Lids for Kids | News

Soars Mission and Vision — SOAR Columbia

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 10:57:39 GMT

“Changing Lives in Our Community through Sports”

Lids for Kids is proud to have donated $1,000 to this cause.

SOAR’s Vision

"We seek for lives to be changed as coaches invest in players and their families, sharing sports skills, life lessons, and the truth of God's word. It is our goal to see our community experience positive change by bringing people of all beliefs and backgrounds together under the banner of sports to create a culture of unity, inclusion, service and respect."

What Sets SOAR Apart:

We are family and faith friendly! No Sunday activities, no travel, one game and practice per week
We care about more than just sports . Yes, we aim to have quality coaches and responsible player development, but we believe we will have failed if we train good athletes who not are ready for life. While there are other leagues committed to changing athletics, SOAR Columbia is the only rec league committed to changing lives while developing player skill. In addition, we seek to find scholarships for families that may be not able to afford to play.
Our board and coaches are Christian. While we do not force faith on anyone, it does shape what we do and the way we do things. In addition to learning sports skills, we aim to model and teach character, resilience, perseverance, self-control, humility, respect and cooperation to our athletes. Sometimes these lessons will come from experiences on the field and sometimes through personal illustrations or portions of the Bible.
We seek to invest in Columbia’s future! We join hands with others in our community to work towards a more just, respectful, cooperative and honorable society. As we invest in children now, we shape the future of the greater Columbia area and the world.
Excited about our mission and vision? Volunteer to coach or sponsor a student or team .

““We support SOAR because they provide a fun, family friendly environment that not only supports our children but also the community.””

— Rouse Family (SOAR family since 2014)

“The ‘league of encouragement’ at SOAR has been a great environment for our children to grow both in personal soccer skills and sportsmanship values lived out.””

— Putnam Family (SOAR family since 2012)

Brookland-Cayce Baseball 2023 | Fundraiser

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:57:17 GMT

Brookland-Cayce Baseball 2023 | We Sponsored Tanner Libbey at Brookland-Cayce High School Baseball Team $250

FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND FANS

"Thank you so much for taking the time to view our fundraiser page. Your support will help us offer a higher quality experience for all participants. Raising dollars for extra curricular activities is very difficult to do but is vital for our program. If you could please spread the word about our fundraiser by sharing it with your friends via Email, Facebook and Twitter we would greatly appreciate it!

- Coach Charpia"

Your Donation is very powerful

How Are My Donations Used?

Donations will go towards equipment, fees, and travel costs. Your support is vital to the success of our program.

Why Are Donations Necessary?

Donations will allow us to provide funding necessary to create a great environment for our participants to experience success.

Non-Concussive Head Hits Influence the Brain’s Microstructure

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 10:56:32 GMT

Comparing the brain scans of high-impact rugby players with those of athletes in noncontact sports, such as rowing and swimming, revealed tiny, yet significant, differences in the brain’s white matter.

EDITOR’S CHOICE IN NEUROSCIENCE

The paper

K.Y. Manning et al., “Longitudinal changes of brain microstructure and function in nonconcussed female rugby players,” Neurology , 95:e402–12, 2020.

Conversations about injuries in high-impact sports, such as football, hockey, and rugby, typically center around concussions, brain injuries that can affect memory, cognition, and balance. But not every collision yields a concussion, and even repeated, seemingly harmless impacts can alter the microstructure of white matter, myelinated neurons located deep in the brain, researchers reported in Neurology in July.

The study followed 104 female collegiate athletes in rugby, swimming, and rowing. Athletes wore headband sensors to measure the force of collisions during practices and games. None of the hits experienced by any athlete caused a concussion. Still, MRI and other imaging techniques showed differences in the white matter of rugby players who suffered low-impact collisions compared with the white matter of swimmers and rowers who didn’t suffer head hits. The differences were most noticeable in the corpus callosum, a nerve bundle that facilitates communication between the brain hemispheres, says study coauthor Ravi Menon, a neuroscientist at Robarts Research Institute in Canada.

Specifically, imaging during and after the athletes’ competitive seasons showed altered axon placement and increased functional connectivity among white matter neurons in the brains of the rugby players. Such neural rewiring, previous research suggests, could be a way for the brain to compensate for an injury.

