Synopses & Reviews
Amy Steadman was destined to become one of the great women's soccer players of her generation. "The best of the best,"
Parade magazine called her as she left high school and headed off to the University of North Carolina. Instead, by age twenty, Amy had undergone five surgeries on her right knee. She had to give up the sport she loved. She walked with a stiff gait, like an elderly woman, and found it painful to get out of bed in the morning.
Warrior Girls exposes the downside of the women's sports revolution that has evolved since Title IX: an injury epidemic that is easily ignored because we worry that it will threaten our daughters' hard-won opportunities on the field. From teenage girls playing local soccer, basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, and other sports to women competing at the elite level, female athletes are suffering serious injuries at alarming rates.
The numbers are frightening and irrefutable. Young female athletes tear their ACLs, the stabilizing ligament in the knee, at rates as high as eight times greater than their male counterparts. Women's collegiate soccer players suffer concussions at the same rate as college football players. From head to toe, female athletes suffer higher rates of injury, and many of them play through constant pain.
Michael Sokolove gives us the most up-to-date research on girls and sports injuries. He takes us into the homes and hearts of female athletes, into operating theaters where orthopedic surgeons reconstruct shredded knees, and onto the practice field of famed University of North Carolina soccer coach Anson Dorrance.
Exhaustively researched and strongly argued, Warrior Girls is an urgent wake-up call for parents and coaches. Sokolove connects the culture of youth sports -- the demands for girls to specialize in a single sport by age ten or younger, and to play it year-round -- directly to the injury epidemic. Devoted to the ideal of team, and deeply bonded with teammates, these tough girls don't want to leave the field even when confronted with serious injury and chronic pain.
Warrior Girls shows how girls can train better and smarter to decrease their risks. It makes clear that parents must come together and demand changes to a sports culture that manufactures injuries. Well-documented, opinionated, and controversial, Warrior Girls shows that all girls can safeguard themselves on the field without sacrificing their hard-won right to be there.
Review
"Warrior Girls brings alive the reality that our daughters are suffering from an epidemic of devastating sports injuries that can be prevented with exercise programs." - Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.
Review
"
Throughout this reasoned yet cautionary text, the authors arm readers with critical information... Each sport receives the author's scrutiny as he calls for awareness, honest dialog, and meaningful change...his
life-saving message should be mandatory reading for all those involved in kids' sports." --
Publishers Weekly and#160; and#8220;
Neurosurgeon Cantu offers parents, coaches and athletes an authoritative look at concussions...Cantu offers comprehensive research on post-concussion syndrome, second impact syndrome and chronic traumatic encephalopathy....
a sober look at a substantial health risk for young and mature athletes.and#8221;
- Kirkus Reviews and#160; and#8220;Concussions have become the most important sports story of the decade, and there is no better person to read on the subject than Dr. Robert Cantu. This book comes along at a crucial time in our national conversation on the dangers of head injuries throughout American sports. It's a well-researched, riveting story that every coach and parent of a young athlete should read."
- Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist, ABC News commentator, author of Best Seat in the House and#160; and#8220;This is an important, cutting edge work, by the premier specialist in his field. If you watch sports, or if you have a young athlete in your family, you need to read this book. It gives the expression, 'seeing stars' a whole new meaning.and#8221;
- Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe columnist and author of The Curse of the Bambino and Senior Year and#160; and#8220;Much of the sports establishment wants players, and their parents, in the dark about concussions. This book shines the light.and#8221;
- Gregg Easterbrook, football columnist, ESPN
and#160; and#8220;Bob Cantu and Mark Hyman have been long-time leaders in America, widely disseminating common sense information on concussions in younger athletes; an issue so serious and newsworthy, that itand#8217;s warranted front page headlines in major media outlets. With this book, Bob and Mark will not sugarcoat anything; itand#8217;s a truly sobering reminder that even our childrenand#8217;s and#8220;playtimeand#8221; can have serious medical and life consequences. If your childrenand#8212;or grandchildrenand#8212;participate in sports, please read this book; youand#8217;ll agree with me afterwards that properly reflecting and acting upon its conclusions will give all these young athletes a better chance to become healthy and active adults.and#8221;
- Bob Bigelow, Co-author, Just Let the Kids Play and former NBA First Round Draft Choice and Player
Synopsis
From America's preeminent expert on the head trauma crisis in sports, a timely,and#160;provocative, essential guide to concussions in youth sports -- what they are, how to treat them, and how to protect our young athletes
Synopsis
From Washington to Quebec, from offices at the NFL to the
New York Times, from the NHL players union to the soccer fields of Anytown, U.S.A., people are talking about concussions. Long believed by experts to be a silent epidemic, concussions are fast becoming the most dominating and important issue in all of sports. At the center of this crisisandmdash;and one of the key reasons for this increased awarenessandmdash;is Dr. Robert Cantu, the countryandrsquo;s leading expert on athletic brain trauma and a pioneer in the study of the link between concussions and progressive brain disease in athletes. He has treated thousands of patients who have experienced brain trauma, from high-profile professional athletes to peewees, including young boys and girls who play soccer, football, lacrosse, hockey, and other sports. And he is on the frontlines of groundbreaking research that is changing the way sports are played.
Concussions and Our Kids is the first prescriptive book of its kind to address the issue of head trauma in sports and provide preventive solutions to protect athletes and give guidelines for the way sports can be played safely. Dr. Cantu and sports journalist Mark Hyman have crafted a book that is part manifesto, part manual, explaining to parents and coaches what head trauma is, why it has become a focus of national attention, and why some practices in youth sports must change. They also outline the measures we can take to protect our children. Readers will learn:
andbull; The signs and symptoms of a concussion
andbull; Three concussion tests parents can give at home
andbull; Concussions and what andldquo;restandrdquo; really means
andbull; How concussions improperly treated can develop into post-concussion syndrome
andbull; Why total brain trauma (not just the number of concussions) is a risk factor for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)
andbull; Why helmets are no guarantee of safety
andbull; Why concussions are prevalent in all sports, not just football and hockey
And more
Addressing what sportswriter Bill Simmons calls andldquo;the single most important issue in sports today,andrdquo; this book is essential reading for parents, coaches, players, and all those interested in young athletes, their safety, and their future well-being.
About the Author
ROBERT CANTU, M.D.andnbsp;is the Chief of Neurosurgery, Chairman Department of Surgery and Director Service ofandnbsp;Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital as well as the Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery and co-director of Boston Universityand#8217;s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. He alsoandnbsp;serves as special advisor toandnbsp;the National Football League.MARKandnbsp;HYMAN is a sports journalistandnbsp;and the author of Until It Hurts.
Table of Contents
1. What Is a Concussion?and#8195;1
2. Collision Sportsand#8195;19
3. Non-Collision Sportsand#8195;35
4. Baseline Testingand#8195;53
5. Post-Concussion Syndrome and Second Impact Syndromeand#8195;69
6. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)and#8195;89
7. Mythsand#8195;105
8. Moms and Dadsand#8195;115
9. After Concussionsand#8195;127
10. Reformsand#8195;143
Postscriptand#8195;159
Acknowledgmentsand#8195;161
Appendix A: Todayand#8217;s Concussion Signs
and Symptoms Checklistand#8195;163
Appendix B: Cumulative Concussion Signs
and Symptoms Checklistand#8195;165
Appendix C: Concussion Patient History Intake Formand#8195;167
Appendix D: Guidelines for Return
to Play After Concussion(s) That Seasonand#8195;169
Indexand#8195;171