the Year at the Sports Journalists’ Association British Sport Awards after she became a triple European champion in Berlin, claiming gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. …
“I’m getting a bit older, a bit more mature and even though I’m quite young, I have been racing at senior level since I was 17.
“I’m getting more used to things and starting to believe in myself.”
… Girls who are selected and chose to play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) are not able to participate in high school soccer — what is your perspective on high school soccer as opposed to playing in the DA?
Julie Foudy: Well, I have always maintained that high school soccer was one of the best experiences for me, and it saddens me that with the Development Academy, girls are forced to choose between the two because your experience playing high school soccer is so different from playing on your club team.
In high school, you’re playing in front of your peers. You’re playing in front of your community. Perhaps you have a different role on that team than you do with your club team. You’re usually having to take a leadership role — there’s just so many positives to it that I love.
Sex differences in common sports injuries to the lower extremity have been reported. Biomechanical factors of the hip have been investigated between sexes with regard to running-related injury. This study investigates gluteal muscle forces between sexes to aid in our understanding of sex-related biomechanical factors in running. Twenty-one healthy male and female runners were participants. Each ran at a controlled speed of 3.52-3.89 m/s down a 20-m runway. Kinetic and kinematic data were utilised to estimate muscle forces. Multivariate analysis of variance tests were utilised to detect differences in gluteal and hamstring muscle forces, hip and pelvic kinematics, and hip kinetic variables between sexes. Males produced greater peak gluteus maximus force, but lesser peak gluteus medius, minimus, and hamstring force than females during running. Males also demonstrated less hip adduction and greater hip flexion and anterior pelvic tilt than females. Finally, males produced lesser peak hip abduction and external rotation moments than females. Males and females demonstrate differences in gluteal muscle forces and hip kinetics and kinematics during running. Further understanding of underlying muscle forces may offer further insight into biomechanical differences in running between males and females.
… The WTA did recently grant approval for such compression garments to be worn during that organization’s tournaments. However, that ruling does not apply to the four grand slams, so Williams could be prevented from wearing it at Roland Garros in 2019.
Professional tennis is notoriously resistant to new fashion trends (for instance, the white lycra body suit worn by Anne White at Wimbledon in 1985 was immediately banned by that tournament), but what remains somewhat absent from the ongoing debate is the catsuit’s efficacy.
Do compression bodysuits offer athletes – particularly those with intrinsic clotting disorders – a tangible advantage?
Patients with bilateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries tend to report worse results in terms of knee function and quality of life as compared with those with unilateral injury. There are limited data regarding return to preinjury sport in this group. Purpose:
To report return-to-sport rates for patients who had bilateral ACL reconstruction and to compare outcomes according to age and sex. Study Design:
Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods:
A total of 107 patients (62 male, 45 female) who underwent primary ACL reconstruction surgery to both knees completed a detailed sports activity survey at a mean 5-year follow-up (range, 2.5-10 years). Follow-up also included the International Knee Documentation Committee subjective form, Marx Activity Scale, and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score–Quality of Life subscale. Rates of return to preinjury levels of sport were calculated for the whole cohort, and for further analysis, the group was divided according to age (<25 vs ≥25 years), sex, and time between the reconstruction procedures (<3 vs ≥3 years).
Results:
The rate of return to preinjury sport after bilateral ACL reconstruction was 40% (95% CI, 31%-50%), as compared with an 83% (95% CI, 74%-88%) return rate after the first reconstruction procedure. Although not statistically significant, return rates were higher for male versus female patients (47% vs 31%) and older versus younger patients (45% vs 31%). Of those who returned to their preinjury levels of sport after the second reconstruction, 72% thought that they could perform as well as before their ACL injuries. In contrast, only 20% thought that they could perform as well if they returned to a lower level. Fear of reinjury was the most common reason cited for failure to return to sport after the second reconstruction. Patient-reported outcome scores were higher for those who returned to their preinjury levels of sport but did not differ for sex and age. Conclusion:
Return-to-sport rates drop markedly after a second (contralateral) ACL reconstruction, with less than half of the investigated cohort returning to its preinjury level of sport. Return-to-sport outcomes are less than ideal for patients who have ACL reconstruction surgery to both knees. [full text]
Our society is undergoing a major women’s health crisis. Illnesses that disproportionately affect women are under-researched and poorly understood, doctors doubt women’s pain, and women are generally in poorer health than men. Due to stereotypes that women are prone to exaggerating physical health problems and misogynistic myths that women’s bodies are designed to suffer, many of the issues they face are normalized. But while it may be common, feeling unwell is not normal, and women will not enjoy gender equality until they achieve the same level of physical health as men.
“Conditions that disproportionately affect women — particularly chronic, non-life-threatening but disabling conditions with subjective symptoms, like pain and fatigue — have been woefully neglected in the research realm,” Maya Dusenbery, author of Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick, tells Bustle.
Journal of Sports Medicine & Physical Fitness from
BACKGROUND:
The main goal of rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is to return to functional and sports activity at a preinjury level. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of supervised (SU) versus non-supervised (NS) rehabilitation protocols after ACLR on the return to sports activity and quality of life of amateur athletes. METHODS:
The study included a total of 50 patients after ACLR, with 25 in the SU group and 25 in the NS group. No significant differences were observed between the two groups with regard to age, sex, or BMI. Two different ACLR techniques were used: hamstring graft and bone patellar tendon bone. The patients were examined preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively. Outcomes were evaluated utilizing the Kujala scale, Tegner scale, the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), and range of motion. Patients from the SU group participated in rehabilitation sessions with a physiotherapist with an average of 48 meetings. Those in the NS attended six meetings with the physiotherapist. RESULTS:
At final follow up, patients from both groups demonstrated a higher level of functional and sports activity and had a better quality of life 12 months after ACLR. Patients from the supervised group returned to a significantly higher level of sports activity (Tegner scale: SU=6, NS=5, p=0.003) and reported significantly better quality of life 12 months after ACLR (KOOS QOL: SU=90, NS=74; p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS:
Supervised, controlled physiotherapy results in higher activity levels and better quality of life in amateur athletes 12 months after ACLR.
… Last season, the Gophers women’s basketball team played a relatively passive zone on defense, and pushed the pace on offense with the idea of outscoring the opponent under coach Marlene Stollings. All of this is fine. It earned the Gophers 24 victories, an NCAA tournament berth and a first-round victory.
But first-year coach Lindsay Whalen and her staff have altered the approach.
Seeing the quickness of guards Bell and Jasmine Brunson and the rebounding potential of Taiye Bello and Annalese Lamke, the Gophers have gone to a man-to-man defense. On offense, so far, the Gophers have been a little more deliberate. But now the Gophers can use defense to withstand the occasional offensive lull.
Los Angeles Sparks President and Chief Operating Officer Christine Simmons stepped down last week to become the “first-ever Chief Operating Officer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, effective Jan. 11, 2019,” becoming the latest high-ranking person to leave the LA organization within the last month.
Brian Agler resigned as head coach of the Sparks last month and was since hired by the Dallas Wings; Simmons’ resignation came just a week after Agler’s introductory news conference in Dallas. Although Agler spoke only in glowing terms of the Sparks organization, citing no specific reason for wanting to leave LA, his resignation, followed by Simmons’ resignation — with the strange circumstances surrounding the Derek Fisher hire in the middle of all of it — naturally are raising eyebrows.
The resignations of both Agler and Simmons spark concern about potential issues in the LA organization, but Simmons’ resignation raises questions about the health of the league because of its timing in the overall context of WNBA resignations.