Following athletes in the off-season is novel, says Pashtun Shahim, a physician at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center who was not involved with the work. But, he cautions, “whether these changes in functional connectivity or white matter integrity are transient or persist over a long time is unclear.” Blood biomarkers that can be tracked noninvasively over longer periods of time, Shahim suggests, would be a more practical way to identify potential axon disruption in college athletes.

Here’s How You Can Lower Your Brain Injury Risk

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 10:54:38 GMT

Traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, are more common than you might think. Here are ways to prevent them.

More than 2.8 million people were treated for a traumatic brain injury – often referred to as a TBI – in U.S. emergency rooms in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Of those, over 280,000 people were hospitalized and some 56,000 died as a result of their injuries.

But what exactly is a brain injury – and are there ways you can prevent, or at least lower your risk, of sustaining one?

March marks Brain Injury Awareness Month, which makes it a great time to tackle those questions and offer answers that could be life-saving.

A Brain Injury, Explained

Generally speaking, there are two types of brain injuries:

Acquired brain injuries, which result from conditions such as stroke, seizures or tumors.
Traumatic brain injuries, which result from an external force causing damage to the brain, like if you get into a car accident.

Both types of brain injuries can alter the normal functioning of the brain – and that can impact the way you think and move, your speech and swallowing capabilities, and even your mood, behavior and social interactions.

Accidental falls, hitting or being hit by an object and car accidents are the most common causes of TBIs. They're categorized as mild, moderate or severe based upon clinical presentation and imaging findings. But even if a TBI is seen as mild – like is often the case with a concussion – their effects can be distressing.

Overall trends point to TBI-related emergency department visits having increased over time, especially for those 75 years and older and children under 4. And, as far as hospitalization goes, the highest rates were in the over-75 set and teens between 15 and 19 years old, according to the CDC.

You've likely heard about the impact of concussions on kids and teens – and the numbers offer a look into what's happening. About 35% of kids who visit the emergency department for a TBI were treated for a sports and recreation-related TBI. And almost half of these were sustained during contact sports, including football, bicycling, basketball, playground activities and soccer, according to research .

But kids and seniors aren't the only ones dealing with the impact of TBIs. For men and women of the military, TBIs have become quite the common injury. In fact, TBIs have been classified as the "signature injury" of military members of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, mainly as a result of IEDs.

Know the Risk Factors

There are a number of factors that could up your risk of sustaining a brain injury. These include:

Age . As touched on earlier, kids under 4, teens and young adults ages 15 to 24, as well as adults over 65, are all at the highest risk of a TBI. And males are at a much higher risk compared to females when it comes to injury and death resulting from a TBI. Research has also shown that higher rates of TBI are reported in lower socioeconomic areas.

Past injuries . Another big risk factor? A past brain injury. In fact, after sustaining just one brain injury, your risk of sustaining another increases almost three-fold – and that trend appears to only increase with each subsequent injury. This is particularly concerning for athletes who sustain multiple concussions, which could lead to a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a neurodegenerative disorder that is gaining more visibility lately, due to its impact on professional athletes. Unfortunately, at this point, a definitive CTE diagnosis can only be given after death, when an autopsy is done. But that's not the only condition of concern: "Second impact syndrome" is when an athlete sustains a second brain injury before recovering from the first – and it can lead to catastrophic injuries and possibly even death.

Taking multiple medications . There is an increased awareness in the medical field that using multiple medications could be a contributor to TBIs, especially among seniors. While they don't directly cause a TBI, the side effects of some commonly prescribed medications for conditions such as diabetes mellitus , cardiac arrhythmias, depression and dementia must be considered. The same is true of narcotic pain medications, which have a multitude of side effects.

Alcohol use . Alcohol use is also a major TBI risk factor, contributing to both falls and car accidents. Similarly, it's been shown that alcohol abuse can spike after a TBI, often due to poor coping mechanisms.

Learn Prevention Techniques

Prevention of a TBI is key – and has become one of the main focuses for medical professionals. Here are some measures you can take:

Look for hazards around your home – and consider modifications. To help prevent falls , be mindful of your home environment – especially if you're an older adult. You can trip over uneven surfaces, objects like rugs and even smaller items, like a pet's ball or grandchild's toy left out in high-traffic areas around your home. Similarly, having ample lighting in your home is important. For example, many falls occur at night when getting up and using the bathroom. By having enough lights – that are quick and easy for you to turn on – the risk for falls is reduced. Checking your home for hazards, as well as installing additional lighting and other home modifications, like lowering your bed height, adding side rails on stairs or grab bars or toilet seat risers to the bathroom, can all aid in fall prevention . Also smart? A "life alert" system can make access to help easier if you should experience a fall. Likewise, evaluation for assistive devices – like a straight cane or rolling walker – is a good idea as you get older, too.

Talk to your doctor about all your medication. Another way to reduce falls? Review any existing medications you're taking and the possible side effects from each of these and when used in combination. Talk to your doctor about your concerns, especially when a new medication is added to the regimen or when a new medical condition is diagnosed. Also, find out if things like glasses, hearing aids and specific shoes are medically appropriate, since these can also cut your fall risk. And be sure to keep up with regular screenings should your need for these change over time.

Report a concussion – and follow return-to-play guidelines . Preventing sports-related injuries , especially among kids and teens, comes from increased awareness, continuous education and commitment. Players, parents and coaching staff are encouraged to use online and app-based education tools. For example, HEADS UP is a CDC initiative aimed at improving awareness and education regarding TBI. As this public awareness continues to grow, so does encouragement to report concussion-related symptoms. Coaches, parents, medical providers and school professionals play an integral role in demonstrating and role-modeling safe and inclusive attitudes about concussion identification, prevention and recovery. That includes following guidelines for return-to-play, which are now established.

The bottom line? When it comes to traumatic brain injury, I urge you to learn as much as you can – especially if you have young kids or seniors in your life – and then incorporate these prevention techniques to help keep you and your loved ones as safe as possible.

Zach Hoffpauir: The Real Story, CTE Results & Legacy

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 21:30:17 GMT

Leave a legacy. That’s what many hope to accomplish before their time comes to leave this planet.

Former Peoria Centennial baseball/football star Zach Hoffpauir, who passed away on May 14, 2020, at the age of 26, did just that.

There’s more to his story, especially surrounding his unfortunate passing. Original reporting labeled his death a suicide after he took some pills to help him sleep. It turns out they were laced with fentanyl. Shannon Hoffpauir, Zach’s mother, says that’s far from the full truth.

“For a report to come out, ‘Just another athlete who died of a drug overdose,’ that doesn’t tell the story,” Shannon said.

The morning it happened, Zach was at home with his father, Doug Hoffpauir.

“That morning I went to go fishing,” Doug recalls. “I got up at 3, we talk a little bit. He goes ‘I would love to go fishing with you and papa but I have too many video things going on today with school.’ So the last thing we talked about I just said ‘Zach I love you,’ and he goes ‘Yeah I love you too.’ That’s the last thing he said…. I came back somewhere around 11:30, I was really tired and his door was still shut. So I went to sleep, then I woke up and I just had this weird feeling. I went into his room and he was gone.”

This documentary sets the story straight and expands on Zach’s journey from childhood to mental health struggles in adulthood to the lasting impact he had on others. This is the real story of Zach Hoffpauir.

CTE Research Results

After Zach passed, the Hoffpauir family sent his brain to Boston University for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy research. According to neurologist Dr. Ann McKee, Director of Boston University CTE Center, Zach had stage two CTE.

“He had quite a number of lesions in the brain,” McKee said. “They were mostly in the frontal lobe, but they were also in the temporal lobe. It was really riddled with CTE lesions.”

Zach played football for only nine years, which is why the stage of his CTE came as a shock to McKee and the Hoffpauir family. Shannon says Zach seemed to think he had CTE, but there’s no way for anyone to know if they have it until they’re already gone.

Doug agrees that the news of CTE being present in Zach’s brain isn’t surprising.

“It all makes sense to me now,” Doug said. “He was struggling to just be alive and feel okay.”

Part of having CTE is a gradual reduction in quality of life. Zach noticed it. His parents and friends noticed it. Everyone he knew, realized something was off. According to Dr. McKee, it never would’ve gotten better, only worse. By the time he reached his forties, it’s possible he could’ve developed Alzheimer’s or other brain-related diseases.

“At first I could not stop crying about the torture that he had gone through,” Shannon said after finding out about the CTE in Zach’s brain. “And then I felt a slight amount of peace in the sense that there would be some justification for Zachary. For people to truly understand what he had been facing and going through. In my own heart, there was a little bit of thankfulness of God’s mercy. That Zachary got to go out as Zachary.”

Lasting Legacy

This is where I diverge from journalism in this story. Zach was a remarkable human being who touched countless lives in his 26 years on this planet. Now, his family is trying to help others with his story. This wasn’t included in the documentary because both of the following projects are under development.

Shannon is creating The Zach Hoffpauir Project to help athletes adjust to life after sports. After living through the experiences Zach did, she believes there is room for improvement in our current mental health institutions. The steps towards her goal of getting athletes the help they need are still being created.

Doug is trying to partner with Boston University and their CTE research. He hopes that there are more ways to spread awareness about the dangers of CTE and how to avoid it without having to give up contact sports.

You’re encouraged to check out both causes.

To wrap this up, I want to say thank you to everyone who made this story possible to tell. Myself, Claudia Faust, and Devon Henry were humbled to share this story. Thank you to Shannon and Doug for allowing us to enter their homes and speak with them about Zach, and tell his real story.

Source: sports360az.com

What is a Football Helmet made of? [Helmet Safety]

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 20:45:44 GMT

We all know why it’s crucial to put on our football helmets before hitting the field. Without them, players run a much higher risk of head serious injuries, concussions—or worse.

However, have you ever stopped to think about what’s really behind this fundamental piece of athletic wear? If you’re like most people, the answer is probably no. Instead, you grab that helmet, throw it on your head, and trust it’ll thoroughly protect that precious noggin.

But, now that you’re thinking about it, aren’t you getting a little bit curious? Believe it or not, well over a century of safety, highly-technical innovations lie under that hard, plastic shell with each adjustment made to enhance the wearer’s protection.

Let’s find out what a football helmet is made of, what technology is used to enhance protection and how the helmet has evolved into the safety device it is today.

A Brief History of Football Helmets

Before we get into the nitty-gritty behind what makes up a modern football helmet, it’s essential to understand how they evolved into today’s protective gear.

The first intercollegiate football game was played in 1869 , but surprisingly, the first helmets weren’t introduced until almost thirty years later. It was in the late 1890s that players began experimenting with different kinds of headgear in an attempt to curb the high injury rate during games.

These early caps look much different than the hard, plastic helmets we see today. Instead, they were made of leather straps, padding and ear flaps. They also offered little ventilation and made hearing their teammates difficult. Still, preferring protection to comfort, most players quickly embraced the helmet.

Soon, people began to innovate on the initial design by creating more breathable and more protective helmets. Innovation also took shape in another form. In 1948, Fred Gehrke, a halfback Los Angeles Rams painted those iconic horns on his team’s helmet. It was the first time a football helmet displayed a team-related design.

As the 20th century marched on, plastic helmets were introduced. By the mid-1960s, they had completely replaced the leather variety.

The Modern Football Helmet

On the surface, those early plastic football helmets more or less resemble the ones we see today. However, the technology underneath the surface has evolved immensely.

Also, as more studies on the consequences of concussions are released, manufacturers are increasingly dedicated to designing the safest helmet possible. From quick release face masks to impact protection from every angle, helmets are continuously making football safer each year.

Today, anyone playing on an organized, contact football team must wear a helmet certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). The NOCSAE puts every helmet through rigorous tests which pushes the headgear to its limit. If it fails any test, certification is denied.

Still, even the best helmet can’t eliminate every chance of head injury. Football is very much a contact sport and therefore, inherently risky. However, as long as you’re choosing an approved helmet from a top-notch manufacturer, your head is better protected today than it’s ever been in football history.

The Anatomy of a Football Helmet

Ever since plastic officially replaced leather, the basic anatomy of a modern football helmet has generally remained the same. Today, helmets consist of a hard shell, several inner layers of padding, a face mask and chinstrap.

However, different position’s helmet will be modified based on their particular needs. Some players also add onto their helmet for things like extra protection, increased communication and weather resistance.

No matter how it appears, the principles behind designing a safe helmet remain the same—they’re made to absorb the energy of an impact and minimize the chance of head injuries.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what makes a football helmet, and how it protects football players:

Outer Shell

The thin, hard outer shell is the part of the gear we most often see. The exterior is usually made of a molded polycarbonate that measures around 3.35mm.

Polycarbonate is an ideal material because it’s lightweight, yet can also protect the head from the brunt of a massive impact.

However, times might be changing. Though the far majority of helmets still use hard plastic, some companies are experimenting with a slightly softer top layer as a means to boost energy absorption.

Inner Absorption Layers

Though some companies might use slightly different padding and materials, the most common include polyurethane or nitrile foams. Lightweight, durable and elastic, these foams withstand immense amounts of force while still keeping their shape.

New technologies are also allowing for new safety innovations. These include additions like air pockets, shock absorbers, new material combinations and more.

Face Masks

The face mask was a relatively new addition to the football helmet. Initially, the face mask only consisted of a single bar made of metal, plastic, or in the earliest days, leather.

As safety measures improved, more bars and even plastic visors were added. By 2004, the National Football League required all new players to use the safer multibar variety.

Today, most facemasks are made from metals including carbon steel, titanium or stainless steel.

Visors

Helmet visors are one of the newest additions to football protective gear. They were first seen in the mid-1980s as a way to block out the sun or battle other weather elements. Interestingly though, even these simple, plastic add-ons aren’t immune to controversy.

Initially, visors could be tinted, darkened or colored. However, coaches expressed worry that potential head injuries or concussions could go unnoticed underneath. In response, youth leagues, the NCAA and the NFL have banned everything but clear visors unless the player has special permission.

Source: Sportdecals.com

Dutch Fork mourns loss of player during on-field tribute: ‘Jack meant everything to me’

Sun, 29 Aug 2021 10:53:56 GMT

IRMO — The Dutch Fork High School football field was supposed to be empty on Aug. 27.

The Silver Foxes’ focus just a few days ago was gearing up for a road game against the highly-ranked Gaffney Indians, where senior Jack Alkhatib, an National Honors Society student who anchors the offensive line, would be counted on to create running space and protect his quarterback.

Alkhatib, 17, died Aug. 24 after collapsing during practice, leaving a close-knit community northwest of Columbia reeling and the field he loved so much into a gathering place to honor him.

“He was about a perfect a human as I ever met,” said his teammate and close friend, Coby Donelson.

Protection is something that came innately to “Big Jack” on the team that has won five straight state titles. He viewed his responsibility as a teammate just the same as he did in other aspects of his life.

“Jack meant everything to me,” teammate Kevon Nixon said. “Every day, even if I had a bad practice, he would always know how make me feel better, even if his day was worse than mine.”

His white-and-green number 60 jersey was laid over the spot where he collapsed, surrounded by flowers and cards and tokens of his life.

Donelson joked about Alkhatib’s love for strange flavors of juice, and a few empty bottles that were in his car were placed at the memorial. There were also miniature footballs, stuffed animals and video games he’d play often with friends.

The scoreboard — which typically displays another dominant Dutch Fork outing — instead was set to “60.”

“Tonight is not a typical Friday night at Dutch Fork High School,” school principal Gerald Gary said. “It’s not typical because this past Tuesday, Dutch Fork lost. And Dutch Fork rarely loses.”

Tributes poured in almost immediately after Alkhatib’s death, from University of South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer to rival programs and strangers.

About 100 miles away in Gaffney, the team hosted a charity drive to benefit Alkhatib’s family, unfurling a banner of him in tribute.

Nixon’s mother, Keisha — who arrived to the stadium early on Friday to lay out white mums in Alkhatib’s number — said the support for Jack and the team surprised but touched her.

“It really shows that even though we’re competitors on the field, we’re family off the field,” she said. “It’s not even about competition anymore. It’s about showing love for the team. It’s about showing love for the game.”

Alkhatib’s teammates said he would put in work every moment he could — inspiring them to do the same. He honed his style at off-season camps.

A 60-second moment of silence stilled the crowd of about 400 that filled the stands, punctuated only by sounds of teammates, classmates and teachers weeping.

Kesha Knotts, whose husband Tom is the Silver Foxes’ head coach, read a speech he wrote, herself overcome with emotion as she made it through the five minutes of remarks.

“Players and coaches, parents watched in disbelief and in the horror we prayed, we screamed, we held each other’s hands, we cried in pain and anguish,” Knotts wrote. “I can’t imagine the pain that mom and dad and big brother feel.

“I know the pain these players and coaches feel is deep, dark, ugly and real. Rest in peace, big No. 60. Guard the good Lord’s blind side.”

Many of Alkhatib’s teammates embraced his mother, Kelly, who attended the memorial along with other relatives.

“I need you,” one of them said.

“We got you,” said Alkhatib’s teammate, Nicolas Wright.